Unfortunate Truths

Darian stumbled into the dining room for breakfast the next day, more exhausted than he had ever remembered feeling. Neither he nor Ellen had gotten much sleep last night, and his body ached all over. His back in particular hurt from all the scratches Ellen had given him. Their lovemaking hadn't been gentle, though Darian knew that Ellen had held back for his sake. Otherwise, she might have broken his body again, given her strength.

Despite how he felt, Darian could not wait to do it again. If he had known that this was what lovemaking felt like, he would have done it sooner. Or maybe not. The fact that it had been with Ellen, of all people, was what made it special to him. It satiated him in more ways than one.

A goofy grin spread across Darian's face as he remembered everything they had done together. Given her nature as a snake spirit beast, Ellen proved to be quite…flexible.

The others were all in the dining room, minus the servants. Lucius and Vera sat together, eating their breakfast. His father sat a little apart from them, eating his own. Astra sat in a corner by herself in her human form, holding a scroll. She muttered something, and made a note. Darian saw that she didn't use a pen. Instead, she burned the words into the scroll using her finger. What made it more impressive was that the scroll was made from a thin sheet of metal, like the one which contained The Nine Gates of Destruction.

Darian threw himself into an unoccupied chair and leaned back.

"By the ancestors," Vera said with exaggerated care. "Are you all right, Darian? You don't look so well. Would you like me to look you over? I fear that you might be ill."

Darian looked at her.

"You know, you're right, Vera," Lucius said, tapping his chin. "Darian doesn't seem like himself. Perhaps something is wrong with him."

Darian glared at his friends. He wasn't surprised that they knew about what he and Ellen had done. It wasn't like the two of them had been quiet. He was pretty sure the entire estate had heard them.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Vera asked, her voice cracking. "We're just showing concern for our frien-…"

She couldn't even finish her sentence before she broke out into laughter. Lucius joined her. With a chagrined expression on his face, Darian watched as his friends cackled like a pair of hyenas.

"You know," he said. "I'm not sure what's so funny about this."

"I'm sorry," Vera said, not sounding sorry at all. "It's just that I'm surprised. You're the last person I expected to do something like this, Darian. You always seemed so uninterested in women before."

Darian arched an eyebrow at her and nodded in her direction.

"With a few exceptions," she corrected.

Despite his friends' teasing, Darian didn't feel any embarrassment at all. In fact, he felt the opposite. Proud? Confident? Over the moon with joy? He wasn't sure how to describe it, only that he liked it.

"Who knew that you would turn out to be a man with such loose morals, Darian," Lucius asked, still ribbing him.

"I don't want to hear that from you," Darian said, pointing a finger at his friend. "Given the number of times you and Vera have 'traded pointers' with each other."

"Yes, but that's as far as we've gone."

Darian reared back in surprise.

"Wait, what? Really?"

Vera snorted.

"Of course," she said. "I'm not an easy woman."

"And I've never wanted anyone else," Lucius said. "We're waiting for our marriage night."

Darian stared at his friends as they held hands and smiled at each other. Given how much time they spent together, he had assumed…Well, it didn't matter what he had assumed.

Okay, now Darian felt a little embarrassed, though he knew he had no reason to be. It wasn't like he had done anything wrong. Right?

He frowned.

"You should be careful, Darian," Vera said. "If the rest of the clan hears about this, you might develop a certain…reputation."

She smirked as she said this.

"Now you must be joking," Darian said. "It won't be that bad. Right?"

He looked at everyone. Vera remained smirking, while Lucius looked thoughtful.

"I'm afraid that Vera is right, son," Darren said with a grimace. "I was wild when I was your age, and developed a reputation as something of a…What's the term? Playboy. That's it." He stared off into space, a wistful expression on his face. "Before I turned twenty, I had become a favorite among the premier brothels in Crescent Moon City. The Flowering Blossom Sect, in particular, enjoyed my patronage."

Darian stared at his father, a sense of dread growing in his stomach. He glanced at his friends.

"An all female sect in Crescent Moon City," Lucius said, answering Darian's unasked question. "They're courtesans, and their techniques focus on the four noble arts, as well as lovemaking."

