“Talk and walk,” Le’Nara commanded as she strode stately through the manor.

“Umm… Sure.” Rushing to catch up, Mongo let the door outside close and didn’t look back at the frosty wasteland behind him. “Where we going,” he asked, trying to swallow down a lump in his throat. He didn’t have a clue who this High Lady was, but apparently she wasn’t one with many qualms about killing others, and that made him nervous.

“To see your little woman,” Le’Nara answered calmly, seemingly completely unaffected by the sudden murder she’d just committed. No arrest, no trial, no chance to plead innocent – to Mongo’s way of thinking that wasn’t justice at all. It was simply a cold-blooded execution, and the High Lady was a murderess who would probably never be brought to justice. Thinking like that made his mouth grow dry and made him extremely nervous and wary of anything else that he might say or do from here on out.

“So,” Le’Nara laughed lightly, interrupting Mongo’s worried thoughts, “what can you tell me of the Heir’s Champion. How do you know of him?”

“So there really is a champion for the heir of Andor,” Mongo said, sounding as if he didn’t believe it himself anymore.

“There is,” Le’Nara nodded, “though it’s not a well-known fact. It’s never been announced to the public yet, so I’m curious how you know of him.”

“He’s my roommate,” Mongo answered with a dry laugh. “Or at least my roommate claimed to be him,” he clarified hastily.

Stopping walking, Le’Nara turned and arched an eyebrow questioningly towards Mongo. “The Young Lord Mik’Hail is your roommate? I knew he had journeyed here, but I have yet to find any records with his name upon them. I thought perhaps he had changed his mind on attending this school and decided to wander freely for a while instead.”

“I.. I don’t know,” Mongo replied nervously. “My roommate’s Michael, not Mik’Hail. He’s a wizard of astonishing power. Or he was. Well, he might still be. Maybe not. I don’t know…” Realizing he was rambling under Le’Nara’s cold stare, Mongo shut his mouth and didn’t say anything else.

“Was a wizard? Might not be now? Explain,” Le’Nara commanded.

“Well it’s kind of a long story,” Mongo answered, swallowing the lump in his throat. “To try and cut to the end, we were down in some undead infested underground caverns when the earthquake hit. We got separated and with half the group gravely injured we had to leave without him. I honestly don’t know where he is now, or if he’s even still alive.”

Staring, unblinking, Le’Nara’s eyes narrowed and a small fog of frost drifted from her fingers as she clutched them tightly together. “So you left him behind, not knowing his fate?”

“We did,” Mongo answered, hanging his head and waiting to be turned into a frozen statue.

For a long moment silence passed between them, and then Le’Nara turned and started walking again. “Mik’Hail isn’t one to fall just to the earth shaking. I once saw him channel and release a living volcano upon the land. His mastery of stone and fire isn’t to be taken lightly, and I don’t believe any shaking or moving of the ground would be enough to make him fall. Perhaps a gentle wave upon the ocean, but not the largest ripple of earth.” For some reason, Le’Nara seemed to find the last part amusing and laughed lightly to herself, leaving Mongo to wonder just how close she might be to Michael. Both of them seemed bat-shit crazy to him; laughing at the stupidest times!

“So how long have you been married?” Le’Nara asked, suddenly changing the conversation. “We’re here, by the way,” she said, motioning to a sec of double doors ahead. “The infirmary is just inside. Do you wish to go in?”

“Yeah,” Mongo answered carefully, “I’d like to check on Tiffany. She seems rather worried for some reason.”

Nodding slightly, Le’Nara pushed open the double doors and slowly stepped into a long sterilized hallway. The scent of disinfectant and cleaning supplies drifted out, intermingled with the smell of odd herbs and lotions. Mongo knew instantly from the odor alone, this was either an infirmary or an alchemist’s lab, or perhaps like many places, a combination of the two.

“I’m not married, by the way,” Mongo said as he walked in. Instinctively he could feel Tiffany ahead and to the right. Without thinking, he brushed past Le’Nara and walked on to the room she was in.

“Not married?” Le’Nara sounded shocked at first and then laughed freely. “If you’re not married, my lord, there isn’t such a thing as marriage in the whole of the world!” Giggling lightly, she walked to catch up. Whispering “Not married…” under her breath, she giggled lightly once again before walking into the infirmary behind Mongo.

The room they walked into was large, but still cramped from the number of beds inside it now. Looking as if it normally held two beds, now there was four all crammed together tightly, with several naked young women hovering between them and working their magics. Tiffany and Jess looked considerably better as they sat upright in their beds and ate while the other healers fussed and argued over Ghost and Crystal.

