Disclaimer: includes physical violence ________________________

Today was not as nice as yesterday. The clouds quickly loomed over the village and seemed to hint ominously that something bad was about to happen, or because it was about to rain. Instead of waking up naturally, she woke up to the shrill screech of a banshee.

"Why do you have to go already?!" It yelled.

"I have very important business to take care of. I'll visit again when I have time." A deeper voice replied.

"But I barely got to play with you..."

"I know but it's super-duper important that I leave right now. Why don't you go play with your sister?" Irwin slyly suggested.

He did not just say that, Aris thought.

In a matter of seconds, something heavy and loud fell on top of her sleeping form. Aris closed her eyes again and tried to keep from moving to convince Sae she was still sleeping. As an offensive tactic, the child pulled her older sister’s eyelids open.

Aris groaned as she rolled over onto her back and sat up. "You're eleven years old. Grow up a little won't you?" 

"Why?" Sae said, tilting her head to the side.

Her older sister sighed and nudged her off of the bed. Slipping on her flats, she stepped outside to see Irwin with a bright smile she itched to slap off on his face. 

"When you said you would leave early, I didn't think you would be so rude as to wake me up as you did,” she said, crossing her arms.

"Under normal circumstances, I would've just let you sleep your life away," the knight explained. "But I'm here to ask you to come to the capital with me."

She frantically turned around to see where Sae was, only to find her fixing the covers on the bed. Letting out a sigh, she gently pulled the door closed. "We've been over this. It's not-"

"-time yet, right? Well, when is it time? You say you’ve made so many plans but you haven't really even thought about acting on them," Irwin retorted. There was no anger in his tone, but Aris could tell he was on edge.

There was an awkward silence.

"Look, the prince's engagement party is in three days. I figured it was the perfect time to sneak you in. You could pose as a countryside relative and come as my plus one. And you and Sae could stay at my house until you've completed what you needed." 

Apparently, awkward silences were becoming a habit. 

“I didn’t want to rush you—” he scratched the back of his neck. “—but this is important to me too. It’s been eight years…”

"I'll think about it," Aris finally said, breaking eye contact.

A smile returned to her friend’s face. "The window of opportunity closes by eight o'clock tonight. That's when I'll be back in town to check on the pastor's autopsy."

“Since when were deceased clergy members under your jurisdiction?”

“Since I volunteered for this one so I could come see you.”

He should be more careful with his words, Aris chastised in her head. If it were anyone but her were to hear, they’d get the wrong idea. 

She then nodded and waved him goodbye. They've never said ‘good luck’ or ‘stay safe’ to each other. With their skill set, it would be hard not to. And neither one of them wanted to acknowledge the fact that they were still human, and could get hurt. So she watched, her gaze lingering on Irwin's retreating form down the hill as he pulled up his hood. 

For the next few hours, Aris went on and about a normal day, except she couldn't get what he said out of her mind. As she was cutting vegetables for lunch, she absentmindedly sliced her hand with the knife. She calmly moved to the sink to wash off the blood and grabbed a white, cotton wrap from the cabinet above. That was another thing about Aris. No matter how much pain she could be put through, she knew reacting emotionally wouldn’t change anything. Sae on the other hand, Sae had no reason not to react normally. She saw her sister wrapping a bandage around her hand and ran to her, worried. The child had no idea what the older girl had gone through for her– but even if Aris had been an only child, her current circumstances wouldn’t be all that different. At least with Sae, she had some semblance of a complete family.

________________________

Today wasn't a day they would normally go into town but Aris wanted to wrap things up before she left, possibly for good. She had made the decision long after Irwin had left and Sae had gone to take a midday nap. She stayed in the living room with her thoughts forbidding her from doing anything else. This year Aris was nineteen, next year twenty, twenty-one after that…

Irwin was right, she decided. She wouldn’t stay young forever and no matter how long she spent biding her time, the world wasn’t going to wait for her. 

