I slowly make my way through the small crowd, my mood growing more and more somber with the pangs that accompany each of my febrile heart's beats, some of the pain coming from my broken fingers while the rest is from my head.

The rows of people split in front of us, looking high on emotion and unable to be silent. Questions are thrown but we remain silent. It hurts my pride a little that more than a few ask who I am and if I work for Elizabeth.

It doesn't take me long to put together the fact that the fake E.Vil ran through this crowd to escape and that they let her go, whether because they support her, were afraid of her, or both. Ugh, think, hurt.

My brain feels like it's just slightly too large for my skull and I think I came very close to another bout of... seizures. But, none of that truly matters to me. The agony, the exhilaration of battle, it's all meaningless because I can't enjoy it with Ulf's kid walking by my side.

“Viki, who were they?” I ask.

“I have no idea.” She replies.

“They have to be Nobles, or work for a house.” I note. I recall how odd the orbit of the cubic pale-blue fire constructs were around the impostor, as if the man was controlling them and not her. “I think the man was the one who knew the constructs, the woman should be a decoy.”

“He wore a kind of flesh-like mask, of that much I can be certain. His skill in wielding daggers and style indicates he's a killer but he could very well be a mercenary of a kind.” She tells me. “If he works for a house, it has to be a high one considering the rarity of the constructs he used.”

“Do you think he's a...” I trail off, trusting she'll get what I mean.

“No.” She denies. “If they were, we wouldn't have even seen their shadows today because Jessica Freepath is clearly not their target, although that may have changed now. They wouldn't have fought since they had bodies to throw at you to facilitate their escape.”

“The fact there were so many fighters involved leads me to believe they aren't either, which eliminates Suxen as commandeer since she's in their custody.” I tell her.

Shades wouldn't have ambushed me like they did when they could have escaped before I returned if they suspected my intentions, consequently Shades would not take the risk to involve so many people in their plans.

“Why would that madwoman be involved?” Vikiana asks, the intonation of her voice tells me she's genuinely surprised.

“Because of the barrier construct they used.” I reply, rubbing my throbbing temples. “It came from her, of that I'm certain because her Numbers used it.”

“Then there's one other option, and it's not a good one.” Vikiana murmurs. King Cenwalh. “What does the kid know that it poses a threat?”

I stop in the middle of the street to turn to her. Ulf's eldest stops by my side but he is looking to the horizon and appears not to be listening on the conversation.

“He is none of your concern.” I tell Vikiana with a firm voice.

“You know that is false. If it involves you, it involves my daughter.” She dismisses flatly. “There's really only one thing I can think of.” She continues, likely making an accurate guess. “How much does he know?”

“That's it, but it's clearly enough to put him in danger.” I utter somberly as I massage my temples. “How did you survive the journey here?” I ask.

“...” He stares at me with his dark eyes without saying a word.

I sigh and slowly resume making my way back to the workshop. We'll be safer with the Templars there. I force myself to think of my next move which has to be to send the kid out of the city as quickly as possible. The longer I wait, the more difficult it will be to evade the eyes of the two that fled.

Yet, it takes me forever to return because I have to take breaks to catch my breath. Just as we finally arrive, Roisia shows up with a squad of Hospitaliers.

Those accompanying her all bear disabilities of a kind, they each wield halberds with hard leather armors and chain-mails. I recognize two, Denus with his large shield and limp, and Mary with her one eye.

“Dame Vikiana.” She greets with a quick salute. “Jessica.” She adds.

“I don't get a salute?” I ask grumpily.

“You got yourself banged up so you get Nahl and Rowland when they get here.” She replies with a smile.

“Did you get the report?” I question.

“Not yet, I was counting on you to tell us what happened and make plans for how we react.” She responds.

“Who's us?” I ask.

“Just about everyone. Grace, Leomi, and Yvonne were already on their way to Meria for the ball this Sunday.” Roisia explains. “But we should talk about that in private.”

“Later.” I curtly tell her. “I need you to find me someone you would trust with your life.”

“Why?” She asks while raising an eyebrow.

