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After a forced rest by Ciro, Tia vowed to give him no further reason to ever use his strange powers on her ever again. Every day she took small naps when she could but was ever watchful for more Muri crossing the desert. Raids on caravans this close to the city stopped completely since every village in the kingdom started invasive searches of any person traveling and any slave caught trying to escape and anyone suspected of helping them were severely punished. Those few who trickled into Grey City these days brought horror stories of Muri nearly beaten to death and sympathetic humans executed on the spot. Grey City got its time to acclimate to the formally swelling numbers on the scarred backs of slaves too afraid to even think of escaping.
Even with these little naps, Tia still struggled to manage the souls inside her talking over each other in waves of barely comprehensible nonsense. Her concentration during her shifts improved despite Tia's refusal to shorten these shifts and allow others to keep watch. When an entire week went by with no new arrivals, Tia frowned and left the last shift in the forests early. She retreated to her bath and started to heat up the water to ease the sore muscles from sitting in a tree for most of the day.
As she undressed, Tia frowned at the state of her body with its sunken stomach and ribs showing. When was the last time she sat and ate a meal with any of her people? When was the last time she sat and ate a meal at all? Usually, Tia grabbed whatever could be eaten on the run or while on lookout; dried fruit and meat she could carry and save when she couldn’t stomach anymore.
As she slipped into the warm water, the whispers stirred. Despite missing some companionship, the voices within combined with the voices without were unbearable; making lonely nights on watch a relief.
'How am I going to get rid of them?' Tia sank under the water, squeezing her eyes shut and wrapping her arms around her chest in a tight hug.
"Breathe."
None of the voices ever came through so clearly before. The command was repeated louder, a larger group coming to a consensus. They had never given commands, never agreed on anything so Tia thought back to them to shut up and leave her alone.
For a merciful moment, there was silence. Could it really be as simple as telling them to stop? Not possible. Tia had tried as much hundreds of times and it did nothing.
“BREATHE!” The order made her skull throb with pain and she gasped, mentally preparing for burning lungs and hacking but neither came. She was breathing. Tia opened her eyes and sure enough, she was still completely underwater. Her pale blue hair floated around her and she smoothed them back, looking around the tub in shock. Not only did the breathing surprise her but the blessed silence.
If it was obedience the voices wanted, they made a serious error in choosing their vessel but if this was a lesson.
Tia took one final deep breath to be sure before surfacing. There was no chance she could be dreaming with how little sleep the voices allowed.
"About time you actually listened." Ciro snorted from the doorway.
"For fuck's sake, why are you in my bathroom again?" Tia let her head fall back and spread out in the tub, her muscles and mind finally allowed to relax.
"Just making sure my Muri doesn't drown herself like an idiot." Ciro rolled his eyes but remained by the door. "If your head is as empty as it used to be, you should take the chance to talk to your friends out there about what the newbies have been saying when they get here." The shorter man shrugged, lifting his spiked sword to rest the blunt end on his shoulder. "Things are going to get interesting. You may not want to be marinating when they do."
When Tia looked his way, Ciro was gone. Cursing under her breath, She left the warm confines of the tub for the stream of clean water flowing from the ceiling, musing about having a Muri engineer replicate this device for the rest of the city, then dried and dressed as fast as possible to get to Safuc while she could still think clearly. She still couldn't tell them about the voices, but there were plenty of problems to go around. The most important issue on the list was the Muri trapped in King Bastion’s borders and what the last few escapes had to say about the state of the kingdom.
After a long soak and a shower that did wonders for her mood, Tia put on her usual shorts, shirt, and slouchy boots she wore. She liked as much freedom to move as possible and flaunted the tattoos on her leg. She knew the others stared at them when she walked by but only Castor and Safuc knew why she'd decided to mark herself beyond the brands forced on them; she could choose these markings and make them her own. Tia designed and willingly sat while an artist worked on her skin. She wasn't held down screaming for mercy from humans that would never come.
Out of habit, she touched her belly, bare and smooth after the lost souls of Grey City helped her defeat the dark wizard whose castle she claimed as her own.
'What an ass.' She thought. To be honest with herself, she couldn't remember the moment Jeshe died but the voices were happy to remind her at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes the thought made her smile. Other times, it made Tia feel cold and out of control.
'But I'm still free.' Tia took a deep breath before knocking on the post outside of Safuc's tent. "You in there?"
