• Closed • A Meeting [Scalvoris Camputs]

[Lakia Amaranthine]

73rd of Ymiden.

Lakia looked around nervously as she stepped onto the campus for the Scalvoris academy with Delta in tow. After the events on the Immortals Tongue she was worried they wouldn't be welcomed there, but no one seemed to recognize them. So instead, she found someone who looked vaguely official and walked up to them. "Excuse me, could you tell me where I could find Zach, the man who ran the expedition to map the Ice Caves?" she asked, her tone as polite as she could make it.

The man looked at her, then got distracted by Delta. Understandable, since though Lakia had waited a few days to allow Delta to heal, there were clear signs of trauma. After a moment, however, he turned back to Lakia. "Don't know where he's at, the Ice Caves as like as not. But if you want information on them, Professor Padraig Augustine was on that expidition." he said, getting a suprised look from Lakia. She hadn't even considered that Padraig was a professor, though it made sense to her.

"That's even better. Could you tell me where to find him?" she asked. The official looking fellow gave them directions and Lakia led the way to his office. "Let's hope he's willing to help us." she said over her shoulder to Delta. Truth was, she was more nervous about this meeting than she had been in almost any meeting previously. Still, it was the best option they had available to them, so it had to be done.

Once they got there, Lakia took a deep breath and knocked on the office door. "Padraig? It's...It's Lakia. I need your help, or I wouldn't have come, not so soon after...please. You're the only one I know can help us." she said, letting how bad their situation was show in her voice. If Padraig refused to help, they were well and truly in trouble. Unbeknownst to Lakia, however, their party was actually three strong. In addition to Delta and Lakia, there was a ghost, a woman who looked like an older, more heavily worn version of Lakia, and her sorrowing gaze never left the Naer.

[Faith Augustin]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=8288[/img]

As she unfurled the map she'd walked in holding, Faith glanced up at Padraig and smiled, reaching for the small glass weights which would hold it down. Her silver eyes met his amber ones and she wished that she could stop him worrying. The bruises on her face had faded to an unpleasant pale yellow colour and she had tried to reassure him that she was fine. It would take them both time, she did not doubt, to get past the feeling of being on edge which they both had. It was a storm, and they just had to ride it out.

"So," she said as she put the last paperweight down on the fourth corner. It was a map of Scalvoris island. "I have these. Lots of these, potentially. The cartographers are very helpful." Faith had to admit that everyone had been. "Dean Manyon came to see me at the end of my class to-trial, to see how I am." Padraig would be pleased by that, she thought. She had been, it had to be said. "I told him that I'm fine, tougher than I look. I don't think he believed it, though." Lifting her head, she met his gaze again. "There's a lot of that about, I'd say."

In work, they were as professional as they would be with any other professor, but Faith reached out and gently stroked his cheek. She didn't say anything, just did that and then looked back to the map.

"I don't know what geophysics is," she said, tapping the map. It was, indeed, a detailed map of the known geophysics of the island. There were three more underneath it, each one detailing different aspects, measuring different things. "I understand that this is a map which charts something to do with the volcano, but I don't know what these are, and I need to understand them." 'These', in this circumstance, were the annotations used by the cartography department for the creation of maps for the physics department. Padraig may even have copies of these maps himself, but they were written by a cartographer for a physicist and they detailed aspects of the island which were of interest to geo-physicists. Which meant that Faith couldn't decipher the map, because she didn't know what the key and legend was talking about to begin with and it was then abbreviated.

As they lowered their heads to the map which she needed to understand in order to find out if the volcanic activity made a difference to diseases, for example, there was a knock on his door. A voice called in to him and Faith looked up in surprise. She couldn't see the woman through the tinted and patterned glass, just see that there was a shape there, maybe two. But she could hear and what she heard was clear.

Lakia?

That was the woman who had pointed a bow at him? Who had threatened him? She was here? The woman who had treated her slave in such a way that the slave in question didn't even think twice about just attacking Luna? The woman who had then, then suggested they let her slave harm Luna. Faith's small hands bunched into fists as she realised who was at his door and, given her druthers she'd go and open the door and punch the woman in the face.

Everything about Faith changed as she realised who it was and if Padraig had any worries about the kidnapping having caused a reticence to fight back, it was probably dispelled in that moment. He knew, after all, that the bruising on her face was because she'd fought and bit and not stopped fighting for a trill. When she bit the actual kidnapper, he'd hit her. Did that stop her from being ready to charge out the door and smack down the woman who so obviously needed a good kicking? Nope.

