Zyra had Gabrio helped him again in suturing her wounds. Though ashamed to have her unmarried body seen by a man. The bastard himself didn't even ogle at her body. She knew she was full of scars, but that shouldn't be something that would stop a man from looking.

  Raising her arms, she had let Gabrio check on the suture below her breast.

  "You know, this is quite embarrassing."

  "Deal with it then," he said tonelessly. "And I told you to stop moving too much. You'll be opening your wounds all the time."

  "I know," Zyra swallowed. "but I assure you that I have not at least ripped all of my stitches."

  "Please remove your robes," he said.

  Zyra glared, "Are you serious?"

  Gabrio folded his arms, "Ms. Surgeon, whose fault is it that I have to do this? Hmm? Oh, it is yours, and thus I must ask you kindly to stop being so shy."

  Her cheeks reddened, "Easy to say when your not the one being seen naked."

  "Are we going to do this? I have a mirror, maybe that will help you stitch your wounds back."

  "Fine," she slowly removed her robe, revealing her lower body save for her undergarments. "Don't stare."

  Gabrio snorted, he turned his attention to the stitches just above her crotch. He took a needle and surgical thread and started stitching it back.

  "Gah," Zyra said. "Are you sure that you don't want to use my tools? I have a clamp and different sized needles for this."

  "No," Gabrio said. "You know that I am not a Surgeon."

  "But you do sure know your knots."

  "I am a Physician trained in first-aid. I needed to know so I can treat patients who only come for some stitching. I do get older ladies and younger people who are open-minded about internal medicine. Not that they are many, and I have time to practice."

  "You don't look rusty to me."

  "Because, ever since young, I had been drilled to stitch a wound."

  "Hmm," Zyra eyed him. "I never really did say that I am sorry for leaving like that."

  Gabrio said, "I am not your keeper, Zyra. You do what you want as long as you warn me about this. I won't cover for you."

  "I know," she placed her hands on her head, "that you had a rough time while I was adventuring with them. I didn't know that the beastmen would try their best to destroy the fleet. That hole in the ground must have poisoned their labyrinth."

  "Hmm," Gabrio wiped the blood coming out of her wounds. "I am not blind to the affairs of this Company. I saw the direction where your group was coming, and the battle that happened in the sky. I am purposely ignorant of the things that are beyond my control."

  Zyra watched him wiped the rest of the blood on her body. He pulled on his leather gloves and placed it inside the metal contraption they use to sterilize the gloves.

  With the suturing done, she wore her flower-patterned robe. Zyra made Gabrio help dress her. Embarrassing as it was, she didn't want to open her wounds again.

  His hands were careful. Although his hands were large, Gabrio stayed off her skin and helped her dress. After helping her dress, he braided her hair into a tight bun.

  Zyra pouted, eyeing Gabrio with confusion. "You do confuse me. Are you taking advantage of me, or are you just this used to women?"

  "Fort Rava," he said, "had a community of women harder than steel. Killers, courtesans, femme fatales who had driven their knives on their victims."

  "Your younger days must have been fun."

  "I treated them like big sisters," Gabrio said with a thin smile on his face. "Four of them were monsters, and they were part of the leagues that had successfully killed politicians and officials around the continent.

  "You did have fun with them?"

  "I will not lie, there might be some odd things that happened, but they were my big sisters, and I loved them as Sisters."

  "But you slept with one of them?"

  Gabrio didn't answer. He eyed the air with blankness. As if seeing something beyond his vision. He looked down for a moment and locked eyes with Zyra.

"They taught me to be good, and I think they did that because they were good women. If I don't treat women right, then they'd be disappointed."

  "You know, right?"

  He stared and then nodded slowly.

  "I see, then why?"

  "I told you already. I sit between the fence watching both sides. Besides, no Surgeon would go adventuring when they can sit on their asses all day."

  "True," she barked a laugh. "I doubt you can see through all of it."

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  "I can't, but I know how to tell one because of my sisters. I lived inside the Fort filled with the most heinous criminals. It would be odd if I didn't know how to tell you apart from them."

  "I guess living in that fort had done you wonders."

  "It did. Anyway, I hope that you do not open your wounds again, Zy."

  "Gab," she said lowly. "I truly am sorry for the inconvenience."

  "It has been done. We cannot weep over parts of life."

  "Gab, hear me out."

  He looked at her. "I am listening."

  "There will be a time where you have to take action. You are playing your role well, but you have no idea what this journey is about other than exploration and conquer. When the time comes, I hope that you are on my side instead."

  "Then I'll try to keep on my side," he replied with certainty. "I am my own master, and if there is the day that I make a choice, it would be about saving a patient's life."

  "I know you say that," she said. "I can respect that."

  "Thank you."

  "So, is there anything that I can do?"