There was some movement behind the thick tarp, not hurried but purposeful and Drayfus - a kind young Muri with a sharp mind who was happy to help Safuc in his old age - poked his head out. "Tia?"
"Sorry for the random request but I need to talk to him."
There was something in his eyes that wanted to argue and Tia didn't react to it at all. Considering how many invitations she'd blown off, she couldn't blame him for feeling put out. But in this rare moment of lucidity, Tia couldn't waste time on the niceties of conversation. "I know, you have every right to be annoyed but-"
"Tia?" The fact the old Muri's voice was more yawn than words gave her the feeling of proper guilt. "What in the world brings you here at this hour?"
Confused, Tia looked up at the sky to see the sun breaking through the night clouds but there were still some stubborn stars in the purplish part of the dawn. "I, uh," For the first time in a while, Tia lacked the words to explain. Given how much she had avoided sleep for work of any kind that could keep the murmurs in her head at bay. How many days had passed since she last kept track of them? "I had some thoughts about what the Muri have been saying about escaping Rezin."
Drayfus opened the tent flap while rubbing sleep from his eyes as roughly as his master. "Come and sit. I'll make some strong tea."
"Thank you." It may be uncharacteristic of her recent behavior, but Tia paid special attention to her manners. It took effort as the longer she was awake, the more the voices gained strength and snatched her focus from what needed to be done. "I am aware this is random and poor timing but-"
"Child, it has been many weeks since you have come to me and talked like the days before we came here." The older Muri grunted when he settled into a collection of soft pillows with a low table between them instead of the formal table at the far end of the tent. Concern deepened the wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth but with Drayfus’ help, he was well dressed and smelled like soap and ointments for his aching bones. "I worry about you in that castle all alone."
Tia wanted to invite Safuc to take one of the many rooms in that stone fortress where proper heat, light, and shelter would aid his weary body but not only was the place in dire need of restoration, the ghosts in her mind made her hesitate. There was something about the way the voices spoke of the place that made Tia wonder if it was safe for anyone else to live there. Perhaps Tia should let others take watch shifts and explore the creaking ruins holding themselves together by miracles. "I regret that I have not been as present as I could be but I’ve been working through some things and-"
"Young lady, the last Muri in this world to make excuses to is me." Despite his words, Safuc was deeply comforted by the cup of strong, piping hot tea placed before him. "Tell me all your thoughts while we have this time together."
Although Tia knew full well Safuc was not the type to stoop to the level of the elderly guilting the young, she felt appropriately cowed. "I have been thinking of our people trapped by the increased guard. Perhaps it would be the time to lead a small squad to establish new lines of communication and a more subversive path to freedom."
Safuc and Drayfus drank their tea as if it were they had been lost in the surrounding desert for weeks. "We will need more information about the increased guard and searches."
"I have no problem crossing the desert to investigate." Tia held her cup in her hands but didn't drink it yet. "I'm used to sneaking around behind the backs of humans."
"I don't believe that's a good idea." Safuc looked directly into Tia's eyes, ready for her to argue with him. "You may not have wanted for this to happen but when you spent so much time out in the field or hold up in your castle, the people lost trust in you. They are grateful to you for giving them this place," Safuc raised his hand to stop her from arguing with him. "But when the time came for them to need a leader and they looked to you, you weren't there."
"My goal was never to be a leader." Tia tried to sound indignant but the past few months of sidelong looks and quickened steps when she walked by just made her feel numb. Tia looked haggard, with dark bags under her eyes. She had lost so much weight that her sunken cheeks and stomach made her look like a specter haunting Grey City. "I just want them to be free."
Safuc hummed in agreement. "The mantel of leadership is a heavy one and I understand why you would want to avoid it. You want to run out in the thick of conflict to make sure you get revenge for everything that has been done to you. What was done to all of us." The older Muri sighed and reached for Tia's hand, smiling when she didn't pull away from him. "You're not alone, young one. We have so many capable people around you who are more than willing to help. Talk to them."
Tia hesitated and, in the silence, Safuc continued. "Given how exhausted you look, I think you are better off planning with them, then going to get some rest while trusting them to handle things from there. No offense, Tia, but you look terrible."
