The dark did not frighten Serena as it did when she was younger. If anything, it annoyed her now, after Ned had taught her how to create lights out of thin air. It was quite easy too, requiring almost none of the magic that resided within her. That ease, however, only made the moments when she couldn’t snap away the dark more irritating than they should have been.

And today was no exception.

With a silent sigh, Serena leaned her head back against the stone wall and closed her eyes, noticing no difference from when they were open. The City Guard who had dumped her in the cell still believed her to be a Drow, and thus hadn’t bothered with providing any light for her to see by. Bastards.

She had gotten a decent look at her cell before they plunged her into darkness, though she wished she hadn’t. Situated in the basement of the jail, at the bottom of a short flight of stairs, was a long corridor made up with rows upon rows of identical looking cells. Hers was barely large enough to house the dirty bed and empty bucket that it contained, and when the guards had thrown her in, feet kicking up dirt, she’d almost crashed against the opposite stone wall. By the time she’d struggled to her feet, they had slammed the door to the basement shut, throwing the place into the blackest of voids.

And of course, they left her manacles on.

Without bothering to orientate herself in the pitch, Serena had simply sank to the ground, her back pressed against the cold stone, her manacled hands in her lap. The thought of sitting on the bed made her skin crawl, and without magic to clean it, Serena refused to even let her skirt brush against it.

And so, Serena Lash sat in what felt like the darkest cell of Waterdeep, fighting the irrational fear that she’d be stuck there forever. Not a sound came from any of the cells around her and she hadn’t seen any other prisoners when they had dragged her down the hallway. She must have been well and truly alone, with nothing to pass the time save rattling her shackles and letting the frustrations of the day utterly consume her.

Grinding her teeth, Serena slammed her shackled hands into her thighs, then slammed them down again – and again – and again – only to immediately feel childish from the outburst. She leaned her head back against the wall and fidgeted about, toes curling and uncurling, then pulled her legs against her chest and laid her head against them, shackled arms ringed about her. A hot guilt had quickly washed over her, burning her mind, sending a shudder down her back.

How easy it was for Serena to blame herself for the explosion that had destroyed those blocks. How simple it was let that guilt consume her the moment she had stepped out of the wreckage, tripping over the debris that clogged the street, completely untouched. How effortless it was to hate herself for piles of bodies draped under stained tarps. And how could she not hate herself? Had she never stormed out of Werond’s house, nothing so horrible would have occurred today.

But it wasn’t that simple, was it?

Serena pulled her head back, neck itching, and sucked in a deep breath.

Despite the yawning void that yearned for Serena’s descent into self-hatred, she refused let herself get caught in that trap; just as with Vanet, what had happened today was not solely caused by her. While she did play a part, it was not as large as her guilt wanted her to believe.

Then again, the more she thought about it, Serena didn’t understand if she’d done anything in the first place. After all, that silvery explosion hadn’t truly come from her.

Hesitantly, as best she could with hands still manacled, Serena raised her arms and laid her wrist against the moon still strapped around her neck; the pendant was cool to the touch, the arrows behind it still pointy, and nothing about it screamed that anything was out of the ordinary.

But the entire thing was out of the ordinary; from the repeated attempts at strangling her, from disappearing into thin air, and to igniting a silvery explosion large enough to level multiple city blocks, her choker was everything but a simple piece of family jewelry. If anything, she should have ripped it off and shipped it back home ages ago.

And yet, despite all of that, Serena felt not an ounce of fear towards it. After all, the thing had acted in self-defense, hadn’t it?

Serena stretched out her cramping legs and laid her hands back into her lap, the flames of guilt slowly cooling within her chest.

The choker had only reacted once Jarlaxle made his intentions of violence clear, trying to strangle her and whatever else he wished to do right after. Despite how it backfired, the choker almost seemed to react with a mind of its own, doing what it thought was best at the time to defend its owner. Serena would have scoffed at the idea had the choker not acted surprisingly similar so many times before.

That didn’t excuse the way it had chosen to defend her though, nor did it outright remove Serena from being responsible, but it was enough to lessen the guilt she felt in her chest. Until now, she hadn’t a clue that her family pendant would react in such a violent way. Her ignorance on the matter, then, meant that she wasn’t entirely to blame, despite her heart telling her otherwise.

It felt like a balancing act, accepting some of the blame but not all of it. And of course, an explanation like that only benefited Serena; she doubted that the argument would hold up to anyone else – not the City Guard, not the families of those who died, not to Werond.

A hot, nervous energy tore through Serena’s body like lightning, her guilty thoughts abandoned; unable to remain still, she leapt up and crossed the cramped space in four steps, almost slamming into the cell-door. She flipped back around and began to pace across the room as best she could, backwall to the metal bars, over and over again.

