One fine day in the palace of Flamenco there lived a princess named Rinska who would soon be queen. Her mother had died on Tuesday and while her father the king spent the rest of the week (and it was now Sunday) trying to find a suitable prince to marry his daughter to, Rinska set about grieving in the way most teenagers do: lashing out.

                She pulled all the books off the shelves of the royal library. She tailored the curtains to look like shredded washcloths. She filled the royal baths with so much soap it took the servants hours to mop up the hall and the baths. She cut her hair with her best friend’s knife and laid out all the strands in the garden for the birds. She did all manner of irresponsible, annoying things. Because, being a girl raised in relative isolation for the majority of her fifteen years of life, she knew nothing else.

                Heero saw her devolving. He demanded his knife back and she refused to return it. That, of course, led to yet another problem: what would she cut next, if her hair was already mostly gone? And so it was that Heero found himself climbing the vines on the outer wall of the palace in order to sneak past the guards, across the garden and up to Rinska’s bedroom window again.

                He threw a rock at her windowpane and missed. He threw another. That one alerted the guards but not the princess. Heero found himself dashing away from fired arrows and thrown spears. Lucky for him, his life as a peddler and thief had provided him with exactly the skills he needed to escape such an onslaught.

                The first arrow caught his pant leg. Heero squirmed until he ripped his pants and then took off full sprint towards the garden, a place with plenty of hiding spots and cover. Three guards chased after him while the others circled the perimeter to make sure no one else was sneaking onto the royal grounds. The spear nearly caught Heero by the arm but he turned, running backwards for a moment to see his pursuers, just in time to dodge the tip of the spear. He would have reached out and caught it for himself if he weren’t so off-balance. The archer took another shot and Heero’s brown eyes went wide as he realized he couldn’t completely duck to avoid the arrow speeding towards him.

                He screamed at the top of his lungs, which was why Rinska was now out the window over the lawn and tapping the archer on the shoulder. The archer spun around.

                “Princess!”

                “What exactly are you doing to my best friend?”

                “Your best friend is a scoundrel and a thief. He is not permitted on royal grounds. You know that.”

                “And you know better than to deny me what I want. I’ll sick father on you.”

                “With all due respect, little lady, your father won’t listen to a request to spare an intruder. It was an intruder, after all, who”

                “Stop!” Rinska screamed at the top of her lungs, clutching her frayed, uneven hair in both hands. She wept there, falling to her knees as the two guards who had caught a very frightened but otherwise uninjured Heero brought him over to the archer.

                “My apologies,” said the archer, with much more kindness now. Heero, still locked in the guards’ grip, was in a state of shock until the moment he heard Rinska scream and cry. He glared fire at the archer, struggling to get free, pure hatred in his eyes. The archer sighed. “Do away with him.”

                Rinska shook with tears in her crouched position on the ground but she was coherent enough to mutter, “Wait.”

                The two guards looked to one another for a moment, wondering who to obey. Then the archer pointed determinedly toward the palace gate and instructed them to drag the boy out by force regardless of what else was said. The princess is in no state to give orders, he reasoned. Both guards gave a tight little nod and headed off with Heero yelling for them to let him go.

                They did, tossing him into the dirt outside the gate.

                “Stay out, boy,” said one of them.

                “This is not your place,” said the other.

                “You idiots would leave Rinska crying like that just because someone higher-up told you to? Where is your honor?”

                The guards closed the gate on him. It slammed like the beat of his heart. It left Heero with the distinct sinking feeling of rejection. He got up, wiped himself off.

                And then he climbed up the vines again, making sure to be more slippery, less obvious, this time. They caught him again. He landed back in the dirt. He went around to the other end of the royal grounds, climbed the South Gate, scooted along the walls until the coast was clear and then sprinted back towards Rinska’s window. The archer had calmed her down by that point enough to get her to go back inside, but Heero could hear her sobbing. The window was open and the wind blew her pink curtains out into the dark like semi-translucent insect wings. Heero looked right, looked left. He jumped up, deciding since the window was open he didn’t need to alert Rinska of his presence. He climbed the stones deftly, as a goat does a mountain. He was practiced, perfect. He didn’t slip once, having done the task a multitude of times already in all sorts of weather. The chilly air of the start of fall made him shiver but did not false his grip on the stone.

                He pulled himself through the window, pulled the window shut. Rinska was still crying. She laid on her bed in a ball, weeping and sniveling. Her eyes were clenched shut and the tears wouldn’t stop. Her pillow and hair and face were all wet and sticky but she just kept on sobbing like a ball of despair, her dress dipping over contours. Heero was not surprised that she no longer wore her usual pink and purple attire. Now she was wearing black, which made her blonde hair stand out even more and her fair complexion look pale.

                “Rinska,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She twitched, recoiled, snapped her eyes open. But then she saw it was him and went back to crying.

                “My mom,” she said between sobs, “She was killed by an intruder.” She sniffed, “and now they think you’re an intruder.” She wiped her eyes. “But you aren’t. You’ve never been. I love you. You’re my best friend! How dare they compare you with someone like that, someone who can just… can just…” At this point she wailed uncontrollably and threw herself against Heero, who stayed steady and calm for her because he knew that’s what she needed right now.

                “I know,” he said, because saying something cliché like everything will be alright or don’t worry would have sounded preposterous. “I got you.”

                They stayed like that for a long time. Heero kept his steeled persona as long as he could for Rinska, but eventually he couldn’t help but shiver with unwept tears. The queen had been nice to him, showed him generosity when no one else did, and raised the finest girl Heero had ever met. It was true, he was in love with Rinska already, but now was not the time for that. Now was the time for grieving. And frankly, this was better than what Rinska had been doing before. Until now, Heero hadn’t seen her shed one single tear over the matter. She had only been angry, lonely, frightening. None of these things suited her.

                Even though he was relieved she was finally showing some emotion, Heero couldn’t help but think these tears suited her even worse. They sent his heart panging and tearing. He took a deep breath. Rinska had stopped crying. She leaned still against his chest, breathing in a ragged but calm way. Heero did not pull away from her until she did from him.

                “I’m sorry,” said Rinska. Heero reached out, tucked the longer side of her hair behind her ear.

                “Don’t be.”

                “I just don’t know what to do. Father is trying to find me a prince. A prince! Like this is the time for marriage.”

                Heero sighed, eyes fixed concernedly on her. He understood the king’s reasoning. A kingdom without a queen was improper, but on top of that were the old legends. They said that if a kingdom should ever go without either a queen or king for more than one month, tragedy will befall the people of that kingdom. It was superstitious nonsense, as far as Heero was concerned, but that didn’t mean the citizens thought the way he did. Even so, he couldn’t sit back and let Rinska marry the first guy her father found. That was bound to be a disaster! For one thing, she was in no emotional shape for a relationship of any kind, which reminded Heero of why he had come for a visit in the first place.

                “The knife,” Heero said. “I need it back.”

                Rinska glared at him, blue eyes wide and filled with the ire of betrayal.

                “I need to hunt. I can’t do that without it.” A lame excuse and entirely untrue, but Heero needed leverage to get it back. He wasn’t about to take it by force. He had to convince Rinska that it was necessary, that she had chosen to do so herself instead of succumbing to his demand.

                “You’re lying,” Rinska said, to Heero’s dismay.

                Heero sighed. “Please,” he said. He felt in his soul that he wasn’t winning this one. But he had to try. If he knew Rinska as well as he thought he did, then she was planning to do something very, very stupid with that knife.

                “You just don’t trust me with it. How long have we known each other? I’ll give it back when I’m done with it.” Rinska thought bitterly, because I’ll be with mother. You can pry it out of my dead hands if it means that much to you, Heero.

                “You’re right,” Heero said, “I don’t trust you with it.” He watched as she made a petulant face at her pillow, withdrawing into herself like a turtle. He rephrased, “Look. I just don’t want you getting hurt. You aren’t yourself right now.”

                “Yeah, well neither are you.” She rolled away from him, turning her back. “So go away. Come back when you’re the Heero I used to know.”

                Heero couldn’t bring himself to be angry with her, not with what she was going through. But he wasn’t going to allow her to do something as stupid as take her own life. “I’ll leave when you give me my knife back.”

                She stayed silent for a moment that stretched itself thin and then she said, “Well I guess we’re both stuck, aren’t we?”

                So she really did want help. Heero pulled up a chair, his chair really, because nobody else sat on it, and he leaned over himself. He placed his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, scratching at his dingy brown hair.

                “I didn’t mean to cry on you,” said Rinska.

                “I didn’t mean to piss you off,” said Heero. And then, “I just can’t stand the thought of seeing you hurt.”

                “The guards didn’t hurt you, did they?”

                “Nah. They were rough but that’s expected.” Humorlessly, he added, “Besides, I still got in, didn’t I?”

                Normally at this point Rinska would have giggled, shot a cheesy jab at him and then they would have shared a good laugh. Not this time. This time all she did was turn back towards him so her back was facing the wall and her face rested in the pool of tears on her pillow from before. Heero raised his gaze slightly to see her staring at him.

                “What?”

                “You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?” The way she said it sounded like an insult, although Heero couldn’t understand why. Maybe it was her vocal tone, or maybe it was because she had kept glaring at him the whole sentence.

He decided to keep quiet.

“I feel like you feel like you always have to come rescue me or something. It’s kind of stupid, honestly. I have guards everywhere.”

But who will protect you from yourself, thought Heero.

“I don’t understand you.”

“Me either.”

