The mood in the house was somber. It wasn’t like the last big fight they had. Probably because there was no additional family member to consider. Breakfast was strangely normal, besides that.

“I’m going to have to head to the western boarder of Thrus again.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know, maybe a month. Bandit raids are getting worse. Beeson made a special request to the king, so they’re mobilizing us since Wollseeth has been safe for a while.”

“You’re taking Athenia with you?”

And there it was. The implication was obvious to Reese, and probably Nemi as well, though she paid no mind to it.

“I have too, she’s my second in command.”

Lilith didn’t say anything, no one did. It was like silence had engulfed the table.

As Fortus stood up, Reese moved to join him. His side was still sore from yesterday, but, sword training had to be done. He wasn’t expecting what came next.

“Reese, you don’t have to do any more sword training. I shouldn’t have pushed you as hard as I did.”

“But I…”

Fortus didn’t stay to listen as he walked out the door. Reese didn’t know what to make of the development. On the one hand, he was glad. No more being sore every day. But, on the other hand, he did want to learn. How could he get stronger if he didn’t challenge himself?

Then again, could he even get stronger? That same question, as if it was begging him to be defeated before he even started. He needed to think about something different.

His mother looked, ok all things considered. She wasn’t quite smiling, but she wasn’t crying. In fact, Reese couldn’t remember a time when she did cry.

“Mom, can I ask you a deep question?”

Lillith laughed, “I feel like those are the only ones you ask.”

“Do you… love dad?”

She was not expecting that. “Yes… With all my heart and soul, and I always will.”

“Even after what he’s-“

She knew he was concerned about her. What child wouldn’t be, but these questions were getting too advanced, for his years. “Yes. I knew what he was when I married him…” Yet, she needed to fill in the rest, why? Maybe because it was the first time she was asked with sincerity. “I knew what I chose going into this marriage. Honestly, it’s not the random girl that bothers me so much. It’s that one.”

“Would he be as understanding if you did it?”

A quick laugh. This really was not what she was expecting “Ha… What a weird line of questions. Children shouldn’t think about such things… But, probably. He’d think of it as an excuse knowing him.”

Reese didn’t really understand. The thought process seemed alien to him. Maybe it was just the way of this world.

“Reese…” Lillith stared at her son, as if looking deep inside him. Past who he was. “I sometimes forget you’re just a child. You should try being one for a while. As a woman who lost hers, we don’t usually get a second one.”

It’s worth mentioning, Fortus had neglected to tell his wife two things. He would almost certainly visit the red light district of Trillonia, and Athena would be sharing a tent the rest of the time. Of course, the red light district would be Beeson’s idea, if anyone asked Fortus was joining to keep him out of trouble. A statement which would be quite truthful, just not the whole truth. As for Athena, well, tents were in limited supply, and there was always… steam, to blow off. It wasn’t the first time for either. Obviously.

Time has a way of sneaking up on everyone, months can go by without realizing it. Mabel had come to visit for several weeks; and the uncertain child was quiet, even quitter than Meerlet. But curious about almost everything. Nemi pushed her to open up, but of course, that didn’t work well. So she began bullying her ever so slightly, which made it even worse.

Fortus would eventually come back, and so would Athenia and one other. At the time no one knew, but eventually, knowing her own body Athenia would come to suspect.

As the last days of summer came, Reese found that he had quite a productive season. He had tried new ideas for enchanting, built several new concepts. The book he had was very useful, at first. But it had started to show its limitations. He needed more materials, more ideas. Both of which were now in short supply. He couldn’t even earn any more coins because Charston had shut up the shop for a few weeks. He was, sick. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Reese what was wrong with him. But the symptoms made it obvious.

Just outside the house, in the nearby keep Fortus was being briefed on a matter of urgency that would change the course of their lives.

“Commander, we came across what looks like a bandit encampment not far outside of town.” Opening a giant scroll of a map, the solider known as Smargi pointed at a non-descript area about 5 miles from the town’s furthest building.

“You sure it’s an actual encampment, here?”

“Yes. They’re very well hidden to, couldn’t get an accurate count. Honestly, it was luck we spotted them at all. Edthan found what looked like remnants of a hunt that was cleaned up and hidden.”

The other soldier, Edthan spoke up next, “Yes, It was subtle. But it was clear something had been killed and butchered and the dirt turned over to hide the left overs. I found a small cutting knife too that was somewhat new. High quality so we didn’t think it was vagabonds. When I went to track the foot prints, I kept losing them. Their owners covered them up pretty well, and they double backed a few times.”

