After one last nod and smile, Llarasa rose from her seat and proceeded to the door. Fendros and Ahnasha followed suit, as it was not their room. Before she left through the door, though, Llarasa turned to the couple one last time. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?

"Sunrise," Fendros answered plainly.

 Llarasa was cautious in asking her next question, "If I got up before then and waited by the main gate, might I see you off?"

Fendros smiled. "I would like that. See you then."

"See you," Llarasa hesitated, and then resumed her walk down the stairs to get back to where Monderyn was.

Fendros stood and watched Llarasa leave with a smile, but his face faded into a frown once she rounded a corner. It was only then that a brief crackling sounded as he clenched his fists and hung his head. "I can't believe he would do that. He would never hurt Llarasa." Fendros bared his teeth and sucked in a frustrated breath, "I wish there was a way to solve this."

Whether Ahnasha answered or not, Fendros walked back into their room and turned to address her. "Ahna, thanks for being there. I'm not sure that I would have been able to face her if not for you." Fendros said, lightly taking Ahnasha's arm and pulling her into a hug with Rhazii between them.

---

"They would call you a child?" Sabine repeated with an astounded expression. Meesei was a lot of things, but it was hard to fathom her being a child at all. Nevertheless, Sabine tried to think of things to ask. She started with what Meesei had mentioned to her as advice beforehand. "You said that I could speak to guards to ask where to go if I get lost, but you said some were corrupt. How do I tell which ones are corrupt? What will they do?"