“Because I say so.” I utter sharply. “I don't have time to argue, this is important.”

“Alright.” She nods seriously.

As I was about to explain, Ms Conner rushes out of the workshop with the master smith one step behind. A commotion arises at my disheveled state and the presence of the Hospitaliers' Vice-Commander that drags pretty much every single one of my employees here.

The noise and my increasingly complicated surroundings worsen my headache because I can't keep track of so many threats right now. Vikiana thankfully keeps everyone from approaching too close, knowing me well enough to be afraid of what I could do.

Ironically, she's the one I both dread the most and can trust the most. I close my eyes to fight the pain cleaving my skull. Vikiana will handle the kid for now and that he'll stay silent about who he is because of my earlier refusal to tell her. I start forcefully making my way through the people.

“Wait.” Ulf's eldest stops me, his voice the only one that could make it through my haze. I belatedly notice that people stopped throwing words at me.

“What?” I ask, turning around with a scowl.

“Where are you going?” He questions.

“I'm going to sit down.” I reply shortly.

I catch sight of Rowland and Nahl walking over with Uhla in tow. I groan and flip around to enter the workshop while ignoring the kid's next call. I hear people try to flood in after me, including Semplars considering the orders that Nahl barks out to stop them.

“Give Dame Freepath some breathing room.” The master smith's gruff voice rises above all others.

“That includes you, Roisia Urnan.” Vikiana adds with a firm voice.

“But not me, let me pass.” Uhla growls out, sounding in a bad mood.

“It definitely does.” I counter loudly, making myself flinch at the pang of agony the noise causes me.

“Don't forget your promise.” Nahl shouts from afar.

“You never said it only applies once.” Rowland adds, obliterating the point I would make before the idea made it past the curtain of pain currently shrouding my thoughts.

“Fine, but it ends when his promise does.” I grunt, resigning myself because it's less agonizing to give up than to argue.

I find a stool to drop on and put my elbow on my knee to support my head. I watch Uhla walk in while throwing curious glances at the worktables, sad that I am in such bad shape I can't appreciate her youthful charm.

She walks up to me with her hand extended out once again. I raise my chin to throw her a pointed look. She hesitates for a moment before scowling and taking the last step to put two fingers on my left temple.

“You're the patient, don't interfere.” Uhla tells me as she assembles a diagnostic construct.

“Just fix the headache.” I say with a grunt. “Don't dawdle or I'll flatten you.”

“It'd hurt you more than me.” She dismisses. “And I'll charge you for fixing the new wounds afterward.”

I follow as the energy spreads out over my brain, blocking the flow from going near the lower-back of my head where the Little one planted its tiny roots. Uhla throws me a glare but it quickly softens as she undoubtedly receives an overview of my injuries.

“You're badly bruised.” She tells me.

“No shit.” I whisper, amused that the exchange went the same way as the first time we met.

“You have what's called a concussion.” She concludes. “Not that a savage like you would know or care.”

“Alright, fix it.” I reply.

Uhla assembles specific healing constructs to deal with my headache, it helps quite a bit to clear my mind. I try to chase her by pushing her away. She steps back but stubbornly remains there.

“I haven't looked over your heart or fingers yet.” Uhla says, reaching out again to move the diagnostic construct towards my chest.

I let her, hurting too much to bother fighting her over this. She's not knowledgeable enough to figure out the origin of my problems, my case is unique after all, and I find her dedication to her work rather admirable.

“I need to see the bruises directly to treat them, is there a room we can use?” She asks while silently giving me the recorded results of the diagnostic construct. I dismantle the construct and give her the energy back. “Keep it, Master Amand said I can use the energy in the cistern.” She tells me.

“He's back?” I ask, blinking. “And he heard what happened already?”

“He came back last night with our Temple's two companies to prepare the return of two regiments of Templars to the mainland.” She explains. “The rest of the city probably knows more about what happened than I do by now.”

I sigh and get off the stool to lead her inside the office, finding the accountant that Ms Conner hired working on some kind of contract. I chase him out and get Uhla to help me unstrap my armor.

