Where Credit is Due

[Linika]

Linika stood for a few ticks longer, then performed a full body slump into her seat, face in her arms, shoulders sporadically heaving. She got control of herself before long, and looked up sheepishly through her red eyes. Sudden realization of Faith's appearance struck her, "I'm so sorry...Did I actually impose that on you? I - I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I don't know who I am supposed to be now. I mean I still want to believe in my matron, but Yvithia was right...Audrae has abandoned me. Worse even. She's made me out to genuinely be a traitor now."

She took a deep stabling breath, "Fates!...I was always so much in control of my emotions when serving my mission, but I'm just falling to pieces now. You know, if those sisters were to have told me that THAT was why they were going to kill me, I might have understood. At least I could agree that I was becoming a liability in that way."

She thought for a moment that Faith didn't appear to understand her 'sister' reference. "It was a trio of naer that came to town a while back. I had just had my run-in with Yvithia and her agents. She'd just put the brand on me. I told her Audrae would never abandon me, and that she would be sending a reward to me for my loyal service; at the very least a ride home to correct my 'Eill' status and maybe even get some outright praise and honor."

Red eyes began to glisten anew as they turned away, adding emphasis to a voice that occasionally broke with emotion. "I was so happy, so vindicated, when they arrived. I thought they'd be taking me back to have the mark removed. I told them it had been put on me against my will. They would prove Yvithia wrong, and me right. That my mother appreciated what I'd done for her, blowing my own cover, opening myself up to torture and political repercussions as an obvious spy, so she could prevent those three monsters from manipulating her, even allowing her to manipulate them!"

It was as if every angle she tried to approach the situation from only served to prove new aspects of betrayal and treachery. Her face went through cycles of emotions as she tried to find some way that she might have misread events. But the tears burst again with her voice, "But they were assassins! Sent to kill me for helping Audrae's enemies. I had no idea what else would come from warning my mother of Syroa's treachery. I could hardly know what would transpire on the other side of the fucking world! I just wanted to help. I gave up my life to help her."

She made an effort not to transfer any thoughts to Faith now, "I didn't really even know the details of the battle. Really, I still don't." Her face crumpled again, "I had to hear what little I know from Yvithia! How my actions saved everything, how she respected my loyalty, but warned me that it misplaced to devote it to Audrae. I spit on her! I tried to attack her! I wanted to die! It was the best I could hope for. How could I be expected to beat an Immortal by myself? Especially with her guards all around! Yet they brand me a traitor!"

Morbid humor caught her off guard as she rubbed the 'brand' on her cheek, she chuckled,muttering "Brand" as she rubbed Yvithia's mark. "And now I still somehow FEEL like a traitor, because it was the mark's power that warned me of their intentions; because naturally they were acting all friendly to me. But the whole time..." She shook her head, not bothering to finish the comment.

The chair creaked as Linika sat back into it, "Some weirdo came to me in the wilds, telling me about the three Immortal's intentions. I spent the whole night in the cold going to some northern lodge where I could send a bird to warn her. Apparently, Yvithia knew the whole time. But she didn't know if the message I sent had anything to do with Audrae's sudden reversal of the situation in Oscillus. Once they'd tortured me enough to know that was all it was, they actually turned kind of friendly. When she put the mark on me, she said she was "redeeming" me. Like it was her way of showing her own appreciation, and that Audrae would show none...it just kills me that she was right..."

Purged for now, she sat in thought for a few moments. Then she looked at Faith with a genuinely friendly but quizzical look, "So, you were there, right? in Oscillus? What did happen? Did Audrae really turn the enemies against each other and foil the whole thing? Are they dead? I heard something about Lisirra...or wait, no, it was your vision, I saw her hand being cut off? Sailing off the edge of some rooftop? Was that for real?"