At that, Astra looked up with a scowl.

"Really?" she asked. "With a name like 'Flowering Blossom Sect'? Isn't that a bit on the nose?"

"It's better than their all male counterpart," Darian's father. "The Vigorous Maple Sect."

Astra stared at him in disbelief.

"You're joking," she said.

"I am not."

She rolled her eyes and went back to taking notes on her scroll.

Darian laid his head on the table with a thunk. He had prepared himself for some teasing from his friends, but this was not the conversation he had expected.

"What are you working on, Auntie?" he asked, trying to change the topic.

"I'm trying to remember a silencing formation I came up with a while ago," Astra said. "It's been ages since I've had to use it, so I'm a little rusty." As she spoke, she burned another note into the scroll. "Your mother and I used to live together, and she frequently brought guests back for bedroom activities. The noise kept annoying me, so I developed this formation to block it out. If you're anything like her, we're going to need it."

Darian closed his eyes. This morning definitely hadn't turned out like he had expected.

"Wait, you know Darian's mother?" Vera asked.

Darian opened his eyes again. Oh, right. He still needed to tell his friends about Master Nova. He lifted his head to find them looking at him.

"Master Nova is my mother," Darian said, before putting his head back onto the table.

A beat of silence followed his statement.

"What?" Vera exclaimed. "What do you mean Master Nova is your mother? You mean Master Nova, the Immortal? That Master Nova?"

Darian nodded.

"I meant to tell you two earlier, but things kept happening and I forgot."

"You forgot?" Vera said. "What do you mean you forgot? Your mother is an Immortal, Darian! Do you know what that means?"

Darian lifted his head again to look at her.

"Do you?"

That caught her off guard.

"I…No," Vera said.

"Based on your expression, you don't seem happy about it, Darian," Lucius said.

Darian sighed and sat back up.

"It's…complicated." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "On the one hand, she lied to me, manipulated my life, and caused me to go through a lot of suffering." He let go of his nose and gestured to the estate around them. "On the other hand, she gave me all this and ensured that I had enough cultivation resources for me to reach the Element Collection stage." He shook his head. "As I said, it's complicated. I can't decide if I love her, or if I hate her. Maybe a bit of both, honestly."

"You aren't the only one," Astra muttered as she worked on her formation.

Right. Darian wasn't the only one Master Nova had lied to.

"I'm certain that she cares about me and loves me," Darian said. "That still doesn't make what she did right."

The door to the dining room opened, cutting off any replies. It was Ellen, balancing a large number of plates. She carried them over to Darian, and with deft skill, placed them all before him. There was almost too much food for him alone to eat.

"You need to recover your strength, Young Master," Ellen said with a wicked grin on her face. "I've waited a long time for last night to happen, and I expect a repeat performance tonight."

Darian stared at her in disbelief, his mouth open. His cheeks burned. Since they were now…Huh. They hadn't really talked about what they were to each other now. Lovers? That seemed like a good term. Since he and Ellen were now lovers, he had expected some changes in her behavior. What he hadn't expected was Ellen to be so brazen about it.

Ellen laughed, before pulling him in for a kiss. This ignited Darian's own hunger for her, despite spending an entire night together. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. She acquiesced with a giggle. They "traded pointers" for several moments, before someone cleared their throat.

Darian pulled away from Ellen, to the latter's disappointment, and found everyone staring at him. Lucius and Vera had their mouths hanging open, while his father looked at him with faint disapproval. Astra just looked amused.

If Darian's cheeks had burned before, they were ablaze now. What had gotten into him? It was as if last night had ignited something in him, a hunger that he couldn't control.

No, it had awakened earlier than that. It had been after glimpsing the essence of Fire. Or maybe it had been both events combined.

"Darian," his father said in a scolding tone. "I understand that you have urges. It's understandable. You're a young man. That doesn't give you an excuse to be vulgar. I expect you to behave in public. No one else wants to witness a display like that. Do you understand?"

He stared at Darian, letting out a faint hint of his intent. It was like a blade scraping across his skin.

"Yes, Father."