Her first stop was the bakery. Not that she never needed it, but Grammy always offered to watch over Sae so that Aris could have some time to herself. She would never forget the first time she was brought to the village. They had no money and Irwin's father had left them unattended for the first few hours. Grammy, with the big and sympathetic heart she had, cooked several dishes for Aris and heated up milk for Sae. She later sent them off with some freshly baked buns and a spare blanket for the newborn. Then Aris headed to the library to talk to Julie. After staying in there longer than she meant to, they finally left as Aris let out an exasperated sigh.

"Why do I even bother with her? She talks too much," she asked no one in particular.

"And you talk too little. That's why you bother," Sae retorted cheekily.

Yeah, we're sisters all right, Aris thought.

Their very last stop was Lincoln's office. The sign on the front said ‘sorry, we're closed,’ not that it ever said anything else. Aris left her sister at the town square to play with the pigeons one last time as she visited her friend. As usual, there were barely any lights on and the entire office felt stuffy.

"Lincoln!" Aris called out. "Are you alive?"

Lincoln came out from the back, his white button-down shirt wrinkled to death and dress pants covered in dust. His glasses were lopsided on his face and his hair looked as unkempt as always.

"You ask me that every time you visit. What if I wasn't?" Lincoln asked, smiling.

"Then I'd come back the next day and ask you the same thing," Aris smugly replied. “like friends do.”

"Ara, you are being unusually sentimental…did you hit your head?" Lincoln asked, seriously. She had never used the word ‘friends’ in daily conversations. He grabbed the stethoscope from around his neck and walked closer. “I suspect you have a serious concussion.” 

"I didn’t-"

The door to the office slammed open. The young doctor rushed to the front to chase away a heavily panting Julie. "I-I'm sorry. We're c-closed today-”

“And every other day,” the black-haired girl mumbled quietly. 

“-but I could issue you some powdered Praxeld or Aokus, on the house-" Lincoln rambled.

"No!" Julie yelled, taking a deep breath. "Some people just rode into town. They looked like they were knights from the capital."

"What?" Aris asked, alarmed. 

What are royal knights doing in a backwater town? It’s too early, Irwin isn’t back yet. How many of them are there? Could I take them all? Her thoughts wandered wildly. 

"Did they say what they were here for? Are they looking for someone?" She interrogated the younger girl.

"No, they just-" Julie stopped talking as Lincoln ran past her. Aris followed suit.

There was a crowd gathered at the bottom of the stairs to the church. Standing in front of the church doors must be the knights that Julie talked about. They wore clean silver armor that shone in the sun and dark purple capes flowed behind them. There were four of them in total, small for an expedition so far from the capital. The leader held his helmet in his hands while his subordinates kept theirs on. He was a little older than the average age for "middle age" but his hair only had a few grey streaks. He was tall and burly with a hardened expression on his face, one that seemed to have seen many battles. On the right of each one of their chests was the brooch of a crest of a noble house, Aris guessed. The closer she got, she could almost make out two crossed weapons with a purple and black shield behind it. On either side of that shield were silver angel wings. 

She tried looking through the crowd to see if Lincoln was there. She spotted him crouching down behind an abandoned cart selling flowers. The cart was tall enough that if someone were to kneel down, they wouldn't be spotted, yet it was close enough for someone to hear what they would say. Aris ducked her head and ran over to him.

"What are you doing?" Aris asked quietly.

Lincoln only turned and shushed her. Then he turned his attention back to the knights.

"We are the honorable knights from the capital, Nereys!" Their leader announced. "After a long and treacherous journey, we have come to this-" he paused as if he was trying to find the right word. "-fine town in search of someone."

So they are from the capital. Aris confirmed. This isn't good. But their stance is too shoddy for royal knights– except for the old man, I guess. Do they work for a noble house?

She looked towards her eavesdropping companion to see his reaction. His mouth was set in a hard line and he gripped the edge of the wagon so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Are you okay?" 

But the doctor kept his focus on the knights as if he had never heard her.

"There is a very generous reward for the return of Lycan von Sane and anyone who has any information on him," the leader assured.

There were murmurs in the crowd. Some were in awe of the action happening in their boring village and some were discussing how much of a reward there would be. And when no one spoke up, the leader's expression changed.

"So, no one knows, huh?" the leader shrugged. "Well, then I guess my men and I will have to start killing each and every one of you until someone talks."

