This evening the shifter woke up, on his way to recovery. This was one of rare nursing experiences for Rhaine, and she feared of making a slightest mistake. A change of activity - that could be a good distraction from her regular duties. She started slowly with replenishing the dehydrated and starved body. Artemus was so weak from his imprisonment, she had to feed him and hold his head when giving him a drink. Errtu, a thousand curses on your soul! They talked - at first it was Rhaine's attempt to distract the shifter from troubling thoughts...

As Artemus told her about the orc raid that killed his parents, and about the vengeance and havoc Sylus and himself wreaked upon the intruders, she listened in silence. It was a gift similar to a glass snowflake - too fragile to drop, but too painful to hold. A wound of a memory, a gift that has to be reciprocated. Her voice was quiet as she spoke about the insane crowd, that burned a "witch" - healer mage her mother was. About her father who brought this "witch" to trial. About her own vengeance - cold blooded murder, as she nailed his hands to indoor stairway, and burned the house... She shuddered in fear, thinking that the shifter would turn away from her, that he would despise a monster she was... But his arms wrapped around her protectively. "I know there is little I can say to take away the pain you must feel about that day, but you'll never hear those words from me. I love you, Rhaine. More now, than I ever realized," the shifter said, as vampire nuzzled into his embrace.

A hug, a smile, a dinner together (though her part in it was feeding the shifter, too weak to do that himself) - Rhaine thought could become a wall in the way of dark memories of Umbran Sanitarium, a shelter from pain. As Artemus fell asleep, she watched him, taking in the image that meant so much to her.