It hurt, that was the first thought that came to her mind. The needles pressed against the thin skin of her shoulder and a muffled his of pain escaped her throat. Her first instinct was to pull away but she resisted instead tensing with her nails digging into the palm of her hand. It made her eyes water and the hisses turned to cries as she bit down on the leather struggling to breathe between each pained sound.  Gwen could smell her skin burning as surely as she could smell his and knew he would need to be healed.  It was nothing compared to what it could’ve been she imagined had he used an actual brand. Tears sprung up in her gray eyes but they did not fall, she would endure as any mountain woman would.<br/><br/>When he stopped only then did she relax gazing at the half moon cuts in her palm. She’d squeezed so very hard she’d broken the skin in several places and there was still one more to go. Taking several deep breaths she resisted the urge to heal the source of pain knowing it would erase the marks as well. He had suffered as she had, healing it would be an insult that would not stand. Even after he stepped away to mix the cream the burning remained it was almost as though someone had pressed a burning coal to her shoulder every line agony. It would pass though and she would manage just fine.<br/><br/>“I won’t need more fuel to heal the burns on your hand Warlord.” She told him softly. “Healing takes only a small amount of energy if done correctly and the wounded area is not large. It should be a quick process just as the work on my shoulder was.” Gwen did not move from her kneeling position worried that the burned skin might crack and bleed thus slowing down the healing process. There was one more needle, one more mark to be placed and then this part of the ritual would be completed. The sorceress would've offered to help him mix the cream but she got the impression that it was expected the man do it himself despite the pain he was in. "Where do you want to place the second one?"