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“Not him.” Savira pointed at Matthias. “I may have lost but I want as little to do with him as possible.” She scowled and hugged herself. “Some of my best friends are dead because of him.”

“I think you’ll find it was Likadrian that killed them,” Naria said drily. “Not Matthias-idan.”

“You might blame me as well,” Andrew added. “I ordered them to fight him.”

Savira made a dismissive gesture. “Not your fault, Andrew-idan,” she said. “You were just trying to survive and he would have killed them anyway. Your father, on the other hand, was the one who enslaved them in the first place and he failed to keep Likadrian under control when he had the chance. It’s all his fault, including what happened to you.”

“Says the woman who tortures people for her own gain,” Alaryia said drily. “And who sent said friends to destroy an uninvolved village just to rile him up.”

“The experiments were necessary,” Savira flared. “I had no other way to gather the data I needed. As to the other, he started it.”

“And he thought what he was doing was necessary as well,” Alaryia pointed out. “And I’d say he had more reason than you.”

“No, she’s right,” Matthias said. “I thought it was necessary but failing to realise how dangerous Emms was is on my head. And even if it weren’t, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have her around Dan and Karen.”

“Or me,” Sonia agreed. “But I think I have a good idea. What about the Silvers, if they are willing? The way they handled Alison I think they’d be good for Savira.” She hesitated. “Silver is their family name not their colour.”

“I gathered,” Savira said. “I know I don’t have any right to ask anything but if they are amenable, would it possible to meet them first?”

Matthias and Sonia looked at each other for moment before Sonia shrugged “I don’t see any reason why not.”

“Thank you.” She turned to Lydia. “My apologies, Lydia-ida. Darlrydan-mirian is quite correct to say I should have checked first before attacking you.”

Lydia eyed her thoughtfully but didn’t respond. The apology certainly sounded sincere but in the circumstances she didn’t trust herself to respond civilly. Savira didn’t seem to notice her apology hadn’t been accepted because she had already turned back to Ystelyan.

“Was there anything else you wanted to know?”

“Yes.” He gave her a hard stare and folded his arms. “Were you responsible for that plague that decimated my people?”

“Void! No!” She shook her head vehemently. “I was just taking advantage. Why would I do something like that? There’s nothing to learn from a mess lke that.” She hesitated. “But it did have an almost familiar feel to it when I tried to analyze it in case it re-emerged. I never did manage to analyze it properly or place the feeling that I knew the creator.”

Ystelyan frowned at her. “I had that feeling too. The signature was vaguely familiar butt I couldn’t identify the culprit.”

“Show us,” Indaturan said. “Maybe the rest of us will be able to place it.”

Ystelyan nodded and clapped his hands to summon a goblin. “Fetch me that neutralised plague sample please.”

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