Sephira was glad the knock on the door woke her because she found her and Craven tangled in each other's arms with his face close to hers. She let out a Duvendis hiss as she sat up in the bed and Rauka appeared in the opening to the bed chamber looking slightly disheveled.

"Stay here or get up and hide. It's probably just the maid." Sephira told Craven who grunted in confirmation. She straightened her tunic and hair and strode to the door with Rauka behind her. She was glad the door to her chambers was more impassable than the rickety door to the last one. She unbolted it and opened the heavy door slowly to find Gia standing there. She curtsied before she stuttered out an invitation to get Sephira and her guards dinner.

"Come in. I have a question for you." Sephira commanded, trying not to let her upright manner be too frightening to the skittish little maid as to make her too nervous to speak clearly. Gia obliged readily, closing the door with pale shaking hands behind herself.

"What is it, General?" she asked with a voice so high it sounded like a squeak.

"Have you seen my crystal?" Sephira asked, in a calm voice as she faced away from the maid purposefully hoping it would make her answer her question more coherently. Sephira couldn't help the irritation that rose in her as the maid tried to answer and couldn't spit out where the crystal was.

"Can you find my crystal and bring it up here with our food?" Sephira asked, spinning to see that Gia looked overly distressed about the concept of finding Sephira's crystal. "Did someone take it from you?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Gia cringed, closing her eyes for a moment like she was waiting for Sephira to lop off her head in a blind rage.

"It must've fallen out of your pocket when I was washing your tunic and one of the other maids took it! I'm sorry! I didn't know it was yours!" Gia had been reduced to tears now and Sephira was quickly losing her patience.

"Which maid? Does she still have it?" Sephira asked, trying to slow down the questions so she didn't totally overwhelm the girl.

"I think she sold it." Gia sobbed in hopelessness.

"Is there somewhere I could purchase another... or purchase it back?" Sephira asked, looking at Rauka to see if she thought it was a risky idea. Rauka had a hesitant look in her eyes, but didn't seem overly worried.

"There might be a place..." Gia answered, trying to swallow her sob.

"Is it open this late?" Sephira asked, recalling that humans' stores almost always closed at sundown and the sunset was beginning to tinge the balcony orange.

"Yes..." Gia said, with her eyes looking down as if she was hesitant to show it to Sephira or scared to go there herself.

"Stay here. Sit on the couch and wipe your tears." Sephira ordered Gia as she slipped back into the bed room. She put her finger over her lips as Craven's half-open eyes landed on her. He started to get up when she started putting her armor and weapons back on over her tunic.

"What is it?" he whispered in the furthest corner of the room away from the thick curtain over the entrance.

"The maid says my crystal was taken and sold by one of the other maids. She's going to show me a place I might be able to purchase a new one. You can come if you're up for it." Sephira told him quietly.

"Yeah, I'll come." He answered, kissing her against his better judgment.

"Stop it! The maid's out there." She breathed after she kissed him back like an idiot. He smirked at the longing look on her face, and they let go of each other to finish getting ready. "Just wait a few minutes and then meet us at the stables so she's not suspicious about you being in my bed." She told Craven before slipping back out to see the maid still sitting on the couch with her hands clutched nervously in her lap.

"Can you ride a horse?" She asked, surprising the maid.

"Y-yes." She answered, sounding uncertain.

"My guard will help tack the horses." She said, looking to Rauka who nodded. "I'd prefer not to be stared at so I'm going to wear my mask..." Sephira explained, as she took the Nimbi Officer mask, leaving the turban and only pulling the hood of her black tunic up over her blond hair. Gia followed her down to the stables like she was going to her death and Sephira could tell the maid felt terribly out of place as they crossed the courtyard full of soldiers that were still training in the dimming light. Despite Sephira covering her elven face with her Officer's mask, the eyes still stuck to her as she strode across the sandy courtyard in her shining new black and gold armor. The stable-master recognized her even though she wore such a different uniform and he offered to tack a better quality horse for her. She almost said no, but decided to take him up on his offer. The black horse he tacked up had a shining ebony coat and a mane that was cut short and stood up straight like a fan emphasizing his thick curving neck. Craven joined them and his presence only made Gia more nervous.

"Gia, my guards are not here to hurt you." Sephira murmured, when the girl flinched when Craven grabbed hold of the horse she was about to mount to steady him for her. Gia peered up into Sephira's inhuman eyes, but tried to accept the reassuring words the warrior spoke. Gia nodded, and Sephira helped her up onto the small dun horse.

