Aleksandra stood back and watched him walk to the window. He looked lost, and she knew she probably wouldn't be able to pull him out of it. He was best left alone for now. She took a seat where he'd been sitting and set up a small mirror on the table, then cut her own hair. Her plan had been to sheer it as close to her scalp as possible, but she decided as she cut it to leave it chin-length. It made the angles in her face look sharper, fiercer. She looked dangerous instead of young.

After that, the rest of the night was peaceful. And so was the following week, with only one feast to endure and an easy mission from Aulfr. In truth, she was somewhat relieved to be leaving. Things weren't exactly tense, but it could get strangely awkward in quieter moments. Going on a hunt would give her time to clear her head and think about things without his intense presence muddying her thoughts.

But her hunt was not as easy as she'd thought it would be.

It happened the day she returned to the castle. She was in the process of killing her target, a Jarl who had outright protested a policy that Aulfr had suggested, when one of his guards got a knife past her defenses. It was a deep cut on her leg, but it did no serious damage, so she thought nothing of it. She continued to fight, taking down most of the guards in her path. She then killed the Jarl and ran off.

And then she could feel it. A weakness in her legs, a wrongness in her blood. She was too hot, her vision blurring in front of her. She'd been cut by a poisoned knife. She wasn't particularly daunted by the fact, because she knew she could get back to the castle in time. But then there were more guards. And more guards. And so much frenzied fighting that she thought she'd drop dead of the poison before she could be killed by any sword.

Somehow she managed to flee, but not without being beaten to a pulp first. Three cracked ribs, the oozing laceration on her thigh, a nasty bump on her brow and countless bruises and smaller cuts. She didn't know how she did it, but somehow she dragged herself up the side of the castle and fell into Aulfr's room, pale as a ghost and covered in blood and gasping like there was no air in the world. Her head lolled to the side and she saw Aulfr standing near the door. He looked very surprised.

She could only choke out the word, "Poisoned," before slumping to the side, unconscious. She shuddered with little twitches and tics, looking much too small and sickly for someone normally so strong.