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| Upon entering the room, Kitty was happy to find Udaran still awake and talking to Ubergard. | |

| "Kitty? Ashasha? What is it?"

"Ashasha has something she wants to tell us. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, I do. Let me sit down please. This isn't easy."

Udaran motioned to the chair and sat up anxiously. | |

| "She's here. Well, she's not here at the moment, but I know who you're looking for."

Kitty corrected, "You KNEW who we were looking for before, didn't you?"

"Yes. I did. Her name is Shabira. She is our Herb witch." | |

| "WHAT? But, why didn't you tell us before? I don't understand!" Udaran asked.

"Shes... very special to us here. We NEED her. I need her. I raised her you know. Well, me and an old lady who died a couple of years ago. But she's like a daughter to me. Understand, she's the daughter I never had."

"I see, but why? We're not here to take her away from you!" | |

| "Oh, but you are. She doesn't even live in the house now! She moved out when her teacher died and moved into her hut a little way down the road. She cares for us though. She's very skilled, did I mention? Without her I'll be ruined. And now you come offering her a fortune. How long do you think she'll stick around here when she has the means to leave? She always talks about wanting to travel Skyrim. She's always wandering in the wilds. She'll leave us, and we'll be lost."

Lady Ashasha appeared to age in front of their eyes. Not a physical change, but the strong, willful leader of the Cathouse no longer looked strong. She looks old, Kitty thought. | |

| "Ashasha, you know that's not for you to decide," Udaran stated flatly, but with no malice in her voice. "Shabhira will make that decision. But it's her decision to make, her life to live! If she leaves you, she would have done so anyway eventually."

"You don't understand. These girls are MY life. We need her!" Ashasha fairly wailed.

"Pardon me Ashasha, but I don't think you do," Kitty interjected. | |

| The old Khajiit looked up, her eyes wet.

"Did you see Ja'ra?", Kitty continued, "She worked wonders with S'uzi down there. I bet she could replace Shabhira without much fuss."

Ashasha considered a moment. "But," she began, then paused. "She did well, didn't she?" | |

| At this, Udaran had to ask, "What? Who's Ja'ra? Who's S'uzi?"

"Nothing much, accident downstairs," Kitty explained, "an accident that was handled quite well I think."

Ashasha nodded. "But I'll still lose her."

"Maybe. But how much sooner if she found out you'd kept this from her?" Udaran asked. | |

| "You won't tell her?"

"There's no need. We came here to find her, and we have. If it took a few hours longer than we'd hoped, what difference does that make?"

Ashasha nodded and stood up. "Thank you. All of you," she looked at Kitty. "You're good people."

Kitty hadn't the heart to tell her how wrong she was. | |

| "I'm going to send for K'rris to bring her back right now. With luck she should be here within the hour. I'll send her right up when she gets here," Ashasha stated, and then with a shrug of her shoulders, her stately bearing returned and she strode out of the room without looking back. | |