It was on the tip of her tongue to give a sarcastic response, but the old man was right. Tia was so tired overall, that she almost told him why it was almost impossible for her to get any sleep. If the other Muri were avoiding her now, the last thing she needed to tell them was the fact the ghosts of their ancestors were living in her head. "Yeah," Tia gave Safuc's hand a weak squeeze and drank her tea, feeling a bit of energy return to her. "I'm guessing they're not around right now."
"I'll call them but, in the meantime, get something to eat. Come back in an hour."
Tia left with a nod, finished the rest of her tea, and went back to her castle.
With her head clearer and time on her hands, Tia wandered through Jeshe's old throne room into one of the side rooms where she'd often glanced but never bothered to explore. The idea of even having a throne room made her uncomfortable. Human kings never did anything right by Muri and nothing in what the voices whispered said anything worthwhile about any Muri rulers.
A crash from an abandoned room behind her made Tia jump, cursing herself for being taken by surprise. 'Once the walls are secure I should ask for help repairing this place.' She thought, walking over to the crumbling stones. They had dislodged from a doorway and the wood door lay tilted on top of them.
'I should be grateful I haven't fallen through the floor in the middle of the night.' Tia picked up the door, leaned it against a part of the wall that was still intact, and peered into the dusty room. The only light sources were narrow slits on a far wall, allowing Tia to see a rope hanging from a metal ring on the ceiling. She looked around for the telltale signs of a trap and gave the rope a light tug. The ring was bolted to a thick wood panel in the vaulted ceiling that shifted to allow more light into the room.
Curious, Tia gave it a hard pull and the hatch creaked open. Another rope close to the wall wound back and Tia noted that must be how to close it again. She pulled until the room was filled with sunlight. A gust of fresh air kicked up all the dust and Tia coughed and wiped her tearing eyes with the back of her wrist; the sharpness of the bone reminded her how much her health had been neglected.
When her eyes focused, Tia found herself surrounded by crowded, dusty bookshelves, empty flasks, and crumbling parchments curling on cluttered tables. When she sneezed, Tia saw strange markings carved into the stone floor. The soles of her boots ground dirt into the stone when she tried to clear it away to see the carvings clearer but Tia had no idea what she was looking at.
"Ah," Ciro appeared in the decrepit doorway and looked around at this new room with mild interest. "This explains a lot."
"Do you know what any of this crap is?" Tia bent down to touch the strange carvings but there was a rumble in the back of her head and she drew her hand away. Something dark and unfamiliar pricked at the edge of her senses and the voices unanimously agreed it was better not to touch.
"Jeshe didn't tame a part of Grey City, conjure a snake woman, and use my dagger by milling around a dead city like a drunken letch." Ciro crossed the room, his face impassive as he glanced at the arcane materials around them. "Unlike you, he didn't bumble into a stupid amount of power for his station." He walked through the area without fear, Ciro's footfalls taking him in and out of the circle carved in the floor as if there weren't palpable shudders making their way up Tia's spine whenever the lines were crossed. "Jeshe was the type to dabble in many things beyond his understanding." Ciro looked around, his orange eyes appraising every cracked leather spine and corroded burnt offering. "I'm not sure if the stench of his ego or ignorance makes me want to throw up more. Either way, the continued nonsense of mortals doesn't surprise me."
"What in all the hells is all this bullshit?" Tia gasped. None of those words meant she was ignorant of her surroundings. Tia was lucky to be literate; sometimes by tricking strangers into teaching her, other times by daring human children to beat her in a random quiz. But whatever scribblings and carvings surrounded her made no sense and Tia had no willingness to succumb to the intrusive voices nibbling at the edge of her comprehension.
"Jeshe was an egotistical ass who thought that tapping into powers be barely understood meant he could do whatever he wanted," Ciro smirked, taping the edges of his blunt fingernails on the shelves and book spines. "But I give this collection credit. You could learn a lot from this stuff."
"Why would I use any of this human junk?" Tia turned her back on the shelf and inspected the scrolls, her eyes stopping on an anatomical drawing of a woman with a snake's tale. She smoothed it out to reveal the process to combine a woman and a snake written in tight, neat script. Tia frowned and released it to allow the paper to curl back up to rustle against the other random scrolls on the table.
Ciro snorted. "You think Jeshe was the only one who uses magic like this? I can't believe you've survived this long when a key to defending yourself is right in your face." He shrugged before leaving her alone in the room.
Tia rolled her eyes but did go to the shelves to take a look at some of the titles. She didn't recognize the types of magic mentioned, the most she knew of any sort of powers was the Muri's ribbons and whatever force she'd channeled when she defeated Jeshe.
