Count Burgess reached up as if to wipe the tear, but she recoiled.

"You look so much like your sister," he sighed, "A little shorter, and your skin is so much darker now. But still beautiful."

Quicker than Auriel could react to, the Count lunged at her. He pinned her against the wall, his hands digging into her arms. His lips smashed into hers hard enough she thought her lip might bleed.

Auriel tried to push him away but he was too large, he didn't even budge. She screamed against his mouth and he bit down hard on her lip, and then she did taste blood. When she kept struggling against him, he hit her on the side of the head. The impact was so hard, she lost her vision for a second. She would've fallen except he still held her agaisnt the wall.

"Hmm... you taste like your sister too."

Auriel shivered at the thought. Had he behaved this way toward her poor sister as well?

As quickly as it had begain, it all stopped. The Count went still, released Auriel, and slumped to the floor. Gia stood behind him, a metal statuette in her hands. Blood ran from the back of the Count's head. 

Auriel collapsed to the floor. Gia dropped the statuette and knelt beside her. Gia tently touched Auriel's face where the Count had hit her. 

"Come dear, let's get that cleaned."

"He... he just... I didn't want to..." Auriel couldn't seem to form the words she wanted to say. 

"It's all right, I know."

"He's dead... you'll get in trouble."

"Don't worry about anything. What he did was illegal. Our Lady will take care of everything, she will let his King know about his crimes- and while he was a respected guest no less. This will be an embarassment for your FORMER country."

Auriel was comforted by Gia's words, but her fear and anxiety didn't supside. She shook as Gia gently led her back to her room and rubbed salve on her bruised face. 

The next day, Auriel was unable to get out of bed. Despite the heat radiating through her window from the desert outside, she shivered with blankets wrapped tightly around her. Gia explained that sometimes one can feel ill after one has experienced a great fright. She told Auriel to stay in bed and food would be brought to her. 

Lady Cassia came to visit Auriel, something she had never done before and Auriel was shocked by. Back in Tora, nobility wouldn't be caught dead in their servant's quarters. But Cassia spoke softly to Auriel and asked her to recount the previous nights events to the best of her ability. She explained that she would write to King August and express her disappointment with the events that had occured and ask for a more suitable delegation to be sent.

Auriel understood that the Count's death had to be reported back to Tora, it wouldn't breed goodwill if the delegation simply didn't return, despite the poor way Lady Cassia's delgations had been treated. But Aurield worried that this would somehow come back to Gia or herself. She wished they could all just pretend it never happened and the Count had never come here to begin with. 

What the Count had done could be considered an act of war, but Lady Cassia was being forgiving in simply asking for a new delegate. And when the new delegate arrived, Lady Cassia promised Auriel would have her own guard and no Toran would be allowed anywhere near her. Auriel thanked the Lady when she left. 

She spent the rest of the day in her room, shivering and crying. Her fear of the future made her feel paralyzed. Despide Gia and Lady Cassia's reassurances, she felt something aweful was going to come of this.