They didn’t let go of each other’s gazes until an out-of-tune cricket outside decided to chirp right by the window. Heero turned away, stared out at the garden as it wafted in dull color back and forth in the night.

“Why’d you really come?”

Heero turned back to Rinska. She was staring at him in a contemplative manner, as if it was unfathomable for Heero to visit for any other reason than the one he stated, yet impossible for that reason to be the true cause for his arrival.

“I mean, really? A knife? One little knife?”

“Says the person who has an entire collection in the royal kitchen, all of which are far sharper than the one you’re keeping hostage.”

“Answer my question, Heero.”

Heero scratched the back of his neck and then crossed his arms. Rinska knew that gesture as his way of saying I really don’t want to tell you but since you asked I’ll answer you anyway. She had been hoping for that response. A little of the sadness coiling her heart loosened, only for a moment. Then it was replaced by nervous anticipation.

“What you’re dealing with,” Heero said, “With your mom and everything. I just couldn’t leave you alone. I couldn’t. You know, they threw me out the gates five times before I found a better way in tonight.” He would have added that the way she had been acting lately freaked him out too, but thought better of it. If he told her that, she’d put up a front to get him to back off and subsequently isolate herself even further. The fact that they were talking was a good thing. He didn’t want to ruin it.

Rinska cut the conversation short, rolled over and pulled the blankets up to her shoulder. She didn’t tell him to leave but she didn’t invite him to stay. Heero slept on the chair, found himself sprawled on the floor in the morning when a very irritating blue jay chirped by the window.

“When did I fall asleep?” He groaned, cracking his back as he got up off the floor.

Rinska was already gone. Heero dashed through the halls of the castle not caring who saw him. He lasted five and a half minutes before he was outside the front gates all over again with the same two guards staring down at him in contempt. He stared right back.

“Get lost, boy.”

“You get off on getting in people’s way or what?”

“I said,” the guard loomed over him, spear pointed and read, “Get lost, boy.”

Heero raised his hands submissively and walked casually away. His stomach growled. He tried not to think of it but honestly he couldn’t think straight on an empty stomach and he needed his strength if he was going to get back into the castle. Some petty thievery would do him wonders in the City Bazaar. Rich folk didn’t know how to keep their stuff from being stolen. It wasn’t the merchants you had to steal from. It was the snooty people who just bought something nice and shiny, people who were determined to keep that shiny thing on display on their person to flaunt their wealth. Jewelry fetched a pretty penny in the slums, which was exactly where Heero did his exchanges. Being such a practiced thief, it didn’t take him longer than an hour to walk all the way to the bazaar, yank a pearl necklace off a fat lady’s neck, sell that to one of his black market contacts and snag up some lunch with the winnings. He even had some money left over after he ate.

He made his way back through the city and down the path towards the castle. The two guards straightened themselves out rigidly as he approached, one of them giving him the deepest scowl Heero had ever seen on anyone in his life. He smiled at the guy and waved. The guard spat on the ground in response.

Well, he wasn’t getting in the front gates. The side entrances would most likely be guarded as well. So would the back. He could take the sewer system if he got really desperate. While Heero was contemplating all this, pacing in a wide arc around the wall that encircled the castle grounds, he bumped into none other than Rinska who, although cloaked, was entirely recognizable.

“What the heck are you doing outside the castle?” Heero squared his gaze at her, crossing his arms. Never mind the fact that he had spent the larger part of his morning trying to find a way inside the castle, a princess like Rinska wasn’t permitted outside the royal grounds. She could get in big trouble for something like that, not to mention throw the kingdom into a frenzy if someone recognized her. And they would recognize her. Her disguise was pitiful. Heero frankly thought it was a miracle she’d gotten outside the castle in the first place dressed so conspicuously. Sure, the cloak hid the shoulders and back of her dress and the cowl sewn into the hem shaded her face but you’d have to be either an idiot or completely uninformed not to know she was royalty wandering around in that expensive of a dress.

“I’m running away from home,” said Rinska.

All thoughts ceased inside Heero’s head. He made an indecipherable, nasally noise.

“My father thinks he can just brush off the fact that mom died but he’s wrong. I’m getting out of this kingdom.”

Heero searched her eyes for a hint that she was lying or joking. She wasn’t. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again and closed it again.

“Come with me,” she said.

“What the fuck are you thinking,” Heero whispered in a harsh tone that sounded more like a hiss than something from a human mouth. He pinched the bridge of his nose and saw that a passerby was staring at the both of them with a curiously titled head. Heero dragged Rinska into a shadier corner by the wrist, pressing her up against the stone wall so he could place himself between her and whoever decided to rubberneck.

He felt guilty when she squeaked in surprise as her back hit the stone wall a bit too forcefully.

“Listen,” said Heero, “What’s going on with you? Never mind, stupid question. My point is what got you thinking this crazy plan of yours was a good idea?” Realizing he hadn’t let go of her, he released her wrist, stepping back a half step. He was taller than she was, hoping to use that to his advantage if this became an argument. Not that he had ever intimidated her in his entire life, but he could hope.

She stared at the ground.

“Rinska, I’m trying to understand what’s going on in that head of yours. Please.”

“My father’s an idiot.”

“You already said that.”

“I mean he’s really an idiot. The biggest idiot in the kingdom and people are expected to follow his every rule and believe his every word just because he’s king. It’s stupid.”

“I get the feeling there’s more to the story than just that.” Heero in fact was wondering which specific rule the king had tried to get Rinska to follow that she didn’t want to follow. This wasn’t the first time they’d had a conversation like this. Rinska sighed.

When she spoke, her voice cracked. “He wants me to make an announcement that we found the guy who killed my mom.”

“Did you?” Heero had done plenty of digging already himself. His contacts in the slums and all over the other parts of the city had all come up with little more than rumors about who killed the queen. As far as he knew, nobody had any leads.

“Of course we didn’t catch him,” Rinska said, and it was obvious her resolve was failing her. She choked on her words for a while before she continued. “Dad’s just got some random scapegoat locked in prison. There’s no way he’s the guy that killed mom. He’s innocent! Yet my father expects me to go announce to the whole kingdom with a straight face that this is the guy who killed the queen, that he was the one who took mom away from me.” She took a moment to breathe, wound up sobbing anyway. “But I can’t do that. I can’t accuse someone of such a crime! How awful of a person would that make me? Why does my dad think this is okay? He’s heartless! Mom would be ashamed of him if she were still… were still…”

“Okay, calm down.” Heero looked around him, trying to be inconspicuous about it. With him standing over a crying girl in an alleyway, a few folk with concerned faces were inching closer. It didn’t matter whether she was royalty or not, the position he had put her in looked too sketchy for anyone in the neighborhood to care about her class. “Let’s walk and talk. Tie your cloak as far down as you can. Your dress is too ritzy to be seen in public. Someone will know it’s you.”

Rinska nodded, doing as she was told. She looked better, but it still didn’t hide the lacy trim at the bottom of her dress or the expensive boots she wore. It would have to do, though. Heero made a point to lead her out of the corner instead of drag her by the arm. The citizens left them alone after that, since they had seen the girl walk willingly after him.

“I know why your father is doing this,” said Heero.

“So do I. I’m not stupid. But I can’t do it.”

“I know.”

“I can’t go back.”

Heero sighed. They turned a corner. Rinska lagged behind, coming to a full stop eventually, which prompted Heero to look back at her.

“You think I should do it anyway, even when I know it’s wrong.”

“I never said that.” But he did think it and now he felt guilty. Not guilty enough to change his mind though.

“You might as well have. This route we’re taking is leading us straight back to the castle.”

Heero’s shoulders sagged.

“I knew it. You really aren’t on my side, are you,” Rinska scoffed. Her comment would have pissed Heero off if he hadn’t heard how pained she sounded when she said it. She really thought he was betraying her. Inside, that tore him asunder. He walked back to her, took both her shoulders in hand.

“Look at me, Rinska.”

She did not.

“Rinska, please.”

Now she raised her head. There were more tear streaks down her face than had been before. Heero felt his heart lurch.

“The reason isn’t because I agree with your father. It’s because there isn’t any other way to prevent a wide-scale panic in the kingdom. If people think the guy is caught then there won’t be as much risk of riots and the criminals already out there won’t get any bolder. It’s not about who the killer was; it’s about preventing even more tragedy.”

Rinska wrenched herself free of his grip. Anger boiled in her eyes. “That makes no sense!” She lost all composure, yelling at him in fury, “If that’s really what you think then you’re just as stupid as my father is! How can keeping the fact that we haven’t found who killed my mom a secret from the kingdom accomplish anything except allowing him to escape? We shouldn’t be wasting our time letting some poor guy take the blame while the real villain is out there somewhere, maybe killing someone else!”

“Rinska…”

“No, don’t ‘Rinska’ me. Lying will help prevent more tragedy? You can’t be serious, Heero. Lying is what causes tragedy in the first place. What kind of kingdom are we if we blame innocent people for the ‘sake of the kingdom’? If that’s what I’m expected to do as queen, then I want no part of it!”

Heero had no words. He only stared sullenly at her, wishing she would try and see things from both perspectives instead of just her idealistic one. He knew that wouldn’t happen. Rinska had been raised on privilege. She didn’t know what real tragedy felt like. At least, she hadn’t up until her mom died and from her actions so far she wasn’t exactly dealing with that very well.

“Why won’t you help me, Heero?”

