Zeb rolled her eyes at his statement about it had to be Tessa. "There was Coralie or even..." Her words catching in her throat as he mentioned that he would have multiple wives. Of course she knew the traditions but for some reason his statement sent a wave of hurt through her heart. "Is she really? I wish her luck in the endeavor. She is much better at the traditions than I would ever be. I don't like to share once someone is mine." Her eyes took in the way his features stood out in the lighting.

Her heart stopped for a moment when he said her old nickname followed by that he missed her. His other sentiments almost lost on the female as she practically stared at the male before she shook her head. "I am suprised you missed me with all of the others that I know have kept your attentions." A quiet jab at herself as her eyes moved towards the bird.

"If I am remembering correctly, you father got him for you at one of your birthdays." Another wave of hurt washed over the female at the memory of his father taking the little hatchling from her before taking full credit for the gift. Zeb had saved up her little amount of savings for the phoenix hatchling and had carefully chosen the only vibrant blue hatchling out of the clutch. The young girl never told her father about what had happened and only cried into her pillow, the first of many nights that began the building of her walls.

"He is still handsome and regal. Though I don't know if I could say as much for his master." The teasing tone paused as she caught his grin falter. She reached up to place a hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze.

"Fausty is everything alright?" Her eyes searched his features for a moment before suddenly she pushed him back into the shadows against a wall. Her other hand flew to her lips in the universal signal to be quiet. Though her features seemed to melt into the darkness except for her vibrant hair and eyes that grew darker as she kept herself pressed against him.

An arrow wiggled after striking and lodging itself into the stone where the heir had just been standing. Any sign of a concerned Zeb were gone as she pulled herself away using the shadows to her advantage while her eyes combed the area around them for more movement. It would look as though her training was kicking in but if one looked closer, a slight shake was moving through the female's body be it from the adrenaline, cold air, or even possibly a mixture of fear and anger at almost losing her friend.

Her movements were slow and it seemed to take forever before the fae spoke. "We should get you back inside before they attempt again but we need to stick to the shadows." Zeb slowly turned to offer her hand to Fausty. "I know it isn't one of your favorite things but I promise to not let go of your hand or leave your side until we return into the dining hall safely."

Zeb squeezed his hand for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Not as what we feared it would be but not much better. The training is meant to harden and put resolve into people to make the necessary decisions. If anything I was singled out more for specific training because of the uniqueness of my skin tone and hair. An oddity of sorts even with the scars."

Her hand released his for a moment as she reached up to brush the loose strands of hair behind his ear, granted it was a little interesting to see as she was shorter than him. The gentleness returned to her eyes as she searched his features. "Not all of the stories we heard were true. I saw children leave with no visible injuries. Of course there were many nights I would lay awake and worry about what your father was doing to you and how I wasn't there to protect you."

As she spoke, her gaze moved from him to look once more around the brickwork pausing for a moment when she caught a slight movement in the shadows. Zeb turned back towards the way that they had been walking and began the journey back wrapping her arms around herself once more. "If I wasn't here to be a possible choice for protecting you, who out of the others would you choose?"

A simple question that she asked over her shoulder before following it with her gaze. Hidden within the words was a hope that she had made the right choice in coming back. That it was fate that brought her back to the one place she had almost vowed to never set foot in again.

A chill ran up the back of the female's neck at the sudden feeling that they were being watched. She had almost missed his statement about Tessa being a better protector than the others and a softer chuckle left her lips. "Of that I have no doubt about Niara wanting to wed and bed you. Ceera is more interested in her training and I have never seen her spend any time with a male. If anything I think she prefers females. Also not all of the males are brutes. Syrol is the sweetest among them and he is one that I would trust with you."

Her eyes watched his movements as worry for her once dear friend began to infiltrate her mind. Of course she had caught the indications that Fausty was starting to have the same inherent issues as his father and she wanted to help but a part of her was almost pleading for him to ask her for her help. Her eyes narrowed when he called her a pretty fungus and she raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You would be one of the few that would call me pretty. Most everyone else called me Scar Face. Fitting nickname don't you think?" A harsh joke as her eyes looked away scanning the area around them before landing on him once more leaning against the wall.

His devilish smile sped up her heartbeat as she took a few measured steps towards him. "No...to both of your questions. If I hadn't come back then possibly but now, you are stuck with me. And I know that you have ways of entertaining yourself to avoid the horrible boredom."

She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before pulling back and doing one more pass with her eyes as she began to walk back into the building. "So Mr. Tree, since fungus grows on trees, shall we return?"

----

It had been a few months since that night and Zeb was currently walking along the castle walls keeping an eye out for any danger or miscomings. The building was overflowing with people that had come for the wedding of Fausty and Tessa and being as Zeb had been chosen as his protector, she was doing her job. She was wearing form fitting black leggings with her knee high boots, and the dark crimson shirt that covered her torso was cut low enough to keep some modesty but enough to catch a person's attention. Black bracers were sitting comfortably on her forearms with a couple of throwing knives within them. Two larger blades rested on her hips that curved in almost complete circles with a grip within the middle.

Of course there were various other daggers upon her body but only a few were visible. Her arms were currently folded across her chest as she walked blindly listening to the guard that was gushing about the amount of people there were. A dark hand pushed a strand of her white hair behind her ear using the moment to roll her eyes. Most of her hair had been pulled into a pony tail that seemed to bounce with each light step that she took.

Even though the day was meant to be happy and joyous, Zeb was the opposite. While everyone was wearing bright happy colors, she had gone with a darker, more depressing color. Partially because darker made it easier to hide among the shadows and partially because her heart was sitting so low in her chest, it felt like she didn't even have it anymore. Of course she was happy for her friend but the diabolical head of jealousy was trying to win and make her wish it was her standing next to him saying the vows as his first wife instead of Tessa.

