Serenity rose from the water and smiled at Kelton. Her beauty drew him into the water. Ignoring the flood over the tops of his boots he pursued his desire. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the soft morning sun as it danced across the surface of the pond. He heard his name from her lips, a song that dissolved into his soul. Her welcoming arms reached out to him, then a sound pulled him from his dream.

A comfortable weakness, one Kelton didn't wish to battle with, held him unmoving. A pleasant humming caressed his ears. It was Serenity's song, the same melody without the words. He was sure it wasn't her, but the memory came flooding back and mixed with the dream. The voice had a different quality to it, more hollow and not as perfect, but beautiful still. He remained motionless, not wanting to disturb it.

Feeling slowly returned. A wetness traveled up Kelton's leg, cool and soft. It was soothing as if the song itself was caressing him. The humming continued as the other leg was washed, for he now knew he was being cared for. It mattered not who it was, just that they would continue. The feeling was exciting, his skin tingled with anticipation, and his body desired more.

An enormous tickle erupted in Kelton's groin, sending icy slivers shooting up his spine. It was a confusing mix of pain and pleasure that danced across his skin and emptied his lungs. His eyelids broke their sticky sleep, and his hands covered his privates in reflex. If the sensation were to continue, he was sure his body would explode.

"You're awake," a girl said. She was smiling in the dim candlelight. The first thing Kelton realized was the lack of clothes, his clothes. Two hands weren't enough to cover everything. Blood began rushing to his cheeks as he looked around for something to cover himself.

"I've already seen it," the girl said, pointing between his legs. "You've been sick, and I've been tasked with caring for you at night. I've washed you many times, so hiding it now doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," Kelton said hoarsely. There was no cover within reach. He was afraid his weak muscles wouldn't cooperate if he tried to stand. Curling up on his side was his best option, though that exposed his backside. The girl retracted away from Kelton and sat back on her heels. Kelton heard a loud sigh, and a look of defeat replaced her smile.

"I am a healer, or can be if you'll let me."

"You're awfully young." Kelton coughed to clear his throat.

"It would be better if I was old and wrinkled?" Kelton thought of Lena and her needle. It was a painful memory, but he was sure there would be less embarrassment with her than the girl before him.

"Yes," Kelton admitted. "Where are my clothes?"

"They were taken to be washed. They're full of the pox."

"A blanket then."

"I'm supposed to keep you cool."

"I'll just cover the middle." Kelton didn't know why he was negotiating. It was his body and his desire to cover it.

"Alright." the girl reached behind her and pulled a blanket forward. As carefully as he could, without exposing any more than necessary, Kelton covered his waist to his thighs. He spent extra effort to make sure he tucked it tight. The girl chuckled at his efforts.

"You've been here all night?" Kelton asked, hoping she'd only been there a short while.

"Two nights." She held up two fingers with a smile. "I've seen everything and even cleaned up when you relieved yourself in your sleep."

"Oh, Goddess!" Kelton closed his eyes tight, wondering if it was possible to be more embarrassed.

"I've seen plenty before so don't you fret. Yours is as normal as they come, not ugly at all."

"Stop talking." Kelton found out that it was possible to be more embarrassed.

"Who is Serenity?" the girl asked.

"Huh?"

"Serenity. You said her name over and over while the fever had you." The girl chuckled again. "You're a lot easier to clean down there when you're dreaming about her." Her eyes pointed to Kelton's groin.

"Goddess! Can we not talk about this anymore." The girl seemed to take pleasure in his unease and was doing what she could to increase it.

"Okay, okay," she relented. "Don't panic, but I'm going to touch your forehead now." Kelton flinched as her hand came forward. She smiled at her power over him and carefully laid the palm of her hand on his forehead.

"Where's Gossamer?"

"The old guy?" Kelton nodded. Her hand had been on his head for a long time. "A room over. Floren thought it best for him not to be near you after he washed up. Didn't want him carrying the pox about."

"Floren?" Her hand was still resting on his head.

"The healer who's training me." She smiled again. "Old and wrinkly so you can trust her."

"I'm Kelton."

"I know." Nothing came after her response. Kelton sighed.

"Well, what's your name?"