[Faith Augustin]

Her mind was reeling, having been bombarded with someone else's thoughts and feelings and the young human woman could not comprehend more than the fact that the Naerikk, Linika was still talking. She was talking, with her mouth, which was better Faith supposed than attacking her with her mind, but still. Discipline and control, those were what she had to hold to, those were the skill in her skillset, the tools she had to grab on to now. Her mind was reeling, violated in a way which she could not fully comprehend just yet.

Once, not so very long ago, Padraig had found out that not one but two Empaths had messed with his emotions. The feeling of having his innermost thoughts and feelings, his very emotions toyed with was something which had left him feeling like this, she knew. She knew because he'd told her. It was a feeling which she had known before, but which she now understood in a way she hadn't previously. Vulnerable, violated, out of control. She felt the emotions twisting her soul and Faith pushed them down. Down, into her hands where she would deal with them later. Later.

There were sisters? Faith forced herself to listen to what it was that Lakia was saying and to what she had endured. Faith didn't doubt for a moment that endured was exactly it. Linika did not want the mark of Yvithia yet, if she was reading it correctly then there was a very complex series of things going on for Linika. "It seems to me," Faith said, her voice trembling a little as she fought to keep herself under control. "I think, that is, that it must be difficult because it seems like Yvithia has told you the truth, which would be much easier were it not so." And, or so it seemed to Faith, Audrae had abandoned her.

Faith's emotions were in turmoil, but she was fundamentally herself, as always and so, when Linika asked about what had happened, Faith thought about it for a few moments. Her gaze turned to her hands and then she lifted her head and looked at Linika with a gaze which was determined, earnest and stoic. It was also afraid.

"I can show you, if you want. You can look." Faith smiled at the woman in front of her. She needed to know, deserved to know and so, the best thing Faith could do was show her. She breathed in a ragged breath and looked at Linika. "Can you do that... less painfully?"

[Linika]

It took a moment for Linika to realize that the woman before her was offering to let her "listen in" on her memories of the numerous incidents connected to the events in Oscillus. She sighed, preparing to inform her that the power did not work both ways, at least it didn't for her.

Two things struck her in reaction to this thought. The first was that she had been receiving the woman's thoughts. She should not have been able to, but from the moment she'd mentioned Aelig, she'd been swamped with Faith's feelings regarding the monstrous deity. It had not been pleasant, and was the primary reason she'd backlashed to the extent she had.

The second notion was a bit more intriguing though. It occurred to her that she was very likely at the modest end of the power level connected to Yvithia's mark. By extension, there were surely more pervasive mental powers available to those in greater favor than she; and since she'd been pretty much consistently watched before and after receiving the mark, she was probably under surveillance right at that moment.

It grieved her to know she was going to alarm this human woman who had befriended her; but her very kindly nature made it likely that she would both understand and forgive once the intent was made clear. Knowing that her stream of thoughts may already be coming under analysis, there was no more time to consider.

Linika suddenly pulled her dagger free and executed a splendid one-armed vault over the table, waving the weapon arm both for visual effect and to add impetus to her inertia. Even before she landed and feigned her attack against Faith, an aghast shout sounded from several tables away, "LINIKA! NO!!" A subtly professionally-dressed young-ish eidisi female made a small spectacle of herself as she sent her chair scooting and tumbling behind her, bolting from her sitting position to intervene on what she thought was a genuine assault.

Her face crumpled in recognition of how she'd been played as Linika dropped the knife, and raised both hands disarmingly before Faith. "I'm terribly sorry, my friend..." the naer began softly, her voice rising as she semi-turned to direct the rest of her comment to the eidisi, "...but I needed to stage something drastic to reveal who is watching me this time! Fates forbid I should be able to have a quiet moment in the library!"

The eidisi woman sighed heavily with embarrassment. She gestured to the seat the naer had been using previously, and slid one over to sit beside it. Linika sat with no objection, a hint of a triumphant smirk still gleaming in her eyes. The eidisi leaned forward to suggest a low-volume discussion, the Xypha mark much easier to detect now in such close proximity. "Again, Linika, you show that your talent for intelligence work is already superior to most. Even with my training in the mark, you caught me out."

