"I never said Yehudit isn't yours." Liadan said, feeling her mouth going dry. "Damnit Aron, our family needs you too."

"No one acts like I'm needed, other than to earn the money. No other reason." Aron felt his heart breaking. "Now I know why Papa put all his efforts into the inn. He never felt like Mama wanted or needed him either."

"Your mother had at least one affair! I'm not running around on you." Liadan tugged on her ear and swore. "Can't we talk about this when Yehudit is safe?"

"I didn't say you were." Aron pushed his hair back. "There's not a lot to say but yeah. We can talk about it after I find Yehudit and bring her back to the keep. You need to go back now."

Liadan shook her head. "I can't go back without her."

"It would make me feel better if you didn't have to face any of these raiders. They could still be around."

"How do you think I feel about you and Yehudit facing them?" Liadan asked.

"because you have no faith in me. You fully believe I am not capable of protecting myself and my daughter," Aron said, trudging forward.

"I have faith in you but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you get yourself killed alone!"

"So you'd rather risk our children having no parents?"

"Then you go back!" Liadan snapped.

Aron glowered. "There's nothing here for me anymore. Goodbye, Lia," Aron said, heading off in a direction that did not lead to the keep.

Liadan punched Aron in the back. "Nothing? You have five children back there and you say you have nothing?"!

The air left Aron in a woosh. He stumbled forward. "Not one of them come to me for anything. I'm nothing in their eyes while they're everything to me. I should stay and be unhappy? I should stay and continue being emasculated on a daily basis? No, you know what? You're right. I'll take the children with me. We'll start over somewhere else." He turned again and headed for the keep.

"You're being childish!" Liadan shouted, exasperated. "Yehudit has gone off and is in trouble but you want to tear the family apart because the children never ask you for anything!"

"I was trying to help find her but you decided to tell me to go back to the keep. Make up your mind, Lia," Aron snarled. "And I'm not being childish. You started this line of discussion."

"It was your idea for us to split up." Liadan said angrily.

Aron shook his head angrily. Such selective or narrow memory. "Let's just find Yehudit and get back to the keep."

Liadan growled and stomped down the road.

Aron was far ahead of her, stewing. He couldn't figure out if Lia couldn't understand or simply didn't care how he felt. Nor did she seem to care...he shook it off. He had to concentrate on the task at hand.

Liadan did not completely understand, but she did care. She just thought finding Yehudit was more important than working out their marital problems at the moment.

Aron approached the village gate still silent as he walked.

When they reached the village, Liadan was ready to explode.

Aron made his way through the gate, horrified at the destruction that lay before him. They would never be able to rebuild this, nothing would be the same ever again. He stared at what was left of the inn, his father's legacy. For the first time, he was grateful his father was no longer here to bear witness to this. His failure. Aron lowered his head.

Liadan reached the village. She stared where the inn used to be.

"No." Liadan whispered, finding the bell from the lobby desk in the rubble. She picked it up and it dinged in her hand.