She stopped and pulled a book from the shelf, a heavy black tome with silver lettering on the front and spine that made no sense to her. Before Tia could open it, she heard footsteps in the throne room and the sound of Drayfus calling her name.
'They must be ready to meet with me.' Tia put the book back in its place and left the room. Her stomach growled, unhappy with getting nothing but tea so far. 'Damn, I forgot to get something to eat.' It would have to wait for just a little while. Tia was confident this meeting wouldn't take long.
Enide, Castor, and Jafa were assembled by the time Tia arrived at the meeting tent and when she sat, Castor handed her a warm sweet bun wrapped in a clean cloth.
"You need to eat." He said, his voice stern but exasperated. He was ready for Tia to argue with him, tell him to back off because she didn't need to be told to eat like a child. When she thanked him, Castor swallowed an audible gasp and turned away from Tia to let her eat without staring at her.
"Goodness!" Karina did not hide her shock when she walked into the tent and saw Tia munching on the sweet bun. "Pardon my rudeness, Tia but I am shocked to see you here."
"It’s okay." Tia leaned forward to let Karina by, giving her more space as she had her baby strapped to her chest. She swallowed before continuing. "I've been doing a lot of stuff."
Jafa and Enide gave each other a look and Jafa shook her head. "A lot, indeed." She leaned back in her chair with her hands folded in front of her. "You have been absent so often that I question the sudden change. Why have you called us here?"
Tia raised an eyebrow and Safuc cleared his throat but Tia liked Jafa's attitude. She didn't waste time with niceties and platitudes. "I wanted to talk about a plan to get more Muri out of the kingdom. I hear there are increased inspections and security."
"It's been almost impossible to get from village to village, much less to the kingdom's border." Enide stroked his beard in thought. "The last few stragglers brought stories of humans being imprisoned or executed for helping an escaped slave. Little militias have sprung up everywhere to keep any remaining slave locked in the houses of their masters to keep them from making any plans."
"Several Muri slave houses have been destroyed to make sure they have no place left to go," Jafa growled. "By order of the king himself."
Tia rewrapped the remaining half of her meal and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I think it's time we get serious about sending small teams into Rezin to make more paths out to Grey City."
"A proper network?" Karina bounced her fussy baby until he quieted. "That will be a challenge given how little we know."
"Castor, do we have any humans willing to give us any sort of information?" Jafa said, waving away Drayfus as he came around with tea. "We can even offer some of the extra seeds we've amassed for trade or cloth from the new looms?"
Tia gaped at her. 'We have looms? Muri are weaving? And we have enough crops started to share seeds?'
"Very few of our contacts have been receptive and I understand their fears." Castor pulled out his map and showed them several outlying villages, some with chalk lines crossing out the names. "There are a few left but with these crackdowns, I don't expect them to last long. If we're going to get any information much less help more Muri escape, we need to do it now."
"We should get as much information as we can." Tia leaned over to look at the map. It made her heart sink to see how many had refused to help. It couldn't be helped. Many had their own children and families to protect and one villager is no match for the might of King Bastion and his armies. "They could report back or move deeper depending on what they learn."
"We may have a few scouts who have tamed messenger hawks who have been instrumental in getting information in and out of the castle." Jafa smiled. "Those birds are common and have been known to cross the desert. Some humans even use them for hunting."
"That will have to do." Tia stood, reached for her bun, and headed for the tent flap. "Let me know what you learn."
The group looked at her, wide-eyed and dumbstruck. "You're not going to make plans or oversee things?" Castor stood and turned to face her.
Seeing him standing there half in armor, a short sword at his hip and a crossbow on his back, Tia hardly recognized him. Gone was the baby-faced boy who trailed after her. His face was lined with the battles he'd fought, scars dotted his hands and forearms from helping to build houses and set traps in the forests. Tia didn't think he knew she'd seen him try to clean up around the castle where she lived and leaving her dried food in the hopes she would eat.
"No," Tia saluted the group with the cooling bun and a weak smile. "I think I'll be better off around here."
When there was no reply, Tia shrugged. "That castle is falling apart and it's not fair of me to take up all that space for myself. It needs some fixing. And we need more houses, too." She flicked the tent flap. "We can't live in tents forever. Grey City is ours. It's about time we acted like it."
