“Yes!” Aynur said exasperated, she felt Tristain jolt from the sudden loud outburst. “I was so ill prepared. I was supposed to go on a pilgrimage and… And… And I knew nothing! I didn't know about things like fancy food or… or…”

She trailed off as she struggled to remember. It was difficult. Why? Why did lucifer do those things to her? The excitement quickly wore off. “Lucifer did some sort of magic. He forced me to live a lifetime of false memories and…I get confused. The time before he put me under it is. Blur.”

She felt the bed shift as the man near her adjusted his weight. “That is… strange. An unpleasant fellow, it seems. I am sorry to hear that. Have you tried to return to the sect’s grounds? Perhaps returning to familiar environs would jog your old memories.”

She shook her head. “It's.. Stupid.. You think one would be able to differentiate the memories but I can't. It felt so real. I suffered so much and now I have to live it all again.”

“It is not stupid, girl. Magics that affect the mind are potent, and it sounds like this man knew precisely what he was doing. Given time, I am sure you will be able to separate the real from the fake, but expecting it of yourself immediately, without support, is - unreasonable. Especially if you have had no one to rely on to keep you grounded in the present as you try to work out your past.”

Aynur face scrunched up. She felt like her insides were being torn. She moved her hand away from his knee to wrap around her waist. She could feel herself shaking and her eyes sting. His words were so simple yet impossible for her. She wouldn't have that. “Even if I did go home I may be… unwelcome. My entire life was indebted to a deity I found to be false. My people. My entire reason of living… “ Aynur tried to move on when she found Alkieth nothing more than an eternal man.

“Easy, easy girl.” The bed swayed, and she felt arms wrap around her shoulder, and she was pulled into an awkward embrace, against the hard armor that Tristain was still wearing. “You are welcome at my side. I did not mean to imply you needed to go back permanently, but a visit. If you do not wish that, then I will leave the matter alone. If your memories of the past are unretrievable, then we will simply have to give you new ones - the proper way, by living.”

Aynur tried, she tried so hard to hold it back but couldn't. The tears came hard and fast, salty streams staining her face with ache and regret. “I can't…” She sobbed, and between those sobs she explained that she was the oracle. Chosen because she had a near perfect fertility rate with the AR’Tuel species. She cried as she confessed lucifer was one of them, an he had laid eith her and if she was indeed pregnant.. She would soon die for that was to be her sacrifice.

Aynur pulled away from the man, hiccuping and gulping back tears. She couldn't do this to him. She should just leave. She shifted off the bed and to the floor.

“Well then. I suppose we will have to handle that if - and I do mean if - it happens. The offer to walk beside me is - taken back. You do not have the option anymore, because I do not think it safe for you to be alone. No, you are stuck with me.” She heard him stand, his boots thudding heavily against the ground.

“I.. I do not think… Th-that fair.” That short, sharp laugh came from him again.

“Life is rarely fair, Aynur.” She had noticed that even though he knew it, he rarely used her name. “You have experienced bad turns time and again alone. That, was unfair. You were driven to the last point of desperation, that, was unfair. Now, you have a friend and companion. Good things can happen too, it is not just bad ones that life will give.” She felt his hand grip her shoulder, a solid, firm grasp.

Aynur wrenched herself away, or tried to. His grip on her shoulder was strong. “stop that…” She muttered as she wiped her tears away on the oversized cotton shirt. “Stop… Stop saying things…” If he kept saying such things with such an even and kind voice she would eventually start to believe them. Aynur tried to back away from him.

“Speech is something I tend to dislike, you are not wrong. But actions speak louder.You are safe, Aynur. Now then.” Without warning, she felt his hand leave her shoulder - and then heavy steps away, towards the door. She heard the lock click, and then something odd. The sound of straps and buckles popping and shifting, and then a slight groan. A heavy thump, oddly metallic, came from near the door. “There. I feel much lighter without that armor on.” She had a feeling he said that purely for her benefit. Why take off his armor? A few more thumps followed. “Alright. I will be in the bath for the next few minutes, I need to remove some of the grime of the road. You should get some rest.”

What was his plan? Actions speak louder than words? She found his footsteps much quieter without the armor. So much so that she struggled to hear him. She couldn't be a burden on him. A large part of her wanted to stay To just have the warmth of another and to have someone listen to her stories, her songs...but if she got accustomed to that it’d just hurt more when it was taken away from her.

Aynur waited a few moments till she heard running water then pushed herself up off the floor. No one would stop her if she were to leave. She was hated. They’d be more than willing to have her throw herself back on the streets.