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Shrines of Balance (Private) (R)

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I entered the Water Gardens with my head held high. I wasn't used to this kind of thing, but no one else needed know that. Walking with as more grace and poise than previously seen, I moved to the table and seated myself next to the Prince.

As I sat, I covered a grimace of pain with a small smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, Prince," I said lightly. "I'd call you by a name, but you failed to provide me with that."

As I spoke, I slowly undid the air bonds around my leg, hip, and lower back. More pain flashed through my body, but I refused to allow that to be seen.
 
"I am Prince of the Realm and Emperor's Reagent Baelor Tagaryen the Dragonsword." The introduction was formal, and accompanied by a small, seated bow. I continued, "I apologize for calling you here on such short notice, but..." I trailed off, then continued dryly, "Recent events force a certain degree of haste and there are no properly skilled magicians in my city or its surrounds."
 
I came into the water gardens at a hasty walk, slightly out of breath, bowing deeply once I arrived. "I apologize deeply for my lateness, it was innevitable, I had an... Issue, with the blue magic." I said, my tone wry. Most people didn't even bother to research how the blue magic worked compared to the other schools. I heard a sudden sniker in my mind, and growled within the confines of my head. "It's not funny!" "On the contrary, it is hard to believe you still hold to this Charade."
 
I smiled as everyone was seated. I didn't know exactly what was going on, truth be told, but I kept up a pleasent attitude.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Prince Tagaryen. It is greatly appreciated." I paused a bit, laughing for a brief second. "It's much more accomadating than anything I'm used to."

I gave the Prince a soft smile before a spasm of pain shot through my lower back. Those were the worst ones. They seemed to momentarilly paralyze me through nothing but vast amounts of pain. A small cry escaped my lips as my hand clenched before I forced myself to return to acting fully normal.
 
"Is something the matter, Mage... I'm afraid I do not know your name either. I can summon a healer, if you wish." I looked over to the afflicted dinner guest with concern, then to my other, in confusion. The world of magic was outside my comprehension unless it could improve a weapon. This sudden, seemingly small could well be the effect of some spell gone wrong, or any number of other things I had no idea about.
 
I forced another smile. "Yes, Prince Tagaryen, I am fine," I said slowly, fighting against the pains. "Perfectly so."

I snapped the bands of air around myself again, pleading with whatever god may have been watching for the lapse to end. "M-my name is Kalinda, by the b-by. Kalinda."

I fought my harderst. Not here, not now... I couldn't let them see me being weak. It was bad image for my Academy, bad for the name of all Red Mages.

Rising slowly, I whispered a request to be excused. If I was going to collapse, it would be alone. To my suprise, however, I couldn't make it more than a few feet. My knees buckled and I passed into a state of blissful unconsciousness.

My dress, meanwhile, had risen enough up my legs to reveal an amount of the terrible disfigurements.
 
I choked slightly, and I noticed her flal, of course, but the disfigurements hadn't caughtmy eye. I was more concerned with the discerning whether she was all right. A red mage would definitely be useful, and I couldn't afford to lose anyone if we were going to try to fix this problem... "Is it that hard for you to admit to yourself that you might be worried about someone?" "Is it that hard to stay quiet for a few minutes on end?"
 
Violet eyes. Such horrible violet eyes. They screamed into my vision. They burned my heart. Here was the man I loved. Here was the man who promised he'd never hurt me...

One long scream escaped my lips.

More pain.

God, when would it end.

He laughed as he watched me writhe, lust gleaming in his once beautiful eyes. More magic. Dark, black, horrible magic. It tore my flesh from my bones and reattached it with brutal pain. He severed nerves, drank my blood, tasted my flesh.

He just kept laughing. I was beyond tears, now. If only he would let me pass into unconsiousness... I knew he wouldn't... He was enjoying this...

Something cut across my spine. I screamed again, feeling a huge explosion of pain. My body convusled as I continued to scream.

Scream...

OOC: Dramatic Irony...
 
My eyes widened at her sudden fit. I rushed to her side as her chair fell backwards and leaned over to splash my cup of water on her face. I growled to Hirilon, "Fetch one of the sandstong-eating healers." I was shocked at myself, rarely did I let my own lowborn birth every show, particularly in such a vulgar curse.
 
