A Taste Of Things To Come

[Connor Harrison]

Joon stood, looking at the Queen, and then the Princess. What a tainted bloodline indeed, and the Queen was with child too. How sad for the people to live under these blind tyrants.

"Then tell your Mother to mean well and mind her own business. She had no need to interfere in our conversation and I posed no threat to you."

The Apprentice pushed her coat back a little and rested her hands on her hips, as if she metaphorically held a bargaining chip between mother and daughter.

"And I won’t hurt this planet, but my Master may. Or if not the planet," she glanced down to the bump that the Queen soothed, "then something else."

It felt good to let the darkness in again, and she felt invincible.

"Now, Princess Mysa, can we have carry on or shall I report back on what sort of place this is and who inhabits it?"

She glared at the young girl, feeling a seething control emanate over her; the Apprentice wanted to become the Master.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

From threatening the Jedi who watched over this world, to speaking of false idols and an Empire that no longer existed. Threatening the home she had come to love, and now this. Her unborn child.

Kära had already lost one child. The stinging reminder had her breath catch in her throat for a moment, though it did not show on her face. Little Gioven, another daughter... She would not bury another child. Nor would any Valkyri be harmed on her watch.

Her expression remained unchanged as she turned her gaze across to Joon. Her pupils dilated just a little, however, as her focus narrowed to meet its quarry.

No defenses, at least none of note. Kära slipped so effortlessly into this stranger's mind that it surprised even her. Apparently the girl's Master hadn't done a very good job teaching her the basics. Most Sith saw only physical power as a boon, and that was their mistake.

Carefully, so as not to cause any lasting damage, Kära pushed her way through Joon's mind and began to cycle through her memories. Each one which caused even the slightest bit of pain was brought forth and amplified, and to the stranger it would seem as though she was merely having flashbacks.

Kära was a master of stealth, after all, she never made it known that she was interfering unless she wanted it.

With a slight tip of her chin however pain would intensify into an unbearable pressure on her mind, spreading like wildfire until Joon began to feel weak and her legs unable to hold her upright. Not once did the pain ease up. Not once did the memories cease to flash.

She saw what she needed to know, too. Of the falsities Ayra had told her. Of the lies. How she had turned this clone girl against the only person who had truly tried to help her. Cruel, so very cruel.

Oh, but Kära could be crueler.

When Joon was finally on her knees, which was the inevitable outcome here, the woman finally spoke.

"You would do well to mind your tongue, girl. I cannot abide empty threats, not against myself, not against my people, but most definitely not against my children."

Each point was emphasized with another sharp jab of intense pain which would run through Joon's mind. A very real and very tangible sensation.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

She raised her brow, waiting for someone to say something before leaving, but instead she got a glimpse of the living quarters she ate and trained in. It came from nowhere, and it made her disorientated a little.

Next, another stab as if she was momentarily drowning in the hibernation tube she had been raised in, this time without the A.I keeping her alive. She could breathe, but she felt like she couldn't. Then, a gasp. And a wince, tightly closing her eyes as sharp needles were pushed into her temples - so it felt.

"Coward....eeeeAHHH!" Joon gritted her teeth and scrunched her face up tight.

The sensation of the worst sort of pain pulsing in her head caused her to bring her hands and push the temples hard to stop it, but instead it got worse, and her head literally felt like it was swelling.

NOISE! NOISE! The sound of shouts and frag grenades and failing engines and explosions!

Ayra would loved this - Joon knew what was happening, and she could do nothing to stop it. Instead, she buckled and cried out as the blurred memories of crashing in the Stormtrooper transport burnt in her mind's eye, and faces of her sisters, and Ayra making her feel even more of a failure. The Queen said something at that point, but it didn't register. The rage boiled up inside the clone as it had on Korriban and she screamed and pushed her temple harder.

"I'LL KILL YOUR CHILD!!"

The scream was wild, and again she cried and curled forward, craning her head up through a red face, flush with tears and burning grey eyes. The DNA was reacting to the heightened emotion she was feeling, mixed with the pain and the torture she couldn't stop. She gasped, trying to find a breath, but it didn't come, and she felt it was now over...she had come so close.

