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“Be careful, Sovereigna. Do not make contact with the molten metal on the floor. I will clean it up and take it with me when I go.”

“Thank you so much, Ee’ Venn. I appreciate your attentiveness when I call for you. Please give my thanks to your Steward as well for sparing you for my request,” Eula said.

Ee’ Venn’s brows wrinkled a little as he regarded her. “He did not send me. I took it upon myself when I was told you needed my assistance.”

“Oh, well thank you so much. And if he gives you any trouble for leaving your foundry, please tell him that he should speak with me as it was me that called for you.”

“He’s not there, Sovereigna. It won’t be a problem.” Ee’ Venn knelt on the floor and began scraping the semi-cooled metal off the floor and into a leather pouch.

“Where is he?” Bart asked.

Ee’ Venn looked up at Bart from where he knelt on the floor, and on seeing that the Sovereigna, too, was waiting for an answer, he decided to answer. “He has not returned.”

“From where?” Eula asked.

“He has not been seen since the night the new Sire was attacked.”

“Oh,” Eula said. “Does anyone know where he is?”

Ee’ Venn shrugged. “Some are out hunting those responsible. Perhaps he is with them.”

“Those hunting, or those being hunted?” Bart asked.

“Could be either,” Ee’ Venn answered as he took out what looked like an iron bristled brush and completely cleaned the floor before he stood, tucked his brush back into his tool box, slammed his arm over his chest in a pledge of loyalty to Sovereigna Eula, then walked away as quickly as he arrived.

“The Steward is missing?” Bart asked.

“We are aware that there are a number of warriors unaccounted for. It’s as Ee’ Venn said, they could be in either role, hunted or hunting. I’m sure that they will all be identified and tracked and taken to task if necessary now that Quin’s warriors have arrived to work with those we trust implicitly from our own warriors.”

Eula took a step into Mirilla’s room and paused just on the other side of where the door had been.

Bart walked past her and into Mirilla’s room, his eyes sweeping every surface he saw. He walked over to the one door in the room, and upon opening it saw that it was a cleansingchamber. “She’s not here. There is no wonder that her room has been so silent with no answer at all to my pleading. She’s gone.”

Eula walked over to Mirilla’s bed and picked up the key and the band Mirilla had left lying on her discarded uniform. “I don’t think she plans on returning,” Eula said, thoughtfully.

“Why not?” Bart asked, going over to see what Eula had found.

“She left her passkey, her uniform, and this,” Eula said, holding up the band.

“Is that a credit band?” Bart asked.

“Yes. It’s as though she’s left behind anything that has to do with us.”

Bart sighed, shaking his head. “I think it’s more that she’s hurt by all the accusations and is distancing herself.”

“That’s exactly what I believe it is. If we don’t think she was deserving of the credits she earned, then she doesn’t want them. But what worries me, is that if she’s gone off without credits, how is she to take care of herself?”

“Someone has to have seen her. We’ll find her.”

“I should have come to her right away. I was staying beside Vivi and Alexandrus for their safety and my own piece of mind. But I should have made time to come to Mirilla. I sent her to her room to keep her away from controversy until it could all be worked out, but I never once thought her guilty of anything intentional. I should have come sooner,” Eula said, obviously worried about her.

“I should have defended her, rather than add to the questions she was already receiving from Quin.”

“What have we done, Bart?” Eula asked sadly.

“I will find her. I will find her and protect her.”

“If she’ll let you.”

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