She took half a step forward and her hands started to raise, but then she stopped and glanced at him. There was no part of her that was broken, Faith was quite sure of that and had been since before the trial the kidnapping happened. However, this was his office and there were people at the door asking for help. So, she turned to look at him, gave him a rueful smile and whispered, "I think they're looking for you."

As he moved to answer the door, though, Faith put her hand on his arm. Looking at him with total seriousness in her gaze, she whispered so that only he could hear her. "Whatever happens here, why ever they're here? I'm with you and support your decisions." She looked at him to make sure he understood that. It was important, she knew, because it must be something pretty desperate by the sounds of it.

So, Faith stayed back because she knew that if she didn't he was only going to worry, more than he already was, and she waited to see what happened. But she was quite clear. Anyone needed a whupping and she was going to turn scrappy.

[Delta]

It is said that there are a number of mechanisms the mind has to protect itself, and it was a testament to mortals: how adept their minds were at protecting from pain. Sleep, amnesia, insanity, and death. The first resort was always the least damaging, and Delta had spent the better part of two days, following the final blow to her resolve, unconscious. It was needed, her mind needed to heal, and so did her body. The next days were spent in a state of groggy awareness, though only for a few breaks at a time. She was fed, she was washed, she was cared for, but mostly she was just allowed to rest.

But some wounds were too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. That was when Delta passed through to the second faculty. Time healed most wounds, but not all. Some memories her mind had decided to forget. She could remember everything: the multiple beatings, the torture, the rapes. She even remembered trying to murder an innocent. But the memories had no detail. Delta couldn’t remember what the slave girl had looked like, nor the room she had been kept in for days. It was as if the memories were drowned in water, and ripples were distorting the images. If she tried, she could probably focus on the memories. Bus she didn’t want to. She pushed them away.

Madness would have been an option, of course - sometimes when reality is too much to bear, slipping away is the better course of action. Her dreams were pushing her that way: blood, fire and burning flesh. Or, finally, death. Nothing would hurt her when she was dead.

She wasn’t really sure where they were; it definitely wasn’t Almund, and they hadn’t left Scalvoris… but, beyond that, Delta wasn’t sure. Had Lakia told her were they were going? Probably. The slave didn’t even bother searching the dark crevasses of her mind for any foggy memory of explanation. She followed silently, gaze unfocused as she kept her Mistress’ ankles in her line of sight. Occasionally they stopped, and occasionally Lakia spoke to someone, or to her. If she did, there was no indication that Delta had heard her.

Though trials had passed, Delta’s body had suffered too many blows for the bruises and scars to heal. Internally, Delta imagined that the damage was far worse than what was visible to the naked eye. Part of her hoped that a dislodged shard of broken rib would move enough to pierce her lungs, silently downing her. New injuries had blossomed over older marks - proof of a biqaj capacity to withstand more than imaginable. But Delta was well past her limit, and it was evident from the listless way she hobbled, unquestioning, behind the naer.

Lakia stopped. So did Delta. She heard the emotion in Lakia’s voice, causing it to tremble and break as she spoke. She caught the odd word. Help. Her gaze flickered and she inhaled sharply. Yes… help.

[Padraig]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=4018[/img]

Under any circumstances, Padraig enjoyed having Faith's office located just a short stroll from his own. Out one door and into another, more or less. These trials of late, he valued the proximity all the more. She'd been through too much, he felt. Much more than anyone ought to and he wasn't yet prepared to let her stray far from his sight. Which was fine, when he wasn't teaching and she didn't have commitments of her own, they had plenty they could work on together. "The dean is a difficult man to read sometimes," he uttered as she unfurled her maps on the surface of his desk. "Except for those times when he chooses not to be."

"Geophysics," he told her when she wondered, "is an application of several physics, in several categories combined, to study the world, its oceans and seas, the atmosphere and what's referred to as near Idalos space. It encompasses a number of the major sciences. Physics, astronomy, other-world science, geology, environmental science, oceanography, and meteorology."

As for the maps? They were colorful to say the least and the cartographers had done a fine job. "Well to start with," he said, pointing to a rainbow array on one of the maps, "these colors indicate magnetic intensity. Dark blue being at the low end of the spectrum, and this very pale pink at the highest."