It took a moment for him to respond. He bit back the harsh tone he wanted to use and instead replied with a blatantly softer voice. “I just don’t want you doing something you’ll regret.” What he wanted to say was I don’t want you doing something treasonous. He left it at that. For a time, Rinska seemed to contemplate this, albeit in a reluctant manner.

It didn’t matter that they were having this conversation though. She had already made up her mind. Whether or not Heero was coming with was up to him. She couldn’t force him to agree with her. She could still hope for him to take her side though. Her father was being ridiculous. Rinska suspected her mother’s death had everything to do with his recent decisions but she hadn’t said anything of the sort.

A woman came up to the two of them dressed in rags, her bonnet brown and ragged. Heero’s face stretched with worry.

“You’re the princess,” said the woman, snapping Rinska to attention. Heero stepped between the woman and Rinska, using himself as a shield.

“How much did you hear?” It wasn’t so much a question as a demand and Heero tensed with anticipation. If word got out of the king’s intentions to lie to the public, it wouldn’t matter if Rinska was a part of it or not. With the recent murder of the queen and the king suddenly revealed as a liar, the whole kingdom would rise up. It had happened plenty of times before in Flamenco. In fact, frequent uprisings against tyrannous rulers were a staple in the kingdom’s history. If this woman had heard everything, it would be dangerous to let her go.

“Not a thing, lad,” said the woman. Heero couldn’t quite read her expression. If he pried, it would look like he really was hiding something and the woman witnessing Rinska here out in public was bad enough as it was.

“Good then. I’m taking her back to the palace. Come now, princess.” Heero placed a firm hand on her shoulder, practically shoving her along. “I hope this excursion was as enlightening as you thought it would be. The lives of the common folk are fairly interesting, are they not?”

“Yes,” mumbled Rinska when Heero pinched her, “Very interesting. I have learned much from this and shall use my experience with the common folk to hopefully become a better queen.”

Heero felt the woman linger in the alleyway behind them, ears perked. He hoped he hadn’t made a critical mistake. Rinska tugged the cowl farther over her face. When she spoke, her voice was low and calculated.

“I must return to the castle now.”

Heero let out his breath in relief. Rinska spun around and pointed right at his nose.

“That doesn’t mean my plan is derailed, only that it’s changed course.”

Heero had a bad feeling about the way she said that but he had no idea what she meant. She was going to do something rash, obviously, but what she was going to do eluded Heero entirely. At least for the moment, she’s going back to the castle, he told himself. That in itself is something.

“I can’t have you sneaking in today,” said Rinska.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” said Heero.

“That means don’t follow me home.”

“I can’t let you walk back by yourself.”

“It’s two blocks away.”

“Two blocks is a long stretch as far as criminals are concerned.” Heero added as if to emphasize his point, “I would know.”

Rinska stared at him, sizing him up, no doubt trying to decipher if he was serious or not. Sometimes it was difficult to tell with him. His sarcasm face was the same as his regular face. It was one of the quirks that bothered Rinska while at the same time soothing her. It was a weird, conflicting sensation. She took a shot in the dark and decided he was telling the truth. He had no reason to lie about such things, after all. Then again, as far as Rinska was concerned, her father had no reason to lie about her mother’s killer and yet here he was expecting her to announce an untruth to everyone in the kingdom.

As if reading her mind, Heero said, “You can trust me.”

“I know that,” Rinska said indignantly. But she was glad he reassured her all the same. She pulled the cloak tighter around her body, made sure the cowl was snuggly in place and hiding her face and continued on her way. Heero fell into step beside her again, silently.

He couldn’t help but notice how graceful she walked; how the embroidery on her long, royal dress glistened in the midday sunlight so brilliantly she might as well have been walking on stars. These thoughts were ridiculous. He squashed them immediately. If he could see how richly adorned the hem of her clothing was, then everybody within eyesight could too. Everybody in eyesight could very well include thieves and other criminals. For the remainder of the walk back to the castle, Heero became tense and unnerved, looking back over his shoulder far too often for his anxiety to be simply paranoia.

He hung back as Rinska waltzed right up to the two guards and flashed them a humorless smile. They both stood rigidly and stepped aside, allowing her to enter the royal grounds. When she had gotten out of earshot, they squabbled with each other about which one of them let her past their post in the first place. Heero tucked his hands into his pockets and shuffled away; passing the vines he usually used to climb over the wall in the meantime.

There was nothing to do but wait. Heero kicked a pebble once he reached the City Bazaar. This was the place he frequented when he had no other place to be and a lot of the merchants knew him, by reputation if not by name. It was a double-edged sword, of course. About half of them knew how he made his living. The other half were suspicious. They had no proof he was a pickpocket so they couldn’t actually arrest him. Heero made a point never to be caught red-handed. If he got locked in prison there wouldn’t be any way for him to keep an eye on Rinska. Besides, he had heard horror stories about being kept in places like that from the slums.

Heero felt eyes on him again. He spun around abruptly, hoping to catch whoever it was in the act, but the crowds moved as they always did. No suspicious individuals in cloaks or anyone who blatantly turned away from him. Everyone was just going about their usual, day-to-day business. The richer folks gathered with their friends in clusters around the jewelers. The middle class mothers tugged their younger children along by the hand and yelled at their eldest sons to either keep up or help their siblings carry things. The poor peddled near the edges of the bazaar, faces shrunken like prunes from hunger and the sun.

In an instant, Heero felt the grip on his arms, the twisting of his body and the blade against his neck.

“You’re going to make sure the princess tells her lie.”

Heero couldn’t speak, could barely breathe with the knife pressing against his neck. He could feel his heartbeat throbbing dangerously against the edge. The way he was held, even the slightest twitch would tear open his flesh. Heero rolled his eyes sideways, making sure to move nothing else but the muscles required to leer that way.

“If you don’t, next will be the king.”

The grip loosened. Heero jerked out and spun around, guard up. No one stood there. Shivering with adrenaline, Heero tried to calm his breathing while he searched for whoever had grabbed him. He could almost still feel the blade against his neck, like the memory of a limb lost in battle.

He had to warn Rinska! He didn’t wait until he regained his composure. He sprinted back to the castle at full speed, right up to the two guards. One of them pointed a spear at Heero. The other rolled his eyes.

“You have to let me in,” said Heero.

“Get lost, boy.”

“There’s an assassination plot against the king.”

That got them listening. The guard brought the tip of the spear closer to Heero’s neck, making Heero flinch.

“Is it true, boy?”

“Yes! Why would I lie about something like that?”

The guard looked him up and down. Heero was clearly shaken. Even if his information came from an unreliable source, which it very well could have, Heero didn’t look like someone trying to pull a fast one over the guards. The guard lowered his spear.

“I cannot allow you to pass through the gate but we shall inform his majesty of your warning.”

“You have to tell Rinska to go through with it!” Heero grabbed the guard’s shoulders, hysteric. “Tell Rinska she can’t do whatever she’s planning to do! Tell her to tell the lie!”

“What lie, boy?”

Heero’s jaw dropped. Not even the palace guards knew? That was how far the king was going with this? It made sense, though. If anyone outside the royal family and possibly the king’s adviser knew that the queen’s murderer was still on the loose, it would risk an information leak. The guard, whose shoulders Heero had in a vice-grip, placed a hand on the boy’s wrist.

“Answer him. What lie?”

Heero clenched his teeth. He let go of the guard.

“Just tell her. She’ll know what it means.”

“That isn’t good enough, boy!”

“Listen, you second-rate excuses for guards,” Heero yelled, balling his hands into fists, “If you two would just do your job better, Rinska and her father wouldn’t even be in this situation!”

The spear was pointed back at his throat.

“You will address his majesty as ‘king’.”

This was getting him nowhere. He had no other option but to sneak back into the palace before Rinska made her public announcement. Unfortunately, Heero didn’t know when that announcement would take place. For all he knew, it could be scheduled for this afternoon. The king could already be making Rinska recite her lines.

“Dammit!” Heero pulled away from the guards, throwing his arms up in frustration.

“Easy, boy.”

Heero shook his head in disgust, gritted his teeth and walked off, stomping all the way. He needed a plan, a real plan that didn’t involve getting Rinska or her father killed. Why couldn’t Rinska just tell the lie her father had prepared for her? Because she was as stubborn as she was noble, that’s why. It was a problem right now because of the situation she was in but Heero had to admit he always admired that aspect of her personality.

This was no time to be thinking of things like that. The only way he was going to keep Rinska out of trouble was if he somehow got into the castle and convinced her to do as her father wished. How could he pull that off without making her hate him? And furthermore, there was no guarantee she would even listen to him in the first place. A raw noise exited Heero’s throat of its own accord, feeling like cat scratches coming up.

Wait, how did the killer even get into the castle in the first place? Heero stopped in his tracks, staring at the ground with a steadily clenching expression. His eyebrows shoved together and stayed there, creasing his forehead.

He knew how to get into the castle. He didn’t know of anyone else who did. Did that mean it was an inside job? If that were the case then Rinska was in danger regardless of her actions and so was the king. But let’s be serious here: Rinska and her father were in danger anyway. Somehow the killer had found a way inside the castle. That’s all that mattered. It didn’t matter how he pulled it off. The queen was dead and if the guy who grabbed Heero back in the bazaar was telling the truth then the king and Rinska might be dead soon too.

Why take the time to force Heero’s hand? Was it a ploy or did Rinska and the king stand a chance of survival if they did as they were told? Who would have the audacity to blackmail the king of Flamenco?