LInika scowled, "Well, given that you'll know what questions I am going to ask, why don't we proceed with some answers? Or should I silence the loose end first?" she gestured at Faith, who she hoped would be able to tell by the dry tone of her voice that she was kidding.

The eidisi, was not so sure, and responded with quiet intensity, "Certainly Not! This woman was invited here! It's not as though we're discussing political secrets or something! I was only trying to give you access to the very information I found you to be seeking. As well, you can see what abilities you can look forward to developing as you progress, IF you choose to align yourself with Viden. Now do you want to know what happened in Oscillus or not?"

Linika looked at Faith, "Really, it's up to you. I suppose it's easier to let her access your mind as you simply scan through your memories. But if you'd prefer to keep her out of your head, you could always just tell me. And again, I'm sorry if I scared you with the knife."

[Faith Augustin]

Faith made the offer and then, suddenly, Linika was leaping for her with a dagger in her hand. There was hardly time to notice the excellent execution of the one armed leap, but in that moment Faith felt terror rise in her. She reacted the way that she always had, that she suspected she always would. Even as a slave, Faith had fallen very much on the 'fight' side of the fight or flight response. Of course, back then, her response had been to people harming her owner or his property. Now, it was a much more powerful urge and one which she did not fight in this circumstance.

When she had believed that someone was breaking in to Tristan Venora's house, the trial after her branding, Faith had flung the head of a brush at the interloper, then proceeded to beat him around the head and body with a broom handle; he had turned out to be Tristan's brother. Tristan's other brother, when she thought he was harming Tristan, she had threatened to pin to the wall by his entrails. There were a hundred examples and she had always done the same thing. That had been when she was protecting the man who owned her but now?

Now, she was protecting her unborn child.

Linika jumped, performed a nifty little maneuver over the table and Faith moved. From a seated position to a standing one in a trill the young human moved and her hand lifted. She was pretty decent as an unarmed fighter and she was responding with a well-aimed punch square to Linika's nose. Her thought was that, when she hit there would be an inordinate amount of pain which would put off the woman's shot. Then, Faith had already decided she was going to take the knife out of Linika's hand and kill her with it. There was no doubting it in Faith's mind and there was no denying it in her expression. She could, would and was prepared to kill.

Except someone shouted "no" and things paused again. Faith stood, keeping her stance ready and her gaze between the two of them. What on all of Idalos was going on here? There was another person now, Linika was apologising and Faith realised that Linika had not been about to actually attack but rather, had been feinting. She looked between the two of them and said nothing for a moment. She listened to the conversation and her eyebrow raised with something akin to disbelief. In all honesty, she wasn't entirely sure that she fully followed all of it, but there was something that she did.

"Don't worry about it," she said to Linika, although her voice was terse she meant it. "Just be careful about judging people by how they look. I'm small and I'm nice and I try to be helpful. It doesn't mean I can't and won't defend myself. If I didn't have so much control you could have been dead before you got the chance to explain that you were faking. Because I wasn't. But it's fine, I understand why you did what you did. Mostly. However,"

There, Faith turned to the other woman. "Now let me get this straight. When you say that you were trying to give her access to the information she wanted, you mean you were in some way accessing my memories and opening up my mind to Linika and hers to mine? I don't know how they do things here, but I tell you now, that is not acceptable." Faith seemed to be very calm, her voice low and gentle, well suited to the library they were in. She seemed calm, but that was the discipline she had; she was furious. "You have an Immortals given mark and so you think it acceptable to use those powers on someone without consent? Like I am a tool in your teaching? Let me explain something to you and I will use small words in case you do not fully comprehend." Faith leaned forward and for all that she was a small person, she was not even vaguely joking right in this moment.