He would have explained in more depth, if not for the knock on his door. Frowning, he looked that way. "I'm not expecting anyone," Padraig said and straightened. It took just a split trill to solve the mystery of who was there, and he frowned deeper still. Lakia. Help us, which must indicate that the slave Delta had come too. After the events on Immortal's Tongue, those were two individuals he hadn't expected to see again. Or in honestly, yearned to. Of course Faith perked right up, not in a cheerful way and the way she instantly got her back up couldn't possibly pass him by. He'd told her all of it, after all. He noted the way her hands curled into a fist and when she halted what might have been a charge towards the door, Padraig couldn't quite conceal a rueful smile. "Tell me I won't be needing to hold you back," he whispered.

Not that he was feeling any more enthusiastic than her, but on the other hand...Would they be outside that door if they didn't genuinely need help of some kind. It just wasn't in him, not to at least hear Lakia out. So he opened the door and found the pair there. And while it was Lakia he saw first, his gaze slid to Delta and he frowned again. There were marks and bruises that couldn't possibly have been suffered on Immortal's Tongue. Firstly, there hadn't been any battles to engage in. Or, well, that wasn't exactly true but the hostilities had been all of them among themselves, not against outside forces. Besides, they'd have been healed by now he was sure. He couldn't quite manage a smile, but Padraig did step back from the doorway to give them room to pass. "Come in. You say you're in need of help? What kind of help?" he asked.

[Lakia Amaranthine]

Lakia's expression didn't change when Padraig opened his door. She didn't really have it in her much to try to smile or do anything else of that nature, not these days. She did notice his glance at Delta, however, and frowned. "Not my doing, if that's what you're wondering, but it's part of the reason I'm here." she said, before nodding as Padraig invited them in. She stopped when she saw the other woman, then looked down and away. "We didn't mean to interrupt. My apologies. I'm Lakia, and this is Delta." she said as a greeting, before taking a deep breath and looking back at Padraig.

"After what happened on the Immortals Tongue, you've probably realized that Delta and I...we're not well." she said, looking down and pressing her index finger against her head as she spoke. "I could give you the long list of why, but it doesn't matter much, and I doubt you particularly care." she said, before taking a deep breath. "The important part is, I have paranoia issues, and Delta's a recovering Psinia addict." Lakia paused a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase what she was going to say next, but there really wasn't a good way to say it. "I've been trying to fix us, both of us. I took Delta off the drugs, and I've been trying to curb my own...outbursts."

She finally did smile, but it was in a rueful, self-mocking way. "I've not been successful at the latter, obviously. And my attempts to help Delta with her own issues, they've only made things worse." she said, before shaking her head. "Before I took Delta off the Psinia, the events in the ruins would never have happened. And ever since the ruins, she's been getting progressively worse, and I haven't been able to stop it." Lakia stopped for a moment and grimaced in pain, working her shoulder. It was clear her injury from the ruins was still bothering her. "And that's why I'm here. I can't help Delta, not on my own. Everything I've done has made it worse, and I don't know what else to do, or where else to go. You're the last hope either of us has." she said, looking at Padraig. Her expression said that she wasn't really expecting him to help, whether because he was unwilling or unable.

The whole time Lakia had been talking, the sorrowing ghost following her had been wringing her hands in distress. Only once had her expression changed, when Lakia mentioned her paranoia. Her gaze had turned to Delta then, and it had contained pure rage. "

That's not their fault! Damn my sister!"

she snapped, before her expression had gone back to sorrow and worry.

[Faith Augustin]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=8288[/img]

Faith glanced at Padraig with something resembling an apologetic look when he queried whether he'd be needing to hold her back but in truth, it was only because he didn't want to have a scrap that she could say that no, he wouldn't be. They both knew it, there was no point to say it. So, she said what she had, squeezed his hand and let him do the talking, as needed.

The young woman standing in the office with Padraig was a diminutive individual, standing at five foot four and very slight of build. Her long black hair was pulled back because they'd just been working, so the bruises on her face were still evident, though they were yellow with age now. Her pale skin emphasized her eyes which, whilst blue, were so pale as to be almost silver.

