The next day was not a good one at work. Hannah was slow in her duties, and after lunch, Jono came over to check on her.

"You're not falling ill again, are you, Hannah?"

"No. I'm just tired."

"Quite a night yesterday?"

"It was interesting, yes."

"Did you get back late?"

She paused, remembering her walk with Kurt. "A little."

A pair of men tumbled through the door, young guards, familiar-looking to Hannah. They had probably been at the ceremony too. She watched as Deedee went to tend to them, writing orders and bringing them drinks. They toasted each other, laughing about some gleeful memory, and she heard a few words escape their table.

" ... are nice here, but it can't beat the Laughing Goddess."

"Of course not, my friend. The service is special there."

"The Captain knows some good places, doesn't he?"

Captain? Hannah turned, and across from her, Deedee shook her head.

"They're still doing that, I see," the other girl remarked.

"Doing what?"

She shrugged, lowering her voice. "Whenever there's a new batch of guards, the Second Captain likes to take them out to celebrate."

"Oh, yes, Rio told me."

"So you know about the Laughing Goddess?"

"The what?"

"The whorehouse."

Hannah dropped her mouth. "You mean ... ?"

"Didn't you know?"

"You mean, my brother and all of them, went to ... ?"

Deedee frowned. "You're surprised."

"Rio's not that sort of boy."

"It's what they all do, Hannah."

She got up, jarred now. What had she done? Her brother and Fadden ...

Wait. This wasn't her fault. This was Macks' fault. Macks' idea. Yes. She could blame him for this, but then again, whatever was done was done. It was too late now to do anything.

That night, she got home to find her brother there, curled up in blankets on the floor outside. Some dirty plates and cups lay on the table next to him.

Hannah shut the door behind her, gazing for a moment over his small frame. The candlelight burned gold on his long hair, and glimmered off his cheek. He would still always be a little boy to her.

She went into her bedroom, turning in for the night. She figured she'd speak to her brother in the morning, but by the time she woke up, he was already gone.

She wondered, since he wasn't in training anymore, where would his post be? Guarding and protecting a city he didn't even belong to – it was so strange. But clearly, Chell meant nothing to him anymore.

Was that how Kurt saw her? Did he think she'd forgotten it all, thrown away her memories?

She went to her closet to get dressed for work, stopping at the sight of Alyssa's blue gown still hanging inside. Of course. She needed to return that. There was no way she could keep something so beautiful, much as she wanted it. It just didn't seem right.

She sighed, taking out a different dress and easing it on. She headed off to Jono's, wondering if there was any chance of Kurt coming to see her today. It was all she thought about for the next few hours, her precious work-time distraction.

Sometime during lunch, Hannah was wiping down a table by the window when she noticed Ginia wasn't standing outside. Yet she was supposed to be greeter. Where had she gone? Hannah paused, checking around her, even though she was sure Ginia hadn't come inside.

She dropped the rag, going over to the curtained doorway and stepping onto the little porch. The Corona was lively and warm at this hour, full of people and carriages, the air tender with the smell of food.

Hannah skipped off the step, searching for her friend's black hair and pretty dress. "Ginia?" she called, rounding the front of Jono's. She heard a sound from the alley off to the side. She went down the narrow way, looking over crates and blobs of garbage. Again, she heard something, close by. She went forward, finding the girl kneeling in a shadowy spot.

"Ginia," she murmured. "What are you doing?"

Ginia sat still, wiping her face. She'd been crying. "Please, leave me alone."

"Did something happen?"

She didn't answer.

"Look, everyone's waiting for you."

"Oh, I don't care. What does it matter now?"

Hannah stared at her. She'd never heard Ginia talk like that before. She bent down, meeting the girl's eye. "Tell me what this is about. Maybe I can help."

"No. No one can help."

Hannah waited anyway, while Ginia hid her eyes.

"I lied to you," she murmured, sounding ashamed.

"What did you lie about?"

"I went to see him. Raul."

"But I thought – "

"I didn't want to tell you because I knew what you'd think. The same thing everyone else thinks."

"Ginia, we care about you. We don't want to see you become hurt."

"Me?" Ginia said, letting out a dark laugh. "I'm not the one they're going to hang."