"I have been blessed three times by Famula. Once by Vri and Moseke. If you ever come near me with your abilities again without my consent, I will return the favour to you with mine and I assure you that you will be a sight more uncomfortable than I was." Faith's eyes did not waver, her gaze on the woman was furious. "Are we clear?" She turned to Linika then and shook her head. "It's fine, you don't need to apologise again. I understand. I'll tell you what happened, I have a perfect memory, thanks to Vri's blessing so I can give you all the details." And, if Linika was willing to listen, that was what Faith would do. Emotionless, clear and precise she would recite it. Then, she would ask with a slight smile, although in truth she was still wound up beyond measure. "Do you have any questions? Because I have one. Why stay here with how they treat you? There is a university on Scalvoris, there are Naerikk there. Why stay here?" She wasn't accusatory, she was simply curious and it showed. Rynmere, Faith understood considering Linika's race. "I met a Naerikk woman after she did some work for the university. She had lived there a while as far as I know."

[Linika]

For a moment, in classic naer fashion, Linika relished the animosity springing up between the two other women, as the eidisi did not hesitate to turn squarely to face Faith and defend her own actions, as being orders she was obliged to follow. But the whole thing began to wear on Linika's changing sensibilities as the eidisi went on.

"I do not deny regret for the alarm this all surely caused you, but I am not going to feel shame for obeying my Queen. I am not going to apologize from a position of having actually done wrong! It's all very impressive, your claims of all these marks. If you have truly gained such favor, then you know that we do not tell our masters 'No'. And it's not as though I caused you any pain by relaying your memories to Linika here. Nor did I catalogue any of them for any nefarious purpose. It's part of the mark, and part of my duty for the trial. This naer, Linika, needs to know what is involved with her mark. Anyone who develops this mark will gain this capability."

While the calculating look on the woman's face hinted at the possibility that she knew Faith had some connection with someone that also bore Yvithia's mark, she clearly did not know that Faith had ever said 'No' to one of her mark-givers. But Linika now responded with some newly spawned anger of her own. "But you caused ME to backlash memories back at her! That much I AM able to do, and I would probably not have inundated her with my anguish if we'd been allowed to simply talk about it."

There was little change in the woman's expression as she countered, "Look, this was not some staged ambush! I do not go around maliciously listening in on people's secrets! But I have instructions to capitalize on opportunities to demonstrate what growth in your mark can help you attain. This was clearly one such opportunity. I'd have been derelict if I had let it pass. I say again, I DO regret what shock may have resulted." Her face suggested the beginnings of some 'but...' disclaimer. Frustration replaced it as she chose to leave it unspoken.

Any rebuttals Faith might have uttered were followed up by Linika's sudden reversal, "Please, please...stop. Lesson learned, okay? I do not know that I want to gain any more of this ability." She turned back to Faith, "The...painful part of this whole episode was really my doing, not hers. If I DO grow in this mark, I will undoubtedly have more control." The eidisi nodded her head vigorously in answer, triggering a sour look back from Linika, "But if you'd been more open about it, it would not have needed to go this way."

Her face suddenly drained of all emotion, becoming expressionless and professional as she threw a last slap in the woman's face, "I appreciate your sense of duty, your loyalty; Yvithia even complimented me on mine. But this effort was misplaced and misguided. If she is trying to win me over from Audrae's fold, she'd be well advised not to resort to Audrae's tactics."

[Faith Augustin]

Faith looked at the Eidisi who spoke to her and the young human woman lifted her head. Her chin raised and her gaze met the other woman's with unwavering certainty. At the words, almost a apology but not one at all, Faith's jaw tightened. "I have no master. I serve from choice, I worship with self-determination and those Immortals who have seen fit to bless me do so knowing that or even because of it." She had no master, no owner, she was no one's puppet. The Immortals she worshipped wanted it that way and Faith did her best.