Heero’s brain was starting to hurt. He shook his head, feeling the throb worsen. His stomach groaned at him. He never could think straight without food in his stomach. His feet walked themselves through the bazaar automatically. He tried to look as unsuspicious as possible but right now the panic swelling inside him prevented any and all attempts at stealth.

“How’d that guy even get behind me in the first place,” Heero mumbled, shuddering. He ran through the scenario in his mind over and over again. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary until he felt he was being watched. When had he begun to feeling that way; he asked himself. The old woman popped into his mind, her bonnet askew and worn, but that wasn’t when the paranoia started. It was before that, when Heero had just found Rinska out and about, sneaking through the richer part of the city. That settled it. He wasn’t going to get an accurate fix on when he felt he was being followed. Rinska had thrown off his awareness just enough to make his senses inaccurate. She was always doing that. She was the greatest distraction of his life.

When his stomach moaned again and refused to leave him alone, Heero made his way to the restaurant district and bought the cheapest thing he could find in a café near the edge of the city: bread and cheese. After that, he was broke again. He sat in the restaurant and ripped the roll of bread, nibbling on the bit of cheese in his mouth in the meantime. He hadn’t been to this place in a while. The atmosphere had changed somehow but Heero couldn’t put his finger on why. A few years ago when he still frequented this place, the walls seemed brighter and the scent seemed sweeter. Now the place smelled dank and the walls looked dingy. The man who owned the café stirred the contents of his wooden mug compulsively. His eyes were fixed on the open threshold that served as the door, silently begging for a customer to grace the entrance. Heero felt sorry for the guy until a couple of young ladies walked through, chattering about this and that. They bobbed up to the counter, their long dresses swishing against their ankle-boots, their sleeves billowing as they pointed at the hanging menu to indicate their orders.

Returning to his bread and cheese, Heero heard the clink of coins as they dropped onto the counter and a giggle from one of the women as she brushed aside the owner’s rehearsed flirt.

“Did you hear Crazy Maedi said she saw the princess wandering the town,” one of the women said as they both took the table directly behind Heero, “The princess, for heaven’s sake!”

“Preposterous!” The other woman said. Heero could hear the amused smile in her words; the way she stretched her mouth at the corners made her tone just a tad higher than it had been when they ordered their food. They were making fun of the rumor. That was a good thing as far as Heero was concerned. It didn’t matter if information leaked if nobody took it seriously. And nobody would, given how ridiculous it was for a princess to leave the royal grounds.

“But still, what reason do you suppose Maedi had for making up such a thing?” The other woman said, leaning forward on her elbows. Heero heard the table creak ever so slightly with the motion.

“Attention,” said the woman’s friend, “obviously. And look! Here we are indulging her!”

“Hm. I guess you’re right. It would have been so interesting if it were true, though. What do you suppose it would be like to meet the princess in person? I don’t even know what she looks like.”

“Most people don’t know what she looks like, which further proves my point. Crazy Maedi is just that: crazy. Her rumors would have more merit if they weren’t always so unbelievable. Did you know last week she was spreading talk of some rebellion against the royal family?”

Heero swallowed the last morsel of his bread. He froze in his chair momentarily, ears prickled.

“Even I know that’s hogwash,” said the woman.

Her friend said, “Definitely.”

The owner stopped stirring the contents of his mug.

That meant it was time to leave. Heero got up, didn’t bother pushing in his chair and slipped outside. The sun blinded him for a moment but he knew the streets well enough not to let that hinder him. That lady with the tattered bonnet had to be Crazy Maedi. And if Crazy Maedi was really spreading word of a rebellion, she might be just the informant Heero needed to get an edge over the guy who had put a knife to his throat earlier. A destination strengthened Heero’s resolve. He marched through all parts of the city, searched the bazaar until he found Crazy Maedi.

She was walking with a limp, her bonnet slipping to the side as if it might fall right off her head. Heero hollered at her from behind and she halted to look over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were wide and crazed. It was the same face she had adorned when she had first found Heero and Rinska.

“You’re the boy with the princess,” she said.

“Her bodyguard,” Heero said, remembering the lie.

Crazy Maedi grinned.

“It has come to my attention that you have heard rumors of rebellion,” said Heero, trying desperately to sound the way the guards always did: pompous and self-absorbed, acting as if they were the only person on duty to protect whatever it was they were protecting.

“Oh, it’s true. Heard it not a week ago right here on this very street!” Crazy Maedi leaned in, whispering, “It was a secret between rebels, you see. I overheard them right there on the corner, one in a big hat and the other with a sword at his belt, you see. Or…” She thought with great effort, “No, it wasn’t a hat. It was a feathery boa. And the sword may very well have been a dagger. Now that I think of it, I can’t remember. It was dark, or maybe too bright.”

Heero’s hopes fell. That was both vague and inconsistent. He realized now why nobody listened to this lady. She flat-out sounded crazy.

“Was that helpful?”

“Yes,” Heero said, “Very helpful. Thank you for your information, ma’am.” He would have to find another source to tell him about this rebellion, if one was even forming in the first place. Or, hell, he could just forgo the search for information and place himself at the princess’ hip until everything settled down. Not that that was an option at all, let alone a reasonable one. He was going stir crazy trying to think of what to do, where to go, who to interrogate.

“Something troubles you,” said Crazy Maedi.

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a stained heart,” she elaborated, “Is it hurting?” When she reached out her hand towards Heero’s chest, he curled away. She closed the gap between them and flattened her palm against him anyway, closing her eyes, seeming to listen intently. “Confliction,” she said.

Heero could feel himself twitch. “Yes,” he heard himself say.

“Sometimes it is all we can do to wait.”

For some reason, that angered him. He brushed off her hand and turned away from her like a shoe scuffing cobblestone. Heero didn’t look back until he was a few blocks away and Crazy Maedi had been lost to the crowd.

“What does she know,” he said, kicking a pebble. It skittered across the road like a bug hopping across water and came to an abrupt stop against someone’s heel, where it was crushed by the next wave of foot traffic. Standing still was torture but he had nowhere to go, no leads regarding either the man who had put the knife to his throat or the supposed rebellion against the royal family. Heero felt like he was losing his mind it was spinning through theories so fast.

I can’t just sit here and wait, can I? He asked himself in his mind, will Rinska be reasonable for once in her life and not put herself and her father in danger?

With nothing else to do but think, Heero rounded the bazaar and then the slums and then the richer part of the city and then made his way back to the castle as soon as darkness hit. The two guards had rotated shifts throughout the day but somehow the same two, one with his lance and the other with a sword at his belt, wound up guarding the entrance gate just as they had that morning. Heero wondered spitefully if they ever even slept. He scooted towards his trusty vine, reaching out as silently as possible.

An arrow pierced the crook in the stone next to his hand, pinning one of the vine’s leaves against the wall. Heero let out a shout of surprise. An extra guard, one he had never seen the face of before, pulled him out of the bushes with the roughness one might expect when handling a criminal.

“So you’re the infamous Heero,” said the extra guard. “Scrawnier than I pictured.”

“You’re new,” said Heero.

“I’m new,” said the extra guard. With only one arm he tossed Heero three feet and then he cracked his knuckles. “I won’t be tolerating any shenanigans, boy. I’m not like those wannabes over there, standing still all day long. I’m a warrior, first and foremost.”

“Good,” Heero said, getting up to wipe the dirt off himself. He plucked a leaf out of the tangles in his hair and flicked it away. It caught the wind and flew just as a breeze passed through. “Then you’ll do a better job than they have.” Even though he said that with a monotone voice, Heero was shaking. This guy was stronger than anyone he had meet before, judging by that toss, with the exception of the individual that had threatened his life in the bazaar. Between the two of them, Heero couldn’t tell who would win. He hoped the new guard. If those two clashed and this guy came out on top, it would solve a lot of problems.

“You got a mouth on you, boy. I like that,” said the new guard. “My name’s Karigno.”

“And my name’s Heero.”

“No shit, boy.” As if by some miracle, Karigno paused in thought and then said, “You want to tell me why you’ve been sneaking into the palace every night in the first place? It isn’t the place for a street rat like you.”

Heero scoffed. This guy was an idiot.

“It has something to do with a certain princess, maybe.”

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as much of an idiot as Heero first thought.

“But I can’t let you keep doing that. The princess is sacred to the kingdom, as is the rest of the royal family. She can’t be bothered with someone like you.”

“What the hell do you know,” Heero said, feeling the anger boil up inside him.

“Ah, I was right!”

“Any of the other guards could have told you that!”

Karigno considered this and shrugged. It was apparent he hadn’t bothered to ask any of the other guards about such a thing. Heero’s respect for this guy plummeted.

“Look, if you’re going to keep me out I have a favor to ask.”

Karigno smirked. He didn’t speak out loud but that smirk clearly said, “You think you’re in a position to ask favors, boy?”

“The princess and her father are in danger. I need you to keep an eye on both of them. The other guards don’t take me seriously and,” Heero cleared his throat. “I can’t have anything bad happen to Rinska. I just can’t.”

“You got some nerve, boy.” Karigno glowered down at Heero, which to Heero was confusing as anything. Luckily, Karigno clarified what he meant not a moment later, “You’re making this request of yours under the assumption that everything isn’t already being done to protect his majesty and the princess. What kind of guards do you think we are here?”

“Guards that failed to prevent the queen’s assassination,” Heero said with a glare.

Karigno’s eyes bulged. He closed the distance between himself and Heero and caught Heero by the collar, wrenching him into the air. “Say that again, boy.”

