Startled by his sudden appearance, Anna abruptly turned and the two were left facing each other closely, ocean blue eyes peered directly into caramel ones.

Noticing their closeness Aegon retreated a few steps and awkwardly laughed while a stunned and somewhat scared Anna stared at the blue eyed young man.

“Aegon, are you retarded?”

Aegon’s words got caught in his throat.

“You really scared me, dammit!” Anna added while refocusing her gaze on the wagon.

“Well, that just means I was right, you didn't have your guard up, we aren't inside the martial house anymore, you can't be that absent minded out here, I was testing you and you were found…lacking.” Aegon responded with his sly smile.

Shifting her gaze from the wagon back to the young man’s face and seeing that all too familiar expression Anna chose to keep silent and turned back to study the wooden planks that separated her from whatever was inside the wagon.

[Ignoring me now are we?] Swallowing his own pride, Aegon chose to play it cool.

“So are you going to tell me what’s going on or not?”

“Are you dumb?.” Turning to face Aegon again she added exasperatedly. “Can’t you see what I’m doing?”

Aegon remained silent for a while, his eyes were piercing and calm without a hint of emotion. Staring into that silent young man and rethinking her last few actions Anna actually started feeling ashamed.

“I’m sorry, I… was rude.”

Aegon’s expression eased and turned back into his usual smile.

“It’s okay, it happens to the best of us.”

An awkward silence returned, Anna was struggling to reconcile the image of the eternal clown Aegon with this unemotional one from before, as for Aegon…

[I can’t ask again can I?]

Turning on his feet he made for the campfire, yet before he could take more than a couple of steps Anna spoke from behind him.

“I'm just curious.”

Turning to look back at the girl she continued.

“Just think about it.” Taking a step back as if to look at the bigger picture she added.

“What could possibly be so important that they need a small army of cultivators to protect?”

Shrugging, Aegon said. “I don’t know, we could be carrying gold for all I know, maybe some cultivation resources or something, does it really matter?”

“So we agree, it’s something important right?”

Aegon simply nodded.

“Then, why us? Why hire tons of low level cultivators to protect the caravan?”

“Probably because we are cheaper, and it’s not like higher level cultivators are jumping at the opportunity to escort a caravan.”

A moment of silence ensued as Anna seriously pondered.

“Maybe you’re right, but that still leaves the question of what it is.”

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Turning to face the young man once more she added. “Aren't you curious?”

Looking at Anna’s innocent and driven expression Aegon couldn't help but inwardly sigh.

[Beautiful women really are the hard working man’s bane.]

“Yes, you could say that.”

A beautiful smile that Aegon had only seen occasionally seemed to illuminate the dark clearing.

“Great.”

Moving to the rear door of the wagon Anna placed her hand on the handle and pulled down and… to no one’s surprise, it was locked.

“You really thought that would work?” The derisive comment didn't take long to arrive.

Anna simply shrugged her shoulders. “It was worth a try.”

“So what’s plan B?”

Taking a moment to consider her options, Anna glanced around the campsite, her gaze settling on the group seated nearby.

“Let’s just ask for now.” She suggested, turning back to Aegon “Let’s ask around and see if anybody knows anything.”

Aegon nodded. “This plan B sounds like it should have been plan A.”

Rolling her eyes, Anna made her way back to the fireplace.

The boisterous atmosphere from earlier had somewhat subsided with only some sparse conversation as everyone started to tuck in for the night.

Reaching Roy’s side Aegon sat down in a leisurely manner but chose not to say anything.

Noticing his friend's strange behavior Roy suddenly and for no apparent reason felt uncomfortable.

“What?”

“What what?” Aegon asked, sporting his trademark sneer.

“Spit it out, what do you want? I know you want something.”

“Well…I was talking with Anna and we are kind of curious about what we’re carrying. Did you hear anything from the others?”

“Hmmm I don't think I heard anything, no.” Looking at the still smiling Aegon he knew what was coming.

With a defeated expression he added. “You want me to help you ask around right?”

Somehow, Aegon’s smile turned even wider and with a most innocent expression to boot.

“Thank you, you are a great friend.”

…

The very next day, as the wheels of the wagon rotated endlessly along the forest roads. Aegon, Anna and Roy sauntered around, casually striking up conversations with various members of the caravan.

Despite their efforts, no one seemed to know what they were carrying, even the wagon drivers seemed genuinely oblivious to their cargo.

“Something is fishy here.” Anna commented for the eighth time in the past fifteen minutes.

“Yup, I think I got that last time.” Aegon, who was resting his head on Kuro, the poor animal a makeshift pillow, snidely commented from the side.

Sneering as a response Anna turned to Roy, hoping for a more supportive friend.

Yet, the handsome young man was just like Aegon, laying on his side ready to fall asleep at any moment.

“Sigh.”

Turning to the stationary wagons nearby, her eyes showed inner conflict.

[This is definitely a bad idea.]

Still, knowing that wasn’t enough to stop her so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Getting up and dusting herself she made her way to the locked door of the wagon.

She reached her hand towards her knife but stopped hovering just above the handle, though that lasted for only a short moment before her eyes regained their focus.

Now, with a knife in hand, she placed the tip in between two planks of wood and forcefully tried to create a gap.

At first, wary of her surroundings she put very little force into it but as time passed and her frustration increased, so did the force she applied.

Crack

Small pieces of wood flew through the air and at the tip of her knife there was now a small hole.

Lowering herself, she looked all around, making sure no one was alerted and slowly approached the small hole, the interior becoming clearer just as slowly.

When she was barely a step away from the crevice she could already vaguely see several large boxes piled on top of each other in an almost careless or hurried way.

As she took that last step she could make out the outline of the boxes in a more clear fashion and could also make out their color.

Red.

Curiosity took hold of her and she made to approach even more yet was stopped by a thin and weak, almost powerless hand that grabbed her shoulder.

A chill spread through her whole body.

Slowly turning, in the midst of the darkness, an old man with thin limbs and a crooked back looked down at her with an unreadable expression.

An old, aged voice Anna had only heard once before broke through the surrounding silence. “What do you think you are doing?”