I make her leave to remove my gear, which ends up being a tiring struggle with one hand and two broken fingers I can't use. I manage by taking it slow and progressing step by step.

I find out that I received a dozen nasty bruises on my limbs, some from arrows that didn't hit my cuirass which indicates the projectiles were more powerful than I realized but not superior to my hard black leather armor while the rest are from the rubble that dropped on me.

The armor took more damage than I thought as well. The swords-women didn't so much scratch the steel as cut small grooves into it. I lift the pile of gear with one foot and hide my Vuskyt mail-shirt under the pile before calling Uhla back in.

She begins by pulling my pants down without ceremony or a hint of embarrassment to treat the bruise on my left thigh. The relief she gave my brain unfortunately means my mind is free to feel self-conscious about my body, yet the girl doesn't seem to care one way or another.

“You're lucky I'm dead tired.” I mutter.

“I would ask any other patient to undress, consider yourself privileged.” Uhla responds absentmindedly.

I grit my teeth at the insinuation and let her do her work. Lucky for me, my bruises aren't located on my chest so my secrets aren't in danger. She replaces the healing construct I applied to my fingers with an entirely new one, just as unknown to me as the one she used on my concussion.

“Any other issues?” She asks as she pulls my sleeve down after treating the purple circle of flesh on my right arm.

“No.” I shake my head. “We're done here.” I tell her.

“Not yet, we aren't.” She calmly denies.

Uhla reaches out to the left side of my rib-cage and runs her fingers over the protruding bones without a hint of disgust. She inspects my face as she taps them one by one with her knuckles.

“No pain?” She questions.

“Why would I be in pain?” I ask.

“I've never seen anything like it so I don't know either.” She replies with a thoughtful tone.

“You haven't seen it.” I tell her, rolling my eyes. “If you want to, you're going to have to buy me a drink first.”

“I wouldn't take a savage as a friend, much less date a woman.” Uhla responds quietly, clearly still focused on my ribs. “You should let me take a closer look at your heart.”

“Alright, that's it.” I tell her. “Send someone to Ms Conner to pick up your coin later.”

She tries to protest but retreats as I raise my hand to push her out of the room. I feel quite touched by the fact she doesn't want to give up but is trying to avoid my bandaged fingers so as not to let me hurt myself on her.

Uhla walks up to the cistern to return what's left of the flow she likely took earlier when I took my armor off. I put the Vuskyt mail-shirt on under my tunic and grab my winter cloak before calling Rowland over to pick up my gear. I fasten my belt around my waist as I step out of the workshop.

“Alright, get back to work.” I tell everyone. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

A few people step forward to show their concern and wish me well. I play along with the social niceties for the first few of the group and chase them away, Semplars included. Soon, only Ulf's eldest child, Roisia, Rowland, Nahl, and Vikiana remain.

“I'm going to eat, rest, and sleep.” I tell them before turning to the kid. “How much do those who took you know?” I ask him in a very low tone.

“Only that I knew she was a fake.” He murmurs only to me.

“Don't tell anything more to anyone.” I order, almost snapping in fear someone else heard. “You're going with Vikiana and Roisia, these two.” I point them out to him. His expression darkens. “They'll organize your trip back home.”

Vikiana and Roisia frown but don't contest my words. They're both intelligent enough to realize that the kid has to be evacuated out of the city as quickly as possible and that it's best if I make the calls since I'm the only one with information.

“I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.” The kid utters with a firm tone.

“You're going home to your mother, willingly or not.” I tell him, relying on my unshakable guilt to guide me. “She needs you to take care of your siblings, and you know it.”

“I...” The kid's lips tremble as he trails off. I decide to give him a moment.

“Viki, Roisia...” I start.

“I'll organize whatever it is you need myself.” Roisia interrupts.

“Then get the kid food and a bath. Buy whatever he asks for to return home, I'll pay you back.” I tell her.

“I didn't come here for coin.” The kid intervenes with a high-pitched voice.

“How did you get here?” I ask him.

“On foot.” He says with a firmer tone.

“Didn't she explain when she brought the gold?” I question, thinking of Teva.

