"Celia! Are you alright?"

She heard the question, but her mind was too sluggish to process it. It was a close call, far too close to her liking. Gabriel kneeled next to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Celia! Talk to me. Are you injured?" His beautiful blue eyes scanned her face and then her body with concern, his brows slightly knitted. He gently moved his hand to her bloodied arm. "We need to get you to the medic."

Celia closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get rid of the annoying fog obscuring her mind. It was not the time to give in to shock and faint. There was something she needed to do first.

"Zed," she whispered through her parched lips and tried to stand. "They stabbed him. He needs help more than I do."

Gabriel nodded. "Let me check on him." He quickly moved to the big man lying lifelessly on the floor not far from her. Celia watched Gabriel's frown deepen and his mouth drawn in a thin line. "It's not looking good. He's losing too much blood."

Celia crawled to her friend. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow. His rich dark skin looked almost ashen now. "Fetch the medic, quickly," she said and took off her long gloves, torn already after the fighting, pressing the expensive fabric to the bloodied wound in his side. "I'll stay with him."

"I'll be right back." Gabriel got up and ran into the smoke, which had already started to dissipate, revealing a trashed chamber with the floor littered with broken glass and bleeding bodies.

"Don't you dare die on me now, Zed," Celia said, blinking away the tears as her voice trembled. "I forbid you, do you hear me?" The fabric she was pressing to his wound was already soaked in blood. Celia used her other hand to slash at her skirt with a dagger and tore off a substantial part of the fabric to replace the gloves.

Zed grunted, and his eyelids fluttered open, but his dark eyes were hazy. "Do... you think... I paid... my debt... Boss?"

"Not a chance," she hissed. "I still need you to protect me. You can't just leave me here. I..." She stopped stifling a sob. "I'll get you out of here, as I promised. I'll get you over the mountains even if I drag your lifeless body with me!"

Zed's lips quirked in a lopsided smile.

"You're a tough... mistress... Boss. I'm sorry... I couldn't... protect you... better..."

"Stop it right now, Zed! I'm alive only thanks to you. And I'm not letting you die, either. You're not off the hook yet, my friend."

"Thank you... for all you did... for Mahala," he whispered, his voice barely audible. His eyes slowly closed.

"Stay with me, Zed!" Celia cried desperately, the tears marring her face. "Please... Please don't leave me."

The thud of boots hitting the floor drew near, and soon Gabriel appeared, slightly out of breath.

"He's here."

A man and a woman, still elegantly dressed, with white gloves covering their hands, rushed to Zed.

"Thank you for your assistance, madam," said the man with a monocle and moustache that could compete with Abner's and opened his leather bag, revealing an abundance of medical supplies. "But we'll take it from here."

"Come, Celia. Give them space." Gabriel gently took her elbow and helped her to her feet. "You need medical attention too. Let us get to─"

"No," Celia protested, shrugging his hands off. "I'm not leaving him."

"Alright. We'll wait then."

The medics worked silently for what seemed like an eternity to Celia, only occasionally exchanging quick comments and sharing tools and bandages.

"So, I'm guessing Zed is not a regularly hired bodyguard, is he?" Gabriel asked after a moment, watching the medics.

"No," Celia replied quietly. She was exhausted, and her arm throbbed painfully, but she refused to take her eyes off Zed until she made sure he would pull through it. "He's a dear friend. One of a few that were with me for a long time."

"I see. He seems very devoted to you but always calls you boss, so I thought he's just a dedicated professional."

Celia scoffed. "It's just how he is. When we met, I did something that put him in my debt. And even though it has already been paid hundreds of times, he still insists on remaining at my side. Which, I'm not gonna lie, is fine by me. Now I..." Her voice trembled, and she took a big, calming breath. "I can't imagine him not being here. The whole crew would be devastated if something had happened to him."

Gabriel took her uninjured hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm sure he'll make it. Doctor Abiel is the best medic in Iron Shore. I'm pretty sure he could bring anyone back, even from the brink of death."

"Thank you for getting him. I mean it."

Before Gabriel could respond, the medic finally got back to his feet and took off now bloodied gloves.

"Is he going to make it?" Celia asked.

"Yes, no need to worry, madam," he said with a compassionate smile. "We arrived just in time. Your friend is a very strong man. We'll take him to the hospital, and after some rest, he'll be good as new."

Celia sighed with relief as all the tension finally left her body. "Thanks Lady Luck."

"I'll call for the ambulance carriage to transport him." He turned to his companion. "Verity, be a dear and assist the lady here."

The young woman nodded eagerly, and before Celia could protest, she was at her side and gently took the wrist of her injured arm, making her wince.

"Oh, forgive me, my lady." The medic's olive skin darkened from blush. "I may not be as an experienced medic as Master Abiel, but I'll do what I can to assist." Her dark eyes scanned her arm. "That wound will need stitches." She looked up at Gabriel. "Can you please find us a chair, my lord? It would be more comfortable for your partner to be seated." Verity's voice was small and delicate, but even though she looked younger than Celia, there was a certain confidence in her voice, one characteristic of medical staff, which are used to ordering people in emergencies, no matter their station.

Gabriel nodded, and before the medic prepared all her tools, he was back and helped Celia to a chair.

"It will hurt a bit. I'm sorry," Verity said, cleaning the long gash and preparing a needle.

Gabriel kneeled next to Celia and took her other hand, and she flinched. Now when she didn't have to worry about Zed anymore, she realised that both arms were bare. She was not used to showing them off to anyone who was not a trusted friend.

"It's ok, I've got you," he said, misinterpreting the source of her tension.