"Not Serenity." Kelton pulled her hand away, and she laughed. It was a happy laugh, and once he got over his initial distaste for her teasing, his mind relented, and he joined her with a smile.

"I'm Juno," She said warmly. "Your fever is almost gone. I do believe you're going to live, though I don't have enough wrinkles to know for sure."

"I'm sorry," Kelton admitted. "It's not that I'm ungrateful..."

"It's fine," Juno interrupted, waving away his concern. "You don't know me and after taking care of you for two nights, I kind of imagine that I know you."

"Thank you, I guess."

"I really like your hair." Juno reached up and pushed her fingers through his red hair. A familiarity that concerned Kelton though seemed normal to her. "I washed it and combed it for you. It looks a lot better when it's clean." Her face became serious. "So, is there a Serenity?"

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about her." Kelton felt it came out abrupt. "If that's okay." He added with less vigor. Blanket or not, he was feeling naked again.

"Sure," Juno said. "I guess she broke your heart."

"What?"

"You like her and she doesn't like you."

"Is that normal? I mean, does it happen to others?" Kelton began to calculate. If there were words to describe what happened, maybe there were known ways to undo it. Maybe he could start over. He sat up to focus his attention.

"Sure, all the time." Kelton waited for Juno to elaborate. She didn't.

"Well, what do those people do? I mean, how do they undo it?"

"Sometimes you can't. It depends on how it happened." Juno relaxed on her heels as Kelton explained the disaster that was his first and only meeting with Serenity. He found he did want to talk about it. Somehow, Juno listening made it all less horrible.

"So you saw her naked. That's it?" Juno asked.

"It was an accident."

"She sounds very touchy."

"I kept staring," Kelton admitted. "Even when she wanted me to stop."

"She was pretty," Juno surmised. Kelton could only nod in agreement, his eyes pinned to the floor. "Prettier than me?" Kelton lifted his eyes, about to answer yes, then thought better of it.

"A different kind of pretty...Different than yours."

"So you think I'm pretty?" Kelton wasn't sure why that mattered. Juno certainly wasn't ugly. Golden hair pulled back and tied into a tail behind her head with little wisps of it hanging free on the side of her face. Her smile wasn't as pleasing as Serenity's, her lips not as full. There was nothing special about her nose, just the functional one that everyone has, not cute like Serenity's. It was too dim to see her eyes well, but he was sure they held none of the excitement of Serenity's. The most he could be assured of was that Juno wasn't unpretty.

"Yes," Kelton replied. Juno's smile grew. She pushed back some of her loose hair behind her ear, exposing her wrist. Kelton hadn't noticed the mark on it before. "Your...," he stuttered, pointing at her wrist.

"Cursed, with the Wilted Rose," Juno finished for him. Her smile disappeared. "You think I'm not pretty anymore."

"No! I mean...yes. I mean it doesn't change what I said."

"It changes it for most," Juno said. Her shoulders slumped. "It's not like I had any choice it." She looked at her tattoo, running the fingers of her other hand across it. "I've heard of those who burn it off, you know, for someone special. Someone who doesn't care about it."

"Joycelyn," Kelton whispered without thinking.

"Who?"

"I shouldn't have said anything." Kelton's eyes found the wall behind Juno's shoulder.

"You know of one," Juno said, excitement filled her eyes. Kelton nodded, not wanting to lie to her. "Is she happy? Does she have a family?" The words flowed quickly from her mouth.

"Mostly and yes, she has two children. A boy and a girl."

"A husband...is there...does he love her?" Juno's lips stiffened as she waited for Kelton's response.

"He would die for her," Kelton said, remembering Cory's futile attack on the Brother.

"You're not lying are you?" Juno asked. Kelton was sure there was moisture below her eyes.

"No." Kelton shook his head to add credence. "They are my friends. The ones I..." He had said too much again. Juno's eyes widened.

"They are the reason you killed the Brother."

"How do you know about that?"

"Everyone knows." Juno wiped her eyes. "This Joycelyn, she lives?"

"I guess so. I haven't seen her in a long time."

"You must find her again."

"No. I can't. It would put them all in danger. I can't be near anyone."

"You must," Juno insisted.

"Why would I do such a thing? They are safer as long as I stay away."

