Three weeks after she lost her child, she sat in the window wondering if it was due to an evil omen. She had to beg everyone to give her some space. Poor Jensek postponed his trip to Ay Su by two weeks out of fear he would lose another friend. Her early childbirth was due to the tea she had drunk. A blend she made herself had been tampered with and they found traces of a poisonous flower mixed in her blood. She was lucky to have survived, but her baby was lost. Upon hearing the news of her child's death, she found herself staring at the windows for long periods by herself. Nothing passed through her head, though most times she did this, but other times she found herself absent-mindedly crying as images of what her child would have looked like as they grew. The phantom cries of a newborn babe kept her awake most nights and ghostly flutters of movement in her stomach drove her further into depression.

Robert walked into the room and saw her spaced out. Something she had been waiting for had finally come, but he wasn't sure if it were the right time to tell her. He didn't wish to relay the news he had been given but feared what might happen if he didn't tell her. Walking up to her he took hold of her hand and kissed her forehead gently.

She looked up at his eyes red and pressed onto his hand while she gave him a half-hearted smile.

"I have made a full recovery physically, but my mind has gone from pain, Robert."

"I know, love. We have the culprit for our child's murder in custody. She will be tortured until we gathered any information of  who put her up to it. Then after she has spoken her knowledge to the counsel she will be put to death."

Loraz closed her eyes and shook her head. The girl they captured was not at fault in her eyes. She wanted the master behind the strings. When that person was captured, she wanted to be present herself so that she could watch as the lights faded from their eyes as the fear of death slowly wrapped around them.

"That maid is not the culprit, Robert. Only a tool to be used and to take all the blame. You should know how many in this court treat their servants. Call down to the dungeon at once and tell them they are not to harm her. She is to have extra security around her at all times and they must be people loyal to you and your crown."

Robert looked down at her as she spoke, her eyes watered with each word that rolled off her tongue. He pulled her into him holding her right against his chest. This was why he fell for her even more over the years they grew up together. Her kind heart and how he could see things not just from a royal's view but the common person's as well.

"We will hold a candle ceremony for our child, and I will inform my most loyal guards to stand to watch around the maid room."

"You are too good to me at the time, Robert."

He let out a deep sigh and pulled away from her. It was time to tell her about what he had visited her for. He almost thought about not telling her. Her actions when she heard it were all but predictable.

"I have some news for you...although I don't wish to bring you more pain, I know it would hurt you more if I don't."

She looked at him puzzled,

"What happened?"

"As promised, we have rescued Vestin for you."

She flew up to her feet before he even finished his sentence and rushed for the door.

"You have. Where is he? I wish to see him."

He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her back to face him.

"Before you go...I must let you know that he is in very bad shape. The rescue was completed successfully but I fear it may have come too late."

Loraz frowned her eyebrows as she pulled away from him. Fear crept upon her as she whispered,

"Bad shape? What do you mean?"

Robert paused as he thought of what to say. The injuries were too gruesome to relay to her one by one. How the Lin clan kept him alive up to then was a wonder of its own.

"He suffered a lot of injuries. Whoever did this to him must get off on doing sick things. The group I hired to rescue him has kept him in a relaxed state, but now that whatever they have done has worn off..."

She rushed up to him and grabbed on his shirt her eyes full of tears.

"Where is he, Robert? Tell me, please."

He took out his navigram and opened the map. A hologram of the whole castle came up and he pointed to a window and it blew up that section.

Loraz watched as he pinpointed the location for her. The location pulled up and she rushed out the door and down the hall. The whole way she utters a prayer to the Ancestors. Reaching the door she ran into the room and saw them as they tried to clean his wounds. Tears fell instantly and she pushed her way to his side. His body was covered in bruises, cuts, burns, and lashes. His eyes were swollen and his hand looked as if the fingers were ripped off one by one. She fell to her knees as she looked over him. Infected lashes that looked like they had been opened repeatedly with little chance to heal. Burn marks on his arms and shoulders. He wasn't even able to lay on the bed; they had him hovering over it using a mage's spell. Her eyes blinded by tears she fell to the floor.

"My dear Vestin...what has he done to you?"

At the sound of her voice, he looked over at her.

"Gotte was dead...he killed him...now he wants you..."

She placed her hand close to his lips to keep him from speaking.

"Shhh...you must save your strength. You have a long way ahead of you before you recover."

