My dearest friend,

My existence seems to torture you. None of this was my intention. In truth, I almost wondered if I would ever see you again. I know I seemed annoyed many times with you, locked in that cell together but truly I missed that smile you had whenever you learned something new, or the way you would hold those books tightly in your sleep whenever you dreamed. I can't fully imagine nor comprehend the pain you felt when I was taken away. I thought perhaps I would have been a relief, a burden removed from your shoulders. I know better now than to think that.

You, Kaid, like to collect broken things. If anything, we're magnetized towards you. Perhaps we've never experienced such kindness or warmth before. Or it is because you've never experienced such hurt as we have. You don't try to fix us, merely highlight the parts of us that aren't broken, help us pick up the broken pieces of glass. One day you will learn that glass is sharp, the same all of us have learned in placing trust in someone. You know us to be imperfect yet you love anyway. I used to believe such love to be impossible until the birth of my son. I know you to be capable of such love, too.

I have had some time to really think about our predicament, the situation both of us were forced into and have been since our beginning together. Under any other circumstances, I would go to that hellhole with you and remove those chains we share. I just can't. Not right now. We've heard nothing from Lungor since, we have no direction on where to go, what to do. It is as if the dice have already been rolled, our fates sealed and we don't know it yet. It feels like our usefulness has been cut short, and we don't know why. It scares all of us.

To go with you would be a seal on the bargain made to me and that is not something I can risk. When this is over, I will join you. By the words in your letter, I can sense your urgency. Please wait. You cannot and should not do this alone. If anything, this needs to be conducted with discretion, for both our sakes. Your Empress cannot know about this, nor should you discuss such matters with her. She will hurt you with your answer. It sounds like maybe she already has.

Should she have to make a choice between you and her reign, I know what she would choose. I think deep down, so do you. I do not need anything to be persuaded to help you. What you offered in exchange for my service, however, makes me think I did right in telling you the truth. It's why you came to me. I'm sorry to give you slight disappointment, but I assure you, in the right time I will be there by your side to help.

We've both been lied to. We both are pieces of a game we can't control, only witness the horrors around us and hope we remain standing. We both deserve our freedom. Give me time to earn mine, and I will free you from your cage as well. In this world, the people we can trust are limited, too far and too few. But I know I can trust you. I know who you are, who you're destined to be.

And who you're destined to be is whomever you wish to be. All you need is to be given that wish.

Please, continue to write. I will update you on all things necessary. I will let you know when the time is right to join you. Little Kaid looks forward to meeting you again, under different circumstances. He is so very fond of reading, I think you two will get along very well.

May your passion continue to burn as brightly as the fire I possess. Stay well.

Your dearest friend and cellmate,

Mara

Kaid crumbled the letter in his fist, feeling his heart turn frigid like a weight in his chest before he threw it into his fireplace. His hands shook, his eyes glancing at them to try and force them to stop. His mind went to when Jessamine was first thrown in his cell, how her hands trembled and quaked. And he remembered how easily she had entered her mind to force them to stop.

I know who you are, who you are destined to be.

Destiny. Cornerstone. Foundation. It was all one in the same. Such things can change, be flexible, stretched and pulled into different directions. There was one thing that couldn't be and that was fate. Fate was the consciousness on his shoulder whispering in his ear, it was the dreams that inherited his mind when he slept. Fate couldn't be changed, but it could be mastered. One can't change the direction of the wind, merely the direction of sails.

Kaid watched the letter disintegrate into ash before quickly moving to his bed, getting on the floor. Pushing the perfectly stacked books aside to hide his fate, he reached for the metal lockbox and pulled it towards him to place on the bed. Taking the small key from his pocket, he unlocked it. Expecting that elegant emerald blade, his face fell when he saw there was nothing. The box was empty.

That was impossible.

Only he had the key which he kept in his sock drawer. Nobody could have known that, not even Jessamine. She presumed the blade had been lost in the moment of his rescue in Uhkhtar and never questioned it. Somehow it was gone, stolen from him, confirming what Mara had said. He was still a piece being played and his tool to assist in his freedom, at usurping, was gone. The shaking in his hands grew, his gut curling up into a fetal position out of fear, his thoughts fracturing the more he wondered who it could have been.

"Lord Protector, are you alright?" a servant asked, who had noticed him standing there around the bed, trembling. She held the fresh bed linens in her hands, eventually placing them on the nearest chair before slowly approaching him.