“But not well enough?” Fortus questioned.

“No, but it was close. We came to a brushy area, and honestly. We almost couldn’t see it.”

“You couldn’t see the encampment?”

“No, they camouflaged all of it. Looks like they’d only been there a day or two, but it’s hard to tell.”

Fortus paused to consider it all. It was very strange. The bandit encampment alone was odd. There hadn’t been large groups of bandits in the area for almost 15 years, at most two or three. It’s originally why the Keep was refortified and all the soldiers were placed in the village. To clean up the area. But really, the greatest concern was, “Bandits don’t normally hide that well.”

“You are thinking mercenaries, commander?”

“Mercenaries have no reason to hide unless they’re planning to attack. Last I checked no one was at war. Not Thrus, not the Stepas Planes, and not Wollseeth. So why would they hide like this?”

“Could be a rogue mercenary group turned bandits looking to sack a town?”

That logic made more sense than anything else, but that didn’t mean it made sense in general. Wollseeth was larger but while not poor it wasn’t particularly valuable either. Harvest was still a few weeks out, so there would be no crops or crop payments to steal, though maybe they were waiting. Add to all that, the keep here was one of the more fortified in region, used as a secondary base for the Stepas Planes provenance.

The logic got flimsier the more he considered it. Regardless, they’d have to be dealt with.

“Given everything here, we have to assume they’re hostile. But we can’t attack without knowing for sure. Let’s mobilize everyone, we’ll leave 5 behind, but the rest I’ll need them. You didn’t get a count?”

“No, but it’s probably less than 40.”

“40. That a bit worse then 1:1, not exactly comforting numbers. Ok, lets do this. I don’t want to wait till noon, we have no idea when they’ll attack if they’re planning on it.”

“Commander!” Both saluted and ran off to begin preparations.

Fortus stared at the map, trying to divine what was happening. The positioning was odd, it would have given them a quick route to Old Keep Road, but not much else. That would have made sense if their target was the mayor’s manner. But the town didn’t keep its gold there, it was in the “Bank” nearer the Inn. Mountain Pass would have been a better choice for rapid ingress and retreat if gold was what they were after.

If they were just bandits, the placement could have just been random. The place where the biggest bandit said to set down. But if he assumed they were mercenaries, they likely chose that point for a reason. It wasn’t particularly well fortified, a slight divot in the terrain, and some good brush but not much else. No real quick access to anything but the southern part of the town, like the mayor’s manor, and keep. Neither were good targets. Maybe capture the mayor for ransom? No, there’s no one to pay for him.

Which wasn’t an insult to the mayor, he just had no family.

“Why there?” he whispered. If there was a bigger target in town, he would have thought this a ruse for something else. This whole thing bothered him. But, he didn’t have a choice of doubting himself.

An hour of marching, and the squad of 25 soldiers and 5 knights, including the commander. He had left 4 soldiers and one of his knights behind, just in case. Though, depending on what happened it may not have mattered. He was going to leave Athena behind, but she made a strong case for coming along. The fact was, if he was wrong and this was a ruse, it wouldn’t have mattered.

As reported, physically the bandit encampment wasn’t particularly big, but it was clear its occupants weren’t run of the mill hired blades. The swords and bows they had where not the cheap like you’d fine on a run of the mill thieves. They looked more like the kind mercenaries would carry, skilled mercenaries at that. They all appeared to be enchanted too.

This was going to be a hard battle. They had two scorpions, a little reconfiguration, and they could be fired rapidly. With great stealth they were setup along the perimeter. Most of his soldiers were equipped with arrows and short swords. They would strike from a distance, hopefully with enough surprise and drop the bandit numbers to a 1/3.

He considered just wiping them out right then. Along with the bows, a few quick Fire Bolts, and Explosive Bolt spells and they could be dropped in seconds. But, if they weren’t hostile, he couldn’t do that.

Fortus approached the hidden encampment, his own forces ready to spring. A single bandit meet Fortus’ eyes, and smiled. Of course Fortus returned the smile. “Good morning, I’m Fortus, commander of the knights in this village. I’d like to talk about your encampment here.”