Hannah stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"They've given him his sentence. Now he's just waiting to die, but we don't even know when. It could be today, it could be in a year. They can't even decide." She pulled away, burying her face. "It's one thing to be away from him. But if he dies ... "

"Wait. Maybe there's something we can do. I can speak to Captain Droy."

"How can he help?"

"I don't know. But it's worth a try."

"I wish I'd never known him," Ginia murmured, blinking at fresh tears. She leaned forward, and Hannah took her into a hug, holding the girl's back. This was getting to be too much for them, she thought glumly. Macks was her only hope.

After a minute or so, Hannah managed to calm Ginia down, and together they went back into Jono's. Fortunately, he was in the kitchen with Stephanie, so didn't seem to notice that they'd gone.

She rushed home after work that evening, ready to wait for her brother. As she came through the door though, she found him already there, sitting and having dinner with –

"Captain," she breathed, her voice breathless from the run over.

Macks rose slowly, holding her gaze. He didn't smile, which was unlike him. "Hannah. I was just leaving."

"Actually, I need to talk to you."

"You do?" He was surprised.

"It's private," she added, seeing her brother twisting his neck curiously. "Could we stand outside?"

"Of course." He turned, giving Rio a look as if ordering him to stay.

Hannah backed into the hall, waiting until Macks was with her before shutting the door. She lifted her head, seeing the expectant look on his face. She cleared her throat, feeling nervous without knowing why. "Um, how was your trip to Dyon?"

"It went well. I'm an uncle now. To a healthy baby boy."

"Oh. That's very nice. Perhaps one day he'll grow up to be a soldier like you."

"I don't think so," he answered, smiling dryly. "My family never had much respect for the guard."

"How come?"

"Because there's no money in it. The only honor they value is the honor of gold."

Hannah stared at him, silent for a minute. She'd never thought about what kind of a family Macks came from. It didn't seem like they were on very good terms. "Is all your family up in Dyon?"

"Now, they are, yes."

"Do you ever think about moving there to be with them?"

"Not really. Dalen is where I grew up, and some of my closest friends are here."

"Like Stefan and Alyssa?"

"And Suzanne, even though she lives in Madsey."

Suzanne. Right. Hannah paused, remembering the night of Rio's ceremony, the dance between him and the young widow. But then, why should she care about such things? "Anyway, I need to ask you about something. Two things actually, come to think of it."

"Ask away then."

It took her a while to get out her next words, embarrassed as she was to have to bring up something like this. "Did you take my brother and his friends to a place called The Laughing Goddess?"

Macks blinked, clearly surprised that she would even know about such a place. "Only for drinks," he told her quietly.

She gave him a skeptical glare.

"The boys can't really afford much else … if you know what I mean."

"Unlike you."

"Oh, well, to be honest, I hardly go there anymore these days … "

"That's fine," she stopped him, holding up her hands. "I didn't ask about your doings. Just promise you won't bring my brother there again."

"Of course." He sighed, looking relieved. "Was there something else?"

"Yes. It's about Raul."

"Oh." He gave her a long, dreading look. "Go on."

"Is it true he's going to be hanged?"

He did a jerk. "How do you know about that?"

"Please just answer me."

"Yes. It's true. His crimes are too severe."

"Is there any chance of stopping it?"

"Stopping it?"

"She still loves him," Hannah revealed.

"Ginia?" he guessed, frowning. "What difference does it make? They can never be together."

"At least he'll be alive. At least she can still visit him."

"And what kind of a life would that be? Hanging onto a useless hope, waiting for someone – isn't that even worse?"

She blinked, momentarily surprised by his tone. "Well, what about me? I turned him over to you. Doesn't that mean I'm causing his death? I'm murdering the man she loves. All because you asked me to."

"The man is not worth your guilt, Hannah."

"It's true," she mumbled to herself. "I have changed." She opened the door, heading straight for her room.

"What's going on?" Rio asked, looking between them.

"Nothing. I'm going to bed."

"Captain?" Her brother turned to look at him.

"As I said," Macks answered, speaking slowly. "I was just leaving."

Hannah said nothing, watching as Rio trailed the Captain to the door. So much for Macks' help.