“Maybe you weren’t here when she died,” Heero choked out, “It’s possible you were off on some other mission. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there.” Now put me down, he thought.

Karigno’s eyes narrowed on him and Heero then knew fear. Even so, he had a point to make. He kept talking, feeling the heat off Karigno’s knuckles as it radiated towards his voice box.

“Somehow even with so many guards and so many eyes, the queen was killed without anyone knowing until morning. If the guards were actually doing their jobs then nobody would have been able to get past the front gate, let alone make it that far into the castle.”

Slowly, like taffy being stretched, Karigno put Heero down. There was nothing to say. He glared instead, his armor seeming more like a coffin than protection. The boy spoke the truth. Karigno could not argue with him.

“There are three other places I sneak in,” Heero said quietly. “Aside from the vine here where I can climb over the wall, there’s also a stone loose on the southern side. Failing that, if the guards make their usual rounds there’s a ten second lapse in their route where I can slip through the bars on the eastern side. That one I can only take advantage of on the darkest nights when the archer doesn’t have the light of the moon to his advantage. And there’s one other way in. A few years back, some vermin dug a hole under the thinnest part of the wall on the western side.”

“You really are concerned for her,” said Karingo.

“Whoever snuck in to kill the queen knew at least what I do and probably more.”

“That goes without saying.”

Heero didn’t know when he had started clenching his teeth, but now it was giving him a headache. Even so, it took considerable concentration and effort to make himself stop.

“I will guard the princess tonight,” Karingo said out of nowhere. Heero’s jaw finally slackened at that. He looked at Karingo with a dumbfounded expression. “After all, you’re worried about her, aren’t you? Last I checked she didn’t have a proper bodyguard. I’m the strongest man here. It’s only fitting that I take that job.”

“Thank you,” Heero said before he even realized the words had left his mouth. He was suddenly aware that he didn’t sound like himself at all.

“I do have one question, though.”

Heero tensed.

“What did you mean when you told the other guards to tell the princess to go through with the lie? What lie?”

Heero found himself at a loss for words. “She’ll know what I meant if you tell her,” he finally said, sounding rather dumb and very much like he was avoiding the subject, which he was.

“Got to do better than that, boy. I’m not going to let you leave until you tell me exactly what you meant by that.”

Heero glanced behind him. He could dart back towards the city. If this guy was as good of a guard as he said he was then he wouldn’t be able to leave the perimeter of the royal grounds. Of course, that plan would only work if Heero was faster than him. Heero got the distinct feeling that if he ran he would be caught instantaneously.

“Don’t even think about running, boy. I’ll catch you as soon as you take off. Have you forgotten the archer perched up there?” Karigno jutted his thumb behind him, towards one of the many watch posts that jutted up from the wall, where no doubt the archer had an arrow already knocked. The only way out of this situation was to tell the truth. Heero inhaled long and slowly.

“The king told her to lie about the queen,” Heero said. When Karigno gave him a perplexed look, he continued cautiously, “There is a man in custody, I’m sure you’re aware, for the murder of the king.”

“Yes.”

“That man is innocent. The real culprit hasn’t been caught.” Heero could feel that sensation against his neck as if it had happened only a moment ago, the very cold, very sharp edge of the blade. The memory made him pause and sweat. His heart beat faster.

“You alright,” Karigno asked, bringing Heero back into the moment.

“You don’t seem surprised at this,” Heero said.

Karigno leaned back with a casual shrug, “It’s a political lie. This sort of thing happens all the time.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Of course, Heero already knew that was the case. He dealt often in information and that sort of thing came up a lot. Rumors of corruption and untruths ran rampant all over the city already. It just complicated things when Heero knew Rinska was smack in the middle of it. He didn’t want her to get hurt, that’s all it boiled down to. He stared at the ground feeling fatigued. He couldn’t do anything. Even finding a way into the castle would be impossible now that he had told Karigno of his usual ways inside. That was a good thing, Heero reminded himself. If he couldn’t find a way in then the killer couldn’t either. At least, that’s what he hoped. Suddenly Karigno’s hand fell onto Heero’s shoulder.

“Go home,” said Karigno, “Get some rest. You look like you’ve been to Hell and back.”

Heero pleaded with his eyes at Karigno. I can’t go, he thought, I can’t leave Rinska alone. What if that psycho finds her like he did me? What if next time it’s her neck under his knife? Heero couldn’t say any of this out loud. If he did, he risked putting Rinska in even more danger. He assumed the killer was watching, listening. Paranoid though it was, Heero knew better than to let anything slip. It was standard procedure for this sort of thing. The less information the guards knew the better. But he could hope Karigno was reading his expression well enough to understand the killer might be just a few feet away.

Karigno drew the blade at his hip. When he pointed it at Heero’s chest and said, “Get out of here before I force you,” he also shifted his eyes sideways ever so slightly. It was enough to let Heero know he had gotten his point across.

Heero knew two things. Firstly, if Karigno wanted to force him out, there wasn’t anything Heero could do to prevent it. Secondly, it would be wise to do as he was told because in the off chance the killer was spying on them, he had to keep the act going. With clenched fists, Heero walked away from the castle backwards until he was no longer within range of Karigno’s blade. Then Heero spun around and dashed away, heading for the humble abode he called his home.

Halfway to the room he rented, which was all he could afford even in the cheapest part of the city, Heero no longer felt the urge to look behind him. He had been fighting the sensation the entire time he ran and now that he felt safe again he slowed to a jog and then stopped altogether, leaning over to catch his breath. The flames in the street lamps flickered back and forth behind the glass that encased them, casting suspicious shadows. Heero walked the rest of the way home, keeping to the darker patches out of habit, becoming one with the night. His landlady let him inside, commenting on how dusty and tired he looked this evening. She told him he must have had a busy day. Heero gave her a distracted smile and shuffled upstairs, listening to each step creak under his weight.

His room contained a mattress without a frame, clothes folded and stacked neatly in one corner and his knife collection. That was all. He didn’t even have a window. It was much different from the heavily furnished, lavishly decorated room that Rinska spent most of her time in but Heero never could get used to embellishment. He was too conditioned to keep most if not all of his belongings on his person at all times (if possible) in case something happened to wherever he currently stayed. He was not a stranger to homelessness and this abode wouldn’t last forever. Knowing this when he had first signed the agreement with his landlady, Heero kept out of her way and didn’t purchase anything he couldn’t take with him in one trip if ever he had to pack up and leave. It was like living in a hotel room for an undetermined length of time, a perpetual readiness to abandon.

Heero closed the door quietly and dragged himself to bed, flopping down without any leftover tension in his limbs. He was exhausted. Almost getting killed sure takes it out of you, he thought bitterly. He didn’t even have the energy to roll into a more comfortable position. And yet, he spent what little energy he had left worrying about Rinska until he fell into more of a dozing than a slumber. He must have passed out somewhere along the way because in the morning when the birds awoke him he didn’t remember when he fell asleep.

He groaned, realizing he hadn’t changed into night clothes before he slept. He was sticky with sweat. Under normal circumstances Heero would bathe in the river that cut its way through the city instead of bothering his landlady for well-water and the use of her bathroom. Today he simply felt too disgusting to walk that far without at least a rinse and, let’s be honest; it was less of a hassle to bathe indoors. Luckily, his landlady was an agreeable woman and gave him permission. She handed him the washing basin with a smile, even offering some of her own lavender soap.

Heero got the feeling that was her way of saying he stunk. He couldn’t argue with the sentiment. He took the soap and the basin and walked out to the public well down the street, returning to the house a few minutes later with the basin of water held awkwardly in both arms. On his way to the bathroom, his landlady draped a rag over the side of the basin, apologizing for it being so cumbersome.

“I’m just glad you’re letting me use it,” said Heero.

“Ah, well I can’t have you stinking up my house,” said his landlady, giggling. “Just make it quick. I haven’t had my washing for the day yet. You’re up rather early, lad.”

Heero forced what he hoped was a good-hearted chuckle at her. “So I am. I’ll be out soon.”

“Wash behind your ears,” his landlady called after him through the door. Heero thought, not for the first time he had since coming to live here, that she sounded a bit too much like a mother. At least she meant well. He emerged from the bathroom refreshed and no longer smelling like musk.

However, he had not succeeded in scrubbing the dark patches out from under his eyes. His landlady noticed this, asking if he was perhaps getting sick. Heero made up some lie about his job that he was certain the landlady didn’t believe but she let it go for the moment. Heero was thankful for that.

He went back to worrying about Rinska now that his thoughts weren’t entirely focused on how gross he felt. Karigno better have done his fucking job. After breakfast, which was a rushed and humble one, Heero walked up to the royal grounds, unsurprised to find the two guards at their usual post.

“I want to talk to the princess,” said Heero.

“Do you seriously think we’re going to let you do that after all the trouble you’ve caused?”

“You don’t have to let me in. You just have to let her come speak with me.”

The two guards looked at each other. Then they laughed, a boisterous guffaw that echoed on the air and made Heero contemplate if the jail time would be worth socking them both in the face.

“Fine, whatever,” Heero said, “Is she alright, at least? You can at least tell me if she’s in good health.”

One of the guards gave him a suddenly sobered look that was accentuated by the curious raise of one eyebrow.

“She’s fine,” said the other guard, still half-laughing as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

“You must really believe this threat you informed us of,” said the first guard. He said it like he was surprised.

“If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t have told you,” said Heero.