“Oh? I’m sorry we didn’t think there was anything wrong. I guess our camouflage gave you some concern. We’re just some freelance mercenaries on our way over to Hispoge to give them support.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Fortus didn’t like this. There was something wrong with self-proclaimed mercenary’s behavior, he was too nice. Despite his open appearance, it was clear he was on guard with no real openings. He was expecting a fight.

“Indeed, well, we need you to open this encampment up and move on. I’d like to talk to your leader or commander first.”

“Of course, we complete understand if you’d like to come in and talk to him.”

It was clearly a trap. Behind the foliage he could see some movement, should he order his men to open fire now, maybe he could push this a bit further.

“Why don’t you have him come out and talk to me?”

“Sure, sounds good.” The mercenary turned quickly.

Fortus saw through the technique. A very high-level shadow technique that would mask your position while you used flash step to charge your opponent. By instinct alone he raised his sword to block the incoming strike. A quick parry, and thrust to the neck would leave the bandit mercenary to bleed out.

Without even needing to give the order, his men opened fire on the encampment. Within seconds, the enemy forces were halved, and then dropped further. They bolted out in random directions, targeting any soldiers they could along the way.

A few of Fortus’ soldiers where hit. Athenia, moving slower than usual, took a hit in her shoulder with an arrow. She returned the hit with a hit of her own, to the same passing bandit’s side. The female bandit continued to run, leaving her arm behind, only to fall to the ground, bleeding out before getting very far. Turning Athenia traded blows with another female bandit, an ice skin human wielding a large war ax. The impact on her sword was enough to shatter it, even with her stone blade technique.

She didn’t relent though, letting the heavy blow carry her opponent forward she pivoted out of the way. Another blow as the man rapidly pick a short sword from his side, threatening to stab it right into her belly. The same belly that she could feel was slowing her down. It was only by luck one of her comrades let lose an arrow that took the large man down.

The battle was over. In barely a minute, 37 bandit mercenaries were killed and a small number escaped. Minor casualties where on Fortus’s side, but everyone survived, barely.

Athenia looked at the arrow in her shoulder, before considering her belly once more. This wasn’t the kind of job she should be doing right now. The more she thought about it, this whole town just wasn’t worth it or where she wanted to be right now. She needed to leave, find somewhere else. Maybe work in a big city as a guard. Trillonia and the Vallhorn were always looking for people. She’d even be able to see Fortus occasionally, her bed would no doubt be warmer than the Red Light District.

“Athenia, you ok?”

She smiled, how could she not. He was the father of her child, both of them, she couldn’t help but love him. Even if he could never, or would never return that. The warm smile on her face, and the thought of a future with Fortus away from here was the last thing she thought as her mind shutdown.

The dying one armed bandit had let loose one last arrow of spite from a hidden crossbow. She would die, but would take the one who killer her with her. The arrow had moved quickly and silently, piercing the back of her head and severing her brainstem instantly before coming out the other side near her nose. That brief moment she let her guard down was all it took. For what little these words will be worth, it was quick.

A follow up arrow from an archer finished the dying bandit mercenary, while Fortus ran to his second in command.

“ATHENIA!” Fortus yelled before running to grab her seizing body. It was clear, there was no hope.

The squad would raid the encampment for information and supplies. Trying to pull anything that could explain who they were and why they were there. But, the group was skilled enough to leave no one alive that couldn’t escape.

The trip back to the keep was silent. Fortus insisted on carrying the body back with him, all the way to the infirmary, one of the soldiers following him in.

This soldier was a doctor of sorts. Tasked with doing a final record of any deaths or serious injury. He looked over Athenia’s body, making note of the various small scares and wounds. The hole in her head, well, a viewing was not going to happen. Watching her movements over the past few days, particularly today, he had suspicions of something.

His hand moved around her cold abdomen region, feeling for that something. With a sigh, the doctor made a note on his paper only to pause and stare at it.

She was only 10 or so weeks along so, it probably hadn’t affected her combat abilities significantly, probably. Despite the note he didn’t add it as a contributing cause of death. The child could have been anyone’s, but somehow the Doctor felt Fortus would know who’s it was.

Fortus’ face went pale as he read the report. “This last part, it’s accurate?”

“I didn’t cut her open to check, but yeah, she was pregnant. I’d say about 10 weeks, but could have been as late as 14, probably not earlier though.”

“Look, commander I know this is hard, she was your… subordinate. I mean it’s hard for me too, I also knew her. But I need to know what to do with her body. Does she have any next of kin? She never talked about it…”

“She didn’t have any family, at least none that I know of.”