With great reluctance, he let go of Ellen. She remained on his lap, her arms around his neck.

"You, on the other hand, have no excuse, young lady," his father said to Ellen, turning his gaze on her.

"'Young lady?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm older than you are, Cultivator Darren."

"That gives you even less of an excuse."

Huh. Darian realized that his lover was a couple of centuries his senior. When it came to cultivators, and spirit beasts, a significant age difference was normal. Still, he was only eighteen years of age, almost nineteen. Ellen was two hundred and fifty years of age, give or take a decade. Wasn't that a bit much?

Darian thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. He wasn't going to let something like that bother him. He put his arms around Ellen again.

"Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" Vera said, her face flushed. She fanned herself, and avoided looking at Darian and Ellen.

Lucius used some of his spirit energy to circulate a breeze throughout the room, cooling things down. Vera gave him a grateful look.

"Don't be so hard on them, Cultivator Darren," Astra said, chuckling. "They're young and in love. Surely you remember what that feels like? I do, and I'm the oldest one here."

She looked off into the distance, a fond expression on her face.

"Even so, there are proprieties to be observed," Darian's father argued.

"You must have become prudish in your old age, Cultivator Darren."

While Astra and Darian's father bickered, Lucius leaned forward and looked at Darian with a serious expression on his face.

"While I am happy that you found someone, Darian," he said. "There is something I am concerned about. What about the alliance with Clan Stone Pillar?"

The reminder of Clan Stone Pillar, and Darian's potential marriage with Willow Stone Pillar, hit Darian like a bucket of cold water, dampening his mood. Ellen's arms tightened around him.

"Damn it," he said. "I had forgotten about that."

Lucius nodded, as if he had expected as much.

"It is something that needs to be taken into consideration." He hesitated before continuing. "Before we left Mt. Wind Dance, I had a talk with my father. He is no longer pushing for my marriage to Willow Stone Pillar. In fact, he is fine if the alliance with Clan Stone Pillar doesn't happen."

Darian stared at him.

"Isn't he the one who proposed the alliance to the clan council in the first place? Why would he just give it up like that?"

"Yes, he did. And I don't know why he changed his mind." Lucius frowned. "I don't trust it. I fear that he is up to something, though for the life of me, I can't figure out what."

Darian thought it over. Clan politics was something he hadn't had to consider for a long time. It had been more relevant to him when he was younger, since he was the grandson of Clan Wind Dance's Patriarch, but after his seemingly lack of cultivation talent became apparent, people stopped caring.

He found that he hadn't missed it.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Darian asked. "If your father is being genuine, then that means you and Vera can marry without issue. That was my main concern. If we don't have to worry about that, then I see no reason why I have to marry Willow Stone Pillar." He looked at Ellen, who had been playing with his hair. "Ellen and I have each other. That's enough for me."

Ellen smiled at him, though it contained a hint of amusement.

"Even if the alliance and trade agreement with Clan Stone Pillar doesn't go through?" Lucius asked. "It is something that would benefit our clan greatly."

Darian snorted.

"And? I still haven't forgiven our clan for the way they treated me, even if some of them had good reasons for it. I see no reason why I have to sacrifice my personal happiness for their sake."

Astra, who had been bickering with his father about propriety and proper behavior in public, held up a finger and turned to the rest of them.

"I feel the need to interject here," she said. "Young Darian, there are factors regarding this situation that you haven't considered." She looked at the other members of Clan Wind Dance. "Just as a reminder, since I'm not well versed in the local politics here, the reason why Clan Stone Pillar needs this alliance with Clan Wind Dance is because of their conflict with the Pit Viper Sect, correct?"

"Correct," Lucius said with a frown. "From what I know, they've always been hostile with each other, but things have heated up in recent months. From what everyone can tell, open war is inevitable between them."

"And what kind of sect is this Pit Viper Sect?"

Darian's father snorted.

"To call them a sect is an insult to real sects," he said, his tone heated. "They're nothing more than bandits and slavers who also happen to be cultivators. They've been a problem for the Myriad Rivers region for as long as I can remember. I've even clashed with their disciples several times over the years, before my injury." He grinned. "I survived. They did not."