The guards regarded each other again.

One of them asked, “Why are you so bent on the princess telling her father’s lie?”

So word got around. Good. “Where did you hear that?”

“Karigno told us.”

The other guard chimed in, “He told the princess your message as well, not that it was a good idea.”

Heero felt his heart sink.

“Oh, yeah,” said the first guard, “She got so angry she didn’t come out of her room for hours, supposedly. Looks like you made a bad impression, boy.”

“Did Karigno stay with her?” Heero asked the question automatically, as if not asking such a thing might cause his tongue to spontaneously burst into flame.

“That’s none of your concern.”

Like hell it’s not.

“Anyone try to break in last night or this morning?”

The two guards both straightened out their backs and puffed out their chests. If it was supposed to be intimidating, it wasn’t. They just looked like balloons inflating to Heero, big but fragile if a needle came poking.

“Well,” Heero pressed.

“Don’t presume to interrogate us,” said the second guard, “You’re lucky we don’t put a spear through you for your insolence.”

Heero rolled his eyes. This was getting him nowhere. All he wanted to was to see for himself that Rinska was okay. That wasn’t so much to ask, was it? The only reason it would be was if something had actually happened. This thought struck Heero like a punch in the gut, unexpected and with the exact sensation of having the wind knocked out of him.

“Look,” said one of the guards, the one who had given Heero a sobered expression before, “The princess isn’t feeling herself lately. Since you asked and are obviously not going to go away until we give you something, I’m letting you know she’s unharmed. In fact, Karigno offered his services as her bodyguard and hasn’t left her side even when she throws a fit about it.”

Taken aback by this sudden honesty, Heero’s muscles loosened and he turned wider eyes than usual toward the guard.

“We take every threat seriously, son.” The guard righted himself, having leaned over to tell Heero all of this in the lowest voice possible.

“The announcement,” said Heero, forcing the sudden image of Rinska with his knife unsheathed out of his mind, “When is it?”

The second guard made a confused face at him.

“The guy being holed up,” Heero said, “When’s the announcement of his crimes?”

“We don’t know.”

Heero was angered by how honest the guard’s tone was, which was confusing, which made him angrier, both with himself and the situation. Crazy Maedi’s words about waiting echoed through his mind. Waiting is for cowards, Heero told himself. Even so, he had no direction and had already eliminated his option of sneaking into the royal grounds undetected. The only way he would see Rinska would be to wait, just as Crazy Maedi had said. The thought was maddening. It sent jitters down Heero’s spine.

“For now I will trust Rinska to Karigno’s care,” said Heero. He did not look at the guards when he said this.

“Run along then.”

The other guard gave a half-hearted waft, also indicating that Heero should leave. Heero left.

He didn’t waste time trying to get back into the castle this time. This time he waited and waited and waited until it felt like his head was going to explode from all the waiting. A whole week passed before Heero saw Rinska again. In that time, rumors of the rebellion spread like waves over a beach across the city, unrelenting, ebbing and flowing with the ups and downs of the populace’s moods.

Yesterday the king had sent his announcers through the street to inform his citizens of the upcoming gathering. Today they ushered everyone through the city in neat clusters, all heading for the royal palace. The gate to the garden was open today, as it always was when the king gathered his people in front of his castle for something political. Heero stood among the crowd, gazing up at the castle’s flat, central outlook where Rinska and her father overlooked the assembly.

The king raised his arm to calm the gawking, chattering crowd. It took a few minutes but eventually all the scattered conversations ceased.

“As you all know, it has not been long since my wife, the queen, died.”

The crowd became unsettled again, whispers like hisses spanning the masses. The king waited for the static noise to stop before he continued. Just as they had rehearsed, the king gestured towards Rinska and she made her way forward, black dress sparkling in the sun.

“My mother was dear to me,” Rinska began, projecting her voice as loud as she had to for all below her to hear. Heero was lost in the crowd but Rinska knew he was there. It was a crime not to attend a royal announcement. Besides, he would have been there anyway for a chance to see Rinska, even if it had to be from afar; Rinska knew him well enough to know that much. Because of this, Rinska had to force herself not to search the crowd for Heero’s face. She looked just above everyone’s heads instead, giving the impression that she was looking directly at someone to everyone there when in fact she was looking at no one. “Two weeks ago, my mother was murdered.”

The crowd gasped as one collective. Then the whispers began again. Not everyone had known it was murder, apparently. A few even fainted, slumping against those next to them until someone shook them awake. Heero managed to catch a slender man by the wrist and right him before he toppled over. The man gave Heero a nod of thanks mixed with embarrassment. Heero returned the nod with a jut of his chin that said it was really no problem at all.

“We have caught the murderer,” said Rinska and all conversation halted.

Heero’s heart leapt. Could Rinska actually have listened to him? He let himself hope and regretted it almost immediately. Rinska looked back and forth over the crowd. Then instead of giving a royal bow and receding back towards her father, she slapped her hands onto the edge of the outlook, leaned her upper half towards the crowd and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“It’s a lie! The man we have in custody isn’t a murderer! He hasn’t committed any crime! I cannot go through with this! I cannot condemn an innocent man no matter how terrible I feel about my mother!”

It was Karigno, not the king, who dragged Rinska away from the edge of the outlook. He had to pry her hands one finger at a time off the stone and put one of his burly arms around her waist and wrench to get her away, but he did it.

“The real killer is still out there,” Rinska screamed, “He is still out there! He could murder someone else’s mother next! He could kill us all!”

Heero dropped to his knees, along with a third of the crowd. The man Heero had helped cupped a hand over his mouth and made a short, ugly noise of disbelief. The king replaced Rinska now, putting his hand out to calm the crowd below. His face was stoic and calculated but Heero could sense his unease even so far away.

“Settle down,” said the king, “My daughter is ridden with grief. I assure you, the man we have captured is indeed the real villain. As such, his public execution is scheduled for tomorrow at sunset. He shall be burned for all to witness and then left to the wild dogs at the edge of the city.”

Heero got a hold of himself. The movement he used to get off the ground felt distant, as if it weren’t he who was rising but a phantom inside his body. Rinska’s name echoed in his mind over and over. He remembered the knife pressing against his neck, imagined a wicked smile on the real killer’s face, imagined Rinska lying dead in that lavishly decorated room of hers.

He had to get to her. He launched himself through the crowd with a frantic haste, pushing and shoving and even jumping overhead until he had carved his way to the very front. He put his hand against the stone wall, found a sturdy place to stick his fingers and began climbing. Prompted by Heero’s actions, some of the more daring members of the crowd started climbing the wall in a similar manner until a line of arrows pierced through someone’s hand. The guy screamed, dropping off the wall.

“Calm down,” said the king, demanding respect and compliance with his tone alone. The remaining climbers slid back down ashamedly wiping the dirt off the front of their tunics. “This concludes the royal gathering. Return to your homes and await tomorrow’s burning!”

Heero kept climbing. The crowd began to disperse as the citizens traveled backwards. The king’s men aided the hoard, guiding them outside the royal grounds, passing the gardens on the way. A single figure stood stationary there amidst the rose bushes, twisting the stem of a red flower until it tore. The figure placed the flower atop a cluster of white roses as it passed them and then melded seamlessly with the rest of the crowd.

An arrow pierced the rock where Heero’s hand had just been, causing him to slip down a ways.

“Rinska,” Heero called out, “Rinska!”

“You never learn, do you?” The archer yelled, voice bellowing from behind Heero. He, and likely others, must have been positioned atop the palace’s outer wall where the gate was, facing the outlook for a clear shot if anyone decided to start a riot. If not for the archer’s swift actions, Heero would have been that person.

“Rinska,” Heero repeated, reminding himself why he was doing something most people would call suicidal. He pushed himself higher, gripping the next stone. He was almost halfway up the wall by now. The king leaned over the edge, his face appearing slowly in Heero’s plane of view as he peered down.

“Heero,” said the king. He pulled back and called out to the archers, “Cease fire!”

The archers had already stopped shooting but it made Heero feel less vulnerable anyway. He resumed climbing. He heard the clopping of Rinska’s formal shoes as she raced towards the edge and, not long after, saw her blond hair dripping down towards him. Her face was tearful.

A pang of guilt hit Heero. Had he made her cry?

“Come away from there, princess.” It was Karigno’s voice, strong and steady and rough. “I will help him up.”

Instead of something along the lines of an apology, Rinska mouthed an insult at Heero and stepped back from the edge. When Karigno reached down, Heero grabbed his hand.

                “You’ve got some stamina, boy,” Karigno said, hoisting Heero up and over the edge onto the outlook with only one arm. He dropped Heero to the ground gracelessly. Heero’s knees buckled and his muscles shook with fatigue but he managed to stay on his feet. Karigno shot him a smirk when the king wasn’t looking. It was a smirk of amusement but also approval. Heero ignored it for the moment, storing that fleeting glance in his mind for later. Karigno was an ally. He would remember it.

                Swords plunged towards Heero’s throat all at once, stopping short of skewering him. Rinska gasped, moving forward a few steps, then regained her composure in an instant when she saw that none of the guards actually intended on killing Heero. They only wanted to immobilize him.

                “State your business,” said the king.

                Rinska felt her teeth grinding. She shoved her tongue in between them in order to make them stop.

                “You were supposed to listen to your father,” said Heero, knowing full well that he was making Rinska trust him less and less. She may very well hate him after this. He didn’t want that. He hated himself for speaking so flatly.