Celia only nodded, reluctantly squeezing his hand. For a moment, they sat in silence as Verity worked on her arm, with an occasional sharp inhale when the needle pierced Celia's skin. But Gabriel's eyes were inevitably drawn to her wrists where the skin was visibly different, faded pink and looked as if it was stretched too thinly.

"Those scars..." Gabriel asked slowly. "How did you get them?"

Celia stiffened but resisted the urge of a snippy comment or an outright lie. Gabriel was not her enemy, and he was not asking to mock her, so she decided to tell the truth for a change. "They are from shackles."

"Shackles?"

"I was a slave, as you could probably guess. It was soon after the Plunderers took me. I did something reckless and stupid. The punishment was a week in shackles."

"That's... barbaric." Gabriel gently traced his fingers over her scarred skin. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She wanted to shrug but stopped halfway through as her injured arm flared with pain. "I was stupid, and I paid the price. I didn't make the same mistake again. Those scars..." She looked at her wrists. "They remind me of who I was and how far I've come. And that reckless choices have consequences."

"Then why covering them?" he asked curiously. "I just realised I've never seen your bare wrists like that."

"Because I don't often show the real me to people," Celia said quietly. "My life has been... complicated. To survive, I always played one role or another. I'm used to showing people what they expect to see."

Gabriel's mouth quirked in a small smile. "That I understand more than you can imagine."

"I guess so. We are not so different, you and I. The scars..." She looked at her wrists as a flood of dark memories filled her brain. "They all tell the story. Your real story." Celia smiled and looked away. "I think if people knew the real me, they wouldn't like me very much. I don't."

"Celia..."

She laughed bitterly. "It's alright. You can either be a good person or get things done. And I'm very good at getting things done."

"Yes, you are." A small smile quirked Gabriel's lip.

Verity was working in silence, her face screwed in a blank expression, showing she didn't have the slightest interest in the ongoing conversation.

"You know, I don't think there is such thing as a good person," Gabriel said contemplatively, his thumb stroking the scar on her wrist. "Humans are complicated creatures. I don't believe anyone is just simply good. We all have qualities that are perceived as good and those that may seem bad. However, at the same time, who can say what good quality is? It all depends on what society decides, what seems acceptable and what does not at a given time. But times change, and so does human perception."

Celia smirked. "That was quite a rant."

"I know, if you let me, I can talk like that whole evening. The point is, Celia dear, that you are a good person in my eyes. You are determined, hardworking, resolute, clever... brilliant even, and you care for your friends. All that makes you a pretty amazing person in my book." Gabriel's eyes were so bright when he looked at her that Celia had to look away as her face heated up.

"Now you just want to make me blush, mister silver tongue."

Gabriel laughed. "That I am. But honestly, Celia. I am truly honoured that you chose to tell me the truth about your scars. If you ever want to share more of your story, I'd love to hear it. No matter how bleak and painful it seems."

For the first time in her life, Celia didn't know what to say. This man kept bewildering her, taking all those dreadful details about her in a stride and never losing his dazzling smile. She didn't know how to feel about this. Everything in her wanted to cling to him and tell him everything to keep those bright eyes on her.

Yet, she could do no such thing. Celia recalled her earlier conversation with Theo, and she realised that besides all her affirmations, she was falling for Gabriel, which was very unlike her. And it was dangerous for both of them.

Before Celia could find the answer, she was saved by the clack of heels moving steadily towards them. They both looked that way to see an annoyed young woman striding their way. Her simple yet elegant dark green dress was immaculate, but some of her auburn hair escaped a tight bun at the back of her head as if she was in a great rush and too busy to fix them.

"Lord Letchford, what on earth have you been thinking!" Letticia shrieked, and Gabriel's shoulder's visibly hunched, recoiling from his furious assistant. "Why have you not escaped with the rest of the nobles?!"

"It's alright, Lettie." Gabriel stood up to face the woman and raised his hands placatingly. "All assassins are dead already. There is no danger here."

"No danger?" she asked, exasperated. "You could have been killed, my lord! Did you think about that?"

Gabriel sighed heavily. "I said I'm alright, Lettie. Just let it go. Why are you here anyway?"

"Why?" She looked around at the mess around her. "Because there was a bloody massacre here, and you were not among all the people that escaped, my lord! What was I supposed to think? I thought you were lying somewhere bleeding and dying and...."

"Lettie." Gabriel grabbed her by the shoulders. "Look at me. I'm perfectly fine. You can go back home. I don't think I could work on anything else this evening."

The young woman cocked her head, looking at him incredulously. "Then let's go. I only have a couple of reports for you, so I can sum it up for you on the way and─"

"Letticia," Gabriel interrupted her, his voice still patient, but there was a new, harsh quality. "I'm not coming with you. There is still one thing I need to take care of before I go."

And then, for the first time, Letticia's eyes slid from Gabriel to look behind him. She looked at Celia and narrowed her eyes as a scowl marred her pretty face.

"Why do you need to stay with her, my lord? She's already been taken care of. Looks healthy enough for me."

Celia looked at her bloody and torn dress and scoffed.

"All done now," Verity announced, closing her leather bag. "Please don't force your arm too much and let it heal properly, my lady."

"See, she's fine," Letticia said with a forced smile, turning back to Gabriel. "No need to trouble yourself with her. I'm sure lady privateer will manage to get home by herself."

"Lettica, I told you to go ahead," Gabriel repeated, and though his tone was the same, there must have been something in his expression that Celia could not see as he had his back to her because a smile disappeared from the young woman's face, and her brows frowned slightly.

"Fine," she replied coldly, straightening her back. "I'll see you in the office tomorrow morning, then."

"Yes, have a good night, Lettie."

When his assistant left with her chin held high, Gabriel turned back to Celia, and there was no sign of harshness she had spotted in his voice before. "Now, let's walk you home, my lady privateer."