That surprised Darian. He knew his father had spent a lot of time exploring and going on adventures, before receiving the injury that had almost killed him, but he realized that he didn't know many details about that time period in his father's life. His father never spoke much about it to him. He would have to ask his father to share some stories.

"So, I assume this Pit Viper Sect engages in the usual acts of banditry," Astra said. "Raiding, pillaging, looting, and so on. Correct?"

"Yes," Darian's father said.

"They've targeted many of the villages and towns in Clan Stone Pillar's territory, at least the ones closest to them," Lucius said. "They're deliberately provoking Clan Stone Pillar, and everyone knows it."

When he heard that, Darian felt his blood run cold. When Astra turned back towards him, he almost heard her question before she even asked it.

"What you need to consider is this, young Darian," Astra said. "Who do you think will suffer the most the longer this conflict goes on?"

"Mortals," he said, the word dropping from his lips like a lead weight.

Darian had been so preoccupied on how the marriage with Willow Stone Pillar would affect him and Lucius, and his clan to a lesser degree, that he hadn't stepped back to take a look at the bigger picture. He should have.

When cultivators waged war, it was the mortals who suffered the most, caught in the crossfire as Immortals and monsters battled each other.

"Far be it from me to tell you how to live your life, young Darian," Astra said without an ounce of shame. "I would be remiss, however, if I didn't point this out to you. It's up to you to decide if this is something that concerns you or not." She shrugged. "Personally, I wouldn't care. The mortals living in Clan Stone Pillar's territory are their responsibility, not yours."

With that, Astra stood up, picking up her scroll.

"I'll finish this somewhere else." She nodded at Darian. "You have a busy day ahead of you. Don't let that breakfast Ellen cooked for you go to waste."

"I should go as well," Ellen said regretfully. "I have to return to my duties."

She slid off Darian's lap and kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

After they left, Darian ate his breakfast without tasting it, while the remaining others continued talking amongst themselves. Astra's words echoed in his mind.

***

Jaime was in hell. The "secret place" Young Mistress Vera had mentioned had turned out to be a secret realm, one filled with spirit energy. The command forcing her to come here had said as much, but it hadn't really hit Jaime until she had seen the teleportation formation that served as the secret realm's entrance.

It had been made from Heaven Scorned Marble!

Her Master would have killed his own disciples to have even a fraction of the Heaven Scorned Marble that belonged to Darian Wind Dance. When he had asked what was so special about it, Jaime didn't know if he was just humble bragging, or if he actually hadn't known. Either way, she had wanted to slap him for it.

Two things had kept Jaime in check. The first was a command that she heard the moment she considered slapping Darian.

[You will not harm Darian Wind Dance.]

She wouldn't have gone through with it anyway, but it seemed just thinking about violence against him had been enough to trigger the command.

The second thing that had kept Jaime in check was the cat spirit beast in the Nascent Soul stage, Cultivator Astra, the one who Darian called "Auntie".

When Jaime had first seen Astra, she had almost fainted in fear. The strongest cultivator she had ever met was her Master, who was in the Element Collection stage. A cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage was like some kind of mythical creature to her, second only to an Immortal in power and inscrutability. It was all she could do to not run away, screaming.

Things only became worse for Jaime after their group had teleported to the secret realm. It was a beautiful estate located atop a stone mesa that was surrounded by a layer of clouds. The air was thick with spirit energy. Under normal circumstances, Jaime would have loved to cultivate in a place like this. Secret, secure, and filled to the brim with spirit energy. The problem was that Jaime couldn't use any of the spirit energy, or rather, she dared not use any of it.

During their first night in the secret realm, Jaime cultivated while keeping a close eye on her body, mind, and soul. To her dismay, she found that cultivating sped up the effects of the Mask of the Mortal Face, increasing the speed at which her soul and the piece of Cassandra's soul in the mask merged together. To stay as herself for as long as possible, she hadn't cultivated since then.