Without more than that, though, listening to the woman's excuses and explanations for it not being her fault, not what she was trying to do and not once taking any responsibilities for her actions, Faith turned to look at Linika. "I don't blame you. You were just trying to do your best." In truth, Faith was reeling from the emotional outlash against her, but she did her best and put all her discipline and control into just maintaining, Linika's sake as much as anything else. The naer had been through enough and was.. humiliated, embarrassed and harangued enough without Faith adding to it.

So, she looked at Linika and she sighed. "Alright. So, I'm going to tell you it all. From the beginning to the end. If you can read the truth of what I'm saying, or she can," Faith motioned to the Eidisi, "then please do. But no more people in my head, please." Faith smiled and held out her hands, showing the nails which grew black from Vri's blessing. Coincidentally, of course, that showed the tattoos on both her wrists, showing Famula's blessing on her. "Because of Vri's mark on me," she gestured to the nails, "I don't forget anything. Ever. So, if there are any details, please ask."

Sitting there, Faith lifted her head and she looked at Linika and smiled. This was done for the naer, not the eidisi, that was for sure. Then, she lowered her gaze and looked at her hands, clasped together in front of her. When she spoke, she sounded distant. "It was the night of the thirteenth of Vhalar, in arc 716. I had a dream. Famula told me that I had to go down to the docks in Rynmere, Andaris, and get on a boat." So, the tale began and she told the details. The boat, Ne'haer, the great meeting. Going through the portal and battling to the roof of the tomb. She did not sugar coat, did not exaggerate or leave anything out. Moseke reaching out and stroking her cheek, realising that she was in love, trying to kill Lisirra, but Padraig getting in the way and slicing at her, instead. All of it. The only thing that she left out was other people's names. Padraig was 'my tutor', Tristan was 'my owner'. She had no intention of sharing that information in front of the eidisi.

It was, therefore, some considerable time later that she lifted her head and looked at Linika. "And then, we went back up to the surface where my tutor was questioned and I was returned to my owner. Is there anything that I've missed?" She looked, and felt, tired. But she had committed to helping the naer, and so that was what she'd do.

[Linika]

Faith's words brought mixed emotions to Linika's heart. But the nature of this inner conflict only served to make her realize that she'd come to a major crossroads in her life. She was angry with the eidisi woman, who was now taking her leave, her face just a subtle shade of purple. You did not have to be a naer to have pride that reacted angrily to being manipulated to the detriment of someone that had befriended you. But naer pride was just a bit more severe than most.

But at the same time, she felt a compulsion to defend the growth of the mark she now wore. It looked as if this was now the only avenue for self-improvement open to her. As much as the powers she was discovering had no immediate combat application, they gave insights of a nature very different from anything any other naer possessed. This uniqueness was very appealing to her. And these insights gave her advantages that DID give her an edge in combat. The very fact that she still lived was testimony to that.

This, in turn, made her realize she was truly on the verge of rejecting her racial heritage; or at least her devotional one. There was a degree of alarm that this did not overwhelm her with remorse. But it passed quickly. She did not know if she could ever truly worship Yvithia. But the Immortal had been right about Audrae's malice and rejection. And the Viden Immortal had actually seen and shown an odd appreciation for both her capabilities and her loyalty. The hateful solitude she'd endured at the hands of these Videnese these last many arcs made her perhaps more receptive to displays of appreciation than she would normally be.

The knowledge that she may be letting herself be too easily swayed by this was quick to follow that thought, however. Her brows knit angrily at her own second-guessing, and she shook her head to dismiss the entire inner debate. She looked at Faith with a long sigh; one heavy with self-recrimination. "Fates Fingers! I am just tying myself up with self-doubts. I actually have been listening to you." she gave a hint of a shame-faced grin as she resumed her seat.

There was an extended exchange of questions and answers as Linika found herself more and more astounded and intrigued by the far-reaching interaction of events. It amazed her how many points of origin the events on Oscillus seemed to have. Her eyes shown with marvel as her jaw strove, with only moderate success, not to gape in wonder. "Ziell! Even he?"