"Nudcha....nudcha....f..."

Mysa was the last person she saw before she fell forward and smacked her face on the cold, hard stone floor.

Peace at last.

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"] | [member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

More than expected. Not just to her knees, but out cold entirely. Had Kära misjudged herself? No. That never happened. Then what? There had to be more to this... And she intended on finding out exactly what.

Guards stepped forward now, no longer afraid of their Lady's wrath since the antagonist was down. Some of the servants looked on with fear in their eyes, but she ignored them. She would not stand for such threats in her home.

"Strip her of any weaponry, have a healer see to her head - give her some anti-shock, it will ease the concussion she'll no doubt have - and then put her in the cells."

A Force User this one may have been, Kära had no worries about her escaping. She had seen the training she had received, she wouldn't be unable to get out... Not easily, not without help.

"And have Mysa escorted to her room. We don't want any silly decisions being made in the heat of the moment now, do we?"

Kära settled a caring hand upon her daughter's shoulder, only to feel her cold reproach in the form of a shrugged shoulder. It hurt her, but she understood. With time she hoped she would come round. For now she could not go back on her word. Would not.

Instead she turned to leave, one hand protectively slipping back to her bump.

She prayed [member='Thyrian Hearthfire'] did not find out about this. His temper would be unmatched.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Lief]

It happened so quickly that Mysa had no time to process what she saw before her. Her Mother spoke, and the next thing she knew Joon was face down on the floor motionless.

Was she dead?

No... No, not dead. She could see her chest rising and falling with each breath.

Still, the sight of it was enough to bring tears to her eyes, tears which stung, almost as badly as the hurt she felt in her chest. Her heart.

"What... Why?"

She looked between Joon and her Mother, then back again, and set her jaw tightly as Kära continued to speak... Giving orders for Joon's future. And then her own. Deep down Mysa knew why. Joon had stood against the Royal Family. She had threatened her unborn brother, the future Heir to Midvinter. That was treason.

It didn't take away the sting. Didn't soothe her aching chest.

"Don't hurt her... Mother, please..."

Loyalty torn, after so short a time knowing this woman, this Joon, how wrong of her. Mysa felt so terribly bad, but she couldn't help how she felt.

"I won't do anything, please don't send me away... Please."

But Kära was already leaving. Guards were already carrying Joon away. And another had come to guide her from the Hall toward her bedroom. Mysa tried to resist, to follow after Joon, but a firm hand pressed against her to keep her in the right direction.

This wasn't fair.

This wasn't right.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As my Sith Apprentice, you can become so much more. You have taken your first steps into a larger life."

"I will…."

Joon made herself jump and come to, and forgot where she was. The image of Darth Ayra was in her mind, from their time at the Fort. She had taken first steps, into what? A nightmare. Taking a moment to regain her bearings, the first thing she noticed was how dark it was, and then her hands were bound in chains above her head, and that her head was sore.

With a groan, her head slumped forward as it all came back – the Queen and Princess on the snow world, and a lot of pain and disorientating memories, and then she was here.

Carefully moving her head back against the cell wall – she assumed this WAS a cell – Joon looked up at the empty space around her and the silence that filled it. A very primitive looking cell indeed, with thick bars and some surveillance device? A clash of new and old methods keeping prisoners secure.

As much as she pulled on the chain, her hands didn’t move and it just made her more frustrated and made the throbbing pain in her head increase.

She grunted one last time as she tried to pull away, but nothing. Joon gave up and went limp, her hands hanging there above her bruised face.

"Let me out at ONCE," she roared. She wasn’t going to end her days as a prisoner, not now and not ever.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

It was far easier than it should've been for Mysa to escape her room.

How many times had she and Théo sneaked out after dark, or at first light, once they realized their love for adventure? A small bit of solace, those memories were, in an otherwise torturous moment. She hated this, being stuck, being confined, made to sit and stare at the wall and think about what she'd done.

What had she done?

Nothing. Helped a stranger. Welcomed them in true Valkyri fashion. And it had backfired like everything did.

Was there some curse upon her?