“Ok. Well, I need to do something with her. If you don’t have objections, I can cremate her. Since she died in the line of duty, I can request to have her remains entombed in Tuhmaamol.”

“I think…” Fortus had to actually think. Athena never discussed what should be done after her life ended. She never thought that far ahead, though, to be fair she was still young.

Was.

That point still echoed in his head. Athena was gone. He cared about her, maybe not quite loved, but close. Remembering a time, they shared a tent, she said that she never really cared about honors. The whole reason she wanted to be a knight was to help others, so they wouldn’t have to go through what she did. It’s why she used to always volunteer for busting illegal slavery rings.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized, she wouldn’t have cared what happened after. So, it was his decision alone. In some twisted sense, he had controlled her life since he rescued her over a decade earlier. Athenia had trusted herself to him in full, after she chose to become a knight she outright demanded to be placed under him. In the same twisted way, maybe it was right that he would choose her final resting place.

“I think she would agree to that. Please have it done.”

“Yes commander.”

Fortus left the infirmary turned morgue. His body felt heavier then when he was carrying hers. Deaths were never easy, as a knight you were expected to make decisions that would lead to death. You just always hoped it wasn’t for your side. This one though, this death was different. As a knight commander, It shouldn’t have been but it was.

Outside the windows of the keep, the sun fell low. It was getting late, he could have gone home. He should have gone home. Instead, he went to his desk in the keep. A place he rarely visited. Some of the items recovered from the encampment were already waiting outside his small room. Intelligence gathered, mostly notes from his own soldiers, but a small numbers items were recovered. In particular was note that had bothered him when he first looked at it in the camp. His mind was preoccupied at the time, but he knew it was important.

The note was partially burned like they wanted to get rid of it. There might have been another page, but all he was the one. Thankfully the flame hadn’t burned away any of the writing or at least nothing important that couldn’t be discerned. As he read it, it felt odd, like it was coded. Those mercenaries seemed to be headed to the town for someone, though who, was anyone’s guess. The phrasing of it though, it chilled Fortus to the bone.

One sentence in particular, “Make sure the dead baby birds will chirp no more.” It was just like the kind of writing his brother used to make, Nimaus. A name Fortus hadn’t seriously thought about in over a decade, since his first daughter was born. It was the last time he had seen him.

Oh, he may have come up in conversation, his wife insisting he was the one that cursed him. But beyond that, he never had reason to suspect him of anything. Well, to be fair Nimaus was likely being controlled though their uncle Julius. At least, that’s what Fortus wanted to believe.

Years ago Nimaus had shown up to see his niece and make sure she was healthy. Even at the time, he couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t making sure she wasn’t a boy. Julius had been quite jealous of the rest of the family, and that poison had spread to Nimaus after he, ‘adopted’ him. Both were afraid of losing power. It’s why Fortus tried to leave his family and become a knight, wanting none of that.

But what if they got word of Reese’s birth? Fortus was technically second in line to lead the family. If Nimaus died before his son came of age, it would fall on him, and then eventually Reese. Most families in the world were egalitarian. It just simplified all this non-sense. But the Bronwyn house wasn’t. He didn’t know if Nimaus or Jullius was involved, but it would made sense if they were.

Fortus lowered his head and sighed, no matter what he did, he couldn’t leave his family name behind him. And it had likely cost the life of someone he cared for.

Back to problems of the present, he knew what to do with Athenia’s body, but what about their daughter. He hadn’t interacted much with Mabel since she was born, not wanting to risk further damaging his relationship with his wife. But the child was his, and from what he knew she was turning out to be a good kid. He could just have her sent to an orphanage somewhere. Carrsis was a mid sized city, and supposedly had an ok one. He could throw some coins the way of the local orphanage to ensure she stayed safe.

But the problem was you could never trust an orphanage. Twice he could remember breaking up illegal slavery operations running out of them. What happened to those kids… Not even criminals deserved that.

He couldn’t do that to her. There was always the chance Lilith would understand and be compassionate. Maybe he could convince his wife to let Mabel live with them. Regardless of the outcome, he had to try.

As he came home, the first thing Fortus noticed was Lilith sitting at the kitchen table. She seemed quite somber, unlike her usual chipper self. No doubt she had heard about Athenia. As she stared at him, it was obvious she was waiting for him to start the conversation.