Tia was sure they were staring at her when she left the tent and the voices in her head whispered a confirmation. She ignored them and went to talk to the stone workers at the wall for some tips on how to make the castle more livable. Of course, they were busy with the wall but they would come to check it out later. Tia had to stop them from dropping whatever they were doing to help her as if she was a queen giving orders but she insisted this was at their convenience; not hers. Tia had some work to do when it came to her fearsome reputation.
Even cold, the sweet bun was heaven as she walked back to the castle, nodding to other Muri who caught her eyes. Tia noticed some of the children she'd met had grown and she hardly recognized them. Many of them still had bare bellies and were playing with the small amount of magic they could use to toss a ball back and forth in the group. That feeling of hope for the future was only dampened by the insistent souls murmuring in her head.
'Can't I get a break from you guys?' Her thoughts rumbled and she tried to keep her frustration off her face.
Again, there was no clear consensus as to why they wanted Tia's attention, just that they wanted it.
"At least try not to talk all at once." She growled, looking around to see if anyone heard her. Tia was alone as usual in the crumbling castle entryway. "Can't you make a line or something? Take turns?"
At first, Tia regretted ever acknowledging them as if they were physical people who could be reasoned with or left behind if they insisted on fighting. All of the souls made enough noise to make Tia's head spin; forcing her to her knees. The stone floor felt nice and cool, so Tia lay flat on her back until the dizziness passed. She cursed herself for not taking advantage of how quiet they were before as she stared up at the ceiling, hoping for a few moments of calm so she could hobble back to bed and try to relax.
To her shock, the voices put themselves in some sort of order. A handful of them still spoke all at once but now Tia could at least tell they were older, spoke with authority, and whispered some vague instructions; still muddled since they all spoke together. Tia turned her head and looked at the strange room Jeshe used for his conjuring.
"I don't understand that kind of stuff." She said, struggling to her feet. "What good is anything in there?"
The voices were insistent and she shuffled to the room, leaning the door against a complete wall. Instead of heading for the bookshelves, the old ones told her to look at a table on the other side of the room. The stone table was carved right into the wall and was covered with forgotten scraps of parchment with scratched-out notes of abandoned or failed experiments.
“The wall.” The voices said.
Tia leaned over the table and ran her fingers over the stones. She let the voices tell her if she was close to whatever they wanted Tia to find until her fingertips caught a loose stone.
“Pull.”
She did as she was told and a loud thunk shook the stones. One stone popped out and the entire wall around the desk rotated far enough to give Tia space to walk into the darkness. She summoned her ribbon to light the way and walked down a set of stairs that became less sturdy the lower she descended.
By the time she reached the bottom, the ground was just sloped dirt and pebbles. Rusted daggers littered the floor along with empty inkwells and dried-out quills. Tia looked around the secret room while the voices tittered about what she should look at first. Further in, more stone tables lined the walls and as Tia moved closer, tattered clothes were draped in some of the seats.
"What is all this?" She gasped, the writing on the remaining book covers and parchments was completely foreign to her. "What happened here?"
Tia's mind went unnervingly silent. She looked around, expecting the room to spill its secrets. Instead, her vision went completely black and she lost feeling in her whole body. The room around her blinked and was suddenly surrounded by Muri in heavy robes scrambling to bring down arms full of books and parchments through that secret opening to the cavern.
"How close are they?" One elder cried out, hunched over his desk trying not to sweat onto the paper he was furiously recording whatever he could for the future.
"They haven't breached the castle but it's inevitable." A younger but very mature female dropped a stack of books on his desk. "This is the last of the histories. We may not have time to save everything but the records of the oldest of us have been saved as well as the rites from the temples and the irrigation and harvest records." She looked over at what Tia somehow knew was her teacher. "I don't know if we can save it all."
"That's impossible in this small space." The elder Muri pressed a quill into her hands and glanced at the dagger on her hip. "Seal the door. The younger acolytes know what to do. We need to record the last days of this city as best we can."
Even without being connected to her body, Tia felt tears welling in the woman's eyes yet also the unbreakable resolve of her spirit. "Yes, Master. I understand. I will do our final duty." She walked up to the secret opening and turned away the younger robed figures still scrambling to bring more manuscripts. "Drop what you have and run." She told them, her voice stern and clear. "Scatter as far as you can and don't let anyone know our secrets."
