We were on the road.

Alice was riding on the coach's bank; Terri had disappeared; the official version, if anybody would ask, was that she, as a druid, was running through the forest. I was inside the carriage with Thiara. Spartacius and the Lynx were walking behind, with Spartacius working hard to convince the Lynx to allow him to ride, with no chances of success.

I watched Thiara's pretty face as she looked insolently into my eyes.

“Painting your hair is not enough. I recognized you from the very first moment!”

She made a feeble attempt at denying the obvious:

“But I am Tina! My hair is not painted! This is the colour of my hair!”

“Oh, come on!”

My tattoo corrected me:

“It is not an illusion or paint; some mage did a transformation spell on her.”

I wondered:

“You paid for a transformation spell only for the hair and the eyes?”

“How do you know that?”

“Why did you not transform your face too? At least your ears or nose!?”

“The mage could not guarantee he would succeed in transforming me back exactly as I am!”

“What an incapable transformation mage. Is this the best the kingdom can offer?”

White Flower was finding excuses for the mage:

"She is young and still growing; depending on how much she grows in between, the transformation back will get you a different person, not exactly the one you look at now!"

whilst 'Tina' was trying to defend herself:

“I was in a hurry! You know how magecraft is treated in the kingdom!”

“This is useless! So you kept your looks just because you wanted to keep being pretty?”

“What's wrong with being pretty? I am not her! I do have different hair and eyes! Can't you see?”

“You are not a mage and not even level 5! How did you survive in this area until now?”

“I am a mage! I can spell fireball! I had guards!”

“It's your ring that does the spell! It will take ages with your feeble mana input to reload it. You are not a mage! Was all this your idea?! Don't tell me that you ran from home!?”

She looked suddenly frightened:

“Please do not send me back! I want to become a mage! I was just not allowed!”

I sighed. Oh fuck, this promises to become one of those headaches!

“What do you people have against magic? Magic is everywhere; even when your soldiers get stronger, that is magic that gathers in their bodies! You do have priests and paladins? So what is the problem with mages and witches and the lot?”

She practically exploded:

“They are using magic in an impure form; that is the problem! You pervert nature with your magic; you do not live in harmony with it! Mage and witches pervert and destroy the natural harmony of all beings! The use of potions is not natural; those build up devilish flesh. That flesh is then prone to devilish wishes and carnal desire! This is why wounds need to heal properly treated with natural substances, not potions. Only the priests' holy healing and paladins' are natural. Being holy, they do not pervert the flesh.”

“Whoa, stop it, lady! And you want to study magic?!”

“Unfortunately, I have to. I need to be strong! I need to be able to defend myself! I will, of course, have to pay for my sins, but I want to survive and be strong for my parents! They should not suffer because of me!”

“And you came to me?”

“Yes, you know so many places! You can help me get into that city, Serenity, where I could learn their craft at their academy!”

“How did you trick your way out? How did your parents let you go?”

“Eliza helped me. I have money. I can pay you!”

This explains the personal delivery: why Eliza did not wait for me at the gate as agreed.

“I could simply rob you and send you back home? Even get a reward from your parents?”

“You will not do that. You are good! You saved me from the emperor!”

I took a deep breath. She is too naive, trusting too easily.

“I sold you. I was the one who captured and sold you for 500 gold.”

I said that in a monotonous, cold and calm voice, looking into her eyes.

She froze, looking back at me, her lower lip trembling. I watched her, unsure if to continue.

“Do you want now to go home?”

She started to cry. Oh, fuck! I knocked, and Alice stopped the carriage. I got out and looked at her.

“Let me play the coachman a while, Alice...”

She looked at me. She probably heard Thiara crying. She shook her head. I think I heard her muttering:

“What have you done this time?”

She entered the coach whilst I climbed on the coach's bank. Took the reins in my hand and shook them. The carriage started to move again. Behind us, Spartacius sat on the rear of the carriage, chatting with the Lynx, oblivious to our struggle.

My tattoo admonished me:

“You have been too hard on her.”

I shook the reins, and the horses started to move at a trot.

“She has the right to know the truth.”

“Was this the right moment to tell her?”

“When is it the right moment? Never. She is pretty. She is damn pretty, and she thinks this will open all the doors for her. Nobody does a thing just for your pretty eyes. They all expect payment in one way or another. Well, maybe except for guys like the emperor who kidnaps you for your pretty eyes. But I suppose he also expects a payment later on.”

I took a deep breath.

“Look, she is a catastrophe waiting to happen. She is level one; she did not do anything in her life except being pretty at parties?”

“I think she is what you call level two. I do feel some magic in her.”

“Yeah. As if that would help much. Let her alone in the woods, and she becomes fresh food very soon. Why should this be my problem?”

“Because you were ready to help her before. She knows her family cannot protect her, and she saw you as the only person who was ready and able to do it. It was not her father's lieutenants who fought the imperial guard and Styxa's coachman. They would have been wide outclassed there.”

“No good deed goes unpunished, eh?”