Walking through the infirmary door, her bag felt weighty, the letter within and the request she was planning to make laying heavily on her conscience. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a high-pitched screaming.

“Don’t touch me, you demon!”

Instinctively, Lidea dropped her bag and tensed up, readying herself for a fight. But as she assessed the situation, her tension eased. Crystal stood in a standoff with the teenage girl Warchief and Lidea had rescued from the northern quarters.

“I said don’t touch me!”

At least she's spirited.

Lidea watched as the healer’s hand hovered mid-air after the girl had whipped away her arm. Her fingers were covered with a white cream, one of her many tinctures, presumably.

“Your wounds started to fester, Shannayra. Now either you listen to me and do it yourself, or you let me help you.”

Crystal's voice was gentle, yet Lidea could sense the growing frustration beneath it. The girl's fear-filled eyes darted around anxiously, searching for an escape. A way out, perhaps? It was at this point that the girl’s eyes fell onto Lidea, tears welling within them.

“How can you just stand there!? Help me please!”

Only now did Crystal turn to notice her arrival. She seemed tense, her eyes looking a lot darker than they normally did. Lidea couldn’t blame her if this was what she had been dealing with for these past few days.

“Help you? Sure I can.”

Stepping closer to the teen, she could see her sense of relief, only for it to dissipate when Lidea grasped her arm. Prompting Shannayra to start struggling again, but she was unable to break free from her grasp.

“What? I thought you wanted me to help you. Now stay still and I will help you get treated.”

“You traitor! How can you work together with a demon? Let me go! I won’t let her eat me!”

Lidea scoffed at her ridiculous claim, but she reminded herself that it was what the girl had been taught. These were not her own words, but those of her teachers. Reigning in her temper, she tried to channel her mother’s demeanor whenever Lidea had acted unreasonably.

“Why are you so convinced she has the intention to eat you?”

Shannayra's green eyes widened in disbelief as if Lidea had uttered the most preposterous statement.

“She is a demon! Everyone knows what they are like!”

“Is that so? But has ‘everyone’ ever actually met a demon in their life?”

The realization seemed to dawn on Shannayra that her beliefs were based on mere hearsay, on stories passed down from generation to generation. Lidea knew she was smart.

“No, but everyone knows the stories…”

Her argument faltered, and Lidea seized the opportunity to continue challenging her assumptions.

“Sure, everyone knows the stories, but stories are always told by someone. For instance, is the story about you being a witch true?”

“No!”

She reacted almost instantly to the accusation and then seemed to recognize something as she looked over at Crystal. The healer just smiled in silence, leaving Lidea to do the work for her. She could only hope that she wasn’t planning to repeat the joke about her father being eaten to the teen.

“Exactly. Just like you know that isn’t true, why should you believe everything you hear about demons? Wouldn’t it be better to see and judge for yourself?”

The room fell into a contemplative silence before Lidea broke it by gesturing to the scrapes on Shannayra’s arm that had turned foul.

“Now, why don’t we just wash your arm for now? Crystal has a salve that could help, but I understand if you're not ready for that yet. After we clean it, we can keep an eye on it. How does that sound?”

The teen hesitated, her gaze still wary but less hostile. Eventually, she nodded cautiously.

“Good.”

Letting go of her arm, she turned to speak to Crystal, just to have a bowl of water and a washcloth pressed into her arms.

“Make sure to clean it thoroughly. I want it to be spotless!”

Crystal's stern tone earned a flinch from Shannayra, while Lidea just grinned.

“Already putting me to work, I see. No worries, boss. I've got it covered.”

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Shannayra looked between them, clearly bewildered, as Crystal walked away with a harrumph.

“You better!”

Lidea couldn't help but chuckle, then focused her attention back on the teen.

“You’ll get used to her. She’s all bark and no bite.”

Shannayra appeared unconvinced, her gaze still fixed on Crystal as the healer prepared more of her remedies, the rhythmic grinding sound of a mortar filling the room.

“Let's attend to that arm of yours.”

As Shannayra rolled up her sleeve and held her arm over the bowl, Lidea started to clean the wound.

“Have you had a chance to explore the library? You mentioned you liked books, right?”

Lidea hadn’t had the chance to speak to the girl yet, as she had been a terrified mess when they arrived at the shelter.

Both Lidea and Warchief had decided that seeing either of them would only remind her of the bloodshed and that it was better to give her time to adjust.

“I haven’t left here. She is always watching.”

The teen responded in whispered tones, clearly not wanting Crystal to hear.

“Crystal is just concerned for you, but you don’t need to be cooped up in here. Except for some bruising and scrapes, you don’t seem to be hurting anywhere else.”

She shook her head.

“I’m fine. So she won’t stop me if I want to leave?”

Lidea smiled, empathizing with how Crystal's protective nature could feel suffocating.

“She won't. You can even leave the shelter if you want. Roland sent word that you can stay with him. We just thought it best to keep you here until the commotion dies down.”

The girl nodded slowly, as though struggling to process the offer.

“Does she really not want to eat me?”

