It took Sara longer than she thought to get up the stairs to the third level of the Sorren Guild, and she imagined the late afternoon shadows slowly lengthening every time she stopped to let the pain recede. She had been on her injured ankle all day and she was eager to get off it as soon as possible. Sara had spent most of the day trying to secure a ride out of the city on a caravan. She had finally succeeded in finding an open spot with a caravan of dyers and weavers, but it did not leave for another ten days. Ten blasted days. Sara was not happy about waiting that long to leave, but after the terrifying results of the steam room, she was not sure she wanted to try self-healing again. My ankle will probably be healed by the time the caravan leaves anyway.

Instead of renting a room Sara had decided to investigate the guild that Merana had suggested, Sorren Guild, run by Lady Tulen. It was located almost on the other side of the Middle City from Tess' guild, which Sara appreciated. This one was much bigger than the previous two she had been in. Lady Tulen had not been around for her to meet with directly, but once Sara had revealed the letter from Lady Merana, the boy working at the front had eagerly assigned her a room, hardly asking any questions.

Unfortunately, the room they gave her was on the third floor of its building. Her ankle had been slightly improved after the abortive self-healing, but it was still injured enough to cause Sara a lot of discomfort after even a short amount of time upright. When she reached the top of the stairs, Sara found her room to be one of the closest to the stairwell. Praise Aluna. Sara leaned hard on the doorknob as she opened it and staggered inside.

Sara slumped against the nearest wall and let her eyes close as she slowly slid down, doing her best to delicately move her ankle out from underneath her as she settled to the ground. Finally, I can relax.

"Can I help, Lady?" Sara jerked up as the voice surprised her out of her exhausted slump.

"Huh? Ah..." There was a plain-dressed servant standing over Sara with a worried look on her face. Sara quickly scanned the rest of the room and realized that it was not an empty room she had entered. It also appeared to be a suite of rooms. There was a low couch as well as a desk, with a few doors near the far wall. One door was ajar, but it was too dark for Sara to see what was inside. Definitely already occupied. "Oh. Um, I think I might have the wrong room." Sara finally said as she tried to claw her way back up the wall. "Apologies for the intrusion."

"Not a problem, Lady. Perhaps I can point you towards the correct room?" She asked quietly with a bow and furtive glance back to the open door.

"Yeah, thanks." Sara dug the scrap of paper with her room number on it once she was fully upright. "Um, I was given room Three Two Three to stay in. At least for tonight."

"This is room Three Two Three." She said worriedly. "Are you new to the guild?"

"Yes, I have just checked in at the front, actually."

"Please wait here." She said after a moment. She opened the door to one of the back rooms, emerging a moment later with another woman at her side, but dressed much nicer.

"Of course I get the barbarian!" Said the girl as she exploded into the room. She appeared to be about Sara's age and with a pleasant face, but even better dressed than Tess had been. She wore a fine blue dress with silver details and embroidery.

"Less barbaric that you might think." Sara said under her breath, and gave the girl a polite nod.

"Really?" She said with a raised eyebrow. "There is still warpaint on your face, you know." Sara frowned her confusion, and felt herself blushing as she ran her hand across her face until she found a spot of coarse Arena sand caked on near her jaw. Dried blood?

"Let me guess, Toman was working the front desk." The new girl said before pursing her lips.

"I think it was Toman, yes." Sara said. She held up the piece of paper where he had scribbled the room number.

"Ugh, typical Toman, although with everyone joining just to get their names on the charging list, there are probably not too many open rooms anymore. Kri? Introduction." The plain-dressed servant reappeared from behind the girl with a bow.

"Her Highness the Lady Resada Bromon, of Western Erada and Keltrisanora. You may call her Lady of Erada."

"Esaralina Sulkutt." Sara simply, then remembering the family history Merana had given her she decided to add, "Lady of Storoba."

Resada raised an eyebrow at her. "Storoba?"

"In Thurgia." Sara said.

The girl sniffed. "So you really are a barbarian. You are a long way from home." She pointed with her chin towards the door opposite of where she had just emerged. "That is the empty room. The common room is supposed to be shared by us both. Kri, however, only takes orders from me." Sara nodded. "It is a dreadfully small box I am afraid." Resada said as Sara shuffled past.

A chill went down Sara's spine at the words, but Sara was able to maintain her mask of calm. "I am sure it will do." Sara said.

"Well, I just mean depending on how much luggage you have?"

"Luggage?" Sara asked.

"Surely you did not travel all the way from Storoba with just the clothes on your back!"

"Oh. Um, yeah." Sara thought fast. "I'm...ahead of my luggage. There was a hold up. Ten days at least. I decided to travel ahead." Sara unconsciously fingered the ticket for her departure in her pocket, trying to figure out what could hold up luggage.

Resada gave her a suspicious look. "Well, you Thurgains are used to roughing it, I suppose."

Sara shrugged, not knowing how to respond. She tried not to limp as she attempted to make it to the safety of her new room before Resada could continue the conversation. Before Sara could get to her room she heard the door to the small apartment burst open.

"Reza, you're not going to believe what I just heard! Apparently there are-" The new arrival cut off as Sara finally reached her door, using the frame to turn herself around. There was another well-dressed girl standing in the door, with her mouth hanging open like a gasping fish. "Aah...are...books? In the library?" Sara could see the mistrustful look in her eye under the excitement. "That maybe we should go see? Together? Now?" She pointed at Sara. "Company?"

"Yes. My new barbarian roommate, thanks to Toman." Resada rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, what a jerk." She said to Resada before turning back to Sara with a slight bow. "Lady Zetsana Hower, but everyone calls me Zets."

Sara nodded and introduced herself again before turning towards her bed as she shut the door on the conspiratorial whispers floating in from the common room. Sara suspected they were talking about her, but she was too worn out to care. Finally, alone. Again. The room was small, just large enough to fit a bed with a small chest on the end. She dropped her small bundle on the flat-topped chest and moved to the end where she saw a small window overlooking a back alley. She judged she could escape out of the window if she needed, which made her feel more at ease in the room.

Sara had barely gotten her injured foot up and onto the bed when there was a furtive knock at the door. Sara sighed. Can't the world just leave me alone? "Yeah?" Sara called, a little rougher than she intended.

The door popped open, a trio of heads lined up in the crack. "Is your rod charged, by chance?" Resada asked, eying the rod strapped to her thigh. Sara was suddenly glad she had left the Shadu-rod in storage at the Baths.

Sara stealthily tried to rearrange herself to appear to be casually lounging. "No. Crackin' dry." She said, remembering the words of the jolly footman. "I was actually wondering how to get my rods charged through the guild."

Resada laughed. "The charging rooms are off the courtyard, but good luck using them to charge your rods. I think they have twenty days of backlog, and that is just for our paying customers. For us lowly magikers, it will be even longer."

"Oh." Sara said. I will be gone in ten, so no luck there.

Resada cleared her throat. "There is a charging ceremony, over at the Alessan Temple. A few of us will be going there tomorrow. Just a warning though, it will be a bit crowded. You are welcome to tag along of course."

Sara thought for a moment, looking at her empty rod. "I think I might." Sara said, hoping that the acolytes who had chased her out would be fooled by her new cloak. I will not able to run away this time.