"What did I do so wrong? Have I not been pious? Have I not walked the path you set me? And yet you throw all of these things at me and expect me to carry them all... You took Thrand from me, my Grandpa..." The first person to ever care. "Then you made Théo disappear!" Her dear sweet brother, who knew when he'd return?

Felix curled around her feet when she had finally taken a seat on her bed. Force, even Gideon hadn't reemerged after the Battle.

"Jab another pin in me, why don't you? It's not as if I was built to handle all of this. I'm not them! I'm not Thurion or Coci, I'm not Thyrian or Kära! I'm not strong enough!" They all had their act together, even little [member='Nina Heavenshield'] and [member='Théodred Heavenshield']. So strong, so caring...

And here she was.

The let down.

Well, that had just about done it. If she was the problem child then a little more acting up wouldn't surprise anyone right?

The window had moved in a jiffy once she poured a little hot water around the edging, and the scramble out into the snow had taken mere seconds. She left the window ajar just ever so slightly... Hey, if she could avoid punishment then why suffer. Hadn't she suffered enough?

Now the real question was, how the kriff did she get into the cells.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The third scream was certainly a violent roar of anger and hate, and she was sure the chains were cutting into her wrists with how hard she was pulling. Joon was fuming – raging. Like a child trapped in a small space and their panic, fear, annoyance and desperation increased, she was pulling as hard as she could.

She pulled and pulled, looking beyond the pain and her eyes burned with a dark amber fire as the rock split and her body fell forward in a shower of rock chippings and dust. Joon gasped and span around on her hands and knees, and saw the bolts where the chains had been were buckled and two gaping holes in the wall took their place.

Looking down at her bleedings wrists, she smiled and felt this was another tick in Ayra’s box about her finding herself. She had let the Dark Side fuel her muscles in a blind rage, weakening the chain bolt and pulling it free, beyond her usual strength.

Standing up, she looked around the cell but was feeling a little drained from that…event…and rested her head against the bars, cold on her brow, and she whispered into the air.

"Mysa. Come to me. Help me.”

All Joon heard was hear heartbeat racing against the cold night air blowing through the small hole from outside.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

Screams pierced through her hearing.

Behind her the soft thuds of Felix's heavy paws in the snow gave her indication to his presence. Part of her wanted to tell him to go hunt, but she didn't trust the locals not to see him as a threat and run him through. She didn't want him caught up in this though, she needed to keep her attention of her surroundings not a little one too. Not that she wasn't grateful for his presence.

More screams, growls of frustration, a raised voice. She was getting closer to the cells, she knew. The voice was becoming quieter and less powerful with each passing second and then nothing. No growls or grunts or yells. Nothing.

That worried her.

She picked up her pace, until she could see the outer window to the cells. Barred, no way of opening it. She peered inside though, and she could see Joon there. No guard inside the cell itself, but she could sense one outside. The woman seemed to have broken the restraints from the wall, and even from here Mysa could see the blood pooling around her from her wrists. Not good.

Maybe the guard didn't know..?

Maybe you're being stupid, Mother will have told them if they hadn't seen it themselves.

So that was it then. She had to get in unseen. It wouldn't do to break the bars, there were genuine criminals on Midvinter too. Was Joon among them?

What a moral dilemma.

This was the most daring, naughty thing she had ever done in her whole entire life. If she was caught she would be in so much trouble.

Make it look like a break out then?

Mysa bit her lip. There was no glass, just bars. Okay, that was it then.

She reached to her belt to take out her saber. Then thought better of it. They'd wonder how she got it. Kriff, there had to be another way...

A very slight whistle left her as she tried to get Joon's attention.

Force, let her see Mysa.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As her wide eyes scanned the prison for any sign of movement, her ears picked up a whistle she thought was the wind outside. Only when it changed quickly in pitch did she turn with a puzzled expression to see a familiar face peeking up into the cell from the outside, all through a small barred window.

Joon wasted no time turning back skipping over the other side of the cell and lifting herself up on tiptoes to wrap her hands around the bar and just get a decent glimpse of Mysa; she had returned.

"Mysa,” she grinned like a child, "you came! Come, get me out. We have to go – we aren’t safe here.”