It was a losing battle, however. Little by little, Jaime felt the mask changing her. It was a slow change, so slow in fact that she wouldn't have noticed it until it had been too late to do anything about it. If her soul was like a lake, then the mask's influence was like a steady stream of blood dripping into that lake. Each individual drop didn't change much, but over time, the stream would eventually tint the lake red.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about it now, thanks to the command that forced her to keep the mask on. That just made her situation even worse. She was forced to watch as the mask changed her, little by little, unable to do anything about it.

More than once, Jaime cried herself to sleep. It was hard to tell if it was because she would have cried anyway, given her circumstances, or if it was the mask influencing her. In the end, it didn't matter.

That was the worst part about staying in the secret realm, but it wasn't the only part that made it hell. As Jaime worked as a servant, and interacted with the others, more and more commands revealed themselves.

[You will not escape the secret realm.]

[You will not harm a member of Clan Wind Dance or their servants.]

[You will not harm Astra or the snake twins.]

Each command was like a chain binding her, restricting her, suffocating her, until she could hardly breath. She felt like a puppet, pulled along by strings, unable to fight her fate or her circumstances. She tried. Oh, how she tried.

When Darian had gone through his epiphany, rage filled Jaime. Here she was, a prisoner in her own mind and body, while he reaped the benefits of an Immortal's generosity. It wasn't fair. She had to fight for every scrap, every bit of power, when she had been at his stage. Yet, he had everything handed to him.

In her envy and rage, she had wanted nothing more than to kill him. She didn't care if it got her killed. In fact, she considered that a benefit. At least then, she would die as herself.

Yet, no matter how hard Jaime tried, she couldn't make herself move towards Darian Wind Dance in order to kill him. Nothing worked. Even trying to throw a knife or some poison at him didn't work. Her fingers didn't even twitch.

Her other attempts at trying to free herself from her situation also ended in failure.

She was certain that Cultivator Astra had noticed her efforts, but did nothing about it. Either the cat spirit beast hadn't realized that Jaime had ill intentions towards Darian, or she hadn't considered Jaime a threat worth dealing with. The latter was more likely.

Regardless of the reason, Jaime knew that Cultivator Astra was aware of her true identity, or at least that she wasn't who she pretended to be. The cat spirit beast kept a constant eye on Jaime, or used one of her clones to do so. No matter where Jaime went, Astra was always there, watching her with those cat's eyes. Jaime felt like a mouse being toyed with. It frayed her already taut nerves.

Jaime was certain that the spirit beast servants, the twins Ellen and Elliot, were also aware that she was a spy. They never said or did anything, but it was the way they looked at her with wide, unblinking stares that clued her in.

Despite this, they treated Jaime and the mortal servants with politeness and civility. They were even kind from time to time. Once, when Bella had tried her usual trick of bossing the other servants around, Ellen had shut her down right away. It had been a satisfying moment, one of the few remaining bright spots in Jaime's life.

The Mask of the Mortal Face changing her soul, the commands binding her in place, the feeling of being constantly watched. All of these chipped away at Jaime. She felt more exhausted than she ever remembered being. She must have been this tired once, back when she was a mortal child, but she didn't remember it. It had been so long ago, and her childhood memories were hazy to her now. Sometimes, she couldn't even remember which ones were her own and which ones were Cassandra's.

No, that was a lie. Cassandra had a good childhood. Hers were the happy ones.

Jaime was in the kitchen, helping Ellen, while the others attended to their own duties. The snake twins had set up a duty roster for everyone. Bella had complained about the roster on the first day, saying she was Young Mistress Vera's handmaiden, not some simple servant for them to order around. A single look from both twins, laced with their intent, had been enough to get her to comply.

Today it was Jaime's turn to help out in the kitchen. She washed the dishes as Ellen cooked. The scent of soap filled her nostrils, which she found pleasing. She liked the feeling of cleanliness it gave her. Given her current situation, she made sure to enjoy what little she could. It was the only way she could stay sane.

However, exhausted in both mind and soul, Jaime did something that would have shamed her under normal circumstances. She made a mistake and broke character.

She was in the middle of washing a plate, when it slipped from her grasp and fell towards the floor. Jaime caught it almost immediately afterwards. She started washing it again, then froze as she realized what she had done. The plate had fallen less than an inch before she caught it. No mortal could have moved that fast.