The fact that Serena had gotten so close to Werond and couldn’t say a single word tore her apart worse than anything else that had happened today. Perhaps she should be ashamed of herself for thinking like that, but it felt all too true. Cruck’aa’s words still rattled about in her mind, setting her teeth on edge, and though Serena knew that he was wrong, a part of her still demanded that Werond speak the truth herself. After all the other times with her, anything else would keep the seeds of doubt sown within her mind for far too long.

But for now, all Serena could do was wait.

She sighed, fighting off a fresh wave of frustration, and leaned her head forward; her forehead fit neatly between two of the bars of the door, the cool metal fending off the heat that burned through her.

There was no point in letting herself get worked up further. As much as Serena wanted to pace and scream and curse and cry, none of that would do her any good. Werond would come down to get her out, and when she did, Serena would have her answers, one way or another. Until then, she had to be patient.

Serena squeezed her eyes shut and lightly tapped her head against the bars; she could be patient. She’d always been patient with Werond. It was her patience that had gotten her through some of their roughest moments together. She could be patient for the few hours it would take for Werond to finish up directing the cleanup and rescue efforts.

She leaned her head back and grimaced, unable to believe herself.

…

The door at the top of the stairs slammed open.

Serena jolted awake, knocking her head against the stone wall; she leapt up and rushed to the bars, dimly visible from the light that poured down the hallway, the black void barely pushed away.

Her head began to swim as her bearings came back to her; Serena leaned against the bars to steady herself, heart hammering in her chest. When had she fallen asleep? And for how long? She didn’t have anytime to think, however, as she heard the door slam close.

Heavy bootsteps descended the stairs and accompanied the light as it moved further down the hallway; within a few heartbeats, Werond, still dressed in her Masked Lord attire, stood in front Serena’s cell. She held a lantern high in one gloved hand and stood as though the weight of a building pressed down onto her shoulders.

Serena had to shield her face from the lantern, it’s light bright enough to send lances of pain through her eyes; Werond’s distorted voice tore out of the helmet, echoing off the walls.

“Those fucking bastards.” she spat, then half mumbled to herself.

As Serena’s eyes continued to adjust, Werond reached over and hung the lantern on the wall beside the cell. The throbbing in Serena’s eyes vanished as the light was half cut off, filling her cell with dancing shadows. She stepped back as Werond pulled out a set of keys and inserted them into lock on the cell door; with an almighty THUNK, she pulled it wide open.

Gentle gloved hands enclosed Serena’s shackles, and within seconds, the thick manacles that gagged her were finally, blessedly, torn away. With one hand, Werond flung the horrid device over her shoulder and out the cell, the manacles clanging loudly against the cell-door across from Serena’s. She still held onto Serena’s hands however, and now began turning them over, examining them, rubbing the spots on her wrists where the metal dug in.

“Had I known they weren’t going to uncuff you, I’d said something.” Werond muttered. “Fucking racist pigs. Not in my city.”

Evidently satisfied with her inspection, she released Serena’s hands and ripped her helmet off, tossing it onto the bed. Werond’s thick hair stuck to her forehead in strands, and she could barely keep her eyes open.

“I tell them to get you somewhere safe and they throw you into a fucking hole.” Werond’s voice came out raw and overused. “Sorry. Need to talk to them. Are you alright? Did they do anything else to you?”

“No.” Serena said, for the first time in…however long had she been down in the dark. “They just threw me in here and left. I’m okay. Thanks.”

“Good.” Werond sighed. “Good.”

She stepped over to the filthy bed and plopped down on it unceremoniously. The bed squeaked under her weight as she leaned forward and held her head in her hands, body slumping.

Serena stared for a moment, massaging a sore spot on her wrist. She raised a hand to snap, to grab Werond’s attention, only to find that she lacked the will to do so.

From the moment Werond had appeared at her cell door, Serena had felt that warm, nervous energy course through her body. Even now she felt it, her heart hammering in her chest, anxiety clawing at her mind with so many questions on her fingertips. And yet, seeing Werond so exhausted had stopped Serena in her tracks, holding back that nervous energy like a cork in a wine bottle. The last thing Werond could handle was an onslaught of questions, and Serena wasn’t about to subject her to that torment.

Fingers trembling only a little, Serena sat down on the floor across from Werond and folded her hands into her lap, forcing herself to be patient for just a little bit longer.

Werond did not move from her slumped position. The moment bled into several, Serena quickly losing track of time as her heart slowly quieted, but not completely. It was odd how out of place Werond looked within the cell; her beautiful, ornate robes and dreadful helmet had probably never seen the inside of a place like this until now. Doubtless they never would again after today.

