Kaleeth looked uncertain for a few seconds, and had to think of how to word her response. She hummed to herself for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Um...sort of. I think all of this is just really hard for me to make sense of. A lot of our time we just spent talking about the past, about...memories. We talked about my mother a lot, especially about how she was after I left. It hurt her that I left, but I understand she didn't hate me for it. She wasn't like that. She, um...well she did probably hate you. A lot, unfortunately. Not because of who you are or anything, but just because you took me away from her. I think she would have liked you if she got to know you. The Elder agreed. She also thought it would be a good idea if I talked to Thorantilth about communing with the Hist properly. I think I will, but maybe not right now. I just need some time. So, how is Julan getting along with the others? Have you been listening in on them?" 

[hr]

Ahnasha shook her head. "No, our situation was different, but we did lack the will to endure what we needed to endure. You know that you were burned in a fire in Black Marsh, back when we were negotiating with Hal-Neesa's cult. That is all true. They were being attacked, and as a condition of our alliance, we were helping them. Neesa and her cult are awful people, make no mistake, but those mercenaries were every bit as detestable as them. They captured us, me and your father. They restrained us, with Fendros facing me, then had healers keep me alive while one of them while one of them cut me open."

For a moment, Ahnasha hesitated and broke eye contact to hide the pain that the memories brought back. Then, after a deep breath, she looked back to him and recited her story with a practiced lack of emotion. "He peeled back my skin from my neck to my abdomen, like a hunter skinning a deer. He cut through the muscle to put all of my insides on display for Fendros. He did anything he could to hurt me and force us to give up information on Neesa's stronghold for their attack. The stronghold where [i]you[/i] were at the time. We failed. Fendros told them what they wanted to know; gave them intelligence they used in their attack. I blamed him for a while, but I could only do that by lying to myself. I wouldn't have lasted a minute longer. I would have told them, had he not. It was a different sort of mental willpower that we lacked, but just as important."

There was another brief silence from Ahnasha, but she managed to keep her thoughts focused. "And the man who did that to me, my torturer, what would you think should have happened to him, Rhazii? If it were your choice, what would you say he deserved?"