Craven was glad that the Stable-master had seen fit to grant him and Rauka horses as nice and large as the one Sephira was given. Craven stood by Sephira without her speaking a word and she used his shoulder as he held her foot in his hands to help her onto the large stallion. The Stable-master was surprised how graceful and effortless the maneuver was, but he knew the rumors about the young female Officer that had been able to defend herself against nine other male Officers and impress three dragons in a single visit to the Dragon-lair.

Gia started off at a walk towards the gates, but stopped when a Captain approached them, going straight for Sephira with a look like he was going to punish her in his eyes.

"Officer? Who authorized this?" he asked, with a confused look at her maid and then at her armor.

"You must be new here, Captain. I'm General Sephim." Sephira told him with authority pouring into her calm, clear voice. "My maid misplaced a belonging of mine. She's just showing me where I can purchase a replacement."

"You're a General? ...Officers are not authorized to take horses... I only assumed from your mask..." He babbled, until Lieutenant Ludov trotted over to his side.

"My apologies, General. We won't delay you any longer!" the Lieutenant spoke, pulling the Captain back by his shoulders out of the way of the large black horse that Sephira sat tall upon.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Ludov." She answered in a silky voice. Craven noticed a slight elvish accent as she spoke and watched their expressions carefully to make sure they didn't notice it.

As Gia led them at a painfully slow pace, Sephira's eyes looked over the courtyard to see Corsan and Ludov watching her among others. There were Captains all gathered on the balcony that overlooked the training grounds and although new Officers had been named, taken from the most experienced of the six-hundred or so Centri's that were in Thule, Lieutenant Corsan had been closely overseeing Sephira's Centri in particular. Turned Nimbi had been added to all the Centri's that previously were only non-turned human recruits. Most of the new recruits were teenage boys, while the turned Nimbi soldiers were about sixty percent adult male orcs that dwarfed the non-turned soldiers. Sephira guessed there could've been twenty or so Captains. Many had arrived with the turned troops the previous day along with the Captain that had questioned her. Each white caped Captain was responsible for five gold-caped Lieutenants who were each responsible for six Officers and six Centri's in turn. Sephira knew all the Captains and Lieutenants had masks that they wore in battle, but she didn't remember what set them apart from the other Nimbi soldiers' masks. There was a rumor that only under the command of a Grey Council member could turned Nimbi be dragon riders and Sephira vaguely remembered that she had seen a few when they were attacked after the alliance sent them on their mission.

Her mind was still wandering, trying to entangle the information she had on the Nimbian army's ranks and the duties of each rank. She didn't really know what a General did; she only knew the rank was higher than a Captain and in turn higher than a Lieutenant and Officer. Azaesel had been treating her more like a queen than a military general. She was used to being second-in-command by her mother's side and her rank in elvish was the 'Sviat'. It was a purely Duvendis word that only meant 'Second'. Her mother's title was 'Feuryn' which meant 'Leader'. She found herself missing her friends and lost in thought when Gia slowed to a stop in front of her. She looked up to see the sign above the wood and stone building was in the human script that she couldn't read. She hadn't thought to ask the orcs if they were able to read it and she looked back at Craven as he dismounted his horse.

Sephira tied her horse and followed Gia's ghostly form into a loud room full of mostly men. She thought it was a kind of bar when she saw that most of the men were drinking alcoholic drinks at tables. Some had playing cards and Lightning Clan money while others just had bottles and cups. It was dim in the room and she realized it was a brothel when she almost ran straight into a woman wearing only undergarments.

"What's this?! A woman that's an Officer?" One of the men called above the din. Sephira turned her gaze on the man and he lost the smile on his face when he saw her eyes.

"In a brothel!" another man laughed, slamming his hand on the table in merriment.

"Shut up." One of the men muttered, as Sephira couldn't help approaching the table. "It's Sephim..." he told the others as he avoided eye contact with Sephira.

"What?" the laughing man asked, before he noticed Sephira's eyes and looked taken aback.

"We're sorry, Officer Sephim... They're just drunk and stupid..." The one man said as he looked up to make careful eye contact with her. She looked down at their table and flipped a playing card in curiosity.

"It's General Sephim. I was promoted..." Sephira stated. Her quiet voice was heard by all at the table and even the tables around it because her presence had caused many of them to have grown quiet.