Jaime turned towards Ellen. The snake woman was in the middle of cooking dinner for everyone. Or rather, she had been. At the moment, she was staring at Jaime with a neutral expression on her face.

Jaime held her breath. Was this it? Was this where she met her fate? She hoped it was. At least then it would be over. All this waiting, all this tension, was more than she could bear.

The commands had told her that Darian would be the one to decide her fate. She hoped that he remembered his promise to her, even though he meant it for Cassandra, not Jaime. It was one of the few things that kept her going. Otherwise, what little hope she had left would be snuffed out.

Ellen studied her for a few more seconds, before she went back to cooking, acting as if nothing had happened. Jaime's face fell.

No.

Please no.

Let it end.

I can't live like this anymore.

Jaime placed the plate back in the sink and gripped the counter with both hands. She closed her eyes.

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" she asked. "Or at least take me prisoner. Why do you all just keep watching me like this and do nothing?"

"Do you want to die?" Ellen asked.

"No. I want to live." She shook her head. "This? This isn't living. It's waiting to die. No, it's worse. This mask I'm wearing is changing me. It's turning me into someone else. I can feel it twisting my soul, and I can't do anything about it. Do you know what that's like? Watching helplessly as your soul is changed against your will? I do. It's hell." She opened her eyes and turned towards Ellen again. "I want this to be over. Just please, do something. Anything. Just end it."

Ellen tilted her head and observed her. Jaime might have found such scrutiny unnerving once, but at this point she didn't care. Too many things had happened to her.

"No," the snake woman said. "Your fate is not mine to decide. It's Young Master Darian's."

Jaime exploded with anger.

"Why?" she yelled. "Why him? What's so special about him? I'm not a threat to Immortal Nova's precious disciple. I never was. I just wanted to use him to advance my own cultivation, but I was never going to hurt him. Why did I have to be punished like this?"

Ellen snorted with contempt.

"You already answered your own question. You tried to take advantage of Master Nova's 'precious disciple', as you put it. That alone was enough to warrant your death. You forfeited your life the moment you put your filthy hands on Young Master Darian."

Jaime laughed at that. She couldn't help herself. Her laughter had a hysterical edge to it.

"Oh, that's precious coming from you, snake," Jaime said, a vicious edge in her voice. "Your hands are filthier than mine. I may have done many heinous things in my life, but they pale in comparison to your crimes. At least I never apprenticed myself to a demonic cultivator."

Ellen's eyes widened at that. Jaime gave her a wicked grin.

"Oh yes," she said. "I know about that. You should take care to make sure that no one is around when you're spilling your secrets. You never know who might be listening in. Last night had been an illuminating experience."

When Jaime had seen Darian in the servant's quarters last night, she decided to follow him. When he entered Ellen's room, Jaime listened in on their conversation from the room next door. While what she had learned both shocked and interested her, she couldn't make use of it. She couldn't leave the secret realm, and trying to blackmail Ellen into helping her didn't work. Jaime already tried that, but the words never left her lips. Apparently blackmail counted as harm.

"You really are shameless," Jaime accused. "You look down at me, when you're just as bad as I am. No, you're worse. Your Young Master said he accepted you as you are, but does he really? It's one thing to listen to someone tell you their crimes, it's another thing entirely to witness them first hand." She marched up to Ellen and looked her in the eyes. "Tell me, snake. Would your Young Master continue to care for you if he saw you for what you really are? Or would he look at you in fear and disgust? Would he treat you the way you deserved to be treated?" She spread her arms out wide. "The way I'm being treated? Admit it, you're no better than I am."

Ellen stared down at her. To an outsider, the scene would have looked comical. The short and petite woman yelling at a tall and slender one? It looked like a child yelling at her mother.

However, there was nothing funny about any of this, at least not to Jaime.

"Your attempts to provoke me into slaying you are admirable," Ellen said in a monotone voice. "But ultimately futile."

