Lina opened her eyes and looked to the girl thrown across the bed. The princess’ sobs had given way to the exhausted sleep that comes when a soul is filled with despair. The sorceress quietly stood and pulled a blanket over Amelia’s sleeping form, and then turned to leave the room.
        If it was one thing that Lina didn’t always like about being the one unifying factor of the little group, it was that she was considered the leader. And sometimes being the leader wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Right now was one of those times. She had to be strong for Amelia, supporting the girl as she struggled to work through the fact that Zelgadis was gone. And now that Amelia was sleeping… she had to find Sylphiel. She had to find out why Sylphiel wasn’t there.
        Lina didn’t have time to work through her own emotions.
        She’d store them away for a later time and go through them then.
        Maybe.
        Lina wasn’t good at showing her emotions, unless she was blowing things up.

        The redhead had no sooner stepped out of the palace than someone touched her cape. “Miss Inverse?”
        She spun on her heel, glaring daggers at him in reflex. “What?” she snapped, unintentionally.
        He let go of her cloak, taking a step backwards. “I’m sorry to bother you…”
        “Then don’t. I have to find someone. Excuse me.” Her voice was tense, the phrases curt and abrupt. She was still too upset. She made a valiant effort to bottle it up within her, moving away from the stranger.
        “Sylphiel nels Rada… is in that bar there, if you seek her,” came the voice, and Lina spun to look at the man who only shrugged, pointed to the bar, and then turned away.

        The bar wasn’t too bad as far as bars go… the floors were surprisingly clean, the bar surfaces shiny and clear. Lina suspected the royal family visited this one frequently, but the raven-tressed maiden sitting on the barstool with her head in her hands caught her attention. As Lina’s eyes caught on the empty glass beside Sylphiel’s elbow, the sorceress’ troubles faded into the back of her mind, and she walked quietly up to Sylphiel. “Sylphiel?”
        The cleric looked up and over, blue eyes spilled over with tears. For a moment, she held Lina’s gaze, and then she looked to her glass, picking it up and finding it empty. In a low voice, she asked the bartender for another drink, passing over the glass before looking back to Lina. “Hello, Miss Lina.” Sylphiel’s voice was low, choked with as yet unspent tears.
        Lina sat on the barstool beside Sylphiel and looked at the girl for a moment. As she did so, the drink that Sylphiel had ordered came, and the cleric tossed it back without hesitation. Lina’s eyes widened, and she felt herself choke in sympathy. “Sylphiel… where’d you learn to drink like that?”
        Sylphiel looked at the empty glass in her hand. She thought about it for a moment, and then looked at Lina as she set the glass down. “About three drinks ago.”
        Lina fell over onto the bar. “Sylphiel…”
        Sylphiel lowered her head, her hair falling over her eyes. “What is there to say, Miss Lina. We all went through it together. You know what happened just as well as I do.”
        Lina looked to Sylphiel. “But I don’t think that there are any answers in this bar, Sylphiel. Especially not in that glass, empty or full.”
        Sylphiel looked off into the distance through her hair. “Perhaps you are right, Miss Lina. But it is all that I have right now. I am a healer… a follower of Cepheid… and yet… I cannot even save the life of a friend.”
        Lina sighed. She still didn’t know all of the details of what had transpired when Sylphiel had drawn the magic of Cepheid to her hands. She was hesitant to ask Sylphiel right now… and yet, somehow she knew that if she didn’t ask, she might never find out. “Sylphiel… what happened? Will you tell me?”
        Sylphiel looked up, ordering another drink. The bartender looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and took the glass. Lina hoped that the bartender had the sense to water the drinks before handing them to Sylphiel. She’d never seen the cleric so much as look at a drink before… and there was no telling what a drunk Sylphiel would be like. But her train of thought paused when Sylphiel turned back to her.
        “If you’re going to sit with me, you may as well have a drink. That way, we can talk it out properly.” She turned, ordering a second drink and making it clear that it was for Lina.
        Lina sighed. She’d grown up in the heart of the best wine country in the world. She didn’t want to tell Sylphiel that her tolerance for alcohol was so high that drinking was generally pointless to her. But if she acted… played the part… for Sylphiel’s sake… “Sure,” Lina said. “Get me a drink and we’ll talk.”