“High Lady Lee!” One of the young woman rushed forward and then did a half courtesy in front of Le’Nara. “I’m sorry my lady, but we don’t know what’s wrong with your guests. We can’t get them to awaken.”

“You jackass.” Staring hard ahead, Le’Nara shook her head in disbelief. “All of you out,” she commanded.

Half jumping, Mongo found himself backing up a few steps instinctively, as Jess and Tiffany both looked big eyed as the other girls all scurried out in a sudden rush.

“Not you, jackass. You stay.” Pointing a finger over to Mongo, Le’Nara stared straight ahead at the four girls without even looking back to make certain he followed. Walking forward, she gently wrapped her arms around Tiffany and hugged her. “You dear, are welcome here anytime. If you have any troubles or worries, simply tell them to me and I’ll deal with them as necessary. The Heartstone Empire is a place of welcome and refuge for all Doves.”

Giggling lightly, Tiffany hugged her back and then lightly tapped Le’Nara on the forehead with a finger. “Don’t be flirting with Mongo. He’s my man,” she demanded, sticking out her tongue slightly.

“Of course not, my lady.” Opening her robe wide and holding it there for a brief moment, Le’Nara bowed her head slightly as a sign of respect. “I’d never take what was yours, nor would I let another. You, and him, are safe and welcome here.”

“Okies then!” Giggling lightly, Tiffany leaned up and hugged her in return.

After their embrace was over this time, Le’Nara turned and pointed a finger at Jess. “You. Leave.”

“Wha… What?!” Jess’s jaw fell opened wide and she stared in disbelief in her treatment. “Why?!”

“Because,” Le’Nara replied, icy coldness in her voice, “I don’t like you. There’s too much black and gray in you for my taste. You’re not welcome here. Leave of your own will, before I have someone make you leave.”

“Or, before I rip the breath of life from your lungs and use your corpse to the fertilize the flowers.” A slight frost began to form around Le’Nara’s feet and cold fog drifted heavily downwards from her fingertips. Squealing with sudden delight, Tiffany laughed and tossed herself forward and wrapped her arms around Le’Nara’s neck. Glancing at the cold gleam in Le’Nara’s eyes, Jess hopped up and dashed naked out of the room, tears in her eyes.

“Little One,” Le’Nara muttered to Tiffany, lightly stroking her hair and leaving small frosty trails in it, “if you don’t let go of me, I can’t steal her breath and feed the flowers.”

“OH!” Giggling madly, Tiffany clung even tighter and snuggled up against Le’Nara. “Then I guess I just can’t let go!”

“Dammit! Whore faced bitch ass is going to get away! Harlot! Hussy! I wanted to eat her liver!” The string of expletives coming from such a high lady shocked Mongo to no end, but it made Tiffany giggle and hug her even harder.

“No liver for you today,” Tiffany giggled. “She’s gone now!” Letting go of Le’Nara, she skipped over to Mongo and jumped up in his arms, wrapping her legs tight around his waist, before turning and sticking her tongue out. For all of Mongo’s nervousness about being around the high lady, Tiffany didn’t seem to have the slightest worry of her own.

“Fine.” Sighing extravagantly, Le’Nara snorted loudly. “I’ll let her go this time. Next time however, she might not get away.” For all the coldness in her voice, her eyes danced and twinkled merrily as she stared back at Mongo and Tiffany.

“Now,” laughing suddenly, as if she couldn’t contain herself any longer, Le’Nara hopped over and jumped up on the bed where Crystal was resting. “Tell me what happened to jackass here, and don’t spare any details or I won’t be able to help himherit.”

“Himherit?” Tiffany giggled slightly before unwrapping herself from Mongo and skipping lightly over to the bedside. “You mean Crystal?”

“Is that the Lady Annette Fairweather’s name now? It suits her,” Le’Nara mused. “Yes, I mean her. I also mean that jackass Mik’Hail and the blade that I see all screwed up inside her. Just what the hell happened to all of you? A true marriage, a broken soul, and,” raising an eyebrow, she finally shrugged. “And, whatever the hell this mess is.”

“Spirits don’t end up like this naturally,” Le’Nara stated, staring directly at Tiffany. “A true marriage is rare enough. A broken soul is even rarer. And whatever the hell has happened to Annette and Mik’Hail seems utterly impossible! All of which leaves me to come to one conclusion,” Le’Nara said, half laughing. “It’s all Mik’Hail’s fault somehow.”

“Now,” she commanded once again, “tell me exactly what he did.”

“Well that’s simple,” Tiffany giggled. “He fixed us!”