Gasps and screams filled the crowd.

Would these so-called ‘honorable’ knights really kill innocent people? Aris thought, rage building up at the thought. They definitely are just some noble’s lackeys. 

When nothing happened, he ushered for one of his knights to take someone from the crowd. The woman he grabbed kept thrashing around as he pulled her by the arm to the top of the stairs. It was the late pastor's wife. She screamed and cried as some friends of hers pulled her other arm, trying to drag her back into the crowd. Her children rushed towards their only parent, unable to hold back their tears, and begged the knight to let her go. It was no use.

As she watched the scene in front of her, she asked Lincoln, "should we do something?"

When there was no answer, she looked over to the spot where Lincoln had been, only to find that he was gone. She frantically looked around for him while keeping her crouching position. She found him getting ready to stand on the fountain in the town square. Aris could only watch from her hiding spot at what he was going to do.

Like a dashing prince, Lincoln tried to clear his throat to get the attention of the knights as he stood above the crowd. Except Lincoln was not a prince, nor was he dashing. He began choking on his spit as the knights and crowd turned to look at him in confusion. Aris facepalmed at the scene and considered dragging him away, trying to play his interruption off as a case of temporary insanity. 

When it recovered, Lincoln properly cleared his throat and made eye contact with the leader of the knights. "L-looking for someone?" 

The leader put a smile on his face, though fake or genuine, one wouldn't be able to tell. He slowly descended the stairs and made his way towards the thin man standing on the fountain. The latter jumped down from the fountain and met the man halfway there, an expression on his face Aris had never seen before. There was a certain air of innate elegance in the way he strode now that his normal chicken-like walk. Lincoln folded his glasses and hung them on the neckline of his shirt. There was a tense silence around them as everyone watched what would happen next.

"Still working for the old man, I see," Lincoln remarked, his eyes briefly darting to the coat of arms on the knight’s chest.

"Soldiers never truly retire, Young M-"

Lincoln cut him off. "Was that threat really necessary?"

"We were only making sure," the leader replied, putting a hand on Lincoln's shoulder. “You must know I was never going to hurt anyone.”

The younger man gave him a look of suspicion. "How did you find this place?"

"Luck."

"I know your skills, but you've never been lucky, General. Besides, luck is not a thing, it's a matter of 'what ifs' and possible circumstances."

"That's our Young Master, as sharp as always," the general mock-complimented.

While Aris watched their interaction, more and more questions began to pile up in her bewildered mind, all leading to one.

Just exactly who is Lincoln Ashton? 

"I'll go with you, General. Just don't hurt these people," Lincoln reasoned, his voice betraying his exterior confidence.

The older man bowed and gestured for his knight to let go of the widow. Another gesture from his wrist and the knights fell in formation and descended the stairs. The general led his knights towards theihr horses to prepare for departure. Aris took the chance and rushed over to Lincoln to try to pull him away. To her complete dismay, he didn't move a bit.

"W-what are you doing?" Lincoln asked, frightened.

"Getting you out of here. They're distracted so they won't notice if you-"

"They'll just find me again, now that they know what I look like," he explained in a sad tone.

"So you're just going to let them take you? You'll die!" Aris whisper-yelled, getting angrier.

Lincoln let out a hopeless laugh. The general came back over, eyes trained on Aris. "Who might you be, Miss?"

She turned to him sharply, eyes filled with anger. The older man looked taken back for a second, a startled look on his face at the strong hostility.

Lincoln interrupted before she could say something she would regret. "No one of importance. L-let's go."

Aris looked at her friend with a conflicted expression as he walked away. He turned back to look at her as he walked backward towards the horses. He waved his casual wave, one that she was accustomed to seeing every day over the years, with a big smile showing all his teeth. However, his expression looked as if he knew what horrible situation fate had in store for him. To no one's surprise, he tripped over a rock and fell into the horse. He laughed at his foolishness as the knights regarded with him an eye roll, but Aris couldn't join in on his laughter. Lincoln had admitted he was a wanted man and if a general himself would come in person to see his arrest…what would happen to him when he was returned to the capital?