As he opened the door, Faith saw them. All three of them, of course, and she watched as they came in. The naerrik woman introduced them and Faith's gaze was unwavering and unyielding. "I know who you are. Both of you." She didn't offer her own name, simply watched them. If Padraig wanted to introduce them, he would but right now she had no interest in pretending that this was some kind of social call. Her pale eyes turned to Delta and she looked at her with a medics gaze. Her brow knotted slightly there and she turned to look at Padraig. It was only a few trill, probably not two, that their eyes met but she understood what she needed to in that glance and she moved forward. As she did, she moved with precise, calm movements. Padraig knew her well enough to know, she was more than prepared for someone to do something stupid and, if they did, she would not hesitate. As she moved, she looked at Padraig and smiled a tight lipped, mirthless smile. "Cally's colleague, by the way." Faith said no more than that, but assumed that it was enough. He'd know.

They had, after all, threatened him and Luna. Neither act was forgivable.

"Sit here, please, Delta." Faith said. As the slave moved, or did not, Faith turned to Lakia. "How long have you owned her? How long did the Psinia addiction continue after you had ownership of her? It will help us to help you if we know the extent of the addiction and if you share it or have done?" She could lie, either or both of them could, but that was up to them. "Also, where you bought it from and a recent history would help."

Faith would, if Delta came and sat where Faith asked her to, look at the slave and speak to her. "I'm going to try and help you, please just sit still." If Delta did that, if Lakia allowed it, then Faith would stand behind her and place her hands on Delta's temples. "Blessed Moseke, if it is you will," she whispered and, if all of that had happened then a light green/ yellow mist formed at her fingertips and tendrils moved into Delta, calming and soothing her. If it happened, of course. If there was any resistance, any reticence from either of them then she would not do it.

Off Topic

If it gets there, Faith will use the "Calming Whispers" ability from Sevrath Favored, but if there's any doubt / concern / reticence / etc, she won't.

[Delta]

Unlike the other three, Delta did not stare at the others in trepidation, nor did she feel the tension in the room in the room. She followed blindly again, though her body did twitch when she heard Padraig’s familiar voice - that calm tone was one she would not easily forget. Her heart beat a little faster. Not that she was scared of the man, because she wasn’t; the man with fiery light for a weapon had not hurt her, and had not seemed to want to without cause. Then why was she all of a sudden so anxious?

The naer spoke, rambling much like she had been doing constantly over the past few trials. Lakia was nervous too - she definitely said more than she needed to when she was ill at ease. Again, Delta only understood some of the words. What was everyone speaking so fast? But when she spoke of ‘psinia’ and her breathing hitched. Life had been so much simpler when all she had to worry about was when the next dose would come. She wished she had never asked for Lakia’s help in being free of the drug.

The slave’s reaction to a different woman’s voice was not instant. It took a fair few trills for Delta to register that there was a fourth in the room, someone who was speaking to her, and then process the direction itself. She raised her head and gaze and stared at the woman, who was already in conversation with Lakia. She moved to sit.

It wasn’t much longer before the woman was back in front of her, offering help. Delta simply stared, though it was fairly evident that Delta was no longer looking at the woman. Faith, if she looked, would see all the emotion of wet clay, her muscles just as slack, the fire in her eyes doused to a pale seafoam, red rimed and raw. There was no anger, no sadness, no hope. There was not even any boredom.

When the other stepped away and behind her, Delta flinched violently when she felt fingers graze her matted hair and scalp. The sensation of hands carding through her hair reminded her of nothing but the abuse of the previous season. Each man who had taken her as a prize had delighted in dragging her by the auburn locks, or forcing her gaze to meet theirs. Instinct screamed at her to run, to hit the woman away and flee, disbelieving that Lakia would ever play a part in her misery.

Wait… Lakia wouldn’t. And these hands felt different. Soft, gentle, strong but calm and steady. Soothing. The world seemed to slow down, and a stillness descended over her. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she released the breath that she felt like she had been holding for trials as a heavy weight she didn't even realise she had been carrying began to melt away. It felt like calm water, reflecting the orange rays of a cloudless sunset. If Delta hadn’t been a child of the sea, she might have believed such a façade.

[Padraig]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=4018[/img]

In spite of not feeling especially enthusiastic about meeting with the pair on the other side of his office door, Padraig smiled at Faith and gave her a wink before he'd opened it. A touch of humor at her unspoken promise that there wouldn't be any confrontations. Though in truth depending on how things went, he wasn't sure he could make the promise himself. Nonetheless, as expected it was Lakia and Delta. However, though it might go unnoticed by others who'd just happened to wander by at that moment, they weren't alone. He gave a nod to Faith's reference to Cally, but in truth he'd already seen the woman lingering behind Lakia.

