Lairiel's mouth tightened. What father did that to his child? Anger rose within her at him. "How did you find this out?" she asked Holly, cautious with how she spoke.

Holly shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't really. It is more of an assumption. I know my parents were not gifted this way. My gift had to come from somewhere. The only person in my family that had such gifts was my uncle." When she said the word 'gift' her nose wrinkled in disgust. Holly wanted nothing more than to have a normal life.
"Was Durion your blood uncle Holly?" Morohtar asked curiously.
"Well...Mother and Father never mentioned Durion to me when they were alive. After the fire, Durion was just there. He said he was my uncle and I believed him. I didn't have a reason not to believe him..."
Morohtar rolled his eyes. He knew Holly was young at the time, but she really was naive. He could not understand why she had not asked any questions. Better yet, he could not understand how the authorities just let it happen. Holly gave a sharp gasp. Morohtar glanced down at her, raising his brow. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"My...my parents...It wasn't an accident...They were murdered." Holly stammered. She felt completely stupid for not realising any of this before. Her hand raised to her eyes as they began to sting.

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"Now hold on, Holly, just because your parents didn't have the "Gifts" does not mean you were not their real child." Lairiel couldn't see how she had come to that assumption. "Don't assume about that." she was thinking deeply. "At what time did you find out about your gifts?" at Holly's next words, Holly frowned. "Murdered by Durion..."

"I only found out about my gifts when Durion took me the second time. He continued to attack me until it happened. I just snapped. I did not even move and yet Durion had been thrown against the wall." Holly shuddered slightly, but pushed the memories back into the deep recesses of her mind. Tears coursed down her cheeks soundlessly. Holly ignored them, she needed to learn to be strong. However, her tears did not go unnoticed by Morohtar. He tightened his hold on Holly, laying his head on her shoulder. "It'll all be ok, Holly. I promise," he whispered to her tenderly.

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She thought a minute. So he had known about her powers. Provoking her until she reacted the way he wished. Her lips tightened. At least he was dead now. She paused and stopped her horse as she suddenly heard pounding hoofbeats behind them. She turned sharply. "Morohtar, take Holly and go. Do not let her out of your sight and both of you stay hidden!" she turned her horse to go meet who she already knew it was.

"Lairiel haven't you learned by now that you are not alone? We are here to help you," Holly protested, her eyes already moving to find who was following them. Morohtar's lips pressed into a grim line. He had already lost Holly once, he was not about to do it again. "Forgive me, Holly." He turned the horse in the opposite direction and jolted it into a sprint. Holly's jaw dropped in shock. "Morohtar...You can't..." Morohtar fell silent, the guilt seeping deep into his body for what he was doing.

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Lairiel watched as her step father and some other men approached. He had that wicked look on his face, and she scowled. "Hello again, daughter." at his words her scowl deepened. "I am not your daughter." she snarled out.
"On the contrary," he smirked, "You bear my last name. You are legally my daughter. And I have All the rights to do with you what I wish to."

"You do not. I washed my hands of you long ago." she drew her sword.
"Come now, Lairiel, no need for violence. Unless you make it so." he drew his own, then dismounted. "Let's settle this then, you chose the hard way." after that Lairiel also dismounted, and faced off with him. He lunged, "Your debt has not been paid!" he roared. Lairiel blocked then attacked. "It was your debt, Falgrin, not mine! You took away my innocence and childhood! I won't let you do it again!" they fought, both of them sustaining wounds. In a strike she made, she aimed for the back of his knee, crippling him. He fell, glaring at her. "This is not over." he ground out, then had his men take him back. Lairiel mounted with difficulty, but ignored her wounds. She started cantering off in the direction Morohtar had taken Holly.

Morohtar took refuge in some nearby trees. He dismounted, his body aching from Holly's struggles. "I am sorry Holly..." he stammered, rubbing his ribs. "I only wanted to protect you Holly."
"Protect me?!" Holly shrieked. "What about Lairiel? She could be wounded or worse dead and we just left her!" Holly dropped down from the horse and darted back in the direction they had came. "I cannot believe you did this Morohtar!"
Morohtar grabbed for her and held her close to his body. "Holly I do not want to see you hurt. It pains me to hurt you this way, but I do not want to lose you. Please Holly..." He sighed heavily. "I did not want to leave Lairiel behind. But I could not risk you getting killed. It would have destroyed me Holly."
Holly fell slack against his body, the weight of his words crashing over her. "You still love me," was all she said with a sigh.