It was perhaps the greatest testament to Linika's newfound sensibilities that she now made an effort to be respectful of others' Immortal loyalties. "So your matron, Famula, was instructed by him to send you...and her domain gave you cause to actually go into Treid's body, and make this discovery that has you seeking different blood samples! You've already saved lives with it? And Yvithia spoke with you there. Then she marks me! Famula was right. The interconnection of so many elements were all essential. I honestly wish I did have regular blood to contribute."

She laughed lightly for a moment, but then her eyes looked away; the last glint Faith would see showing a measure of shame, "I...must admit though, it is only out of my wish that all Idalos knew my part in it. Selfish, I know, but it would be a lie to say I am not hurt by the animosity I continue to endure....You know..." her face suddenly seemed to brighten, "...actually I believe there are some who know, that have only just occurred to me."

Her expression became analytical, "You recall I told you of the crazy man that first spoke of the rumor of the three traitor Immortals' plans? Thinking back, he was dressed just in loose robes...in Viden...out of doors. There was not so much as a crystal of frost on him! And now I think there were crack-like marks on his chest. He did not even have his robe closed, but I was busy fighting the shadow creature, and this detail escaped me until just now."

Her voice took on a tone of hoping Faith could confirm any of what she was about to say, "I am no scholar, where the marks of other Immortals are concerned, but now I think...it is possible...that this "crazy" man may have been one marked by Ziell! I mean it all fits! It seems like the last element to complete the circle of prophecy and fulfillment."

She suddenly became animated, "No, seriously! You and me! both driven to involvement on the word of another...with no real explanation...both done with the desire to serve our matrons...both efforts done originally at the behest of Ziell...I wonder now if Audrae had this same suspicion...Then we both gain favor with Yvithia...well, myself and your mentor anyway. But your matron benefits from what you learned...and mine..."

Her face sagged just a hint, but she set it with renewed resolve, "She too benefitted, gratitude aside...She has now gained some favor with a sizable part of the world. Not enough to set aside all past hostility perhaps, but even Yvithia acknowledged this when she marked me. Audrae has now seen the treachery of Syroa, and had driven a wedge between she and Lisirra...I wonder if Ziell saw all this, or if it's just an awareness of one single thing needing to be done to set something huge in motion."

She hesitated just a bit before mentioning Faith's use of the term 'owner' in her previous comments, She proceeded slowly enough to give the woman ample time to diplomatically stop the subject from proceeding. But if Faith allowed it, Linika would ask, "I can not help but be curious...were you actually a slave?"

[Faith Augustin]

When the Eidisi left, Faith had to admit that she felt better. Despite having only just met her, she liked Linika, somehow trusted her to be herself but that Eidisi had got the former slave's back right up. Linika, however, listened and when she said that she was plaguing herself with self doubt, Faith gave a smile and nodded. "I understand," she said with an earnest expression.It was something that she did herself, far too often and Faith knew it. But in terms of what had happened, Linika's summary assessment, Faith nodded her head. "Yes. That's about the long and the short of it."

As Linika wound her way through her ideas, though, finally coming to the conclusion that maybe others did know about her, Faith watched with interest. In truth, she didn't understand the naer's need for external validation. She knew what she had done, what need was there for anyone else to? Faith had done some amazing, miraculous things which people didn't know of, she had no need or wish for them to. She did. It was enough. With a smile, though, she nodded. "It makes sense that the mark of Ziell might do that. As a Zuuda, I don't feel the cold at all, which is because of being able to control my blood. I would suspect that one of Ziell's marked would have similar."

The way that Linika said mentor made Faith smile. "I realised up there, standing on that rooftop that I was in love with him." She suspected that there was no point saying anything different. It was evident on her face, in her demeanour. Faith knew that, on a very real level, it shone out of her. "I still am," she said.

