Naveen

Rina:

I got someone to show us to our rooms. Dorian carefully scooped up Maleen and carried her for me. He laid her on the bed then gave a bow to both Wren and myself before leaving.

Wren:

I sat on the bed beside Maleen and smoothed the hair out of her face carefully. "I hope she is going to be alright..." I whispered softly, not really to anyone in particular.

Rina:

I opened my mouth to comfort her but Dorian was already speaking. “I’m sure she will. She just needs to sleep it off.” He said. And put a hand on Wrens shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe your right." I took the chance to plant a gentle kiss on Maleen's cheek before getting up. "We should let her get her rest then."

Rina:

Dorian gave us both a bow and left so we could get some rest too. “What do you think of him?” I asked Wren after a little while.

"I don't know...I feel guilty because he never really did anything too serious and I nearly killed you and Talon for it...but he seems like a good guy." I said my eyes on the door he had just left through.

Rina:

“He does apart from the fact that he murders innocent people for a living.” I said rather unforgivingly.

"And you captured and innocent girl for your living." I reminded her softly before I took her hand in mine. "But if you hadn't I wouldn't be here...who knows who would have found me..."

Rina:

I sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” I said. Before I had been with the girls I would have said that a witch didn’t count, but they had changed my views on things like that. Maybe they could do the same with Dorian.

I nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. "We should let Maleen sleep...but what do you think about this place?"

Rina:

“It’s… Different. I’m not sure I’ll be too happy here. There’s nothing for me to really do. But it will be good for you and Maleen. It will be safer.” I said with a small smile toward her.

Wren:

"Couldn't you train here? You have seen how Talon fights, I know your good too but it can't hurt to learn more right?" I suggested with a soft smile.

Rina:

“I am always training.” I said, a little put off. “You should get some rest too.” I told her.

"I know...do you think...do you think that you could teach me to fight? Or Talon? I don't mind who...I just want to learn...I don't want to be useless to you all." I said with a shy look to her.

Rina:

I smiled slightly. “I’ve found that the best way to learn is to have different teachers. No one is perfect. And if just one person teaches you, you’ll fall into one single style. But I would love to teach you what I know, and I’m sure Talon will help.” I said.

Wren:

I smiled happily at that. "Yay!" I gave her a tight hug before pulling back. "I'll see you tomorrow then for what ever it is you want to teach me."

Rina:

Over the next few days Maleen started feeling better. She didn’t have any symptoms of illness, but had stayed in bed for the whole day after we were here and seemed to have very little energy. But she got better. She spent a lot of her time with Dorian and Wren. Even though she was the one he had tried to kill, she was the most forgiving and friendly toward him. And after spending a little time around him, I couldn’t help but like him too. HE was different from the other men I had been around. He was nothing but polite and kind. I wondered why he had chosen the profession he had, he didn’t seem the type.
I helped Wren learn the skills of fighting, as did everyone else who found out she was learning. While wren was learning sword play, Maleen was often close to Calon while studying her spell books. This was the only time Dorian seemed to be uncomfortable. All his life he had viewed magic as an evil thing. But slowly Maleen turned him around. It was impossible to think anything Maleen would do was evil. Her heart was pure to the core.

Dorian:

Everything I knew was being tested by spending time with these people. Maleen was like no other witch I had ever encountered. She was young for one, and unskilled. But she was also impossibly good. She was far kinder than any human I had ever met.
I had innocent blood on my hands, and I had been able to live with that knowing that it was for the greater good. But now I wondered. Was I really doing any good?
In the first few days I had mapped out the sorcerers known dependents. Most of them had already passed away or had been killed. It took more work to find possible decedents, ones who had slipped through the records. It was beyond difficult now, because most of the records were hundreds of years old, and tracing the family lines was not always accurate, and it didn’t account for illegitimate children.
I began to focus just on the current living creatures, and trace their lines up. I tried to do this with Maleen, but only one side of her family was traceable. Her father could have been anyone, and I suspected that she got her abilities from him.
Out of curiosity I also checked Wren, and finding absolutely nothing on her, I checked Rina. Again, the records failed me. By far these were the best records I had ever seen, but even the best could not cover everything. So I started asking questions.

Rina:

I went to Talons door and knocked on the door much harder than I had meant to. I was flustered and nervous, and that usually manifested as anger.
Earlier I had been sitting watching Wren practice when Dorian came to sit next to me. We sat in silence before he spoke softly, “Rina, do you mind me asking what your family name is?” I felt a chill run through me. I looked at him calmly. “It’s Saccrin. Why do you ask?”
He went on to tell me that he thought he might’ve known a brother of mine, that I looked like someone he used to know. He was lying of course. I told him that I was an only child. Then he asked about Wren, and how we knew each other. Shortly after our conversation, I felt panicky and found myself on the way to find Talon.

Talon:

I heard the pounding on my door and I sighed softly, standing slowly from where I had been lying on a large soft pillow, nearly to my waist in height. I was shirtless, only wearing loose fitting black pants that tied at the waist to help hold it up. My feet were bare, and my hair was a mess. Today was the day. Most knew better than to disturb me today. And with that pounding, well it could only be one person. Rina. So with a soft sigh I grabbed the handle to the door and opened it.

Rina:

“You need to stop Dorian.” I started the instant the door was open. “I’m sure he’s had enough time with the records, your deal is fulfilled. Now he’s just poking around in things he has no business poking around in. You have to…” I trailed off when I fully took in his appearance. I sucked in a little breath between my teeth and stared for a split second.
“Do you have someone in there? Should I come back later?” I asked uncomfortably, taking his disheveled look in. For reasons I couldn’t explain to myself, the idea that there was some girl waiting for him just around the corner in equal state of dress made my innards squirm.

I shook my head and pulled the door open the rest of the way before turning around and walking over to the large pillow. I sat down on it with a sigh, not really caring if she accepted the silent invitation to come inside. So Dorian was asking about Rina and Wren...that wasn't good.

Rina:

I followed him in slightly relieved. “Well? Are you going to tell him to stop? He was asking about Wren, how I knew her and where she came from. And he asked me about my family. He just needs to stop poking around.” I said in a rush, pacing in front of Talon.

Talon:

I spread my hands. "I can only do so much. With Wren, well. Make something up. He is asking because it is what he does. As for your history, not even I know that. Do what you think is best, even if it is just telling him off about it. I made a promise to him in return for not killing Maleen. If I ask him to stop then that promise is done." I said simply, before laying back. "What do you want me to do Rina? I can either protect you or I can protect Maleen. I know at least one of you knows perfectly well how to defend herself."

Rina:

“He’s not going to suddenly decide to kill Maleen now.” I replied without responding to his last comment. “And If I tell him off then he’s just going to be more suspicious. I don’t want him trying to find out who or what Wren is. And I would rather my past stay in the past. My family ties are a little embarrassing.” I admitted, it was the complete truth, though usually when I told people this, they assumed that my mother was a whore or my father was a drunk, or I grew up on the streets, all of which I was happy for them to think as long as it steered them farther from the truth.

Talon:

I rubbed my face again, and grabbed a wine skin, taking a long drink from it. "I will see what I can do. But this is something you could handle better than I. However I am not going to do anything till tomorrow. Today...today is not a good day for that."

Rina:

“Why not?” I asked. I looked him over again and pursed my lips. I crossed my arms loosely over the front of my gray dress. “So tell me, if you don’t have a girl in here, why are you like that,” I gestured to his state of dress. “And drinking all alone?”