The morning brought with it a sudden snowfall, early for the season. Tolan was put to work shoveling the fresh snow. Vir sat there considering the stranger features of the Day.

Vir brought out his wood knife, its bronze gleamed a half golden yellow in the light of the morning sun beaming in through the window. It was Vir's treasure and pride, he plucked up a hardened stone and began to sharpen it. Heard the sweet musical ring of the metal as he did.

He glanced towards the knife the woman had carried, lying on the table where Frow had placed it. No one dared touch it or even try to look at it for too long as if they were unworthy of it, or terrified of being corrupted by the sight of it.

Vir turned away from it, though it was covered by a sheet of simple cloth, the simple thought of it gave everyone chills.

Vir looked to the ceiling and let out a nervous breath, a cold breeze swept through as the door swung open in the open room. Tolan brushed himself off as he entered.

"The snow wasn't too deep, most of had melted in the morning light." he include towards their visitor. "How is she?" Vir put his knife down and looked over his shoulder. She lay very still on the simple bentch covered in a rough blanket, very much as strange as when they'd found her.

"She's fine, no changes, just sleeps a lot." he stated flatly "Almost as much as you do."

Tolan gave a quick laugh "At least there's no snoring." he retorted.

"I don't snore!" Vir challenged, Tolan frowned in disagreement "It's like a goat being strangled under a rock. It's a hideous noise." Tolan wandered over to the simple wood stove and threw a few more logs into the grimy copper box. Vir snorted in defiance.

"I do not snore."

Tolan smiled to himself as he warmed by the stove, throwing off the layers of his thick coat. One of the guards walked in and set a water pot on the stove, emptying a box of tea leaves and spices into it before leaving again.

The guards were dressed in a thicker uniform, much like Tolan's coat, but sewn together by an actual tailor. As such, they had the same dyed a blue-black color that all the Militia men wore, the red cords were twice knotted, denoting a captain of the ranks.

The Captain leaned his spear against the wall as he waited for the water to boil, he didn't take his coat off, but Vir could still see the tip of his club's brassy knob dangling from his waist. It forced him to swallow unconsciously.

The mace wasn't a special weapon, but it was fearsome. Concealed beneath their cloaks and uniform, it would make for a surprise in battle should one of them suffer the indignity of being disarmed in the field. As such, this would be their aid, as the knob at its tip was a brass weight, forged from the broken scales of cheaters and fraudulent moneychangers. Or so the rumors went. Vir had also seen them use lead on occasion, though some were merely hardwood with nails put through them.

it was only part of what was making him so anxious, the other was a gnawing discomfort and it was persistent and wouldn't leave him. A question, or rather, Questions, that burrowed into his mind and wouldn't let him think. constantly playing at the edges of his mind.

"Your tapping, what's wrong?" Tolan remarked.

Vir placed a hand on his leg, and the small knocking sound stopped. The tea bubbled quietly atop the stovetop as they both stole a glance into the sleeping frame.

"Relax, the door isn't locked and The Guardhouse is the safest place for miles. If anything goes wrong, we're protected and have the means to flee the scene of the crime should it come to that." Vir snuffed a chuckle at the remark. He tried to return to his whittling, but he dropped the stick, then the knife. After a while, he quietly tucked his knife back into his pocket.

"Oh, Birds what have we stepped into?" Vir asked no one in particular. Tolan didn't have an answer.

"Well, I suppose I should tell Nana we're back in town." Tolan shrugged, Vir grabbed him

"Don't tell her about this." he sputtered, Tolan gave him a curious look.

"Why? She'll just hear about it later, you know how gossip is," he remarked, then he caught the look in Vir's eye and grinned. "Ooh, Now I get it, you're up to something."

"What?!"

"I'll admit Vir, This will be one of your bolder schemes yet, maybe the biggest. Save the foreign girl from some evil mob, maybe gain some fortune. It's a bold scheme and a welcome departure from your usual routine, I must admit." Tolan jested, Vir rolled his eyes and fell back into his chair.

"This Isn't a game Tolan, No scheme of mine even compares to this!" His voice lowered before he continued "That woman had a Steel knife, Steel, In these woods!" Tolan started to shake his head

"Vir it can't be steel, it's probably silver or something that-"

Vir ripped the cloth away from the table revealing the gleaming form of the polished blade, it shone like dreadful moonlight in the daytime, the slight grain of the forbidden metal, enhancing its deadly charms.

Tolan grabbed his wrist and threw the cloth back over it. Concealing it once more from view. A sigh of anxious relief passed over Tolan.

"Tolan, don't tell me it doesn't frighten you," Vir whispered, Tolan arose.

"So, this-it's because you are afraid, is that it? The same man I once saw brave fire and flames not days ago, is now afraid. Of what, a small knife?!" He challenged, Vir looked him square in the eyes and spoke chilling words, colder than the snow.

"Tolan, you know who uses Steel. You know, better than anyone, what that thing is."

Tolan heaved in surrender, and he sat down at last.

"Yes, I do," he murmured.

Tolan had sought after the Blessed in his youth, after his mother's death. And to that end, he'd traveled South to Serpents Bend. Where the current Blessed priest had created the regional temple, Tolan stayed there for almost a year and had learned many things there. Stories about Sparrows and their champion servants, The Placement of the Heavens, and how to see omens amidst the night sky. But he had also learned about the dangers of the world, the things the Blessed held at bay.

He learned in part about the Monsters that needed to be slain and the hidden dangers that lurked in the corners of old cemeteries and abandoned cabins.

"The knife is Steel. And that is bad," he spoke quietly.