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

She saw her. Even in her exhausted state Joon somehow managed to skip over toward her like a carefree child and hoist herself up into full view. That made Mysa smile, just a little, before she huffed hot air from between her lips and frowned.

"Sorry this happened..." she said, with a pout, "Mother's never been so defensive before... Probably the baby."

A natural response, in all honesty. After all... Joon had threatened her unborn brother. "Please don't actually hurt him. Or her. Or Midvinter... Please..."

It was all she had in the Galaxy, all she knew, all she lived for.

Carefully Mysa slipped her saber off her belt entirely and slipped it through the bars. Best them be broken from the inside not the outside.

"Don't kill anyone. I can take you to where your things are but you have to be quiet, and quick... Use this, it'll cut through the bars... I need it back thought."

Then she stepped back. Hopefully Joon wouldn't hurt anyone with Mysa's lightsaber.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon smiled, and it nearly reduced her to tears having that closeness with someone again. No threat of violence or war or death - just a bond she hadn't felt since working with her sisters, and one she thought she felt for Ayra, but one that quickly dissolved.

Taking the lightsaber, she held it in her left hand and rested her right hand on top of Mysa's through the bars.

"I will never hurt you or your family,” she said. "I promise you. Your mother, maybe...” she smiled again and nodded.

Slipping down the stone step into the cell, Joon focused immediately and held the hilt outwards and didn't look at anything by the larger door as she activated the saber, face a-glow with the blade, and cleaved four bars in half that clanged down rather indiscreetly. And with that, the blade deactivated. Crouching down, Joon slid easily though the bars, under and up on the other side and now faced the door.

Looking across to the barred window, seeing Mysa there, she indicated with her head to head the same way to help her get out.

Joon moved to the door and tapped it gently.

And again.

Movement from the other side, as the noise of metal lock clicked.

Joon crouched a little, fist clenched around her hilt, and as the door opened, she launched upwards with a cry to send the clenched hilt up into the jaw of the bewildered guard peeking his head around. With a crack and a crunch and a groan, the guard gasped and buckled in the doorway like a floundering fish. A perfect door-stop.

She smiled and span the hilt, and creeped out over the body to see what she had to go through next. Hopefully Mysa would have something ready for her.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

She couldn't tell if Joon was joking or not about her Mother. She sincerely hoped that she was, after all Kära had only been trying to protect her daughter and unborn son... "Please, please don't" she whispered, before Joon slipped away.

The distinct snap-hiss of a lightsaber blade resounded, before the room was cast in a purple glow. Mysa turned, and hurried back toward her window. There was no time for dilly dallying if she wanted this to work. But why do you want this to work? Why are you helping someone who threatened your baby brother?

Why indeed...

Slipping back inside her room, Mysa cast her gaze around before spotting a spare cloak on the back of her door. She grabbed it off the wall and walked toward the door. Opening it she came upon a Guard.

"May I please take this to the cells? It's horribly cold out, Ser... There's a storm on the way, and the dungeons have bars not windows..."

Reluctantly the man gave a nod of his head, and watched her with a respectful distance as she made her way through the halls and down into the basement. The main door was unlocked, and then...

Mysa turned, and stared up at the guard. He wasn't really paying her much attention, in fact his back was to her and focused on the hallway at the top of the stairs instead.

Slipping into the room which ran between the cells and the stairwell, Mysa took note of the collapsed guard and cringed. She hurriedly crossed the room toward the confiscation box and threw down the spare cloak.

"Find your things, bundle them up in this... Quickly now, Joon..."

She looked back, the Guard still wasn't paying attention but they didn't have a lot of time.

"When you're done stay here for a minute or two then come up. You'll have thirty minutes at most once on the surface to get away from the Hall... I'm sorry I can't give you more than that. I'll leave your things outside my window."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon hugged the wall and her breath was cold and condensed in the air before her. She was scared, but thrilled. She would be able to over-power anyone with her power, and there was a thrill of getting confrontation. And her face came out of nowhere behind the door. And Joon smiled. She had her instructions.

"Thank you!”

She didn't waste time and took the cloak and listened to the instruction. Kneeling down, she looked at the box of her belongings and then back at Mysa. Things suddenly sounded complicated.

"What?” She stood. "On my own? Are you serious?”

