Mac had her mother sprawled on the bed and was currently trying to keep the older woman still. "Mom..." Elia's daughter pleaded in mock exasperation. "If you keep squirming about like that I can't help you."

	"But how do you know turning me into a pin-cushion will help with my back ache?" Elia retorted not without a healthy dose of mistrust, staring dubiously at her daughter's acupuncture needle set.

	Mac sighed. She'd had many talks with her mother since she'd come back to the Reflection Isle about their different approach to healing. Her mother had accepted some of Mac's suggestions concerning the use of medicinal herbs and such, but was still untrusting of the more outlandish ideas such as acupuncture, acupressure, etc. Finally the two had decided that Elia would try an acupuncture session to alleviate her chronic back ache that came with the burdens of her profession. Which was why she was currently fidgeting on the bed as a child who was about to get spanked. Sara took a deep breath and explained for the hundredth time. "How do you know to cleanse a wound before closing it?" She asked patiently.

	Elia gave her daughter a why-would-you-even-ask-such-a-question look. "Because the wound would spoil and won't heal properly." She answered anyway.

	"Yes." Sara smiled. "But how do you know that?" She insisted.

	Elia looked at her daughter even more incredulously. "Because I've seen it happen enough times, Sara. I've taught you all of this. Why do you ask these unnecessary questions?"

	Mac smiled again. "Okay, okay, don't get testy with me." She squeezed her mother's hand. "My point is, you know from experience and study it works, right?"

	"Right..." Elia squinted at her daughter, realization settling within. A small smile appeared on her lips. Her little girl had painted her into a corner. "Fine." She conceded with laughter. "Let's do this then if it's for science."

	Mac smiled and began slowly and with steady hand to position the needles just as Samira had thought her. Just as she'd observed in secret Rom do from time to time, but had never dared to teach her. For a time her mother lay quiet and still and Sara allowed herself to get fully immersed into the procedure. But it wasn't long before she felt her mother tense again and shook her head. "Now what?" She asked with a chuckle.

	"I didn't say a thing." Elia tried evading.

	"I can feel you tensing beneath my fingers, mom."

	Elia sighed and tried again to relax. "It's this business of you leaving to help with some crazy mission. The Raven Queen's crown is a myth, honey. It's a fool's errand. Not to mention who's the backer of this endeavor. Avoir rules over lowlifes!" Her mother finished indignantly.

	"Mom..." Sara said gently. "The Free Isle is home to all sorts of people. Not just pirates and criminals. The Marrans are threatening their home. Of course they would want to protect it."

	"Fine." Elia shifted and tried to sit up, but her daughter pushed her gently to lie back. "Let them protect their home. Why do they need you? Why did Avoir call for you?!" Her mother finished exasperated. Ever since her girl had returned home after ten years of thinking she was dead and hoping beyond hope she wasn't, Elia had a hard time accepting whenever her daughter had to travel. Yes, her little girl had grown up and could certainly take care of herself. The Gods knew she believed that after she'd learned what Sara had survived. But to her she was still her little girl, which she had pushed to set sail over the silly matter of looking the Lady’s' daughter with lustful eyes. She felt responsible for everything her daughter had to suffer trough even though Sara had assured her more than once since she'd come back, that she wasn't to blame. But now, more than ever, she was determined to keep her girl safe, if she could.

	Mac kneeled to look her mother in the eyes. "Mom I can't tell you not to worry, because I know that's not a possibility for a mother. But I will tell you this. The Marrans have their sights on the Free Isle now. But what will happen once it is under their rule. Where do you think they will turn to? Arrylia is theirs. The Reflection Isle managed to keep its independence, but how long do you think we'll last if the Marrans give us their full attention? If there is even the slimmest of chances this mission could help us I would spare no effort to keep my birthplace free of foreign dominion."

	Elia closed her eyes. Tears of resignation streamed sideways over her nose. Her girl had grown into a magnificent woman and she feared not all of it was her doing. But she was proud none the less. She nodded slowly. "I just worry." She half sobbed.

	Mac took her mother's face in her palms and kissed her forehead. "I know. But I promise to be careful."

	"That's all I can ask." Elia said quietly.

[hr]

	 Mac had made port in Afton a day or two prior to when Avoir had told her to expect the Valencia. Sara'd lived on ships long enough to know that Mother Nature didn't often allow for a strict schedule of arrival or departure. She had given some coin to a boy that helped with odd jobs around the port and had asked him to inform her immediately of the ship's arrival with promise of additional payment. When the next morning he'd come running to the inn she was staying in with the news that the ship she was expecting had just made port, she'd payed the lad, quickly settled her account with the innkeeper and set out to meet with the ship's captain, which she knew from Avoir, was told to be expecting her there.

	She didn't know what the captain would be like. She just had a discription and her name - Amia. She walked purposefully among the throng of the morning crowd. All her necessities packed neatly in a sack strapped to her back. The hilt of her ninjato, also strapped to her back, barely peecking over the bulk of the pack. She also carried a large bag with personal healer supplies, most of which would be left aboard the Valencia. Ashore she would only take the bare necessities.

	When she neared the port she started scanning the crowd and the docked ships. Even before seeing the Valencia she felt someone's keen watchful eye scanning the crowd, just as she was doing herself. She turned her head and locked eyes with a dark-skinned woman, with a coin-shaped scar on her cheek and a shock of short curly hair. Mac recognized her from Avoir's description as captain Amia and started making her way carefully to her. [i]Such quiet intensity.[/i] Mac thought to herself. [i]Quite beautiful.[/i]