I nodded, swiftly turning and rushing off, now showing no trace of the regal air I had posessed earlier. I could have tried to use the blue magic, but I had never been fair at healing, and who knew what price the blue magic would assign to healer, and even the person being healed... But I could use it... "guide me t-" "To a healer, I know. You will know where to go." And suddenly, I did. I stumbled slightly, almost falling at the sudden drain, but I kept moving...

Almost immidiately, I found myself stepping into a room, and hauling up a young woman by her arm. She was suprised, her clothes far from noble, but in a variation of the servant's uniform. "M- My lord?" She asked, apparently put off not only by the sudden intrusion of apparent nobility, but of the glowing sheen my eyes had taken, hidden behind a slight blue nimbus. "Hush, and come with me, you are a healer, yes?" I asked, but even as she was nodding, I had turned around, and was practically dragging her along behind me as I sped my way back towards the water gardens.
 
Suddently, my eyes snapped open. There were the eyes. The horrible violet eyes. They were there. He was there.

I screamed again. "God please! Please no!" I cried, trying to scoot away from him. The lower half of my body wouldn't respond to my mental commands. "Get away from me! Please!"

My eyes were wild. Fear and desperacy overtook me. I clawed a few inches backwards. How did he find me? What did he want now?

"Please!" I screamed, still seeing the lust. "You told me you loved me!"
 
Combat-hardened muscles snapped into action as I gently (though still firmly) took her by the elbows, pinning them to the floor. I said calmly, "Calm down, Kalinda. I'd never seen you before today."
 
"Please!" I begged, tears streaking down my face. The force of the flashback still held me firmly. "Let me go, Nathan... You don't want to hurt me..." I sobbed. "You've done so much... What did I do...?"

My eyes rolled back in my head for a second. "Just kill me..." I whispered. "You've hurt me so much... Please... Just stop..."
 
Wary of what might happen, I let her go and backed several steps away. I said clearly, "I know no Nathan. My name is Baelor and I have no wish to harm you. I have need of your assisstance and need you to calm down." I grabbed another goblet of water in case she feel into another fit.
 
I blinked several times before calming down. I pushed my elbows underneath me, looking around. Sweat drenched my brow. I realized what had happened quickly. A small flush tinted my cheeks as I shook thoughts of Nathan away from me.

I realized that my legs weren't responding. Crusing under my breath, I held my hand out and called my staff to me. It snapped into my hand. A gust of air forced me to my unwilling feet. I banded my legs with air again, leaning very heavilly on my staff.

"My apologies," I said tonelessly. "I shall be better in the future."

With that, I slowly began to turn around, forcing my legs to move with the air, for they still wouldn't respond to my mind.
 
I caught her by the shoulder and said in my best tone of command (considerable, given my station in life), "Hold, Kalinda. I need to know what is going on if you are to help me in this crisis. I cannot work effectively as a warrior without knowing my companions."
 
My knees collapsed under me, his force breaking the air bonds. I fell to the ground again, turning myself to glare at him with hurt, cold eyes.

"What do you want to know? I'm a cripple. I've been crippled for years. Since I was seventeen. A man whom I thought loved me tore me apart, severed my spinal chord, and then left me for dead. I managed to heal myself enough to continue living, but not enough to make myself as physically able as I was."

Without shame, I yanked the bottom of my dress up, showing him the terrible scars on my left thigh. "This is who I am. This is what I am."

Tears streaked down my cheeks. "Are you happy?"
 
"I needed to know," I said evenly, offering her a hand. I added, "If you wish it, I can have the healers look at it. Our Infirmary Chief is one of the finest White Mages alive today. Otherwise, I can offer you nothing but my own support and comfort." The least was said with a small smile twisting my lips upwards.
 
I glared again, still hurt. "Magic can do nothing to heal me. White Magic, Red Magic, Blue Magic, none of it helps."

I ignored the hand, forcing myself upright again. I didn't like people knowing about what had happened to me. My eyes betrayed my fears, but there wasn't much I could do about what my eyes betrayed. I took my staff again and leaned against it.

"The information you have recieved is to be shared with no one," I whispered shakilly. "No one. I can't allow Nathan to find me again. If you have any respect for me as a person, you will keep your mouth shut about what you have heard and seen."

I fought back the tears again.
 
"Not a soul," I said solemnly. I flipped a dagger from the table and drew it across my left arm. Wiping each side of the blade in the blood, I presented it to her handle-first, saying, "On my word. I shall also meditate on your problem. Nothing is truly beyond aid, and I will not let you injuries become so without a fight."
 
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