"A woman that looks like a whore is a General? I'll believe that when I see it." A man who had spun from his game of throwing knives at a target announced boisterously. The man who undoubtedly had seen Sephira's fight with the Officers shrunk in his chair.

"Why don't you believe it?" Sephira asked in an even tone.

"Because a woman can't fight in battle! Why would they make you a General other than to have you in their bed? That's the only thing women are good for." He said. Sephira was surprised with herself for being so calm, but she found it was only because she expected this infuriating sentiment from a stupid man in a brothel.

"I bet I can beat you at your little knife throwing game." She said to many of the men's surprise. Some started cheering at the idea of watching them play a game.

"I'd like to see you try!" The man said sounding intrigued. He produced a knife and handed it to her. "Just hit the target in the middle and try not to hurt yourself." He chuckled with an offensive tone. Gia had sunk behind Rauka and Craven had crossed his arms over his chest to watch.

"Why don't you go first?" Sephira said in a sly voice. The man seemed to puff himself up as he grabbed a knife and flung it by the blade to the target. It hit near the middle and he smiled to Sephira proudly. Sephira smiled under her mask as she weighed the knife in her hand before she threw it at the target. She threw it fast and it went in deeply despite her having not moved from where she stood further away than the man. It stuck directly into the middle with a 'thunk'.

"Ohhh!" one of the men cried, laughing at his friend while others cheered and laughed at the surrounding tables.

"Best out of three!" The man suggested, maintaining his cool attitude and his smile as he took another drink.

"Don't cry when you lose." Sephira joked. Craven could hear the smile in her voice and even the man had grinned at the unexpected joke. He whacked one of his friends that had laughed before turning back to the target. He threw the knife and it hit the top outer ring of the wooden target. Sephira didn't wait very long before she threw a knife past the man's shoulder and it sunk into the target beside the first knife she had thrown right in the center.

"Well, I guess I owe you a drink!" The man laughed, sounding dumbfounded as he turned to look at the elf.

"Don't worry about it." She answered coolly, as she went back to Craven and Rauka and found Gia biting her nails with her back to the wall. Gia started leading Sephira to a room near the back as the front went back to the volume it had been before they entered.

There was a woman sitting at a small round table in a nook in the back room. It was quieter and there were more women serving fewer men.

"Gia, what-?" the woman cut her question off when she saw Sephira behind her. Sephira could tell even with the hood over her hair and ears, the woman sitting at the table was half naiad. She furrowed her eyebrows as Sephira sat down at the round table across from her. When she saw her silvery eyes, her eyes narrowed and before she could say anything Sephira moved her hands to perform the silencing spell under the table. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when no sound came out.

"I'm looking for a crystal. Do you have one?" Sephira told her, as her eyes went over the cards and semi-precious stones on the table. "I can pay you whatever you want." Sephira said, taking out a few large gold coins of Lightning Clan money. The half-naiad's dull blue eyes went to the money hungrily and then back up to Sephira. Then she dug in her pocket and pulled out Sephira's crystal, making Sephira tilt her head. Slowly the girl handed the crystal to Sephira and Sephira watched her take the coins as soon as she dropped the crystal into her waiting hand. "You three can go wait outside." Sephira told Gia and the two orcs. Craven and Rauka nodded, both knowing the naiad hybrid seemed to have an inkling about what Sephira was.

"I'm going to reverse the silencing spell, but you're not going to speak about meeting me or even seeing me. Is that clear?" She asked the girl in a quiet voice. "Nod." Sephira demanded, making the girl swallow and nod fervently. "Now, tell me. Who gave you that crystal?" Sephira asked slowly, while she undid her spell, weaving her signs furtively under the table.

"A maid... from the castle. It wasn't Gia." She said quickly with a waver to her voice.

"What did they say about where they found the crystal?"

"They said from someone in the castle." She answered, as Sephira searched her eyes for signs of dishonesty only to find none.

"What has Gia told you about who she serves at the castle?" Sephira continued in a calm, seemingly uncaring voice.

"She only told me it was a woman with strange eyes... A soldier with strange eyes and pointed teeth..." The naiad hybrid girl practically whispered. Sephira was silent, wondering if she'd be better off killing the girl to keep her quiet.

"What's your name?" Sephira asked, deciding on a different tactic.

"Nylah." The girl answered after a pause.

"Nylah, where are you from?"

"Uhm, why do you want to know?" She asked, with a look around to see that none of the others in the dim room were listening.

