"Left," I tell her quietly, closing my eyes and letting those memories wash over me. With one sense voluntarily cut off, all I can feel is her soft skin and all I can hear is her smooth voice and all I can smell is her. It helps the sting of the memories not be so brutal this time.

"I didn't want to stay at Blackcliff anymore," I explain, sighing and shaking my head slightly. "I couldn't -- what was happening there, what was being done to people wasn't right and I did my best to fix it but I failed. So, I left with one of the Scholars to try and retrieve her brother from Kauf. That's the prison I was in before I was here. I failed there too."

I'd been ridiculous to think I could sneak into something so well guarded as Kauf without being caught. The Warden has been waiting for me and he'd delighted in torturing me for the few shorts days I'd been there. I still felt the effects of that and I hadn't been there as long as the likes of Tas or Darin.

I suppress a quiet sound of displeasure when she starts to move but that's immediately forgotten about when she kisses me. This time, my response is immediate. I don't tense up, I don't hesitate, I'm not tentative. She'd leaned into me and I repay the favor, leaning into her and letting my hand fall from her cheek to her shoulder and then wandering its way down her arm until I can brush my fingers against hers.