Vir crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, Tolan brushed his face with tired hands. Clearing his eyes of dust.

"I remember you saying that Steel was an evil metal." Vir followed along, Tolan shook his head.

"Dangerous, not Evil. It's inflexible, it has an edge, it's created solely by men seeking war. That is a part of it. Anyone who holds it must understand that. If not." His voice trails off.

"Something happens to them."Vir finished. Tolan nodded, and then explained

"The Inflexible Steel cuts into them and leaves only that which resembles itself, to the unworthy that becomes a need for war and violence, To the Warrior, it reveals great strength " He finished. Vir shifted, his foot was tapping softly.

"She had a steel dagger." Vir stated, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, it could mean a lot of things" Tolan replied.

"Then what do we do?" Vir fired back, Tolan shrugged "My guess is to wait for her to wake up and ask her then."

"She's Crazed, you heard her speak!" Vir objected, Tolan fired back "As if you were listening? Remember when you thought a bear had spoken? Men are deceived by fear."

Teir turned away, not taking the point. Tolan groaned, then said something else.

"She Could be from Third Circle, Warrior Caste."

Vir turned to him "And how does that help us, Third Circle is almost a year's journey from here!" Tolan sighed and pinched his brow.

"Because you idiot, if she is from the Third Circle, then she will have been born under the Sign of the Spear, and thus have the right to carry a weapon." He could feel Teir starring in angry confusion.

"That means Steel won't make her crazed, besides, It could also explain why she sounds different to us. Being so close to South Star Mountain means she might have been trained to Speak to the Wind."

"And what is that?" Teir demanded. Tolan threw his hands in the air.

"It's the sacred language of the Sparrows you imbecile, The Army of the Third receives its order directly from the Sparrows and their intermediaries in the Second Ring. They can't well do that without speaking the language of the Wind themselves," he explained, but he could feel that Vir wasn't understanding, or refusing to understand.

"If we take her to Serpents Bend, The Blessed there can tell for sure. Then it will be simple for the Blessed to send them back home to where they belong. It's said to spending too long outside one's home country weakens the soul. That would explain her condition. "

Vir sighed, it wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"And if they're not from the Third?" he asked, Tolan, shrugged.

"Then we leave it in the hands of the Blessed and their wisdom. Maybe the Scholars of Fourth will have an answer then, who knows. This is all we can do, seek answers. And if we cannot find them, give the task to those who can complete it. That is how these things work."

Vir grumbled anyway as Tolan leaned back in his seat, The guards taking mild notice in their conversation turning back to their duties.

Tolan considered what else might be bothering Vir, but he did not get very long to ponder as the door swung open, inviting the chill air to invade as several figures entered the Guardhouse.

Tolan knew one of them immediately, while the other two were unknown to him.

"Nana, why have you come?!" he asked, the old woman pshawed at him and responded with a scratchy voice and clipped tone.

"To see what my boys did to land in a cell, though I see Marisa was only slightly exaggerating." She spied past him and Glared at Vir "Good to see you to Vir, Especially considering your not bound up in chains, Yet."

Vir gave a rude look towards her as she shook her head in disapproval. She looked back to Tolan and continued her business. "Well Tolan, you've got a right mess on your hands. I Brought the Judge and the Marshal with me. They're not sure what make of it either, It's like you found a two-headed squirrel in those woods." she chuckled, the man behind him coughed loudly.

"Oh, Bless me this is-"

"Judge Borson and this is my Brother, Marshal Gunter. We need to know everything." The man couldn't have been much older than the Tolan, but his sharp eyes and the ironwood glare made him more than worth the weight of his station.

The man next to him was near identical to the first, aside from a small scar near his ear. "Well, I say we start rooting, where is the girl you found." Tolan stepped aside as they glared towards the cot, Nana Hela pushed past all of them and plopped herself down beside the strange girl.

"Weak as a hatching chick, She'll need time to come around. Let me handle that boys." She gave a wink and a nod to the present men of authority. All those present felt a slight bristle.

"Ah, Ahurm, Of Course. Grandmother Hela, let us know when she wakes." the Judge asked, but Nana waved him off in a carefree manner.

The Marshal, commanding head of the Militia, wore the same uniform as the other, except he sported near five knots tied in a circle, leaving the rest of the cord bare. And it was his attention that now turned to Vir And Tolan.

"Now, tell me where you found this woman," he demanded of them.

And thus several rounds of questions, answers, and dead ends. After the interrogation was all said and done all they could conclude was that Tolan was most likely right and that the Blessed would be better suited to divine the origins of the stranger. But there was a moment of concern when the Marshall delivered one last query.

"Vir, Tolan. I'm about to ask a very important question." Gunter said, he made a quick motion, all but the Judge and a single old guard cleared out, one tried to move Nana, but she gave him a rude sneer. Their nerves rose as the air was pulled taut in the empty room.

"Alright, now this is by far the most important thing I need to know before going to speak with our good mayor. Now think hard before you answer." He paused a second

"Were there any dogs about? Even if it was just one, Did any of them follow you here or meet you on the road at any point going out or coming back?" He stared intently as if he could peer into their minds and drag the very thoughts from their minds, and display them like hunting trophies for all to see.

Tolan couldn't think of anything and confirmed this with the Marshal, But Vir wasn't so certain. he kept wondering if maybe he'd caught a glimpse of something moving in the woods. that he might have dismissed it earlier because he didn't know what it was.

But with so much pressure he dismissed it once again and unknowingly closed his tongue.

"No, I-I didn't see anything either."

The Marshal and Judge exchanged looks and like that, they left, sealing their fate with them.