                “Even this ruffian agrees,” said the king as he turned towards his daughter. Rinska looked away, glaring. Her mouth stretched out and down into a frown and Heero saw her eyes grow dewy. She was about to cry again. She thought he had betrayed her. She was so stupid sometimes. Heero was protecting her.

                “Didn’t anyone tell you someone threatened the king,” Heero said. A few swords drew back, coming away from his neck.

                “What,” Rinska said breathlessly. She turned towards the king with wide eyes, “Father?”

                “Informing you was deemed unnecessary,” said the king.

                “Unnecessary!”

                “Pipe down,” the king commanded. Heero flinched at how abrasive the king’s tone was. Rinska just gave her father that cross-armed, defiant, teenage look. She jutted out her hip, tilted her head to show a little more of her neck like an animal tempting a predator. “Heero,” said the king, shifting his attention back to Heero as Rinska silently fumed. “I assure you these grounds are the safest place in the kingdom. Thanks to your information, every corner of the royal grounds is now guarded properly. It is a great service you have done for the royal family. We thank you for your assistance.”

                Rinska’s defiance slipped away like rain down a rooftop. “What information?”

                The king ignored her, “One of my men shall escort you home.”

                “Hello! Princess speaking,” said Rinska. She marched up to her father and stood between him and Heero, hands on her hips. She looked like such a brat, even from Heero’s perspective behind her. “What do you mean Heero did us a great service? What information did he give you?”

                “Princess,” began Karigno but the king raised a hand to silence him. He dropped his broad shoulders with a sigh.

                “He told us information regarding defensive maneuvers around the royal grounds,” said the king. Heero got the feeling he was being deliberately vague and it pissed him off. What was the point in keeping what he said from Rinska?

                “What’s that supposed to mean,” Rinska said, clearly trying to work through her father’s verbose vernacular and failing.

                “I told the guards how I kept getting in,” said Heero, earning him a stern look from the king, which was terrifying in concept but just looked like an old grumpy man in reality. Rinska’s crossed arms dropped to her sides as she turned to face Heero. He could still see traces of the tears on her face. It made his chest ache.

                “What,” asked Rinska in the shocked sort of way people ask things when they aren’t really sure what they’ve heard to begin with. “Why?”

                “It was the only way I could protect you.” Heero made sure to stare directly into her eyes when he said that. I’m not the enemy, he thought, I’ll do anything I can to keep that psychopath from getting his hands on you.

                “You’re the one who insisted I have a bodyguard, aren’t you?”

                “Yes.”

                “You’re so stupid.”

                “I’m sorry.”

                “Yes, well.” The king interrupted Heero and Rinska’s little chat and before he knew it Heero was being escorted through the halls and out of the castle. He passed the gardens on the way out and almost came to a full stop when something caught his eye. A single red flower bloomed amongst the white roses, situated precisely underneath the light cast by a nearby lamp. The lamp was only there to light the path, not the flowers, so it was curious that the red flower was illuminated at all. One of the guards shoved Heero forward.

                “Move it, we don’t have all night.”

                Heero jogged a little ways toward the gate, not wanting to be pushed again. When he passed the two usual guards on his way out, he gave them a small, defeated smile. Surprisingly, they said nothing to him, eyes straight ahead and bodies rigid as statues. They were trying to look good in front of their superiors, Heero decided. He couldn’t blame them for that. In fact, he wished they acted more professional all the time instead of shooting him insults every time he tried to sneak inside.

                As the king had said, there was only one guard who escorted Heero back home. He had a young, angular face and bland eyes. He said nothing the entire way. Heero thought he could be this guard if his life hadn’t been so complicated. The guard was only a bit older than he was, clearly a rookie to boot. This was probably his first official assignment on his own. He walked like he had something to prove. Heero didn’t find it all that impressive. In fact, it annoyed him. The king had picked this specific guard to accompany him and it was obvious the guard didn’t have any real combat experience yet. It made Heero think the king didn’t take his warning seriously. If they were attacked now, this guard wouldn’t be any help. He might be a hindrance, even.

                Heero started walking faster. All he could think about was that knife pressing against his throat. He brought one hand to his neck, touching his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. It actually helped quite a bit. It interrupted the sensory memory of that cold, deadly blade.

                There came a point when Heero no longer heard the guard’s footsteps behind him. He turned around, expecting the guard to emerge from the corner he had just rounded. The guard never came. A chill went up Heero’s spine like someone had dropped ice down his tunic. Attentive now, he scrambled to press his back against the wall of the alleyway and silently, carefully, peered around the corner. His senses heightened in that primordial way, Heero knew there would be more than just the guard around the corner. He knew the guard wouldn’t be able to move or speak. That much was obvious.

                What he didn’t expect was to see a silhouetted figure holding a knife that dripped with blood and the guard pressing both hands against his bleeding throat as he slipped down the wall towards the ground.

                “Heero,” said the silhouette. It was the voice of the killer, the voice of the knife-wielder who had somehow gotten behind Heero without even a trace of sound back in the bazaar. It was a deep voice, a smooth voice. It paralyzed Heero, made it hard to breathe. It made his heart stampede and his head burn with the desire to run.

                Heero felt the sweat form on his face and neck. He was too terrified to move. His mind went blank.

                “It would appear you failed to convince the princess to tell her lie.”

                Move, legs! Run! Heero screamed at himself inside his mind. Get out of here!

                The silhouette wiped the knife on a cloth it pulled from its pocket. Heero heard a squelch and a tiny but high-pitched squeak as the blood smeared off the blade. It made his teeth clench. Heero found his voice and plunged it out of his throat.

                “Who are you?”

                “Hmm,” said the silhouette, tucking the cloth back inside itself. It examined the blade in a stream of light that swayed down on the dead guard from the nearest street lamp. Reflected in the metal were red, scrutinizing eyes. Those eyes slipped sideways, their edges crinkling as if a smile had stretched their corners. “I’m the one who will change this kingdom.” Now the silhouette stepped into the light, casually.

                Heero took a step backwards.

                It was a man, probably somewhere in his late twenties, with shaggy black hair, a lithe muscle tone and those red, shocking eyes. The man’s face was stoic, expressionless except for the smile that stretched his mouth, a smile that was more his teeth being bore than a gesture of greeting. The crinkled skin at the corners of his eyes was a byproduct of his mouth stretching to smile, nothing more. It wasn’t the striking eyes or the fact that this man had just slashed someone’s throat open that got to Heero; it was the emptiness of him, the way his face moved mechanically when he spoke as if calculating each expression to fit the mood he assumed would be appropriate.

                “My name is Veyihan,” said the man. He extended his hand to Heero, smiling fake and bowing. “I look forward to working with you.”

                Heero ran.

                “How will you explain this tragedy to the king,” said Veyihan.

                Heero halted.

                “If you leave things as they are, surely you will be suspect.” Footsteps came closer, in a faded, padded way. When Veyihan spoke next he was right behind Heero’s left ear, amusement in his voice. “I suppose I should thank you for acting so recklessly during the assembly. Things didn’t play out exactly as I had intended but the effect will still be the same. The princess revealed her father’s lie, which puts me somewhat at risk, I’ll admit, but the coming chaos will prevent my capture in any case.”

                “Chaos,” said Heero. His voice sounded scratchy and spent but he was on to something so he kept going before he lost the courage. “You’re the one spouting the rebellion rumors.”

                “Quick on the uptake,” said Veyihan, “Good. I hate to work with idiots.”

                Keep going, Heero. Don’t back down now. If you keep him talking maybe he’ll be distracted enough for you to think of a way out of this. “Why? Why are you doing this? Has the king done anything to make you resent him or are you just some psychopath on a power trip?”

                Veyihan laughed, a truly humored laugh but also a hollow one.

                Heero dashed away again, this time bending down to kick Veyihan in the shin before he did so. Veyihan grunted for a moment but didn’t stop laughing. He chased after Heero all the same, apparently ignoring the fact that his shin should have felt like it was cracking in two.

                Veyihan knew the area just as well as Heero but Heero was faster and could be ridiculously clever when he needed to be. The chase lasted for most of the night. Heero flipped himself nimbly over fences and circled back around routes he had already zipped past with Veyihan only yards or a block or an alleyway away. Just when Heero would think he was safe, leaning over to catch his breath, Veyihan would appear behind him or round a corner to face him with that empty smile and the knife brandished like an accessory in his left hand.

                “You cannot escape me,” Veyihan would say. And Heero would sprint away again. There came a point, though, when Heero no longer had the energy to run. He collapsed against the nearest building, the brick wall scraping his arm as he sucked in breath. His throat was dry and his mouth tasted like cotton and his muscles refused to cooperate any more. His chest hurt when he inhaled. This was it. He was going to die. Veyihan was going to kill him. It was only a matter of time now.

                Heero slid down the wall in much the same manner as the guard had done before he bled to death. Grimacing, Heero remembered how pale and afraid the guard had looked in his final moments. He wondered if he would look the same, if he would slip away without anyone noticing until someone found his body. Darkly, he wondered if anyone would bother to tell Rinska of his death.

                “Rinska,” whispered Heero. “I’m sorry.”

                “Now then,” Veyihan said, stepping towards Heero from behind as if he hadn’t spent the entire night chasing someone around. He was barely even winded as far as Heero could tell from his vocal tone. A slight wheeze laced his voice when he spoke but otherwise he wasn’t gasping for air or taking long inhales like Heero. Heero wondered what this guy was made of not to be tired after all that running. Veyihan slid the knife into place at Heero’s neck, right atop the pulse point. “It’s rude to leave in the middle of a conversation, Heero.”