"As rivetting as it is to listen and keep your company, I must head back to the main hall. I shouldn't stray to far from the heir." The guard had been interrupted mid word by Zeb who had turned on her heel and was quickly disappearing back towards the main hall. Once inside she quickly scanned the room before making her way down the stairs and into the huge mass of bodies.

After being bumped into more than a few times, Zeb was internally screaming that she wanted nothing better to do than actually spend time out in the open even if it was with the bothersome guard. Her eyes finally fixated on her target and she began to move towards him, carefully catching a bottle of wine that was about to spill all over a woman and her expensive dress. At first she earned a scowl until the woman realized that both the bottle and person holding it were gone. Zeb set the bottle on another tray and moved to stand behind Fausty's right shoulder putting her hands behind her back.

"Congratulations Fausty...Now please explain to me why there had to be this many people invited? Are you trying to unleash my hatred of crowds upon you?" Her words were spoken just loud enough for the pair.

Zeb had barely had enough time for a coherent thought as she was being drug along by Fausty. Her eyes had been locked on their hands as he had stopped the thought of her using that fist to add some differing color to his skin tone. When he first suggested that she would be coming on their honeymoon, Zeb opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed her as her heart constricted at the idea.

"You really should save the drinking for after the service Fausty. If you drink now, you might not be as regal in front of everyone." Yes a quick distraction from the thought of joining the newly weds on their honeymoon. Of course that was shortlived when she heard Tessa's voice beside them. Zeb's eyes moved from the male still holding her hand and practically dragging her to look over at the other female. A part of her heart felt for Tessa and a pang of guilt at her and Fausty's actions tugged at her heart.

"You look beautiful today Tessa. I am quite jealous as I don't think I could pull off that color nearly as well as you do." A sincere compliment that was quickly followed by an annoyed glare at Fausty. "Well it might just be one of your favorite and part of the other if you keep pulling on my arm like it is the last bit of anything in the world."

Zeb was again speechless for words when Tessa brought up having her at the honeymoon. "I think we both can only handle him for so long but if you both desire to have me there with you, I will be the one to accompany you." An eyebrow raised at the smile and then sadness in her eyes. Was Tessa not as horrible as she remembered her being? Were Zeb's memories just skewed because so many involved making sure that Fausty wasn't alone?

She shook her head remembering how he had paced her floor the night before and how she had sat on her bed polishing her blades trying to calm the other fae down. There had been a moment where she had wanted to push the man out of her open door and close it swiftly behind as she had a million other things to be worrying about but instead she sat and listened offering her words of encouragement when needed.

She quickened her pace to match with Fausty's as they headed down into the cellar. "Is this really such a good idea? You know they will send people to look for us because it is so close to the time." Her eyes adjusted to the darker atmosphere of the cellar and a shiver moved through her body at a few very unwelcome memories.

Once it seemed that they had reached their destination. Zeb pulled her hand away from Fausty and quickly wrapped it around herself. Her eyes moved over to Tessa then back to Fausty as she narrowed them. "Also why would you want your protector to drink with you? Shouldn't I be on high alert ready for anything or anyone to come at us?" A hint of a teasing tone filled her words as she moved to stand near the entrance.

"And I wish that Prince Caspian would marry soon, then maybe it can be peaceful here again. Between this and the recent requests" Her eyes moved over to Fausty. "that I have been getting, it would be nice to have some down time."

Zeb watched the interaction between the two for a few moments after rolling her eyes at his comment about aging like a mortal. "I have seen some mortals with hair like mine that are young and vibrant. You would be...maybe not amazed but possibly intrigued by where we all travelled while training. I thought about staying in a small mortal town just for the peacefulness."

A small smile formed on her own lips as she listened to Tessa about the crowd. "He will always have a good excuse Faustian when it comes to you. Hell, even I can think of a couple of times I used an excuse just to spend some time away." Her arms seemed to naturally always wrap around her torso before she moved to walk by the different wines.

"I know there will be plenty of drinking going on today in just a few moments." Her steps stopped when then old cabin was mentioned. It almost became painful to swallow as she kept her back to the pair, as she reached a hand up to her face and brushed a finger against her scar instantly feeling the stinging pain. A visible shiver moved through her body as her eyes closed trying to push away the memory that was wanting to re-emerge.

Some nights it haunted her dreams, the memories of what the High Lord had done to her and Faustian but the memory of the creation of the scar that marred her face, only came out when she was truly exhausted. Her father had kept rumors of the incident quiet after she had returned from the trip to the old cabin with her face bandaged. Her mother even helped by taking on being the doctor until the injury had almost fully healed.

It seemed like an eternity that Zeb was standing alone in her thoughts until she heard Faustian speaking that she was lying. She quickly recomposed herself and deep down she hoped that the memory would stay away and that everyone had blissfully forgotten about that trip.

"I never tell lies Faustian. Maybe some half truths here and there but never lies." She lifted her hand to her heart in mock hurt before looking over at Tessa. "A walk does sound nice though. Out of the damp cellars to enjoy the overwhelming crowd that I think I would have stuck out in no matter what I was wearing, though at least their attention isn't on me. You two are the stars of today, I am here to make sure no one ruins the festivities with death."

With her last words, Zeb offered both of her hands, one to Faustian and one to Tessa. Was she overcompensating for her quiet response to mention of the old cabin, absolutely. Was she also trying to remain friendly to Tessa? At least maybe a possible attempt.