Finally, sucking in a deep breath, Werond raised her head and crossed her hands into her lap, almost mirroring Serena. Her eyes were fully open now, though her shoulders remained slumped.

“Three blocks.” Werond said quietly. “Three blocks were destroyed in that explosion. Shops, restaurants, houses – all of it gone. It took hours to find the people still trapped in the rubble, though there weren’t a lot of them. We found more dead than alive. We…” Werond bit her lip. “we didn’t stop finding bodies. Every time you think you’ve shifted through everything, you just…find more. You don’t really realize how many people can pack into three blocks until you see them crushed and mangled under three tons of stone chunk. And that was just in the buildings. There were more in the streets.”

Werond hung her head; Serena clenched her hands into fists, trembling as that hot guilt came roaring back up inside her.

“It’s a mess. No other way to put it.” Werond continued. “Things could be worse though. Public protocol prevented too much confusion, and our firefighters did an amazing job saving those who were still alive. Our response was on point, and countless lives were saved because of it. It’s hard to realize that in the face of so many dying, but it’s the truth.”

She pulled her head back up and met Serena’s eyes, exhaustion flicking within them like a dying candle.

“I know what you said before,” Werond said, voice rough. “and I believe you. Completely. I truly do, Serena. But I need you to confirm it for me again. Did you have anything to do with the explosion?”

“I don’t know. In a way, I guess.” Serena responded immediately.

The exhaustion that weighed Werond down evaporated instantly; she bolted off the bed, hands outstretched, staring at Serena with wide, panicked eyes; Serena started from the sight.

“What?!” Werond screeched. “You said you didn’t! You shook your head! What do you mean by that?! Serena, did you do –”

“No! I didn’t do it myself –” Serena signed desperately.

“Then what do you mean, in a way?!”

“I…the flames came out of my choker. I have no idea how, but they did, I swear!”

Saying it felt stupid, almost like an excuse, and she half expected Werond to explode at her. The Masked Lord, however, did nothing of the sort; she sat back down on the bed, eyes still wide, and began wringing her hands.

“Your choker did this? Truly?” She asked, almost pleading.

“Yes. I swear by the Platinum Dragon, it was the choker, not me.”

“Please humor me, but why would it act like this out of nowhere?”

“It’s not out of nowhere; there’s…something wrong with it. It keeps doing things that it shouldn’t, and I think today was just, uhm…really extreme.”

“It keeps doing things?”

“Well, it sometimes burns and chokes me, and I have to rip it off but there’s never any actual damage. It’s disappeared and reappeared before too, and there was even that time you couldn’t get it off my throat, but I’m –”

“How long has this been going on for?!” Werond demanded. “Why didn’t you say anything? Did you just ignore this?”

“Uhm…it never really hurt me, and Dad never mentioned anything like this when he gave it to me, so…I just assumed it was some weird magic. I meant to find someone to look at it but…”

Serena shivered slightly and glanced away; not once had it crossed her mind to get someone else to help, but she wasn’t about to admit that. Or that her solution was to simply ignore the issue and pray it went away.

“So…” Her eyes snapped back to Werond, who was slowly nodding. “Your chocker has been doing these things at random then? That’s what happened today?” She sighed and rolled her head. “I…I’m not sure what to think of that.”

“I don’t either. And uh…I don’t think it’s random. Something sets it off, I’m sure. For all the other times, I have no idea, but today…”

Serena’s fingers curled into her palms; Werond remained silent, expectant. Slowly, that nervous energy climbed its way out of Serena’s chest, spreading throughout her body.

“Uhm…” Serena began, fingers trembling ever so slightly. “I got jumped by Jarlaxle after I left your house. I don’t know what he wanted with me, but…” Serena steadied herself. “He tried to strangle me, and the choker burned him, and when he went back to try to something, I don’t know it…exploded. In self-defense. I…”

Her words died upon her fingertips. All the color had drained from Werond’s face, her skin now a ghastly shade of light brown.

“J-J-Jarlaxle grabbed you?” she sputtered. “Are you sure it was him?!”

“Completely.” Serena replied quietly, the tremor in her hands growing worse.

Werond’s head immediately fell back into her hands, her voice a harsh whisper, “Gods damnit, gods damnit, gods damnit…” Her body began to tremble. “I didn’t think…he wouldn’t have…fuck, I didn’t realize he’d…fuck.”

Her head snapped back up, so fast that Serena jumped.