"I..." he answered, not really knowing what to say. He wasn't alright. His body was having an invisible war, turning against himself, his fear taking over any confidence in his soul about who he was, about what he was doing here.

"You're shaking," the old woman observed, "you need to see Cadize. Please, this is not like you.

It was not...from the perspective of a servant who did his laundry, cleaned his room every morning, and was always welcomed by his friendliness. To her, this was not like him. Sometimes, however, the most beautiful of creations were created from combustion like the stars themselves.

Cadize removed his thumb from the vein, his hazel eyes carefully watching his friend before stepping away slightly, "You show signs of acute post traumatic stress disorder, or at the very least, you've had a bit of a panic attack. Nothing to be ashamed about. These things can happen under duress. The Empress has them, from time to time."

"I know," Kaid nodded, his mind glancing at the memory of her in the Southern Isles, when she unwillingly snapped at him. He had known at that moment that it wasn't her first experience in such matters. She had probably faced them plenty of times before, however, Kaid never saw her suffer one since.

"Anything in particular making you feel this way? The nightmares, perhaps?" Cadize asked, out of curiosity given the circumstances. After all, everyone else was no longer on high alert. Lungor was no longer considered an enemy, assassinations had stopped, the economy was flourishing and all seemed well. Not to Kaid, though, and Cadize knew that.

"I just...I feel tired. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep. I feel like some days I'm drowning, I'm drenched with this dread that I can't shake the droplets off, no matter how hard I try. I don't know the solution. I feel fine around Jessamine, I don't feel this way when I'm with her or with friends. It's just at night, I get inside my own thoughts and doubts..." he trailed off, shaking his head. It didn't feel right saying these things. He felt ashamed, and most of all a burden to Cadize who seemed interrupted with his work at this. Cadize, however, didn't show any irritation with the interruption.

"Doubts? Doubts about what, Kaid?" Cadize probed gently.

Kaid almost thought he should tell him. Maybe the droplets he couldn't shake were meant to be shared. But how could he? Kaid didn't know or believe who he could really trust with this information Mara had shared. If his entire rescue in Caladin had been an inside job, every single person in this palace could know about it, or be responsible in assisting with it. The very fact Cadize was there after the rescue meant he might have been part of it all along. He couldn't tell him.

"Do you think we can love people and still hurt them?" Kaid asked, the question surprising the medical doctor. Perhaps this was beyond his comprehension.

"I don't think love and malicious nature against such a lover can coexist. The hurt, it has to be almost unintentional, collateral damage of a decision. I don't think someone can truly love another and act in a way to hurt them. Love is about communication, a partnership, if one suffers, so does the other," Cadize swallowed slightly, "Do you doubt Jessamine loves you, Kaid? Had you asked me the day we met if Jessamine was capable of such love and affection, I would have hesitated drastically. With you, Jessamine no longer saw love as a weakness. She had been capable of it the entire time and was willing to take the risk for it, for you. And by the Divines, you could have hurt her. You still can. But the love you give her is one she will never regret no matter what happens."

"Have you ever loved before?"

"Yes, but I made the mistake of taking it for granted," Cadize nodded, but looked a bit upset at his answer, as if he wasn't expecting Kaid to ask that, "he claimed I was too obsessed with my work, that it would always come first. And...he was right. In the end, all I am left with is an elixir, one that would have been made eventually with or without me. What is science, the creation of something, without love? Love being the most rare creation of all, the most agonizing abomination and beautiful blessing combined, nothing can compare. Kaid, do you think you will hurt her?"

No, but what if she's hurt me and doesn't know it? He wondered.

"No. I don't want to hurt her. I can't even fathom it."

"I know. In those dreams, you hurt her though. Is that what you're afraid of?"

"She told you the details?" Kaid asked, feeling almost a bit blindsided by that. Kaid supposed it was none of Cadize's business knowing the details of the nightmares. However, Kaid knew Jessamine had been worried about them. She still was, after all, she said she would cut this trip short the second he had a horrible nightmare if she needed to.

"She was worried, and I did have to probe her for more answers. She didn't give them easily," Cadize assured him that Jessamine didn't just share that readily.

"Is there anything you can do? Anything you've read up on about this?"

"Sadly, nothing I know about. Recurring nightmares are often paired with traumatic stress or events in life, however, they usually are moments you've already experienced. And feeling physical pain from them is abnormal. My only solution was for Jessamine to infiltrate your mind, filter out that negative energy before you sleep, coax and soothe your thoughts. She refused such a notion immediately, stating she wouldn't do that to you. She said she made a promise and I've known Jessamine since she was a little girl, she always keeps her promises."