“She did, I'll hear it from you or ask them.” He utters threateningly.

“...” I bite the inside of my cheek. “We were about to fail, I told him to protect her, he did, we succeeded, he died.” I utter flatly, causing the kid's eyes to water up.

“Why?” The kid asks, trembling.

His expression of incomprehension, the emotion in his voice, his loss. It hits me in the gut like a hammer. I put my hand on his shoulder, hardening myself in order to get him to leave. It feels weird to think of the kid as a child considering he's larger than I am and almost taller.

“I owe him so I'm sending you back to your mother right this instant and that's that.” I tell him, locking eyes. “If you want to tell people what you know, then you can but you have to realize you can't do it directly because it puts you and your family in danger.”

“Jessica.” Roisia warns.

“I, I...” The kid hesitates. He raises his hand and pushes mine away.

“Write a letter and drop it off on your way out of the city.” I tell him. “If they stop you, do it from home.”

“Jessica, this involves more than just his family.” Roisia insists.

“Shut up.” I turn to glare at her, causing about thirty people to stiffen because of the harshness of my voice towards the Hospitaliers' Vice-Commander. “You're going to make sure someone trustworthy accompanies him out of the city by ship. Sail him around the Izla until he tells you to drop him off on a rowboat and then let him return home on his own. Then send the ship on a trade run to Telnur for whatever.”

“I just want to know what happened, she told Mother but I wasn't there.” The kid whispers.

“... Come with me then.” I utter with a sigh. Frieda kept the story Teva told her from him but likely wouldn't have done so if she knew her eldest would leave home to find out by himself. “I'll tell you and then you'll leave.”

I feel off-balance, torn between my guilt and my sense of self-preservation. Yet, I can only suppress the latter because I owe Ulf so I can't pressure the kid to hold his tongue if he wants revenge.

“Denus, you're escorting them back!” Roisia calls out.

“Can we help?” Rowland asks, apparently talking for Nahl at the same time.

“Find a blacksmith to repair my gear, and figure out if there's one that can work on Vuskyt.” I tell him.

“Wouldn't help if you found one.” Nahl speaks up. “The Vuskyt armors and weapons used by the drones can't be reforged, the quality is too low so it becomes brittle if you do. You won't find any quality Vuskyt in Caeviel, not unless you're ready to get into debt.”

That explains why the scimitar ended up shattering. No, I think that was a normal consequence to using it as a bolt. I bring the kid back to the brothel with the escort of Hospitaliers.

I keep my eyes on the roofs and surroundings, trusting Vikiana to have my back. On the way, I wonder if I can pay him a night of fun but abandon the idea because he doesn't look interested in the slightest in the prostitutes we come across.

We eat a meal at the table in silence and I then tell him the story of what happened in Castle Lance. He listens in silence but his expression grows horrified as I recount the betrayals, deaths, and battle in detail.

I don't spare myself and keep my voice steady. Yet, in the end, he leaves the room without a word. I remind him not to tell anyone anything but don't follow, knowing that Vikiana will ensure that Roisia gets him out of the city and even polish my plan.

It isn't cowardice that keeps me from getting involved further but that it takes all I have not to because it might make the kid's situation worse. There is also the fact that he needs to make the choice of whether to expose me as Elizabeth Vil or not on his own, without me there to pressure him either way.

I know he won't and it's relieving but it hurts. In a way, it would be easier for us if he did. I chase my dark thoughts and guilt from my mind, although they remain in my gut. I close the flaps and then wait a while before leaving the room.

I make my way upstairs to a small bedroom located under the stairwell that leads up to the floor that Cecil used to occupy, aware that Aisha used to sleep here. The kid is going to be on the move for the day and guards so he'll be safer than I would be in my room if the fake E.Vil tries to get to us.

The bed is small and cozy and there is a bookshelf. Cecil emptied it of the Shade's possessions but kept it furnished for me. The brothel isn't as busy as it was so it isn't too hard to sneak up here but it isn't closed either so it's safer have somewhere to sleep where only a few know I could be.

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