"DAD!" Farn yelled, running into the study where his dad was looking grimly at a few papers. Kadaras looked up, along with Danadie, Kando, and Manadet. Farn took a moment to wonder why they were all in his father's study, before he snapped his attention back to what he had wanted to talk about.

"Aurelie's missing! She isn't in her room, and no one's seen her!" Farn said, worry lacing through his voice. The adults exchanged glances, then Kadaras sighed.

"Apparently, Gradas Meir has her." Kadaras sighed, leaning back in his chair and throwing the paper in his hand on his desk.

"WHAT!?! WHY AREN'T WE GOING AFTER HER?" Farn roared, looking back and forth between all the adults in the room, incomprehension and fury in his eyes.

"We aren't doing anything because we can't do anything. Along with the news that Aurelie was taken, Gradas Meir issued a statement that in three days he will march his troops into our village. We are at war, and I need all my men training and preparing, not attempting half-assed rescue attempts for someone who isn't even part of Lejus! I'm sorry, son. I know you and Mellana liked her, and we all liked her too, but I can't justify saving the life of someone I barely know over the entire village. Aurelie will have to deal with things herself." Kadaras said, sighing again.

Farn was pale. He knew what his father had told him was correct, but he couldn't just leave Aurelie alone. Without making a sound, unable to make a sound, Farn turned on his heel and walked out the door.

Sighing for a third time, Kadaras looked at his brother. "Kando, please go ensure that he and Mellana won't do something stupid and decide to mount a rescue."

Nodding, Kando left the room.

~~~~~~~

Aurelie came to consciousness with a start. She immediately checked her surroundings. No change. She sighed. She hadn't expected any, but finding, oh, say, her gun, would've been nice. She sighed again. She had no idea how much time was left until the war started, but by the urgency with which she was being beaten, she could guess that it was soon. She smiled as she remembered the astonishment on her torturers faces as they realized that she wasn't even grunting at their blows. They had no idea that she had been trained to deal with pain that was far worse than what they gave her. They were still villagers at heart, not ruthless and cruel enough to not feel guilt at being forced to brutalize a young girl, one who was far weaker than them in many ways. Aurelie had been taught in a way that ensured even the most brutal of the many sharks swimming in the world's shadowy underbelly couldn't take her secrets from her.

She clenched her teeth and shook her head, once again burying her memories back in the past, where they belonged. Her childhood kept popping up, frequently featured in both her dreams and waking life. Probably because of how similar her current situation was to her past. Even the location was pretty close, though back then the cell had been a metaphorical one.

Feeling the past creep up on her once more, she cautiously moved into her cultivation position, almost crying at the agony of simply moving her legs into criss-cross-applesauce position. Just because she didn't make a sound during her torture sessions didn't mean that they didn't put her into a world of agony. She immediately began to cultivate. Although the chains pulled the Spirit Energy out of her before it reformed the ball in her abdomen, when the chains were off, she would have the power new power as well. In addition, while the World Energy ran through her to be purified, it healed her a tiny bit. Not a lot, but enough that she could feel a difference after the first few cycles.

After three hours, her injuries were more than halfway healed, and all her severe injuries were fully healed. Aurelie cautiously stood up, and regretted it. She didn't fully heal her injuries, as that would show weakness, equivalent to saying that the only way she could deal with the pain was by healing herself. And knowing Grades, he was sadistic enough to post a guard to make sure she wouldn't be able to cultivate. It wouldn't break her, but it would make things significantly harder.

After all, even partially healed, the pain radiating from her injuries almost had her falling back down onto the cold, hard, stone floor and curling into a small ball. Taking a shallow breath (a deep one would render her unable to do anything other than clutch her once broken and now bruised ribs for a minute or two) she clung to the small, natural cracks in the rock walls, and using them she walked the perimeter of her cell. The short walk served as an exhausting workout, and she nearly fell over every few minutes. She was in such pain that she almost passed out at every sudden movement, but she made her daily 'make sure that they didn't mess with anything while I was passed out' check. Though she referred to them as daily, she had no idea whether or not actually they were, seeing as how she has no way to keep track of the time.

When she finished her round, she carefully lowered herself down onto the floor and waited. After a half hour had passed, a sound from the door made her look up. When she saw the people standing at the door, she let out a smile.

"Well, was I right, or was I right?"

~~~~~~~

Kadaras Lejus looked out the window, watching his men go through training exercises with a grim face. The battle with Meir Village started at noon tomorrow. He cast a long look past the fields, in the direction of the village that he had once considered one of his greatest friends and allies. Farn and Mellana had both tried to mount several rescue attempts, stopping only after they were made to realize that everyone was wasting time and energy having to watch over them as well as worry about the war.Though they had stopped, worry still shone on their faces.

He thought about Aurelie, and then about Gradas.

'Your move.' He thought to himself, his hands clenching behind his back. He shifted is gaze so that he could look at whatever part of Lejus Village he could see. 'Your move.'