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Lairiel couldn't go any further, couldn't ignore her wounds any longer. She stopped her horse, dismounted then led the horse to some cover. She got out her supplies and began cleaning her wounds. She frowned as an odd scent reached her. She lifted her arm to sniff at a cut there. Poison. Not lethal, but enough to make her weak. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and began dressing her wounds. She remained sitting for a while, trying to concentrate on keeping enough energy to go on. She got up and re-mounted, cantering off again.

"You sound surprised Holly." Morohtar murmured, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. He released her from his arms. "I am sorry Holly. I realise now you do not feel the same. I also know I am not your father and it is not my job to protect you. I know full well you can look after yourself. I was wrong to make any decisions for you."
Holly steadied herself, barely listening to what Morohtar was saying. This would have to be dealt with later. Her friend was in danger. She had to save her. Holly moved, stiffly, and began to sprint back in the direction they had came. Soon she found Lairiel riding towards her. "Lairiel!" she called.
Morohtar followed behind her, a feeling of numbness washing over him.

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Lairiel looked up, her face white at tired, but thankful they were alright. "Holly." she greeted, and shakily dropped from
Her horse, steadying herself by holding onto the saddle. "I trust you are both alright." it was more a statement.

"We're fine, thanks to Morohtar," Holly spat back in his direction. She stepped up to her friend laying her arm around her and taking her weight. "Come on. Those wounds need seeing to." She walked quickly, but carefully with Lairiel back to the clearing Morohtar had taken them to.
"I can see to her wounds," Morohtar muttered quietly.
"I think you have done enough Morohtar. Don't you think?" Holly hissed as she gently lay Lairiel down. Holly reached into her pack and brought out some materials to clean out Lairiel's wounds.
Morohtar hovered nearby, biting his lip.

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Lairiel's eyes narrowed, and she gripped Holly's wrists in an iron grip, stopping her. "I have already cleaned and dressed them. Care to tell me why you are treating Morohtar like this?" she raised an eyebrow and leveled a look at Holly, guessing. "Was it not me that told him to take you? Was he not just following orders?" she stood and dropped Holly's wrists. "Why take it out on him?" she whispered and laud her hand on Holly's shoulder. "Do not blame him. He did what I WANTED him to."

Holly gasped slightly at Lairiel's tight grip. "He should not have listened. If we had been there to help you, you would not have been wounded at all." Holly stepped back from Lairiel. "When are you going to realise we are here for good and we are here to help you." Morohtar stepped forward. "Holly, she was trying to protect you too. Her father is very strong as you can see..." he motioned to Lairiel's wounds. "...And Lairiel is a trained warrior. You would not have been able to handle him." He spoke carefully, stepping over to Holly. "Calm down," he whispered softly. "Lairiel you should rest and gather your strength. We will continue travelling tomorrow morning." Holly stepped away from Morohtar. "Fine," she murmured. "I'll take watch."

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Lairiel watched Holly, knowing that there was more going on inside the girl than met the eye. She sat down and began peering at a map she dug out of her supplies. Either way they went they were looking at a long journey. "Forgive me, Morohtar." she said as she frowned at the map.

Morohtar sat down beside Lairiel. "I have nothing to forgive you for. This is my fault." His eyes rested on Holly. Perhaps he shouldn't have told her he still loved her. It was clear the feelings were no longer mutual. She had been gone for so long. Holly must have assumed she would never see Morohtar again and therefore buried whatever she felt for him. His heart thudded painfully. He grimaced, tearing his gaze from her. He sighed heavily.

Holly paced in a small patrol around the clearing, peering into the shadows that surrounded her. How could this be? How could the world be so different than she had imagined? She wanted nothing more to leap into Morohtar's arms and proclaim her love, but after all this time and all that had happened she was sure she was not the same person he had fell in love with. Holly could not bear to feel the pain of his rejection when he realised this. It was best to leave things the way they were. Friends.

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