Ever since the ice caves, since he'd met the little girl Carla, spoke with her and touched her, Padraig had been able to see spirits. He never had before then and in fact found it unsettling that Faith could. The scholar could only guess that it was something that had happened in the ice caves, and maybe it was the interaction with Carla. At any rate, he'd become adept fairly quickly at pretending he didn't see. Somehow it made the newfound ability easier to manage.

He frowned and nodded at Lakia's reassurance as the pair, or trio stepped into his office. So, she might not be the source of Delta's new scrapes and bruises, but as the person who owned her, was responsible for her, was she not responsible in some way? "This is Faith," he said, "She's an associate professor here at the university, and my fiance." Of course, Lakia was mistaken if she believed he didn't care about the maladies of others. Any others. He'd recognized back on Immortal's Tongue that at least one of the pair was unhinged, and probably both. But sympathy hadn't led to an eagerness to see them again. Still, if Lakia believed somehow that only he could help? He wasn't about to turn them away without hearing them out.

"It's no surprise, really," he finally said, and offered them both a seat if they wanted it. "It's like trying to fix a leak with a faulty patch, in order to prevent a flood." Or the blind leading the blind, Padraig guessed. If Lakia had issues of her own, then an attempt to put another to rights could only result in more damage for both. "You can't fix her if you can't even fix yourself," he added as Faith stepped in.

And in truth, Faith knew as well. If Delta's situation had been caused by an addiction, while he might have plenty of knowledge when it came to the chemical elements of the problem, it was Faith who'd be better equipped to help. So he stood back, allowed her room to do what she felt was needed, and looked back at Lakia in the wake of the outburst from the fifth party in the room. "Do you have any sense of why? The paranoia, I mean," he said.

[Lakia Amaranthine]

It was pretty clear that the woman in the room didn't care much for them, which she supposed she couldn't be blamed for. However, Lakia did raise an eyebrow when Padraig identified her as Faith. "So you're Faith? Been curious about you since I heard Padraig referred to as your "special flower"." she said, actually smiling slightly.

As Faith apparently moved to treat Lakia, the Naer turned to the woman as she began to question her. "Roughly two and a half arcs. We started taking her off the drug this season, after I finished recovering from the Ice Caves expedition. We've been buying from Dukarhn's Medical Facility since we got here. It was, I think, a complete dependency on the drug before I started taking her off the drug. And no, I've never taken Psinia myself." she said, before she had consider that last question. "Medical history? Not much of note until this season. Immediately following taking her off the drug, she had trouble maintaining a consistent temperature and stomach problems. She could only eat soup and there was no guarantee that it would stay down. That was gone by the time of the Immortals Tongue. Following that, she's been attacked two or three times and nearly drowned once." she said, before she noticed Delta's rising panic.

She also saw the biqaj calm down slightly, but she still leaned over. "It's all right, Delta. You're in good hands." she said, her voice calming. She said the same thing in Euthic Sign, hoping it would help reassure the biqaj. With Delta being cared for, she turned her attention back to Padraig, nodding at his comment about why she couldn't fix Delta. "You're right, though I didn't recognize it at the time. It was my responsibility besides." she said, sitting down in the chair Padraig gestured her too.

His next question elicited another reaction from the third party in the room. "My fault, my fault, my fault." the ghost said, wringing her hands as she spoke. "My own damage, passed on to one who should never have felt it. And now she seeks death, views it as a release." she said, her tone worried. "She can't go back to that pool. She knows how to activate it, she'll drown herself in frozen waters." she said, her tone rising into a panic.

Lakia, ignorant of the specter behind her, nodded at Padraig's question. "Learned habit, but it might be in my blood. My mother was...worse than I was." she said, her tone turning grim. "We lived in the woods, and over and over and over, she would drill the same thing into my head. The only person I could trust is one I could control completely. All that amid outbursts of violence. If I could scar," she paused and looked down at her hand. "If I could scar naturally, I'd be covered in whip marks. My father was. She'd also completely lose it and run off into the woods for trials at a time." she said, shrugging.

The ghost reacted to Lakia's words this time, looking down at her daughter. "No no no. I was sane when I left. I was trying to protect you and Lakin from myself, from what I had become." she said, before her expression grew furious. "Damn my sister! You should have grown up in peace and Delta in freedom were it not for her!" she growled, her expression showing nothing but absolute fury.