He tried to lift his hand and reach for her, but the pain was too much and tears formed in his eyes. Finally being able to see her was all he had hoped for over the long days of hell he endured; it was the only thing that kept him going.

"Lo...I love you."

She moved in closer to him, her dress being stained with his blood. Close enough to feel his breath she leaned into him and kissed his lips. Her eyes were full of tears as she tasted the blood from an open wound she quietly prayed to the Ancestors to let him stay by her side.

"I know you, fool. I love you too. Just rest now. We will treat your wounds and then when you have recovered we can talk."

He winced as a nurse cleaned a large gash across his chest. Through one half-opened eye he gazed upon her face stained with tears and red. He knew it was time to let go,

"There is no recovery, Lo."

Her mind went blank as his words rolled through the air as if they were a gentle breeze. She watched as his breathing slowed and his body went limp. Hands shaking she reached for him and grabbed his mangled hand. Her tears dripped onto his chest.

He could feel the coldness from his body seep into him. The pain he felt slowly began to fade as the chill ran through him. A sense of calm followed as he inhaled then released it.

He saw the curled-covered face of his once young self. Standing within their favorite meadow in the village farmyard. He saw the first kiss they shared as mere children. Unaware that it would be their last time seeing each other for years to come. His teenage years living in the new village hidden in the cave with Gotte and the others.

Tears rolled down his cold pale blue cheeks he knew what was coming and while it pained him to leave her behind he had no more energy to keep fighting.

A light would soon appear and he would be of this world no more. They were calling him home the Ancestors.

"Listen to me, Lo. Take these my last words with you, let them lay safe within your heart. I love you, but I can't stay with you. Do not fear love and do not push it away. He loves you as well. I only wish I was as wiser in my youth that I had found you sooner. Maybe then we could have seen where we could have gone."

"Vestin, don't speak like that. You're going to be fine. We can talk after we tend to your wounds."

"I am sorry I couldn't keep our promise, Lo."

She pulled a few curls from out of his face and sighed a regretful sigh as she began to cry even more. Not only had she just lost her child but now she would be losing someone she held close to her heart.

"You are going to be okay. Do you hear me? You can't leave me...not again."

"I wanted to see your face one last time before I returned home...it's unfortunate for me that time is against us...tell Robert he better never make you cry. I'll be watching you guys from Sabathia with Gotte, my parents, and your mother."

He let his eyes close and his body went completely numb. A voice called out to him as darkness surrounded him. Standing behind him were a group of people all smiling at him. He realized who they were and walked over to them.

Her eyes widened as she watched him fade away. His last breath escaped him, and his body floated over the bed as if he slept for time. It could be that his strength to live has diminished."

"No...Vestin..."

She then turned her head and let go of his hand. Her poor childhood friend is now gone. What was she to do, one of her dearest people whom she loved was gone. Her heart was torn while she did love Robert and wish to be with him the love she had for Vestin was different. She couldn't explain why it was different; she just knew he was one of the most important people ever in her life. Her last bit of normalcy from her past. Her last trace of the family.

She looked around as the nurses continued to clean him up and tried to revive him. Time stood still as she continued to pray.

She felt alone at that moment and no shoulder was left to cry on. Not a soul in the world could comfort her as she wept like a newborn infant. She cried so much as time passed she just stared off in a daze at her friend's cold lifeless body floating in front of her.

All of a sudden in a complete rage she began to beat the limp corpse, yelling, screaming, and crying. Her heart was now heavy with a dark haze.

"You can't leave me...you can't just go...how am I supposed to go on without you here...we promised each other...you promised me...we'd always have each other...what am I supposed to do now? You can't go...you can't break your promise...dammit I can't lose you, too."

Robert had been standing outside the room and rushed in as he heard her yelling and everyone trying to calm her down. He grabbed hold of her and carried her out of the room kicking and screaming. Bringing her into a room closest to them he put her down and grabbed a cloth to clean off her face.

He kneeled in front of her and looked her in the eyes,

"I understand that right now you are in more pain than ever. I am here for you, Loraz."

She leaned forward and let her head rest on his shoulder. He pulled her into him and they ended up sitting on the floor. Crying so hard while he held her close to him he just rocked her back and forth.

She cried herself to sleep that night and as she fell to sleep she thought about how someone could break their promise. Yet what she did understand was that some promises were made to be broken.