"Back with the living."

I opened my eyes, Lauretti looking down on me. I looked around. I'd been here before. "Same healing chamber?"

She smiled and nodded.

"And I'm naked again."

She laughed. "Healing chamber works best that way."

I knew that, and I did feel so much better.

"Just tell me we're not sparring."

"Not unless you really want to. It could be interesting to see what you've learned."

"No. Do I have clothes?"

"Not in here, but here's a towel."

I sighed and took the towel. I was naked when I fought Orvin, so it shouldn't matter. Plenty of people saw me naked back at camp, and that didn't bother me, so why did I care now? And what happened to Sinense?

"How's Sinense?" I pushed myself up and took the towel from her.

"Broken left arm," Lauretti replied. "Broken fingers. Stabbed through her right shoulder. Left thigh run through. The thing is, she says you did that last one."

I stared at her. "How?"

"When you stabbed that Sobeck, it went through her leg, too."

I kind of remembered doing that. That's why it was so hard to pull out?

I nodded. "Yeah, I probably did."

"She says it was payback for her shooting and stabbing you."

I snorted. "I was wearing armor. She wasn't."

"She said that, too, but anyway, Cornelia gained some surgical skills over the decades, and stopped both of you from bleeding out. All of you were put on wagons and carted to the Dome, then here."

"All of us?"

"You, Sinense, Ellie, and Nathan, of course. Sorina wasn't staying behind since she was Maid to Ellie. I have a feeling that wasn't the only person she was concerned about. That kid Birdie claimed Squire privileges to come along, as did Elspeth since Cornelia was coming to keep an eye on you. Cornelia brought the newest captives along to get checked out since we were needing two wagons anyway. Both of them are pregnant, by the way."

I closed my eyes. How were we going to handle this?

"Actually," Lauretti continued, "the younger one probably isn't by now. We've induced a miscarriage on her."

I let out my breath. "And?"

"Unless you say something, she may never know. She's not even late on her period yet, so she'll probably think it's her period and be happy. On the other hand...."

"Lady Luli," I prompted.

"She's very aware of her condition, including morning sickness, tenderness, and...never mind. I'm not sure if knowing that her son is Nathan's page is helping or hurting, but we will be inducing a miscarriage on her. Would it be better to have Cornelia or Sinense tell her and give her the medicine, or just give it to her without her knowing?"

I stared at her, then realized my mouth was open. "You're asking me? Like I know anything about this stuff?"

She chuckled. "Spontaneous, or the hand of the Realm assisting her in her distress?"

I shook my head. "Ask me after I've turned fifty. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Hoisted by my own petard," Lauretti laughed. "Very nice. Well done, and you are right, but if this were Ellie, what would you do?"

"I'd tell her." That came out before I even thought about it. "I wouldn't hide it from her."

"Then that's what we'll do. Sinense gets to do that since this Lady Luli is her Lady. I still don't believe Sinense did that."

"What else should we have done?" Sinense surprised me, too, but I wasn't going to tell Lauretti that. "What were they expecting us to do?"

"Not what you did, that's for sure," She shot back. "This is definitely going to shake things up once it's announced. I'm bringing a bottle of wine and popcorn to watch this." She gave me a grin which let me know I'd be hosting that party.

"Anyway," she continued. "Just so you know, they had to trade out horses a few times to get you here in about a dozen hours. Oh yeah, and since Sir Lucian knew the way best, he's here too, and everyone has been through one of the chambers."

I sighed. Back on safer ground, anyway.

"And Orvin?"

"The Sobeck leader? He's dead. You got him. Sinense, Sorina, and Ellie are all in the next room. Wrap the towel around your butt and follow me."

I groaned and followed her.

They were all asleep, of course, lying side by side by side in the bed. Lauretti whipped the sheet off Sinense so she could show me the faint white lines at her hip and thigh, which uncovered Sorina some, too

"Can you just cover her up?" This felt creepy, just like last time. I was familiar with her body, but that made it worse, not better.

"So, you want to wake her up properly, or Sorina?"

I sighed, the afterimages of her naked body still in my brain. Some of me felt I should wake her up after what we went through, but it was Sorina I wanted to be with, and I said as much.

I got a smile from that, and Lauretti parted Sorina's hair so I could make out where her wound had healed to almost nothingness before handing me the pink paintball thing.

"Here are her clothes, but go left out of here to Room 7A before bringing her to herself."

"And what is 7A?"

"A comfortable room, much nicer than these healing antechambers. You can take your time this time."

"Oh...okay."

"I'll leave you to it, but first, I have a question. Is Maid Doina at all interested in marriage, or is it absolutely only girls for her?"

I stared for a moment before answering, wondering where she was going with this. "Ellie said that with the proper man, Doina would do her wifely duties to bear him an heir, or maybe two, but not much beyond that."

"The proper man," Lauretti mused. "You should get Sir Lucian and her together. I think he'd be the proper man for her. I'm sure Emil would be thrilled to get her married off finally."

"There is that, I suppose, but why would Lucian—"

"I had a nice talk with him, and he would go for this sort of marriage. By the way, he doesn't get the pink ball until he's back at camp. Neither do the others, except Nathan."

Again, my brain whirred for a moment before finding traction. Lauretti had talked to him in that semi-stupor state where'd he'd speak the truth. Was he wearing his lover's weapons? I sighed and nodded. "How's he going to get us there?"

"He's not. I have the coordinates there from Cornelia, so I can put everyone at the edge of your camp. I've already sent some equipment there, so it's been tested. Understand that it's a one-way trip. You have to go back to the Dome to get back here, so don't get yourself half-killed again. If Cornelia didn't have decent surgical skills, you wouldn't have made it. I'll leave you with Sorina. Your clothes are next to hers on the counter. You can take your time, but please wake Sinense up when you're done."