As he looked around the house, the presence of Reese, and Meerlet gave him a moment pause. Reese would be wise enough to handle the conversation, but Meerlet was too young.

“Reese, can you take Meerlet up to her room?”

Reese knew something heavy was about to come down, something that probably didn’t concern him for a change. So he did as he was asked, and proceeded to listen to the conversation from his room, which was right above the kitchen table.

“Lilith, I don’t know if you heard or not, but Athena was killed earlier today.”

“I heard.” Flat, cold, completely unlike the Lilith Fortus knew.

As much as he wanted to break down and yell out his fillings to scream how much this was hurting him, he couldn’t. Lilith wouldn’t want to hear how the death of another woman was affecting him, particularly her. He had to remain calm and collected. Focus on the objective at hand, protecting Mabel.

“Mabel is going to need somewhere to live. I don’t want to send her off to some orphanage, they’d probably sell her off to some noble or as a slave. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Lilith sighed, she knew the conversation would come up eventually. In truth, she was glad he had skipped over everything else first. “So you want to bring her here, raise her as your daughter, our daughter?”

“You’ve said in the past; a child shouldn’t suffer because of her family.” It was a dirty blow, pulling back the pain of Lilith’s own childhood to make the point. But, it was also necessary.

And true enough, she couldn’t counter it. “At least answer me this. Have you been faithful to me since the last time?”

“Yes.” His tone betraying no hint of his lie.

After a moment pause all she could respond with was “Why don’t I believe you?” Not believing the lie, despite its flawless delivery. But, it didn’t matter, the child didn’t deserve to suffer.

“You’re right, she doesn’t deserve that. We have the smaller room next to Meerlet’s. She can take that. I’ll try to treat her the same as Meerlet.”

Before he left to pick up his daughter, something was bugging him, and he had to ask, “Will you ever trust me again?”

“Depends. Will you ever stop lying to me?”

Back in his room, Reese was shocked. He wasn’t expecting to hear that Athenia had died. She was almost as skilled as Fortus. In the few sparing matches he had with her, she was so much faster than himself, and better at strength techniques then Fortus. A morbid curiosity left him wondering how she could have died, and who was better than her. The cold reality would not be known to him. A simple mistake, and dropped guard is what ultimately lead to her death. Life here was not the game he sometimes imagined it as.

Thoughts of Mabel came next, he barely knew his half-sister. Though, she was still young.

It didn’t take long to move the new child in. There wasn’t much to move, a handful of cloths was pretty much it.

Lilith wanted to be the one to talk to the new family member first, believing Fortus a bit too forceful. Even when he didn’t mean to be. “Mabel you’ll be staying with us from now on. Do you understand what that means?”

The young child nodded. She didn’t really understand, death was still a foreign concept even as it engulfed her life. Of Course, she knew her mother wasn’t going to come home again. But, did that really mean she’d never see her again? It was hard to get why, what dead meant. Her mother was rarely there. When she was, she was nice enough. She wouldn’t always accept hugs, but she would smile, and make her food. Would that mean she wouldn’t be able to eat any more?

Lilith couldn’t read minds, but she could tell the child was struggling. The only thing she could do, is all any parent can do, she hugged her new daughter. “It’ll be ok.”

Mable squeezed back. This person’s hug was nice. It wasn’t the same as her mother’s, but it was nice. Death, that meant her mother wouldn’t be hugging her anymore either. Instinctually, she gripped harder, not wanting to lose the current source of warmth she felt.

Dinner was a simple affair, just a simple cheese soup and some baked onions thrown together in the midst of the chaos.

Mabel sat at the table, unsure about everyone around her. She had seen these people before, they had watched her a few times, and weren’t mean to her. But there was something off about being there, and she knew she didn’t belong. Her mother wasn’t mean to her, but she was so focused on being a soldier and a Knight that it never felt she had time for her. Still, she already missed her mom.

Fortus was silent, his dinner half eaten, and bowl of soup grew cold even warm late summer’s night. The weight he carried; he’d never be able to put it down. No one else would know of his second child with Athena. It would be entombed with her in Tuhmaamol.

He looked at his wife the concern in her eyes was sincere, she had stopped trusting him a while ago, but she still cared. A tear rolled down his cheek as he thought about it. He was done cheating; he just couldn’t take this weight anymore.

Life goes on. We all settle into our routines. Sadness never really leaves us, but with work and time, other things bury it over, leaving divots in our hearts and soul.