"How does a naiad hybrid end up here? Surrounded by humans in the dry plains of Gregoria?" Sephira challenged.

"I got stuck here because... the ship I was on was wrecked on Lemuria. I used all my money on the ship over to the mainland. Nobody else survived the shipwreck..." She answered.

"So, you're telling fortunes and giving out spells, for what? enough money to buy a horse?" Sephira asked, knowing she probably had enough with just the two gold coins she had given her alone.

"Yes..., but I'm also looking for somebody..." She admitted, making Sephira raise an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"A boy..." She sighed. "His name is Kiran..."

"I know Kiran." Sephira answered making hope flood the girl's features. "What do you want with him?"

"Can't you guess?" She hissed with her head dipping low as her cheeks were flushed. Sephira was smiling.

"Sure, you want me to send him here to see you?" Sephira asked.

"Can you?!" she exclaimed. "Why would you do that for me?"

"You tell no one about my crystal, I'll send Kiran." Sephira shrugged.

"Okay! Yes, I promise. Thank you!" Her voice cracked as she could barely contain her thankfulness.

"Good luck, Nylah." Sephira said, with her crystal clutched in her fist as she stood up and left.

*

It was dark when Sephira left the brothel. Gia looked worried sick like she expected Sephira to have threatened or hurt her friend.

"How do you know Nylah?" Sephira asked Gia as she slowed her horse to walk side by side with Gia's in the nearly empty streets.

"I... uh the maids go there often for predictions and... love spells." Gia explained, unable to lie under the spell Sephira shot at her.

"And why did you go to her?" She asked.

"I wanted to have my fortune read... to see if I'd ever... fall in love." Gia admitted, lowering her voice.

"And what did she say?" Sephira pressed, curiously.

"She said I would." Gia said, with the corners of her lips pulling up as she looked down, avoiding the intimidating General's gaze.

"Which maid took the crystal from you?" Sephira asked, making Gia's smile disappear and her shoulders tense.

"Uhm, I don't want to get her in trouble... She doesn't deserve to be punished..." Gia stammered, with her voice going high and her pale hands clutching the reigns tighter.

"She forced you to give her the crystal, didn't she?" Sephira could see from her expression, that she was right. "You tell her I'll find her if she causes you any more trouble." Sephira told her, before having her horse trot ahead to lead them back.

Gia was shaking from the cold when they returned to the stables and Craven wished he had a blanket or coat to give her. Sephira could tell by the way he stood that he felt the need to help her.

"I'm sorry I've caused you discomfort." Sephira blurted out when they arrived back to her chambers. "I'm sure that maid took money first...to pay your friend Nylah." Gia frowned like Sephira had seen right through her. "Take this as a tip for helping me." She said, handing her some of the money she had left over. From Gia's expression, she guessed it was a lot.

"I can't take this." Gia argued in disbelief.

"I don't need it." Sephira shrugged, taking her mask off as she made a fire in the main hearth.

"I'll go get your dinner." Gia stated as she left.

When she left, Sephira lit a candle and ran the crystal through the smoke.

"What are you doing?" Rauka asked, watching the elf as she murmured in elvish with the flame reflecting off her eyes.

"Just cleansing the crystal..." Sephira explained. "Don't move." She muttered to Craven as she knelt over him where he laid on the couch. Craven let her press the crystal to his dully aching ribs and was surprised when it burned warm and seemed to relax away the pain. "Do you think she knows you're not turned?" Sephira asked the other two.

"I don't think so." Rauka answered sounding fairly certain.

"I hope not." Craven mumbled.

*

After they had eaten, Sephira sat on the bed and tried to reach out to see where Sorin was. Her head ached after she tried to see the images Sorin tried to send. She saw a flash of the naiads working on blessing more water in the dark under the moonlight. Sorin was able to let her know his worry about the sick orc, but it seemed like his feelings were being blocked as if wards were getting in the way. She worried it was Azaesel doing something to stop her and worried even more that he had her already figured out. Would he trap her at the banquet with her skimpy dress and no weapons while surrounded by all the druids in the Grey Council? What about the druid she dismembered? Would he recognize her and Craven?

I keep trying to write the banquet scene and then my writing takes me a different direction. I'm sorry everybody! It's coming. I have part of it written from when I decided how the story would go, but then this chapter came out of nowhere. Haha, didn't plan any of it. Tell me what you think! If I should take this out or keep it?