1x1 With AnnaCat17 and Echo!

[AnnaCat17]

Magnus moved out of the way but as ash passed him he tripped him, chuckling as he fell to the ground. "Careful there little guy. We wouldnt want you trip off a cliff or anything." He said in an eerrily calm voice.

Ash forced himself to his feet but when he saw how tall magnus is he backed down, choosing instead to walk to his hut.

Once he was gone Piper breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the spit off her face. "I am sorry for the offense he has caused you. If there is anyone i can make it up to you and your people please let me know."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Liah smirked at the man, proud of Magnus. "Someone is frightened of you, Magnus," she teased, smirking. To Piper, "There is, actually. Do not let him win." She glanced at Mikah. "If we are going to have peace, you need to."

Mikah nodded. There was no way he was going to let Ash win. "If I do not win..." He switched to sign language, so Azgeda would not understand. He was telling Liah to help Piper get away, and either take Trishanakru in hiding, or prepare for war. He would not let Piper spend the rest of her life with someone like Ash who treated her like she was nothing. Once, Liah nodded that she would do that, Mikah turned to Piper. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice going soft. He placed his hand on her cheek, the one Ash had hit. He gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek, making sure it was clean, and then doing it as an affectionate gesture, being careful to not hurt her. "I cannot believe how he treats you. I wish..no, I will kill him. He will never hurt you again."

[AnnaCat17]

Piper pulled away from mikah, not looking at any of them. "I will do all i can to assure your people are safe." She then turned and walked off quickly.

Magnus chuckled at Liahs comment. "Everyone is scared of me." He watched the exchange between Mikah and Liah sadly, the feeling growing worse as he looked after Piper getting lost in thought.

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Mikah watched Piper leave, biting his lip. He must have done something wrong. He didn't know what to think. He watched Piper disappear from his sight sadly, then sat down on the bed with a sigh, staring at the floor.

Liah glanced at Piper, but didn't ask what was going on with her. She could always be like that, Liah didn't know her well at all. "Get some rest, you two. That is an order. There will be guards around in case anyone tries anything."

[AnnaCat17]

Magnus looked at Mikah and Liah worried. "He will retaliate. If what Piper says about the people's loyalty is true then we should be prepared to leave and quickly. Their king is being pousoned and i bet by him. When the king dies everyone knows that mayhem will break loose. "

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Liah nodded. "We will be ready. But we will not show that we know about it and are prepared to move. We," she lowed her voice just so Mikah and Magnus could hear, "grab Piper and bring her with us as soon as something happens. We figure out where to go later. Mikah, for now, just do your best to win. If possible, kill Ash, but make sure you only do it in the terms of the contest. Once it is done, we need to be wary of retaliations."

"My best guess is that it is someone, possibly someone competing, who wants the king dead. Who wants to rule themselves. I would not put it past Ash to poison him. He seems like he would do anything to be king." Mikah glanced at the entrance of the healer's hut as he spoke.

[AnnaCat17]

Magnus nodded. "Ill speak to her now so that she isnt surprised. Mikah, do not leave Liah's side unless it is for the competition."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Mikah nodded, but Liah shook her head. "I canhandke myself. When Mikah's not doing a competition, he needs to be resting. Any physical movement is already pushing the limit, and I don't want either of you to hurt yourselves trying to protect me. Get better. Don't force yourself to do anything unnecessary. I can have other guards watch me. As for now, I am going to watch the end if the competition."
Mikah got up to leave. "I am going to come. I want to see it."
Liah sighed. "Fine."
They left the healer's hut after Liah told Magnus to stay in bed, leaving a few guards outside of the door. They went to watch as the last few people caged their animals, and figured that the announcer would say who had lost.

[AnnaCat17]

Already a crowd had gathered around the cages, watching as Piper examined tge animals. Three of the cages were empty and one contained a dead deformed monkey. Finally piper stopped and began to whisper to the woman. Magnus stood beside Liah but watched as Ash moved among the people, whispering in their ears.

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Liah glanced at the man, Ash, but then looked back to Piper as if she hadn't seen anything. She knew Magnus would keep and eye on him. More people watching him would look suspicious.
Mikah was watched Piper, wondering who's was what. Who had killed the monkey? That was against the rules. Who had come up empty?