But then, of course, Linika asked her about being a slave and Faith looked at the Naer with a half smile. "I was," she said. "I was sold into slavery at three breaks old. Taken to Athart, trained there for seventeen arcs. Then I was bought by an undertaker and taken to Rynmere. He kept me for just over an arc, then sold me to a noble. He was my owner during these events."

Looking at Linika, Faith gave a slight smile that was at once both sad and angry. "The noble man asked me, on the 121st Vhalar last arc, if I wanted to be free. I told him yes, he freed me." With a shrug, Faith looked down at her hands, her eyes filled with emotions. "I ran to my tutor's home, where he took me in and taught me not just how to be free, but also how to be loved." She looked up at Linika and her expression was unreadable. "How to believe that I can be a person. In turn, that led me to taking qualifications, getting a job. Learning. It led me here." She raised her hand to rub at her temple and Faith looked around. She was being entirely honest when she finished what she had to say. "I still do not quite believe it."

With a smile at Linika, Faith cleared her head and asked, "I don't know if I've actually helped you at all. I hope I have. I would not want you to get in trouble here, I am sorry if my actions have led to that" That she added with a gesture to where the Eidisi had left for.

[Linika]

It was strangely gratifying to find this human agreeing with her about these subjects. Not so much from some sense of having corroboration to make her feel smart about what she herself believed. It was more that she found it alright to have a non-naer be on equal ground with her. There was no need to find a basis to rise above and look down on her for her "lesser" heritage. No pressure to prove her to be inferior. The impulse to find fault with the woman's reasoning was still nudging her instincts; but she'd now recognized this mar in her subconscious.

A somewhat sobering look came over her face as she confronted the realization of the hate indoctrinated into her, the thought that she herself was as much a slave as many others. 'No...' she corrected herself silently, 'not a slave...that's not fair...a thrall, that's it....mindless...unthinkingly obedient. Generating hatred towards others on command...by the command of someone that has now turned that hate on me.' It was getting harder to keep her face from sagging further.

The woman speaking about her epiphany of love, bonded in the crucible of battle, made the emptiness feel as if it would devour her. Linika realized suddenly that she envied this woman. The confusion could not be completely suppressed though. She still held her lifelong beliefs in the innate superiority of women, and in the general justification of the strong to rule the weak; and the weak's responsibility to accept their lesser status for the sake of a smooth-running culture.

But this was a woman before her now - one of the chosen gender - speaking of a complete acceptance of a...male...as an equal partner. And not as just a shared commodity for mutual gain; but as an actual relationship, where self-gain was not the primary motive. No, that did not seem to describe it exactly either. It was as if this willingness to bestow equal priority was the actual source of the self-gain.

The incongruity perplexed her. She felt a sense that this was a woman of great measure, in both potential and already acknowledged achievement. This made her someone Linika instinctively wanted to emulate. Yet it placed her in a contradictory position. Being too much like her would create a number of departures from her cultural upbringing and childhood goals.

A new resolve spawned with the realization that she didn't really care. It was compounded by the latent recognition of the mention of "Athart". That had been the city arcs ago, where her party had been ambushed and she'd committed the original crime for which she'd been exiled. Even though it was an exaggerated verdict to cover for her sabotage mission in Viden, it was still an unpleasant memory.

Now the mission was blown and the exile was genuine. But she'd been conditioned all her life to harsh realities, so these thoughts now served more to bring determination to her heart, rather than defeat. She would overcome these difficulties the same as she'd overcome everything else. And where she'd only had hope of an Immortal's blessing before, she now had genuine divine backing. She was not sure now that she wanted to give it up, if it was only to restore this subservience to an Immortal that had thrown her to the wolves when she should have been thanking her.

In the meantime, Faith had been going on about the change this love had made in her life. Linika immediately worried that her expression may have betrayed how distant her thoughts had become. But Faith seemed only to worry that her words and actions may have caused some sort of trouble for her.