"Because you are Kuschel's Answer and Joycelyn is your witness." Juno stood, her excitement growing. "Everyone is hoping, but no one thought a cursed one was there." Her arms and hands became animated as she spoke. "The town is too small for a Nighthouse and not one of the cursed claimed you." She started laughing. "All this time it was a hider. Of course, she would never come forward."

"I'm not Kuschel's Answer," Kelton said with conviction.

"Head of fire, the first will fall," Juno said while counting off a finger. "Beast marked, three Brothers will breathe no more." Another finger. "Cursed will be the witness of both who tells all." She smiled as she ticked off the third finger. "Thus the end will begin, and hope will bring war." She lowered the fourth finger. "Don't you see, she needs to see you do both."

Kelton stared at her, his mouth agape. No one heard Joycelyn tell him she was his witness. Until this moment, he didn't know what she meant by it. Juno dropped to her knees and cradled Kelton's face in her hands.

"I can help you. I will be yours. We'll do it together." Kelton's eyes scanned her face in a panic. He saw something in her eyes. He'd seen it before in Rebecca's eyes. That confusing look, as if she demanded something from him. Something he didn't understand but was sure he wasn't willing to give.

"No," Kelton said, pulling her hands away. "I'm not this answer. There are no beast marks, and I don't want to kill anyone." He stood on weak legs, unaware the blanket fell the floor. "I won't go back on my word. No one will make me risk her family. Not you. Not anyone." He turned away from Juno. "My life is forfeit, that much I know. If I can help it, no one else will share that fate." His deal with the Hold Lord was still intact as far as he knew. He thought of Gossamer. Not even him. It might have been better if the pox had taken him.

"You must find her." Juno stood and moved closer to Kelton. He stiffened when her arms wrapped around his body. She laid her cheek on his shoulder. "You are here to change everything, and I know I'm here to help."

"Goddess!" Kelton realized he was naked and this time Juno's body was trying to merge with his. It was both pleasurable and wrong. His body wanted to stay, to fold into her and let her drain the will from his bones. His mind was less committed, the idea of losing control lead to a weakness he couldn't afford. People die around him, and he wouldn't add Juno to the list. He broke her grip and twisted away, moving to retrieve the blanket.

"I can change nothing," Kelton said with more venom than he intended. He wrapped the blanket around his waist, his shield against the confusion Juno caused. Juno turned away from him and uttered some muffled response. It took him a while to realize she was crying.

"I'm...I'm sorry," Kelton whispered. Her tears hurt him, and he didn't understand why. He barely knew her.

"Me too," Juno whispered. She turned back to him with grief clearly displayed. "These two nights taking care of you, I guess I thought too much. Then you tell me of this Joycelyn, and I dreamed of things that can not be."

"I'm sorry," Kelton repeated. He didn't know why, but he moved forward and wrapped her in his arms as Joycelyn had done for him. "I'm sorry," he whispered again as she pressed her wet cheek to his chest. He held her as her breathing returned to normal. She needed it and her warmth soothed him as well.

"Did you tell her you were sorry?" Juno asked in a soft voice.

"What?"

"Serenity. Did you tell her you were sorry?"

"I don't know. My words kept coming out wrong. I think I tried to say it, but I'm not sure I did." Kelton's mind went back to the pond. All he could remember was her beauty and a general sense of his idiocy.

"If you see her again, you say it as you said it to me." Juno broke from his embrace. "It may not work. The way you describe her, she sounds mean and unforgiving, but it is one way you can fix things."

"I don't think she's mean," Kelton said.

"That's because you like her." Juno smiled and ran her hand along his cheek, the scared one. "Your heart doesn't let you see the ugly things." Kelton's hand met hers at the scar.

"Do you think it's ugly? Is it why she hated me?" Juno's face tilted at Kelton's words. Her eyes scanned the scar as she pulled her hand away.

"No." Juno's eyes met Kelton's. "She was mean, nothing else. I know why that scar is there, and that alone makes it beautiful."

"How...?"

"Floran told me. Your friend told her, though we had heard the story before you came." Juno smiled. "There are many stories of you now. We of the Wilted Rose talk often."

"About me?"