The clone stood and stepped up, hand out to stop her leaving.

"Wait, you can't leave me on my own to do this? I need your help - where do I go? Come with me.”

She nodded and smiled.

"Come with me. Let me help you. Ayra will help you. You can stay with me and you can train with me!"

It was like being back with her allies, but Mysa wasn't a sister. She was what Ayra had said about. Friend. Mother. Lover. Protector. That person all in one who would be there. Was this her? She moved forward and hugged the warrior. It was a cold hug, as she didn't know how to do it, but she knew it was a welcoming embrace people did.

"Come with me,” she said, gently patting her back.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

"I... I can't" she said, when her newfound friend tried to stop her, asking her to come with her from the world. Mysa felt torn in a million different pieces, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She accepted the embrace, warming it a little as she wrapped her own arms around Joon with a small sigh.

"If I don't lure him away you won't get even two feet out of here. You need to go before..." Before what? She didn't really know herself. All she knew was that Joon had to leave.

"Please, trust me on this... There is a forest just North of the main gates. Follow the trail, I'll come and find you in a few hours if I can." If she could sneak out without being caught, Thainbroek would be on high alert after all. "And I'll get you a way off world. You just... You need to trust me."

She took the bundle of items from Joon, and made sure it looked like a simple pile of furs, before laying a tender kiss on the woman's cheek for good luck.

"Please... Trust me. Two minutes, and you need to be up the stairs and out of the door. I'll have your things waiting... Trust me?"

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Staring out the open door into the dimly lit hall, Joon felt Mysa comfort her. Was this what it felt like? To be comforted? The kiss made her frown - that was a first.

"I'm...okay...I trust you. You've saved my life.”

Smiling and feeling a strange warmth inside that even blocked out the cold chill from outside, Joon nodded and gripped her shoulder.

"Please come.”

Turning, feeling a knot in her stomach and the pressure to flee, Joon knelt back down and started to take her belongings, not that there were many. Certainly no weaponry. Throwing on the furs taken from the Hall, Joon wrapped the cloak up tightly and bundled it under and stood. Mysa was gone. She didn't move. Just waited and looked into the outer hall. North of the Main Gate. She couldn't wait longer, and so she moved.

She kept her head down in the relatively quiet halls leading from the cells towards the courtyard, across from the Hall. Security was rather quiet across the rear of the yard as it seemed to be focused on the Hall, if that's where that monster of a mother still was. Joon narrowed her eyes, but moved around the outer edge quickly and quietly. Passing two guards in conversation, Joon simply walked and kept her head down, furs up.

It didn't take long to reach the external wall, and there she could walk around to the front of the grand building and out towards the gate where she had come in, following Mysa.

Joon turned and looked up at the building. She hoped the girl wasn't a liar, like everyone else she had ever met. She desperately hoped that more than anything.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

With [member='Joon']'s more precious items in hand, bundled up within the fur, and the realization that her new ... friend? ... had her lightsaber, Mysa hurried back up the steps and tried to feign annoyance. Not that difficult, I'll just think of mother and how she put me in this mess to begin with!

Deep down she knew that wasn't fair. She knew that Kära was just trying to protect not just Mysa but the rest of the Household, heck even Midvinter. It had been a Sith who had caused the great assault of Thainbroek after all. A Sith amulet. That's what she'd heard her Papa say.

But Joon wasn't anything to do with that. She couldn't have been. She was too naive, too new to the Galaxy. Mysa knew all the telltale signs.

Once at the top of the stairs the guard looked at her then the furs.

"She said she didn't want sympathy from the idiot who got her put down there" Mysa mumbled, looking downright miserable. The guard gave a nod of the head, and began to escort Mysa back to her room.

"Do you think Mother will be mad at me for long?" she started to ask, dragging the guard into a drawn out conversation which continued even when they reached the door.

Come on Joon... Use the chance you have. The Hallway is empty, but it won't be that way for long...

 

[Connor Harrison]

The figure of Mysa and a robed guard walking along the higher corrior before the Main Gate, and Joon watched them with her back to the wall. It was cold and crisp outside, and her legs were shaking - but was it out of being cold or the adrenalin coursing through her veins.