Still ignorant of her mothers ghost behind her. "As you can probably guess, it didn't do good things for me." she said, before looking at Delta and grimacing. "As terrible a person as it makes me, part of the reason Delta's psinia addiction lasted so long is because it meant I could trust her. It was the closest thing to a positive relationship I've ever had." she said, grimacing again.

Then she sighed and shifted in her chair, running her thumb across the scar on her hand. "Then Ice Caves happened. If I had died there, no one would have cared for Delta. She'd have been...left vulnerable. That was unacceptable. So I was going to take her off the Psinia, then free her." she said, before gesturing at the biqaj. "Then this season happened and here we are."

Lakia's mother had frowned deeply as Lakia mentioned freeing Delta. "And after she had freed Delta, she was going to go back to the Ice Caves. She longs for the waters of that pool, thinks it will bring her peace." she growled, clearly angry at that notion.

[Faith Augustin]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=8288[/img]

Lakia's smile to her when she told Faith that she'd been curious about her was most certainly not returned. Faith met the woman's gaze and did not reply to her. She had no intention of engaging in idle conversation with someone so volatile, so prone to violence as this woman apparently was. The only thing that she could have said in that moment would have been entirely unhelpful and would have pointed out that, in the ice caves, Padraig had helped Lakia. He'd told Faith what had happened and how he'd given what medical aid he could to the woman. Her only comment would have questioned how she repaid unkindness if her response to kindness was the threat of death. So, she said nothing and moved over to work with Delta.

The answers to her questions, though, they were interesting, worrying and disturbing at the same time. "To clarify. You took ownership of her two and a half arcs ago, maintained her addiction during that time as a means of maintaining control of her, keeping her docile and needing you and then decided to take her off it after you nearly died in the Ice Caves? How did you manage the process of taking her off the drug?" Faith looked at Lakia as she asked that question, though her focus was by now much more on Delta.

If Lakia wasn't immediately clear on what she meant, Faith would explain. "Did she withdraw suddenly, just cut off her supply or did you slowly wean her off?" At the description of how Delta had reacted, Faith suspected she knew the answer, but she did not wish to put words into Lakia's mouth. It would not be helpful and she needed to know the full situation.

As her prayer to Moseke and the use of the ability calmed the biqaj, Faith was quiet. She worked, she prayed and she reminded herself that it was her duty to serve, to serve all the people. Even the psychopath who had pointed a bow at her Padraig and threatened him. Even her. Whilst Faith understood that, for the first time in her life, she really did not want to help someone. Because what made it worse was that Lakia knew. She knew what she was feeling, understood it and could verbalise it. She recognised it, knew what she did and had done and laid it at the feet of 'it was my childhood', which meant it was alright, it was an excuse and a reason for it.

There was no excuse for it.

Not for any of it, as far as Faith was concerned. She knew what she was doing and so she was making a choice. But then, Faith recognised that if that was true of Lakia, it was true of her, too. She had a duty and her own personal feelings did not, should not come into it. With a prayer to Famula, thanking the Immortal for the lesson in humility, Faith spoke softly. "The Order of the Adunih can look after Delta, for a while. I don't know how long, but they have a facility where she can get physical help and then support with her obvious long term trauma." She spoke to Lakia and Padraig, both of them when she said that. However, then her gaze and attention turned solely to Lakia.

"You need the same. Your words are clear, you understand what you have done and the consequences of your actions on Delta and others." Luna, for example. Faith had rarely felt such anger towards another mortal being. "Behaviour like that is unlikely to lead to constructive, helpful or meaningful relationships. I suggest you consider getting the help you so obviously need. The difference is that you have a choice, Delta as a slave does not. So, if you want to help her, truly help her, then give me her papers, please?" Faith looked at Lakia with as unwavering a gaze as she had ever worn. Then, for the first time she gave a slight smile, though there was no humour in it. "Or to him, if that makes you more comfortable."

Then, whatever Lakia did, Faith lowered her hand to Delta's wrist, just measuring her pulse and she asked, almost casually, "tell me about the attacks and near drowning in the time since Immortals Tongue?" Faith's glance flicked toward Lakia as she started applying a cooling, healing salve to Delta's bruises. "As much detail as you have, please."