"Yeah, she promised me she wouldn't...the first night outside Caladin," Kaid nodded, knowing Jessamine had promised such. And, to be honest, Kaid knew deep down she hated infiltrating minds, even if she had claimed his to be rather refreshing in thoughts or emotions. It only made the struggle in Kaid's heart worsen. He could be reading this all wrong, playing into Mara's hands like clay, and Jessamine could get hurt as a result. Jessamine may truly have never been in his head this entire time.

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"Caladin, right," Cadize frowned, before realizing something, as if he hadn't really thought of it before, "forgive me if I am wrong, I don't recall much of the moment but I do remember our first Council of Jurors after rescuing Jessamine we discussed the manners of the rescue. Along with the torture you experienced against one of our own. But she mentioned a Dreamer, is that true? Was there a Dreamer there?"

"Yes...a Doctor Vyper, that was his name," Kaid responded.

"Could that be the source of your afflicting nightmares? Dreamers have been known to influence nightmares within close proximity. There is plenty about Oblivion we don't know about. This Dreamer can be so advanced they've planted the thoughts in your mind. Every time stress fills your soul at night, it creates the dream. This is all just a hypothesis though, I wouldn't take my word for it. For now, it may be the best answer until we know more."

"If it is him, what can end it?" Kaid stood from the medical bench, as if this revelation may have just been the spark to ignite the flames to seal this wound forever.

"He'd have to end it himself, possibly with you here. Death is always the best assurance, though. I will look further into it. If this comes to light as a severe possibility, I'm sure the Empress can ask Vrah in arranging a meeting with this Dreamer. He just might ask for something in exchange back, but for you, I know Jessamine would give Vrah almost anything for your peace of mind."

A knock on the door interrupted them, a servant bowing before glancing at the doctor.

"I didn't mean to interrupt sir, but your latest shipment is here," she politely reminded him.

"Ah, yes. Let me go with you. The last time the Guards proved incapable in assisting, almost ruining the product," Cadize shot up immediately, grabbing his coat, "Kaid, please do come back if this keeps troubling you. I am your friend, and like I've told you before, your friends will do anything for you. All you have to do is ask."

Cadize left in a hurry with the servant, an eagerness in his step despite the previous melancholy subject. Kaid felt almost reenergized by this possibility, his motivation surging him like a turbine spinning too fast. If this was any further proof of what needed to be done, this could be the thing that sent him to that edge. Kaid glanced at all the bottles of his elixir, still in the process of long fermentation. They wouldn't rejuvenate as good as the small vial Cadize had given him prior, but perhaps enough of them could suffice in getting the job done.

How eagerly Kaid had swallowed the lies like it were the sweetness of tea, yet the bitter wine of truth had been taken in small sips. A truth, however, told with malicious intent is inherently more dangerous than any lie conjured or conspired with no intent at all. There was only one way to truly remain sober with such ignorance. Violence covered up truth, but it could also set it free, depending on who wielded the blade.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The warm Vitross sun made its rare appearance as Jessamine sipped her tea, soaking in the violent warmth against her skin. She really couldn't recall a time in her life when she felt this at peace: peace with herself, peace amongst the world around her. There would be troubles ahead, as expected, but it was such a relief feeling maybe her path to redemption was strongly paved. Jessamine had long thought her fate to be carved into stone, that her Oblivion would be the extinction of her own humanity and fearfully maybe humanity itself. The laughter and sunshine that radiated from her friends around her was a consequence of learning to open her heart. And she wouldn't go back and change a thing.

"Hold on, so this girl had the audacity to harass you relentlessly every day because you wanted to make dresses for a living. But when you found out she was obsessed with being a writer, she begged you not to say anything?" Persephone smiled with slight shock. The girls were just discussing childhood memories, either with fondness or embarrassment. Times were different all those years ago, and so were people.

"I knew the second I knew of it that her attempts to bully me were just projections. I think she was afraid. I didn't care what people thought about what I wanted to do. I didn't care how much shame it brought my family to try and follow my dreams. I was proud to be a bit different, I suppose. I knew what I wanted and embraced that. She was afraid of getting caught, of bringing some sort of dishonor to her or her family for wanting to write. Fear can make people do the strangest things. I acted as if I didn't know a thing about her writing. She left me alone after that," Christine shrugged.