She couldn't hear the conversation, but the pair stopped and talked. And talked. Joon took a step forward. Still talking. And another step. Still talking. Two more steps, and she kept her eyes on the pair as far as she could before hitting a stride and running across to the Main Gate - sounds of cheers and music from the Hall behind her echoed out, but she didn't look back.

Hop-skipping over icy patches, she ran out into the village across a wooden moat and down into where the path become dirt and snow, leading to the settlements and the place where Joon had arrived.

Snow covered trees surrounded the village, and ignoring looks from others, she kept the bundle close and ran along the path as the dirt turned to crunchy snow and into the trees.

Mist snaked through the bracken and wrapped itself around the large trunks as the woodland swallowed her up, but she didn't stop following the trail until it seemed to disssolve into nothing, a large cirucalar clearing. Catching her breath, which was icy cold on every inhale, Joon knelt by a large tree and huddled up to wait. Eyes set on the white ground below; fear started to creep in. She was alone again. Just like she always had been.

Alone.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

"She'll come around, Princess, you just have to give her a little time..."

The guard gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before gesturing to Mysa's door. Time to scurry away, enough time had been granted for Joon to get clear and honestly? Mysa was feeling a little bad for tricking the poor man like that. He had been genuinely kind to her during their conversation, after all, truly listening and trying to offer advice.

"Thank you" she whispered, trying to keep the guilt from her voice, before she slipped back into her bedroom. For a little moment she sat on her bed, and put her head in her hands. Where had things gone so wrong? Here she was helping a fugitive escape, someone wanted for treason no less! And yet she couldn't stop now even if she wanted to.

She had gone too far, she realized, but she didn't want to see someone die because of her, because of a misunderstanding. Joon was so naive, yet her Mother hadn't bothered to realize that she hadn't posed a threat until backed into a corner. They could easily have still been sat enjoying lunch right now.

Sometimes her Mother's hypocrisy and prejudice knew no bounds.

Then again, she had once been Sith herself. Perhaps she knew what had been on Joon's mind? Ugh it was so confusing!

Somehow Felix had made it back into the room. She offered a gentle smile toward the cub and leaned down to kiss him atop his head. "Now don't you go doing anything stupid and getting yourself killed or lost, okay? First Grandpa, then Théo, now Joon... I couldn't bear the thought of losing you too, baby..."

She fussed him behind the ear, before letting out a soft sigh. Time to get going.

Grabbing a spare set of furs from her bed, as well as the bundle meant for Joon, Mysa lifted her hood up so that no one would notice her at a glance - of course her height usually set her apart from the Valkyri in general - before she scurried back out of the window. Leaning down she pulled Felix out into the elements too.

If caught, she could easily say she was chasing after him, right? Right? Well... That remained to be seen.

She hurried along the backpaths through the City, the ones least used, while trying to remain inconspicuous. Fat load of good that would do if someone actually saw her, especially a Guard. Just how far had her Mother's influence gotten in the short time since she had been banished to her room? Force knew.

It did not take her long to sneak out of the City through a back door that she and Théo had found during one of their many adventures. Far better than the main gate, and it was just a short trail through to the forest too. She knew where Joon would be, knew which clearing the route she had suggested would end in, so it was toward that which she now headed.

She just hoped that Joon would still be there waiting. It hadn't been too long, but who knew where she might have gone.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

From never seeing snow before, she was now curled in it watching the flakes fall from the pretty trees around her. The fur covered her head and she was warm across her top half, but chilly across her legs and bottom being down on the ground. Her eyes were wide, gleaming and taking in the pretty flakes almost hypnotized.

The bundle was under her arm, wrapped in front of her knees and she could do little but wait.

Strange noises caught her attention, eyes flicking from left to right, but it was nothing like she hadn't heard on Sojourn in those woods.

Now and then, she'd look left and right for Mysa. But nothing. She knew she would come, but when, she didn't know. What if she had been captured? Or detained by her witch mother? Or simply led the Apprentice away to die alone away from her family.

"I'm cold,” she said. To no-one.

Night would soon set in. But she would wait, because Mysa told her to. She would wait until it killed her if that was the wish.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]