“We didn’t find him in the rubble. He’s gone, you didn’t get him.” Words poured from her like a waterfall. “No trace. I don’t know how he did, but he did. Just like him. He’s mad. He’s extremely mad, I know he is. This is bad – bad, bad, bad. He’s going to come back – when, I-I don’t know but he will. I don’t know what to do, I don’t – you can’t go back to my house, he knows about you, he’ll check it – I can’t make you leave, he’ll go after you –”

“Werond –” Serena’s body began to tremble.

“He’s going to pissed, you’ve pissed him off, I know you have – I don’t know what he’ll do though, if he’s not there and I haven’t seen him he has to be licking his wounds but –”

“Werond please –” Frustration bubbled in her chest, the heat within her growing unbearable.

“I don’t know what to do, he’s going to come back tonight, I know he will, he’s mad, I –”

“Bahamut’s Teeth, Werond –” Her fingers curled, her teeth mashed together, as fearful anticipation tore through her heart.

“Gods, Serena, I don’t know –”

“Are you working with Jarlaxle to keep me here?!”

Werond flinched violently; she shoved herself away from Serena, colliding with the stone wall behind her. Serena’s heart ached as she made out the whites of Werond’s glassy eyes.

“I-I, I’m sorry Werond.” Serena whispered. “I just…I need to know. Everything looks…it all adds up too weirdly. Please…”

Her heart hammered in her chest, harder than it had ever beat before. Werond stared at her for a moment longer, then, blessedly, shook her head.

“I…” she wiped her eyes with the back of her gloved hand. “No. Gods, no Serena. Never have I even entertained the thought. Why would you say that?” Her voice broke. “Where did you get that idea from?”

Serena’s skin crawled as a shameful heat burned in her cheeks and ears; she broke Werond’s gaze, unable to look at her as she signed, “Cruck’aa figured out that you’re a Masked Lord. He went and spied on the person that I told you about, the one we captured, and he caught Jarlaxle and Simon talking about…everything. That you’re working with the Thief’s Guild and knew about the tunnel and that you’re…corrupt. He thought that you’re trying to get rid of us, and he even talked about removing you somehow but…” Serena squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her arms to her chest, barely able to speak. “I didn’t believe him. I didn’t. But the more I thought about it, the more worried and anxious I got until I just couldn’t think straight anymore, and I just needed to hear you say it and –” She cut herself off and rubbed her face, burning hot.

She was right. From the very start, Serena was right. There wasn’t any possible chance that Werond was trying to work against her or help Jarlaxle in any way. And just the act of accusing Werond and voicing her irrational thoughts aloud drove a dagger into her heart; how could she doubt the woman she loved?

Serena sucked in a breath; despite her shame, a tiny part of her knew she was right to be afraid. After all, how many times had Werond kept the truth from her, only for it to all blow up in the end?

But that didn’t excuse Serena’s doubts.

Serena looked back up, an apology on her fingertips, only stop short; the fear that had infected Werond just a moment ago had vanished, replaced by half closed eyes and a slump in her shoulders.

Werond straightened up when she caught Serena’s eye.

“I work for the Thief’s Guild in the sense that my boss is in charge of them.” She said quietly. “I do things that help them but I’m not directly in their hierarchy. I’m just…next to them, I guess. I will be honest…there was a time that I did work directly for them, but that was before I was a Masked Lord, before Jarlaxle; I was just a kid and Jarlaxle wasn’t in charge then, and I got out when I could. Now though…

“He took over awhile ago. Many years back. When he did, he needed a puppet at the Lord’s table to make things easier for his newly acquired organization…and I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I stupidly listened to him, thinking that I could undermine him once I received my power but…that never panned out. Now, whatever Jarlaxle orders me to do, I’m forced to obey. All of his orders are for the benefit of the Guild, and while it may seem like I’m working with them, truly, I’m not. I work for Jarlaxle, and not the Guild, but I understand how it can be misconstrued that way.”

A fire lit within Werond’s amber eyes.

“But never, in the entire time I’ve known you, did it enter my mind to work against you and the others. Never. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve tried to do has all been to help everyone…especially you. I’m just…so limited in what I can do and what I can tell you…I’m not surprised it ended up looking this way. I’m sorry Serena, I never intended to do this to you.” She sighed. “But how many times have I said that before?”

“What do you mean you’re limited?” Serena asked. “Why couldn’t you tell me all this when you talked to me in the coliseum? Or after Jarlaxle attacked you? If I had known any of this, I could have defended you after Cruck’aa said everything. Or…” She waved her hands about. “or be here!”