"See, me and my petty ass wouldn't have just let it drop. Years of being pestered by someone like that, if I had found out I would've told everyone," Kassandra crossed her arms, already having heard this story but it still made her bitter for her partner, "fear can be irrational, yes. But it shouldn't make someone a raging asshole."

"She was also young. People grow, they change. It doesn't mean we have to forgive them, but we have to understand that people rise and dip like the tides," Christine smiled at Kassandra's defensive nature, knowing she could be seen as a bit more aggressive than the seamstress, "besides, she did apologize eventually. She's married now, as expected, but apparently is publishing her first novel by the end of the season. I think we've had a bunch of assholes in our lives tell us what we can and can't do. Look at us now, just the four of us on the seaside, surrounded by cakes and tea and painting to our hearts content."

"It is nice to get to know you all better. I don't think I'm that good of a painter, though," Persephone smiled, Jessamine agreeing. Part of her felt guilty, knowing all the things she could've missed, the people she could have avoided altogether if she had continued on her fateful path. The loneliness she had felt had been a darkness she refused to leave from, as if she were afraid to touch the light like some vampire of old. Loneliness made her think she didn't deserve a moment like this, surrounded by friends like this. Maybe it was right. Jessamine, however, liked proving people wrong, especially herself.

"How have things been for you? Arryn giving you any trouble?" Jessamine asked her dear friend, staring at her blank canvas.

"Things were rocky for a bit. I think my father was worried about retaliation but it sounds like the deal you struck with Lungor really pushed that Confederacy back. It's been quiet on our end. Arryn and my father still fight over the pettiest things, that's what happens when you love for the wrong reasons. But, I have hope. Life is about finding happiness in the little of things, in learning not to be disappointed or ashamed by minor inconveniences. There's a lot to be angry in life, but I want to focus such passionate energy elsewhere," Persephone explained, "I'm still not exactly sure what to do in the Isles. I'm sure if Arryn gives my father a son, I'll be pushed aside. That's fine, I don't think I'd make a good Duchess."

"You'd be a great Duchess," Jessamine assured, "but, you don't have to be anything you don't want to be. There's plenty of opportunities out there. Just when you feel life is at a standstill, something comes along the way and excites life once again."

"Or someone..." Kassandra teased, making all of them laugh.

"You know, as great as this little getaway has been. It has been missing someone," Christine balanced the paintbrush between her fingers, still staring at her colorful canvas.

"It's a girls getaway, that means no men," Jessamine insisted, although she would not deny that there were moments where she did miss him. Even if they spent more time laughing and talking than sleeping, she did miss his arms around her at night, or those stupid soft snores when he was in a very deep sleep.

"Okay but...you know what I mean. He fits well in our little group. He's got great qualities, some a lot of men don't have," Christine shrugged, trying to explain it.

"Yeah, he knows how to stay quiet," Kassandra teased, which made Christine glare at her.

"Hey! Whenever he does say something it's rather meaningful. He's got a contagious smile and sense of wonder," Christine clarified.

Everything about him was contagious. Kaid had been this itch upon Jessamine's skin the moment she met him. He was this unfathomable disease no amount of scratching or salve could soothe, only spreading it further until it succumbed her entirely. And it was very clear this empathetic, magnetic force of a man spread such feelings to others around him as well.

"Everything going well with you two?" Persephone asked, seeing Jessamine in deep thought.

"Yes. No complaints. Everyday with him is surreal. He...he's always there when I need him, even if I don't need to explicitly ask. It feels perfect, too perfect. Kaid has his flaws, yes, like anyone, but they only make him more perfect to me," Jessamine blushed slightly, "most girls get together to complain about men, ask for advice, but I have none of that. Romance novels are full of fighting, dramatic petty little arguments of miscommunication. Kaid and I don't have that."

"I'm sure you two have disagreements," Kassandra pointed out.

"We do. He's not the kind to just do what I say, which I respect about him. If he doesn't understand the way I do something, he questions it. But it's not in a belittling way, it's merely to understand my perspective. And even if he doesn't know his way around politics or have, according to the papers, a 'prolific education', I never see his opinion as less than my own. If we have a disagreement, it's always us against the disagreement, not us against each other. He doesn't feel entitled to anything, he's not lazy or messy. He's kind, he's smart, he's understanding, patient, and romantic."

"And well endowed-"

"Christine!" Jessamine shrieked, her face immediately flushed and eyes wide.

"Be thankful he isn't here, he'd be horrified by that comment," Kassandra rolled her eyes, but she did take delight like everyone else at the table in seeing how red the Empress' face was.