An amused snort punctuated a gesture to the departed eidisi, "Who? Her? Don't trouble yourself. I am way beyond being in a position where my actions and attitudes might get me in trouble because of someone like her." She found herself touched though, by the fact that the woman actually cared whether she'd caused her trouble or not. Normally, there would have been at least a degree of insult to have a woman of another race suggest that they'd been capable of causing a naer any real trouble. But that now seemed so ungrateful, she nearly winced.

There was also the point that she'd almost spoken of how the eidisi woman was most likely one of her appointed overseers for the trial. That was not a subject for public revelation. If she was going to be that "most unique of Videnese operatives", it needed not to be common knowledge. Instead, she sat down and did something she realized she had not done with any sincerity for five arcs or more, "Thank you though. I...truly appreciate your concern for me. It's not something I encounter here very often."

The growing level of emotion still made her uncomfortable, and she made an effort to wave it off. "You know, Faith, I'm truly amazed that you could ever have been a slave. I don't think I've ever seen one that was as assertive and confident as you. Especially coming out of Athart. I don't imagine that slaves in Augiery speak of their experiences in glowing terms or anything, but Athart is just a pit of torment. There was this slave girl out at the Aranaz Estate that I'd thought to be the most well-adjusted ex-Athartian slave I'd ever met. She was a sort of guide for me as I made a delivery there. But she still had a slave mentality. You seem to have truly risen above it."

She had waved in the general direction of the Aranaz compound, but came back to the conversation in a serious tone. "But you would be well advised to avoid Augiery. Seriously, strong women who are not Naerikk are not welcome there. That Aranaz girl, Tasar, would be okay there, due to her submissive demeanor. But you would be a threat; they would have a cultural need to show themselves to be stronger than you. They would need to break you."

[Faith Augustin]

Linika gave a derisive snort as she gestured to where her "teacher" had left and Faith couldn't quite help the smile which crossed her face. The naer was a strange one, there was no doubting it, but Faith could not deny that she rather liked her. Yet, as she spoke, she thought that Linika looked a little confused, maybe concerned. Still, she would ask if there were questions, Faith was sure of that. There seemed to be things going on for Linika which Faith didn't, maybe couldn't, pick up the nuances of. That was fine as far as she was concerned ~ somewhere along the line she had become much more self-assured than she realised.

The thanks which Linika gave were heartfelt and Faith smiled as she sat with her. "It's fine. If people treat you badly, if they have a lack of concern for you," she felt this most strongly, and it was obvious that she did. "That is their problem and their responsibility. I firmly believe it."

What Linika thought of Faith's former slavery, though, that caused a genuine and almost melancholy smile on her face. "Risen above it? No. not at all." She didn't speak about it much, not to anyone except Padraig, but here in this strange place with this strange woman, for some reason she didn't fully comprehend, Faith said more than she normally would. "My childhood was a nightmare. The first eighteen arcs of my life were torture and pain, disguised and repackaged as training. And still, there is a soul who loves me." Faith looked at Linika with a gaze which was at once conflicted and proud. "But every step has been hard fought for and I have taken more backwards ones than I would care to admit."

She lifted her head with an expresion of surprise when Linika said the name. "I know her. We were there together, although she was older than me. We were trained together a few times." Her demeanour was submissive? Faith remembered with a smile the time that Tasar had told the Master that her name was Tasar. It had been a shock to Faith and yet, it had made her realise something. "I was a proud and arrogant slave. I was the best slave and better than the others. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I am simply a proud woman," It was possible, she believed. Padraig felt rather differently. "I don't know."

With a sigh, she glanced around. "I should leave. I have a hundred things to do. I am glad to have met you Linika. If you ever wish to get in touch my name..." She paused and then smiled. "Is Faith Augustin. My husband's name is Padraig. Or soon, he will be my husband. He used to be my tutor." Starting to put away her things, Faith stopped for a moment and then added. "And thank you. For what you did all that time ago. It took more courage than the world will ever know, but I'm grateful to you."