[peral]

Ayeth laid her small hand upon Saeryn's arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," she assured the girl.

She looked into the other girl's eyes and she saw fear. She, Ayeth, knew what fear was, but it was a different kind of fear mirrored in Saeryn's eyes. It was a fear of death. Ayeth had only known the fear of losing someone and being left alone, but this was different. This was a fear that Ayeth prayed she would never have to experience herself.

"If ever you need a friend," she whispered, "I'll be there for you." Why was she saying this to a girl she had met less than an hour hence? Giving her loyalty and friendship to a person she hardly knew. She, Ayeth, wasn't strong, hardly able to protect herself let alone another person, so what had possessed her to say that? Yet she thought the glimpsed a shadow of gratefulness in Saeryn's eyes and she felt better once more.