  "Not much," he leaned on a table. "Millie and Wiles have been doing well in your absence."

  "That's good then."

  "Go and rest, Zyra."

  Zyra left the room and went to the clinic where she saw injured men, being cared for by their families. Following behind her was, Gabrio who started checking on his patients.

  He was diligent, and yet here she was chasing after the ghosts of the past. This role belonged to her. She recalled the Dai Khan's words before she left.

  One day the Serpent shall sail to the heart of the world. He shall appear on the clouds upon the still water to judge those who devour their kin. The voiceless waters shall be the color of gore. The flags of the United shall ride on the winds of time until they reach thy hearts, where the world shall decide whether man or beast shall live.

  The heart of the beast?

  The heart of men?

  It did not matter.

  Until they reach the heart of the world, then the battle will come.

  Of all the people that had to be involved, it was her.

  A united continent and the hearts of trees joining the fleet was something that she did not take seriously. Not until she saw the Serpent that marks the end.

  Entering the cabin where they are staying, she told the group about her condition. Though, Mardon Lam's attitude had her felt like she would stick her knives on his neck.

  "Are you fine, Miss?" Terin said.

  "I am fine, Terin," she leaned on the cabin wall. "The Doctor is a well-practiced man of medicine."

  "Bah," Caldor Andor reacted.

  She was not fond of Caldor Ando, a miserable killer who was using his time to bring the boy marked by Serpents to the heart of the world.

  "He plays his role in the ship. We might not have been friends for years, but I know a man who sticks to his role. Oh please, don't tell me you are surprised that a man of Fort Rava would be so stubborn?"

  "No," he snorted. "It reminds me of how I hated those people."

  "This unbecoming of someone your age, Caldor."

  Caldor looked away from the conversation and walked back to his hammock. Mardon Lam eyed Zyra, holding on to that quarterstaff with a hand cannon on each end. It was an odd weapon that worked by hitting someone first. There are safety locks on each side.

  "Well, at least he knows how to heal. Not that I found any complaints about the Doctor, despite being raised in a place like that."

  "Indeed," Madam Rosalve said. "One must know his or her role in this world, and I believe we are in no position to ask his role. I see the wisdom in that young man, and that is wisdom not earned through a paper."

  "Anyway," Zyra said. "I believe you now, and that the chart followed by the fleet makes sense."

  "I told you, Miss Zyra," Madam Rosalve said, "that the chart is made by those who sailed before us. After so many years of keeping clear of the affairs of the mainland, the long-eared finally comes in peace, but I must admit that this won't be possible unless the Chancellor didn't get himself involve."

  "That power Terin invoke, what is that?"

  "The World's Serpent, the one that devoured the destruction, and through shedding one's skin that the world was born anew. The Aspect of the Serpent."

  "The monster he fought in the clouds?"

  "The Aspect of the Beast," Madam Rosalve said, "Just as there is light, there is darkness. The Destructor is the God of Ruin and Envy. But to label them as evil is untrue. Who in this life would live in war and bloodshed?"

  "Does this mean that we have to face more of that? We barely survive the fight with that monster."

  "I doubt it," Madam Rosalve conjured fire on her hands, "the Aspect of the Beast had tried to remove us by using that monster. It was a gamble on both sides that we have fortunately won."

  "Is that so?" Zyra still questioned. "What if Terin did lose the battle? What would be then?"

  Madam Rosalve eyed the young woman who gave a little glow of light. Felecia Alvara, a woman with royal blood. Though, she is nothing more than a woman with not even a title to her name.

  "So we'll make her Queen. It's a good thing Terin didn't lose then."

  "What is your problem with me, woman?"

  "Nothing," Zyra said with a face full of malice. "Pardon, but my whole line died for your cause, and I will not have one of it."

  "I am a QUEEN."

  "Not until you prove that you can, Miss," Zyra folded her arms, "If it wasn't for your blood, then I wonder why you would even join this band?"

  "That is not your concern."

  "If you are trying to seek redemption, then you should have stayed. You can fool people there, but not the ones on this ship, milady. You look down on us, and you hate us for being part of this ship."

  "That is not true."

  "Then do not look at us like slaves."

  "Quiet," Madam Rosalve softly said. "Please understand that there was a need for her to be here, Miss Zyra. I know that your allegiance makes it hard for you to accept that of Royal Blood, but you have fought with Felecia."

  "I did," Zyra tilted her head. "But I am not so simple that it could change my mind. I've seen too much of Imperial lies to believe that the blood that bled Aon dry would still have good in it."

  "It's not like someone from the Dai Khan can talk," Mardon Lam mocked, a face filled with a sneer. "But who am I to judge someone who gave up on her role?"

  Zyra didn't take the bait. She turned her attention to the young man who had been taken in by Caldor Ando. The man, chosen by fate and the man who had to fight in the heart of the world.