The small crowd at the doorway gave each other wary glances but looked up at her with grim determination. "Yes, Mistress," They bowed their heads and ran off to tell whoever was left in the castle.
She watched them go, praying they would make it to safety. Her hands were steady when she pulled the lever to seal them inside.
"Have no fear, Master Felicia." The elder said without looking up from his work. "We are securing the future of our people. There will be better times we inspire with our work."
Master Felicia pursed her lips, took a steadying breath, and took her place at the nearest vacant table among the half dozen other Muri furiously writing as fast as they could. She spread out a fresh roll of parchment and started from the very top of the page. She marked the date and let her mind guide her quill, spilling her every thought, every instance she could think of that led to this tragedy, and an impassioned plea that someone someday would remember-
Tia sucked in a deep gasp, choking and coughing on the stale, dusty air. The side of her head throbbed in pain where she hit the ground under the sway of the vision inflicted upon her. She stumbled to her feet and headed for the far-off desk in the corner. Master Felicia's last work. Her clothes were slumped in a different way than the rest and with a firm push from the voices in her head, she saw the bloodied mess Master Felicia left; finishing her last words before slitting her own throat. Her dagger lay on the floor by her chair. The parchment on her desk had rolled in on itself as it dried.
Tia picked up the abandoned dagger and stuck it in the threadbare waistband of her shorts. It was a small blade; rusted and unadorned with any carvings or jewels. When she looked at the parchment, Tia felt like she was peering over the shoulder of a master at work. Yet, somehow that master could influence her fingers as Tia spread out the parchment with much more care than she ever would have known was necessary.
The small script danced on the very edge of her comprehension; thoughts, feelings, and nuance all battling against Tia's modern comprehension of language. In the end, Tia was left leaning over the desk when it was safe to do so as the overwhelming emotions of ages passed hijacked her senses to be seen by living eyes once again.
"Tia?"
She spun on her heel, the sound of grinding sand echoing in her bones and it took several long confusing moments to recognize who was calling her name. "Castor?"
"Tia, what is this?" He stepped through the passageway, using his own ribbon for light. "How did you find this?"
Tia shushed him and sprinted for the entrance. "Did anyone see you come here?"
Castor sighed, shaking his head in frustration at Tia's frantic questioning. "No, Tia. I came here about making repairs to the castle and-"
Dusty fingers clamped over his mouth and Ciro wondered for a moment if he were in the presence of a mad saint or a crazy person finally cracking under the pressure.
"Does anyone know you are here!?"
Castor was losing patience and swatted her hand away from his face. "Tia, I don't know what in the world you're doing but no, nobody knows I came here and-"
"This is ours, Ciro." Tia seemed manic but the wealth of tangible materials around her brought her mad ramblings to reality. "Ancient Muri lived here and in their last moments did their best to preserve whatever they could!" Tia gingerly approached each desk, her shaking hands not daring to disturb what could crumble under her touch if not handled properly. "An entire civilization of our people right at our feet but..." Tia stumbled. The voices went from the well-organized hum to a chaotic, vomit-inducing mess, and she collapsed into Castor's arms.
"Tia, what have you done?" He muttered, lifting her in his arms and carrying her the best he could up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs in Jeshe's strange conjuring room, Tia squirmed out of Castor's arms until he dropped her so she could slam her hands on the stone to block off the way to that secret room.
"They're not ready yet." Tia rasped, unsteady on her feet as if an entire brewery of mead was in her system. "The souls say it's not time just yet, I need to-"
Tia was cut off by Ciro smacking her upside the head with an open palm and she fell into Castor’s arms.
"Take her to bed." The little fire god said. "And don't let on what you saw here."
"But," Castor sputtered.
"Other than me, you are the only one Tia has ever mentioned those voices to." Sucking his teeth, Ciro glared at Castor with such force, his orange eyes felt hot wherever they landed. "It's a sick privilege but one nonetheless."
Castor looked down at the shaking woman in his arms and shook his head. "You fucking idiot."
"That's the spirit." Ciro gave Castor a hard smack on the shoulder. "Put my Muri to bed before her brain fries under the stress."
With an annoyed grunt, Castor followed where he'd seen Ciro glance; back to where Tia could bathe and rest. "I don't know who learned how to be a curt, asshole from who." He grumbled, easily ascending the stone stairs towards Tia's chambers.
"Who indeed..." Ciro gave a dry smile and shut the hidden door from any possible prying eyes.