Sara returns...

Nyssa liked her bed. She'd spent years not sharing it, and while she did enjoy the warmth of waking up beside Sara, she'd been comfortable years with the soft sheets all to herself. It was the second most luxurious place in Nanda Parbat, after her father's room.

She woke up, shifting slightly under the sheets. Her uniform, and many spares, were hung up to the side, and save for a few embarrassing dreams, she'd done her best to put her earlier exposure out of her mind.

And then she realized someone was beside her. Nyssa sat up, sighing in relief to see Sara. She was naked, but in of itself that was hardly unusual in her room.

"Ta-er al-Sahfer," Nyssa said. "I'm glad you're back. I hope you haven't been avoiding me, I thought it was the best response to the situation."

Sara turned to face her. Nyssa hesitated.

Admittedly, Sara still looked as good as ever. Still, there was a little dust on her chest, and her hair looked slightly tangled.

"It's been a week," Sara said.

"I did wonder," Nyssa said. "Where were you?"

"Where you left me," Sara said.

Nyssa paused. "You should have been able to escape..."

"I could have!" Sara said. "But the camp of assassins found me."

Nyssa hesitated. Oh. She hadn't considered that.

Sara looked slightly flustered, more than anything. She pulled her legs up onto the bed, and sat up over Nyssa, eyeing her with... it looked more like hunger than anger.

"Are you okay?" Nyssa said.

"They fed me," Sara said. "They recognized me the first night, so they weren't going to hurt me. They just moved their camp so they could spend all day looking at me, and inviting their friends when they passed to look at me, so everyone could see every bit of me. And they found your outfit. They gagged me with your panties when I kept arguing, and burnt the rest, so when I got free I had to walk all the way back her stark naked, walk past the sentries stark naked, walk through the front doors stark naked, and walk all the way up here exactly as you see me."

Nyssa hesitated. Somehow, though, Sara still didn't seem angry. Nyssa was glad of that, not that she'd have blamed her. That hadn't been the punishment she'd planned.

"I'm... sorry, Ta-er al-Sahfer," Nyssa said. "I didn't imagine any would... if you can identify them, I can see that they face some consequences for League-inappropriate behavior."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Sara said. "See, I remember a certain someone told me about a certain League tradition, that seems to apply in a situation like this..."

Nyssa hesitated. Then, rather suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Sara..."

"It applies, don't you think?" Sara said.