Damien looked at the tangling of blonde hair before him, wrapping around both Erin and himself and smiled. Her soft warm skin laid pressed against his chest and he felt each breathe she took as if they were his own.

     "What are you thinking about?" He asked.

     "What life would be like to not be who I am," she sighed against Damien's chest, and brought a hand up to rub against his abdomen gently. She moved lower to feel the small hairs below his belly button, making Damien shiver.

     "Well, what do you think you would be doing?"

     "I'm honestly not sure," she adjusted her position so that she could rest her head against her own fist and looked at Damien,"what did you used to do?"

Uncomfortable with the question, he cleared his throat and sat up in the bed. Erin joined him and pulled her hair to the side before looking at him, unsure of what she said wrong. Damien noticed her gaze and gave her a half smile to keep her spirits high.

"I never really did anything," he said.

"That doesn't make any sense. How can you not do anything? Everyone has some purpose," she rubbed a hand up and down Damien's arm feeling the goosebumps that covered the entirety of it.

"I grew up with a very wealthy family," he took a deep breathe before continuing,"I never got to go out or do anything. My father wanted me to take over his position eventually and didn't want my mind "sullied" by the people in town," he rolled his eyes at the completion of the thought.

"How would these people mess with your mind?"

"My father ran the town, and he was afraid people would try to lead me astray so they could step in if I had made a terrible mistake."

"That's horrible, Damien," Erin brought her head to rest on his shoulder and continued rubbing his arm in long slow strokes from wrist to elbow.

     "I wish we could just go somewhere together, and never have to worry about people telling us what we can and can't do," he lowered his head after pulling his legs around the bed to sit up. Erin moved over behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly, her hair tickling his shoulder blades.

     "Maybe someday we will," Erin added.

     "Why not now?"

     "They'll kill me Damien, and they'll kill you too," Erin loosened her grip around Damien only a little before squeezing him tightly once more. He dropped his head dejectedly and brushed his brown hair back with his fingers.

     "Maybe if we go somewhere near where you're from they wouldn't find us? We don't have any jurisdiction on that side of Maber," she pondered the thought, thinking of the possibility of being with Damien and living life--a real life.

     "Is it possible?"

     Erin moved her head around to look him in the eyes. She smiled brightly then leaned in for one more long kiss, and Damien was more than happy to oblige.

     ~*~

     Tomas sat in the chair opposite Dia, still mostly frightened from the quick change in temperament that the woman easily managed.

     "1800 is outrageous," he said meekly into a cup of wine.

     Dia put her drink down and turned in her chair to better see Tomas eye to eye, "you abused the law and should be killed right here right now, and worst of all you thought you could get away with it," she said between clenched teeth, "think of it as a means to save your life."

He shrunk back into his chair fast enough to almost send the wine up out of his cup, "the gold is at the inn, under the cot I slept in," he took a sip.

"That can be easily retrieved," Dia eyed her fingernails, looking for any imperfections along her cuticles.

"You mentioned business before--what did you mean?"

"I'm glad you ask Mr. Hilder," she stood up and walked over near an elaborate desk covered in silver candelabras and parchment neatly placed in one large stack, "I believe that both you and I can benefit from an idea I've been thinking about since your abomination at Talion," she ended her statement with a cold inflection that made Tomas's eye twitch.

"How would you feel about becoming partners?"

"Do I have a choice?" Tomas asked.

Dia grinned, showing off her nearly perfect pearly whites, "of course you do--" she waited for Tomas to exhale with relief before continuing,"be my partner or be added to our boneyard."

     The trembling in Tomas's hand forced him to place his cup down,"what do I need to do?"

     "You had the right idea at Talion. It's a great means of gaining wealth in one large sum, but how would you feel going out to other towns on my behalf?"

     "As what? And why?" He inquired, most certainly confused judging from his eyebrow raise.

"I want you to be my voice and my collector, if you will," Dia grabbed a large piece of parchment located on the top of the stack and walked over beside Tomas.

"It's a map of Maber," he stated.

"Oh aren't you just brilliant," she mocked, "look at all these towns surrounding Talion," she pointed to four different individual towns, and looked to Tomas.

"What about them? Just a bunch of poor souls barely making it out there," he scoffed. Dia raised a hand up and slapped Tomas as hard as she could. He held his cheek, seeing stars.

"Are you some kind of fool?! Between the four of these towns we will both profit!"

Tomas stared at Dia scared and still utterly lost with the situation. She rolled her eyes before walking back to her desk and placing the map down carefully.

"You will go to these four towns and tell them that you are there on behalf of the furies and collect every copper they have. Tell them that they can buy their freedom from our rule over their laws."

"You want me to do what I did to Talion?" He asked.

"Finally catching on," Dia took her seat once more and emptied her goblet into her painted mouth.

"Won't they figure it out?"

"They'll be dead before anyone can say anything to anyone," she laughed.

"If they catch on to me?" The sound of his hard swallow was loud enough for Dia to notice.

"You'll get a cut of the profits and a room here for yourself. Just keep your mouth shut about it and don't interact with my girls," Dia refilled her goblet and held it up in front of Tomas, "to us--and all the wealth we'll see," she smiled.

Tomas brought his cup against Dia's and flashed a hesitant grin in her direction, still warming up to the idea of sending all those people unknowingly to their deaths. He shrugged it off remembering the gold coins under his cot and the sound they made hitting against one another. The thought made him show off his own set of pearly whites to Dia before their laughter mingled together and echoed through the hall outside.

~*~

Gwen leaned against the door to Dia's room, taking in the plot involving the vile man sitting in her chambers.

"You won't get away with this," she softly mumbled to herself.

Gwen clenched both her fists and teeth together before quietly running in the direction of Tara's room with Dia's laughter ringing in her ears.