"Lately, especially about you. Hard not to. The King and Brethren are searching for you, offering coin and telling lies."

"How do you know they're lies?"

"You didn't murder or eat me." Juno laughed.

"And I am hungry," Kelton admitted with a smile. He felt the pangs in his empty stomach now that he was thinking about. He scratched his leg, killing an itch that announced itself. Come to think of it, all his skin felt tight and dry.

"I have some bread on the table," Juno offered, pointing to a basket by the candle. "It's midnight, so it will be a while before we can get something else." Kelton rubbed his chest to calm the dryness that was crinkling his nerves.

Kelton moved to the small table, and Juno made it a point to serve him. She ripped off a piece of bread and filled a cup with water. He ate with one hand and rubbed his skin with the other. Soon he was scratching to tame the progressive itching.

"The pox makes your skin itchy. Water helps until it drys. I have an ointment that Mother gave me that should last longer," Juno said.

"Your mother?" Kelton reached down and scratched a particularly insistent prickle on his calf.

"Floran. It is a term we use for the one who runs my house. My true mother died when I was little."

"Are you all healers?" The skin on Kelton's back began to complain. The more he thought about it, the worse the itching became. He struggled to put it out of his mind.

"Only some are. Mother says It's why the towns tolerate us. A woman giving birth doesn't care who the midwife is, only that she's there. We're always there." Juno pulled off another piece of bread and handed it to Kelton. "Some of the townsfolk shun us, believing the tales the Brethren tell. They tend to forget the stories when they get sick enough."

"If you're a healer, then you don't...have...to...you know," Kelton couldn't find the right way to ask if she coupled for coin.

"The cursed always have too." Juno's eyes lowered to the floor. "There's no choice in it. Coin helps the house and the Brethren collect a tithe. It is death not to pay."

"I'm sorry," Kelton said. He scratched his shoulder, then pulled back his hand remembering that he wanted to ignore the itching.

"For what? You didn't curse me."

"Do you have to go back to it, now that I'm getting better?" Kelton asked. Juno nodded. Kelton finished the bread and scratched the side of his nose.

"Drink some water," Juno said, pushing the cup closer to him. "Then I'll spread the ointment on you before you scratch yourself bloody."

Kelton moved back to the mattress and laid down as instructed. After a brief argument, he gave in to Juno, and she pulled the blanket away. He closed his eyes as she spread an oily mix across his skin from a small bowl. She found places he was sure no one but he had touched since he was a baby. She laughed softly every time he held his breath when she neared someplace sensitive. When she was done, she had him roll over, and she repeated the process on his back side.

"There. Does it feel better?" Juno laid the blanket over him.

"Much," Kelton answered as he rolled back over, taking care that the blanket remained a shield. He could still feel his skin wanting to itch, but the annoying prickling had disappeared. It would be much easier to ignore.

"Sleep would be the best thing for you now." Juno rose and placed the ointment bowl on the table.

"Two days wasn't enough?" Kelton wasn't sure he wanted to blank out again though he could feel the weakness in his muscles.

"Who is the healer here?"

"I thought you were in training." Kelton was sure he saw a smile on Juno's face when she blew out the candle. Darkness took the room.

"You will let me do my job. I will lay with you till you sleep," Juno whispered. She laid down on the blanket forcing Kelton to create some room. He wanted to tell her he wasn't tired, that sleep was the last thing on his mind. It was her job, and he thought it might be rude to contradict her again.

"If I say I'm sorry the right way, do you think she'll forget about the pond?" Kelton whispered. Juno rolled on her side to face him.

"She'll never forget, but she may forgive."

"Would you forgive? I mean if I had seen all of you without your permission."

"There would be nothing to forgive." Juno laid her arm on Kelton's chest and scooted closer. She nuzzled her head into his shoulder. "Shhh, now. Get some sleep."

In his mind, Kelton practiced saying he was sorry in a myriad of ways. In every version, Serenity was skeptical of his sincerity and hated him all the more. There was no sure way to apologize, not when you think about it beforehand. Practicing made it worse.

Kelton closed his eyes, not that it made any difference in the pitch blackness. He figured he would lay still for a while, enough time for Juno to believe he tried. He miscalculated. Her steady breathing lulled his weakened body back to sleep.