"I meant that he's good looking! Good looking, even if I don't like men in that way. He's handsome," Christine tried to back track, to no use. After all, she was a seamstress and an artist too. Nudity may not mean much to her, but Jessamine was certainly abashed when it came to their more private romantics.

"Don't dig yourself in a deeper hole, Christine," Persephone snickered.

"Let's just change the subject," Jessamine cleared her throat, finally beginning to feel the swell and heat in her cheeks diminish. She went back to her painting, focusing on the dark green of waves reflecting the sunrise. Everyone else went silent, focusing on their own paintings before all it took was Persephone to snicker before Jessamine blushed again. And the group couldn't stop the infectious laughter between them.

However, the ringing of the palace bells in the distant made them all silent. Jessamine felt all eyes on her, glancing at her with the same confusion and worry that filled her own ocean eyes. Those bells only rang when in danger or under attack. The three guards that had been guarding the beachhouse perimeter swarmed the area, making sure she was alright.

"What's going on?" Jessamine asked them, even though she knew deep down they wouldn't have an answer. What the fuck could be going on? Was it safe to portal there or was it best to remain here and wait? Jessamine wasn't one to sit around and wait for answers, not when people could be in danger.

The sound of a portal sent slight relief, figuring she'd get answers. All she got, however, was Bridger, his hair disheveled, bruising and blood around his neck as if someone had strangled him and pressed a knife to his throat. He looked confused, bewildered, in shock as if he couldn't believe what was happening. He felt almost betrayed.

"Bridger, are you alright? What is going on? Who hurt you?" Jessamine asked, rising from her seat to walk over to him. Her own curiosity got the better of her, immediately reaching into Bridger's mind which was not well protected given his shock. And when she saw what he had just witnessed, she couldn't believe it. No. That couldn't be possible. He'd never do such a thing.

The dream was slowly fading. Jessamine had been wide awake the entire time and now it was his turn. This was something Jessamine couldn't stop, no amount of damage control to input, nothing she could do to halt this suffering. Her hands trembled, this time not wanting to fall prey to her anxious tick and rub the inside of her palms.

Mistakes were consequences of a decision with good intention. Sin is a consequence of the opposite. Jessamine knew deep down that sins always had to be paid for, every gamble came with a debt to be paid. She could make the same decision as she had before, the same as her ancestors, to let others reap the consequences, to cast blame.

Or she could do what she promised.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessamine's eyes scanned the armory quickly, attaching as many blades as she could to two thigh straps and any blade that she could tuck into a belt. Bridger was getting healed by Cadize, who was still in a shocked state but was piecing it together.

"We need to go straight to Payne, he can sort this out," Bridger insisted.

"That is a last resort. We are not doing that, let me fix this and sort it out," Jessamine shook her head.

"Fix this? It's because of you we got in this mess! The man has had a complete psychotic breakdown and you think you can just walk in and calm him down? The man came up to me, demanded I portal him to Caladin and when I refused stuck a blade to my throat. That's not the Kaid I know. He's become deranged. He's dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Jessamine scoffed, laughing slightly at the hypocrisy, "You think this is my fault? None of this was my idea. I warned all of you that we were jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire itself with this decision. You think Kaid is this fire, maybe it's time to question the chef holding the pan. Kaid isn't sick...he's not. He's always been dangerous, that was the point. The entire operation was created around this false idea of control. There is no control here, not over him, not over anything."

"The monster stole from Cadize, threatened me!? You seriously can't be defending him!" Bridger shouted.

"Don't act like there's not a monster in all of us! Don't be so full of vain Bridger to think yourself above these acts too. All of us are capable. Every day, we excuse our monstrous actions because it benefits us. But the second it goes against our, no, your plans, it's no longer okay. I may not agree with Kaid's method, but I believe in his cause. I believe in him."

"You knew this would happen..." Cadize looked at Jessamine.

"Empress, we don't know what he's planning on doing there, what kind of damage this will cause. Lungor owns Caladin. Empress if you go in there, they could associate you with any of the damages or costs. Hell, he's your fucking Guardian. He represents you! We need to immediately reach out to Lungor, revoke his actions and state he is no longer under our control or command. He's a danger to both kingdoms. Kaid will undo everything we've done these past two years."

"I know, that's why I need to get to him," Jessamine assured, "Bridger, if he forced you to take him and then leave him there to come back here-"

"It means he planned on not leaving in the first place..."