1:4 Sundown in Bhairoset.

The guard made a huge fire and an awful stench.  I was glad for the hole in the roof, and Silveredge seemed interested by the bits of stuff he had in the various pouches and pockets we'd stripped before we got him in the hearth.  A bit of gold here, a vial of poison there, and an inexplicable spiked circlet- much too small for a head, and much too big for a finger.  She handed it to me as though I should have known what to do with it, then went on rummaging through the other junk strewn on the floor.  I sat and contemplated the strange trinket for a while before she stopped and really looked at me.

"You don't know what that is?" she asked me quietly, with a distinct note of disbelief.  

I briefly mused on how good of an ally she'd be, then decided it would be better to keep our baby-fresh relationship honest.  I shook my head.  

"I was in the skin trade- as part of the merchandise," she explained.  "Some of the buyers, they used to wear those to punish their friends for- um, well- misusing their goods.  It- um- it would have gone on his- um-"

It was a fine time to get tongue-tied.

I flew into a rage immediately, and threw the thing into the fire.  The sharp clank of metal on the fireplace's stone made Silveredge jump slightly, and she turned over her shoulder to see where the wicked object had gone.

"I could have washed it for you," she offered slowly, turning to look at me.  "Unless there are certain ceremonial-"

"My mother was in the 'skin trade,' as you put it," I replied firmly.  "Also as a part of the merchandise, except no one paid her.  They just took her.  She did magic and danced, too."

Silveredge looked at me with those placid platinum eyes of hers, and I stared right back at her, feeling my anger cool even without my really wanting it to.  There was something in her look- a searching, I suppose- and within me, I truly hoped that she would find whatever it was that she was looking for.

"She's dead, isn't she?" she asked after what felt like an age had passed.  "Your mother?"

"Yes," I replied, still staring determinedly into her radiant eyes.  "See how I weep for her."

The corners of Silveredge's mouth twitched first, as though she might sneeze.  Then they edged upward slowly into a wry smirk.  I felt a similar expression begin to creep across my own face, and pretty soon, we were both giving each other grim smiles.

"Surely your grief runs deeply and bitterly in your blood."

"Deep as a puddle in the desert, and bitter as an overripe fruit," I replied.

In that moment, I felt both that I could have gone on looking at her for hours, and that I absolutely shouldn't look at her for even another second.  I obeyed the second urge, being much more used to it than its opposite.

"Listen, I'll be leaving before sunrise, so-"

Silveredge gave a small hum of agreement as she continued rooting through the guard's few belongings.

It was only after a few minutes that I noticed that she had scooted closer to my side.  I felt within myself that I hadn't quite successfully established the fact that we would be parting ways in the morning- and I also felt that I really didn't want us to, anyway.