“I didn’t tell you because the moment Jarlaxle catches wind of what I’d done, he’ll…” Werond’s hands curled into fists. “He’ll make my life a living hell. The Masked Lord business I know he doesn’t care about, but how I go about helping the Thief’s Guild…” Werond leaned her head back against the wall. “Gods, I’m sure he’s figured out that I gave you guys the hint on the tunnel in the first place. That was so, so stupid of me.” She looked back at Serena. “But I wanted to help. I really did, but hints like that were the only way I could do so. Anything else and…”

“But we’ll help you if it comes to that!” Serena’s chest tightened. “Werond, I just don’t get it. Why do you let him control you like this? I know you said he has power over you –”

“You just answered your own question. Serena, it’s because of what he did to Tai.” Serena cringed at the flat response. “He punishes everything I do that goes against him, and he’s not afraid of going to extremes to get his message across. He’s,” She laughed humorlessly. “he’s broken me in. That’s just something I’ve come to accept.”

“But if it came down to that, I know we could all help you – even if it’s just me! Wouldn’t that be enough?”

“No, it wouldn’t. Serena, you don’t understand what he can do, it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough.”

“So, you’ll just…always listen to him, no matter what?”

“I have to Serena; his word is law. I’m not as brave as you, I can’t just –”

“Even if he told you to hurt me?” Serena demanded, frustration boiling over. “You’d still listen to him?”

Serena jerked, eyes wide, unable to believe the words that came flying from her hands; Werond’s shoulder’s slumped but she did not break Serena’s gaze.

“What would you have me say?” She whispered. “If I fight back, he’ll go out of his way to maim you in ways I’d never thought possible. Better me than him. I could make…”

The words died in her throat; Werond’s eyes began to well up, and she ducked her head as she rubbed at them.

“I’m not as brave as you Serena.” She whispered. “I don’t I ever will be.”

Serena gritted her teeth as she felt her heart snap.

How ridiculous she was being, throwing ‘even ifs’ and fake situations at Werond, who’d done nothing but endure a tyrannical hell that Serena would never truly understand. The fact that she’d even gotten to this point was bad enough. Werond didn’t need her doubts, she needed Serena’s help, and to do anything less wasn’t something that Werond deserved. As frustrated as Serena was with how powerless Werond felt, she refused to let those feelings dominate her.

“I’m sorry Werond,” Serena began. “I shouldn’t –”

“You need to stop apologizing to me.” Werond said flatly; she straightened up and sucked in a breath, eyes no longer glassy. “You have nothing to apologize for, darling. I’ve been the shitty one, not you. Everything you’ve said to me, you’ve been well within your rights.”

“I…I don’t know about that.” Serena signed.

“Well, I do. I just wish you wouldn’t move past how much I’ve wronged you so quickly; it makes me more ashamed than I already am.”

“W-Werond…” Serena stammered; how did she respond to that? “I just want to help.”

“I know.” Werond said quietly. “And I love you all the same for it.”

Werond scooted forward and stood up from the bed; Serena quickly following suit, her chest tight. That tightness vanished, however, when Werond laid her hands on Serena’s shoulders, a steel look in her eyes. It was only then that Serena noticed the lantern had begun to burn out.

“We need to get back to the house.” Werond said quietly. “As much as I want to continue our conversation, we’ve stayed for far too long. If Jarlaxle is as furious as I believe him to be, we need to warn the others. I doubt he’ll limit his anger to only you and me at this point.” She bit her lip. “And…I need to come clean to thems. No one’s going to listen to us if I don’t.”

“Are you okay with them knowing though?” Serena asked.

“If I don’t say anything, it’s only going to get worse. Jo and Pavel will listen, I know that for sure. Cruck’aa…well, he can take care of himself. I’m not worried about him.”

“Werond…”

“Am I wrong?”

Serena began to sign but found that she couldn’t find a reason to disagree.

“Truly, the best option would be for you – all of you, honestly – to hide somewhere and let me deal with things. But…” Werond sighed. “I don’t think I could convince you of that.”

“You’re right.”

“Unfortunately. Would you at least promise me that, if something happens to me, you’ll get yourself to safety?”

“No.” Serena signed. “Because nothings going to happen to you, I’ll make sure of it.”

Werond sighed, looking utterly defeated. “I know. I know.”

And before Serena could sign, Werond pulled her in and wrapped her arms about her; Serena felt Werond’s heart hammer against her chest, and when Serena reciprocated the embrace, Werond squeezed her tighter.

“I’m a coward.” Werond said from behind her ear. “I truly am. But knowing you’ll stand with me, no matter what happens tonight, makes me feel so much better. I’ve never had anyone to stand with before, so…I’ll do my best. I’ll…” She nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Serena thought for a moment, then dug her face into Werond’s shoulder.

What else was she to say?