Sabine was already shaking before she was searched and restrained. She had thought Arinette would continue her violence. She then only had accidental shivers elicit strikes from the Orc twins, even though she did not resist. When they left her pitiful against a tree, she drew up her knees as close to her chest as she could. Her shivering quickly drew from the cold as much as from the fear.

The entire hour that Do'Rhajul's team took to settle in, Sabine sat shivering and staring at her knees. No amount of that time had made her tired or calm. If anything, the healing bruises on her torso were just beginning to hurt, making breathing even harder.

Arinette's approach made Sabine cringe and hold her eyes shut. She tensed up and waited for whatever suffering she had in store. Somehow, only having the words to deal with escalated the fear more than opening up with punches. Sabine had no idea what was coming or when it would come. She barely even processed what Arinette was saying.

What Arinette said drew Sabine back to old memories. Memories of the silver cage and the endless antidote experiments. The way her beast spirit and her would torture each other at the behest of the alchemy forced into her. Ariel's face was a blur. Sabine could not imagine anything worse than what happened in the Vos coven. But she did feel like a helpless, emaciated, and terrified little girl again.

Mention of Meesei was one thing that kept her warm. That made her eyes burn.

"She is my mother," Sabine whimpered, not realising she had said it out loud until she opened her eyes and saw the back of Arinette's feet walking away.

Sabine let her forehead fall onto her knees and she quietly wept. Between the fear, the cold, and the pain, she could not sleep if she tried.

[hr]
Fendros' gesture had the intended effect. However, the moment was shorter-lived than he expected. The ring was a small amount of good news that they needed.

Even if Meesei could not immediately locate Sabine's ring, she gave him an idea. He was still neutral in his tone, if more energetic. "I would not give up just yet. If that ring is powerful enough to detect the other over a distance, it improves our chances. Do we have a map of the High Rock region?"

Fendros continued whether they could use a map or not. "Consider the distance between here and the last place we fought and forced them to disappear, those weeks ago. We know little about the limits of their magic, but we may be able to take a guess to narrow down the total area they may have gone to. It is likely to be any distance in radius around this point..." he pointed to the ground. "...to the point we were ambushed before. We can use the ring to sweep larger areas while others search conventionally beyond the ring's range. It is our best chance."