Jaime stared at her for several long seconds, before she slumped to the floor. While she had meant what she said, Ellen's words were correct. She had been trying to provoke the snake woman into killing her. When that failed, her strength deserted her. She just wanted to sit there until she died. Of course, the commands that ruled her life now wouldn't allow that.

While Jaime didn't need to sleep anymore, she still needed to eat and drink, albeit not as much as cultivators at a lower level. The commands would force her to continue living, even against her will.

A hand touched Jaime's shoulder. She looked up at Ellen. The bleakness she felt must have shown on her face, because the snake woman's expression contained an ounce of kindness. Just an ounce, but it was more than Jaime had expected.

"I don't know what compulsions drive you," Ellen said, her voice containing a hint of sympathy. "Nor do I know the exact details of your punishment. There is something you can do in order to speed things along, to end it sooner. Assuming you can even try it at least."

Jaime continued to just stare at Ellen. Was this another part of the punishment? Give her false hope? Even knowing that, Jaime latched onto it.

"Have you considered confessing the truth to Young Master Darian and begging him for mercy?" Ellen asked.

A thread of fear wormed its way into Jaime's heart. Confess everything to Darian? Confess what? That she killed Cassandra and stole her life? That she was a member of the Pit Viper Sect, sent to spy on his clan? That she had wanted to use him for her own benefit?

Darian wouldn't show her mercy after that. If anything, she feared that he would find some way to make her punishment worse. As bad as her circumstances were right now, they could always get worse. Her time at the Pit Viper Sect had taught her that. She was a prisoner surrounded by enemies, but at least she was healthy and had full use of her body.

"I can't tell him," Jaime said. "If I do…I don't know what he'll do, but it won't be good. In his shoes, I would…"

She trailed off. Jaime had been in Darian's shoes before, when dealing with mortal prisoners and slaves. Holding someone else's life in her hands had been an intoxicating experience. It gave her such a feeling of power to have them completely at her mercy. She hadn't been kind when she had this power over someone, and she didn't expect Darian to be.

"It's just an idea," Ellen said, shrugging. "Now get up. While you're pretending to be Cassandra, you might as well earn your keep. Finish washing the dishes."

With that, the snake woman went back to cooking dinner. Jaime watched her for several moments, before going back to her own duties. As she did so, Ellen's words took root in Jaime's mind.

Should she confess everything to Darian?

***

'That was unwise of you, Ellen,' Guardian Astra's voice said in Ellen's mind. 'Why did you tell her to go to Darian? The compulsions Senior Sister Nova had put on her won't prevent her from doing that.'

Ellen hadn't known that when she suggested the idea to "Cassandra". She had spoken out of pity, but hadn't thought that it might work.

'This will speed things along,' Guardian Astra continued. 'I had planned to let the rat stew in her suffering for a bit longer before letting Darian know. Why did you help her?'

At that question, Ellen felt a fraction of Guardian Astra's intent brush against her. Fiery claws kissed her skin. The sensation sent a chill down her spine.

'Because I saw myself in her,' Ellen sent back using her mind sense. 'She is no different from me, from before I joined the Dawn and Dusk Sect. If Master Nova hadn't shown my brother and I mercy, our lives would have turned out differently. I doubt we would have survived.'

Ellen heard Guardian Astra snort in her mind.

'That's because unlike the rat, you felt remorse for your actions and wished to redeem yourself. I've peeked inside her mind. She doesn't regret her actions. She only cares about her own well being.'

'Regardless, I do not regret my actions.' She paused. 'If it helps, I doubt she will go to Young Master Darian right away. She's afraid of what he might do.'

'The rat should be afraid. Senior Sister Nova put a soul binding on her, one that Darian has control over. Thanks to that mask she's wearing, he has the ability to remake her entirely.' Guardian Astra let out a shudder. 'Sometimes the things Senior Sister Nova can do scare me.'

Ellen agreed with that statement. While she loved Master Nova, and was loyal to her, Ellen knew just how powerful the woman was. Master Nova's mastery of soulcrafting was even more terrifying than her combat prowess.

'Continue to keep an eye on her,' Guardian Astra said. 'If and when she goes to Darian, we want to be ready.'

'Yes, Guardian Astra.'