Stumbling back to the orphange, she was greeted by the Head Matron. Her graying-brown hair was pulled into a severe bun on the back of her head, her prayer gown was long and immaculate. 

Her sharp gaze fell upon Aelwhen when she saw her approach.

"Nevyah said that you were chasing away a suspicious man that was loitering in the area?"

Aelwyn opened to mouth to recount what she had seen, but the words seemed to stick to the back ofher throat, all she could reply with was, "Yes Mother Helena, it was just some drunk. nothing to worry about." the lie rolled seamlessly from her lips. 

Still she couldn't shake the sinking feeling that she had felt. 

Mother Helena's piercing eyes glanced from the young woman to the treeline. For a moment, Aelwyn felt as though she were a child again, about to be caught in a lie and was about to be punished for it. 

"I could stay here," Aelwyn said quickly, getting her attention. "Just to make sure he doesn't come back."

"You're too old to say here, Aelwyn." Said the Matron her voice firm. 

The two of them watched one another, as if caught in a kind of contest.

It was Mother Helena that broke first, stepping to the side, "You know where to go." he voice dropped, almost resembling something warm. 

Aelwyn grinned at her, "I knew you missed me." and she jogged up the steps. 

"Not so fast girl." The older oman's arm shot out blocking her from entering the building. "Staying here isn't free and I have sneaking suspicion that you plan plan on bathing here as well, payment is required. I know you have the coin."

Aelwyn gave her a look of faux innoence, "Whatever are you talking about?"

Mother Helena snorted, "Don't play coy girl, I know exactly what your occupation is." and she held out her hand. 

The younger woman smiled and shrugged off the mink fur cloak and placed it in her hand. 

The matron's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing, "This is a noble's cloak! Where did you get it?"

Aelwyn shrugged, "I found it, behind the brothel."

"This is way too much for just one night's stay and a warm bath."

"Use the other half as my danation to the All-Mother."

"And is the noble... aware that they "dropped" it?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Who knows, I found it." 

Mothe Helena stared at her unblinking for a moment before she clapped her hands together in prayer and said, "The All-Mother thanks you for your... generous gift. Sleep well tonight."

Aelwyn saw the slight smile on the older woman's face as she stepped aside to allow her to pass through. 

***

It took her nearly an hour for her to put the Boyce and Kaylor to bed and nearly twice as long to convince Sebbie that there were no monsters under her bed before she could retire to the attic where her old room was located. 

She paused the moment she opened the thin door and stared at the tiny room, a gentle smile gracing her face as she was flooded with memories. Some good and some bad. 

The orphanage had been her home from the day she was born. She had once asked Mother Helena who had brought her to the orphanage and at first the elder had told Aelwyn not to ask questions. 

But after years of pestering, she finally cracked, the Matron had told her that she had been brought here by an attendant from the Twilight still covered in mother's blood and that her mother had no use for a child at the brothel. 

Aelwyn had tried to see her mother but her mother had not wanted to see her. Telling a young Aelwyn at the time that, she had no intentions of having anything to do with her.

And that was that. Aelwyn did not call upon her again, even when the brothel owner had sent word that her mother lay in her deathbed searching for her, she did not go. 

This was the place she called home, where many of her good memories were stored but was also where her life of thieving truely began...

Aelwyn could still remember the tax-collector knocking on the door and Mother Helena ordering the children to stay in their rooms and not come out until she said so. It wasn't until she was fourteen did her realize why they had to hide. 

She had been upstairs when she heard the sound of glass breaking from downstairs and it was her curiosity that led her down the narrow staircase to investigate what was going on. 

She heard the muffled cries first. She could still remember the way her skin began to become cold and clammy as a weight settled in her chest with each footstep that brought her closer to the kitchen. 

Mother Helana was bent over the kitchen table, her many skirts were bunched up around her ribcage, a deep gash slashed across her forehead. The tax collector, a ruddy skinned blond man with more fat than neck stood behind her, his cheek red with exersion. 

Aelwyn was no longer a child. She knew what was transpiring, had heard about the activities between adults from the courtesan-in-training, but she was still rooted to the spot. 

All Aelwyn could do was stare in horrified confusion until she let out a small gasp of pain and she jumped, the floorboard creaking under her feet. 

The man paid no-mind but Mother Helena's bat-like ears seemed to heard everything and her eyes snapped up to meet the young girl's.

The cold fire in her eyes soften if only a fraction before it returned, fiercer then ever. Her mouth forming a singular word, "Go."

It took everything in her to turn around and climb back up the stairs, but somehoe she had done it. She had no idea how much time had slipped past when she heard the door to her room creak open and the older woman came striding in. Her clothes had been changed and the gash on her head had been bandaged. 

Aelwyn had burned with shame as she stumbled through an apology that felt ashen and hollow even to her with Mother Helena took a seat beside her and gathered Aelwyn up into a bone-crushing hug. 

Aelwyn remembered sobbing as Mother Helena's nible fingers brushed through her hair, catching in the wild red curls. She had let the young girl cry until she could no longer. 

It was Mother Helena that broke the silence first, her voice far gentler than it had ever been before, "Endure Aelwyn. We must endure to keep those we charish safe."

"Why?" was the only thing Aelwyn could choke out at the time and she could still remember the sad smile that had graced the old matron's face back then. 

"If not I then who?"  

"The All-Mother tells us to fight! Fight those who wish to harm us!"

She brushed a tear from her face, "There are more ways to fight than with violence. You will understand when you're older." 

After that, she decided to not let the Matron bare the burden alone. She found it easier to steal then make an honest living; guilt forgotten when she dropped the bag of jewelry and coin on the doorstep of the tax collector. Even now, ten years later, Aelwyn continued to pay off the collector. 

***

As the night drew farther, the strange man didn't show himself again, nor did he come shambling from the forest in search of the theif that stole his cloak. she could feel herself letting her guard down until she drifted off into a dreamless sleep...

Blissfully unaware of the horrors that was growing all around her.