Lidea's laughter bubbled up, though she tried to keep it quiet for Shannayra's sake. While she didn't mind if Crystal overheard, she understood the girl needed to feel safe for any progress to be made.

“No, she won't. I wouldn't have brought you here if that were the case. Same goes for Warchief.”

Shannayra stiffened again at the mention of his name.

“He's the magician who was with you then, right?”

“Yes.”

She seemed a bit uneasy, casting a glance at Crystal before turning her gaze back to Lidea.

“Is it really safe here? Magicians are dangerous.”

Lidea first wanted to dismiss her directly, but she hesitated. Remembering that the girl had seen him fight. Even she herself had been taken aback by his skills. She couldn’t imagine what someone like Shannayra might think.

“They can be, just like anyone else. It is just that their weapons are stronger. Imagine choosing between a kind person with a sword and a bad person without one. You'd probably lean toward the person with a sword, right? Warchief is genuinely kind. He wouldn't harm anyone unless they tried to harm someone else.”

A brief silence lingered as Lidea finished cleaning her wounds and helped her dry them off.

“You're kind too.”

Lidea was taken aback by the statement. She had been called many things — brash, honest, foolish, smart—but never "kind". The label didn’t seem to fit her very well.

“Most people are.”

Tossing the washcloth back into the bowl, Lidea wore a bright smile as she spoke loudly enough for Crystal to hear.

“So, as good as new. Why don’t you go out and explore the caverns a bit? If you promise Crystal to come back when you get tired then I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

The girl looked uncertain, but she nodded at her suggestion.

“No problem, little one. Just be careful.”

The healer’s smile made the girl shiver and she looked at Lidea with a plea to come with her.

“I have to discuss something with Crystal, but after that, I can come with you if you'd like?”

The teen nodded reluctantly, and seeing that, Lidea decided to comfort her a bit more.

“I promise I won’t be long. Just wait outside and I’ll be there before you know it.”

This time, Shannayra's nod was more determined. With that, she left the infirmary. Leaving both women to watch the door as it fell closed.

“It is hard to imagine that I was her age when my father died. She seems so young in comparison.”

Crystal smiled in sympathy as she stopped her grinding.

“Everyone feels grown at that age. I can assure you, that you were very young as well. You still are.”

“Compared to you, everyone is young.”

Lidea's grin faded as she recalled her apprehension when she entered the infirmary.

“I'm sorry for what she said, Crystal. She doesn't know any better.”

Crystal brushed away the apology, her cheerful smile undiminished.

“Don’t worry, I know. You don’t get to my age, without learning how to cope with it. She was mostly scared. That I can deal with.”

“I know you can, but it still doesn’t feel right.”

The healer's laughter carried a hint of cynicism.

“The world isn’t fair.”

Lidea nodded in agreement, although she still felt bad for the healer, she was right and there was nothing Lidea could do about it. Deciding not to dwell on it any longer, she picked up her bag and retrieved the crumpled letter she had brought.

Crystal regarded the letter curiously as she accepted it.

“A present for me? You shouldn’t have.”

She grinned and Lidea rolled her eyes before responding.

“You mentioned last time that you go to the palace sometimes… I wondered if you could do me the favor of giving this to my sister.”

“Your sister? I thought you were estranged from your family. Didn’t they leave you to die?”

Crystal's indignation on Lidea's behalf was another first for her.

“It is complicated. They might not have my back, but they are still family.”

Crystal glanced at the letter, then back at Lidea. Even without words, Lidea could imagine the healer thought her to be a fool. Still, she couldn't leave her sister in the dark. That wouldn't make her any better than the rest of her family.

“Why didn’t you give it to Warchief? Wulf would have been able to deliver it to her.”

Crystal rotated the letter in her hand, her movements accentuating Lidea's nervousness. She knew she shouldn't be worried. There was no talk of the resistance at all, just about their family's history.

“It's a personal message, and I don't want my sister getting involved with the resistance. I don't know who Wulf is, but I trust you more than any of those nobles.”

Crystal paused, her twirling of the letter stopping abruptly. She met Lidea's gaze head-on before slipping the letter into her waistband.

“I can get that. How sensitive is the information? Can I just leave the letter in her room?”

Lidea was partially surprised that Crystal hadn’t put up more of a fuss. At least she had expected her to ask more about the letter.

“That would be fine. It isn’t of interest to anyone outside of my family.”

And unreadable.

“Easy enough then. Do you know where her room is? I can figure it out if not.”

Lidea shook her head. She knew nothing of them after she had left so long ago.

“Probably in the Western wing, but that is just a guess.”

“Fine, consider it done.”

She returned to her grinding, as if their conversation hadn’t happened but Lidea couldn’t let it go that easy.

“Don’t you worry that I might be lying? I might be an informant for the crown.”

Warchief’s accusation was still fresh in her mind but Crystal merely smiled.

“Because you are the worst liar. I know that you are hiding something, but you wouldn’t be able to directly lie to my face without giving yourself away. So stop your worrying and go help out our guest.”