                As a last pathetic attempt at bravado, Heero said, “Bite me.”

                Veyihan did not laugh but he didn’t slash Heero’s throat either. “As I was saying,” Veyihan said in the tone of someone who was reclaiming the conversation, “I look forward to working with you, Heero. Now, allow me to explain why I’ve sought you out.”

                “If you think I’m going to work for you you’re crazy,” said Heero. Veyihan gave the slightest flex of his wrist and the blade pressed harder against Heero’s neck. It broke the first layer of skin and stung but didn’t go any deeper than that.

                “Do not interrupt me. Now then, the reason I’ve sought you out is because you’re like me, Heero. You have a gift, one that you have yet to take advantage of. Your hesitation on the matter must mean you lack a direction, a purpose, for which you might employ your gift. I am offering you that purpose. I am offering you an alliance.”

                “Do you negotiate every alliance with a weapon at someone’s throat?”

                Veyihan chuckled. The knife drifted away ever so slightly, no longer touching Heero’s skin, but it still hovered dangerously close, close enough to slay him if he dared try to escape Veyihan’s grasp.

                “You’re mistaken,” said Heero, “I don’t have any special gift.”

                “Oh, but you do.”

                “I don’t even know what you mean by that.”

                “Haven’t you ever wondered why it’s so easy for you to steal things without anyone noticing?”

                Heero had never wondered such a thing. Obviously, he stole so efficiently because he was good at being sneaky. There wasn’t anything strange about it. He was just good at what he did. He had to be or he would have starved a long time ago. Prompted by Heero’s silence, Veyihan went on.

                “Oh dear,” he said, “I seem to have made a mistake. You really don’t know anything.”

                “What are you talking about?”

                “Tut-tut,” said Veyihan, the knife inching closer. He cleared his throat, “I suppose showing you is the easiest way. I’m going to let you stand now. If you run, I’ll stab you in the back.”

                Heero didn’t doubt that for a second, so he stood slowly and didn’t flee once Veyihan removed the knife from his neck. He was too exhausted to run anyways and if Veyihan wanted to show him something so badly that it prevented him from being killed then Heero wasn’t complaining.

                “Observe,” said Veyihan as he sheathed his knife in the holster at his belt. He opened his arms wide in presentation and then took a deep breath. At first, there was nothing. Heero squinted through the dark, curiosity taking over. Heero couldn’t see anything at that moment but he could certainly feel something awry near Veyihan’s feet.

                Veyihan sunk into the ground, earning a gasp and a jolt from Heero. Heero fell onto his haunches, meeting Veyihan’s new eye-level. Veyihan smirked. This time the expression held real mirth. Heero crept closer, patting the ground, feeling absolutely nothing awry on a physical level.

                “I’m going crazy,” said Heero.

                “Don’t be so melodramatic,” said Veyihan. “This is my gift. I am one with any shadow, a being of unrivaled stealth.”

                Heero dug into the dirt now, since the surface of the ground contained no clues as to how Veyihan was doing whatever he was doing. No matter how franticly he clawed at the dirt he didn’t come into contact with anything out of the ordinary. All he accomplished was caking his fingernails in dirt and looking foolish. Nonetheless, Heero could feel something awry with the ground, something wrong, something not quite in alignment with the lack of oddities from beneath his fingers. Physically, the dirt ground up as it always would but underneath that physicality was a sensation Heero couldn’t quite comprehend. All he knew was it was wrong. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and gave him goose bumps all over. I really am going crazy, thought Heero. I’m probably only feeling like this because this guy could kill me in an instant if he wanted to. This is probably how all people feel when they face their deaths. This has to be normal. There can’t be anything supernatural going on here. I don’t believe in the supernatural. Whatever this feeling is, it’s just my mind messing with me.

                So why does it feel so real?

                “That’s it,” said Veyihan. “Now you’re getting it.”

                Heero, who had stopped digging at some point during his inner monologue, looked back at Veyihan’s face. Those red eyes stared back at him, that empty smile stretching wider. The feeling in Heero’s gut got worse.

                “You can feel something different,” said Veyihan, “except it isn’t anything you can put into words. Isn’t that right?”

                Heero glared. Oh, but he couldn’t deny he was intrigued, in a weird, insane way that made him hate himself for feeling like he had to know what Veyihan was getting at or he’d explode from anticipation.

                “It isn’t so strange not to be aware of a power like yours. It isn’t exactly a conscious choice, after all. It must be instinctual, the same way a dog knows when it walks past a rabbit hole or a snake can feel a mouse running by.”

                Heero curled his fingers into the dirt. Making a fist, he stood up. He could kick Veyihan in the face right now. If he struck swiftly, maybe he could get away. Or maybe he could kill Veyihan with Veyihan’s own knife, pull him out of the ground until the holster was visible and tear it away from his hip, then slash at his throat the same way he had killed the young guard. Yet something prevented Heero from striking. It was not the challenging look in Veyihan’s red eyes or the fact that Heero hadn’t succeeded in getting away from him before. It was something deeper, the same feeling that kept Heero from stealing from certain nobles even though they often appeared more vulnerable than anyone else on bright, sunny days in the bazaar. It was the same feeling that propelled Heero towards the castle every night to check on Rinska, the same feeling that allowed him to trust his landlady even though she had given him no reason to aside from her initial kindness.

                If I raise a hand to him now, Heero thought, he really will kill me. I won’t win. Even so close, I can’t strike him down. This is maddening.

                Veyihan watched as Heero’s face twisted into a snarl.

                “This supposed power of mine,” Heero said because there was no way for him to fight or flee on account of his exhaustion and the strange sensation keeping his animosity in check. “What makes it so important to someone like you? I mean, you’ve already killed a member of the royal family and made it pretty clear you could slash anyone else’s throat when they least expect it. Shadows are everywhere, right? That’s how you got behind me before, back in the bazaar.”

                “Ah,” said Veyihan, “You flatter me. My power is indeed useful. There’s no denying I can get away with almost anything as long as there is a shadow nearby. But shadows are only useful if I know when and where to use them. Your power may not be advantageous on the surface but if you consider its implications it’s far more dangerous than mine.”

                “No it isn’t,” said Heero, “According to you my power is basically a glorified sixth sense. There’s nothing remarkable about that.”

                Veyihan chuckled. He grew back to his normal size, emerging from the shadow in a seamless, smooth way that gave Heero the creeps. The motion was a silent caress along the ground, much like a black feather swishing back and forth on the trim of a long, formal dress. Veyihan at a full stand was a half a head taller than Heero. It made Heero feel small, childish.

                “You have an innate ability to sense danger, to foretell disaster. That’s a useful skill to someone like me.”

                “You just want to blackmail me into helping you not get caught.”

                “Precisely,” said Veyihan.

                Heero felt a small choking noise of defiance almost exit the back of his throat.

                “Now, once again, I look forward to working with you, Heero.” Veyihan turned, waving lazily as he walked off. “I’ll be seeing you soon. Try not to get yourself killed by anyone else until we meet again.”

                Dawn rose, casting a warm hue over the city that never touched the most shaded part of the alleyway. Heero stood under the protruding awning of an inn that had long been abandoned. He hadn’t slept at all. Veyihan receded out of view, finally disappearing with the first rays of the sun that struck down on the nearest main street. A headache pounded behind Heero’s eyes. His thirst returned along with a newfound hunger that made his stomach groan like a dying goat. He was shaky and short of breath by the time he reached his part of the city. Leaning on a wall, he took a break to rest his joints. He sank to his knees, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Everything grew blurry and warped for a moment. Heero rubbed his eyes, blinking away the dizziness.

                He needed water. His mouth felt like a desert. Or at least, it felt how Heero imagined a desert would feel, all grainy and dry, his tongue prickly as a cactus the way it scraped the back of his throat painfully every time he swallowed. He picked himself up and wandered blearily until he found a well. Although he tried to sip slowly, he ended up gulping huge swallows of the water he dragged up from the well, straight from the bucket. Most of it he spilled. An old woman who walked hunched over with the help of a cane gave Heero a nasty look. Wasting water wasn’t looked well upon under any circumstances. The fact that Heero probably looked more like a vagabond than usual no doubt added to the old woman’s disdain. At the moment though, Heero didn’t care. He was thirsty and for all points and purposes shouldn’t have survived the night. He deserved as much water as his body needed.

                When he was finished and his throat no longer ached, Heero lowered the bucket back into the well. He had only just heard the faint splash of the wood hitting the water when a scream echoed on the air. It was raw and shrill and sounded like it came from a few blocks away. Heero nearly tripped over himself when he heard it. He turned towards the direction it had come from and stared until he remembered that was where he had been walking with the guard before Veyihan slashed the guard’s throat open. The body had been found. Heero felt bad for the woman who found it. The scream had sounded feminine and terrified. At this hour so early in the morning it must have been one of the fire maidens, the women whose job it was to light and extinguish the street lamps.

                But it didn’t matter who had found the body. The scream woke up the entire city. First, anyone within earshot bolted right out of bed and then, after a slight pause to discern the cause of the scream, the populace made about waking up the rest of its masses in an outward progression from the gory scene. By noon the whole city would know the story of the guard found dead in an alleyway. By tomorrow, all the surrounding cities would know and by the time a week passed the entire kingdom will have heard the tale. Whether the details of the event would remain truthful was another issue.

                Heero didn’t even have time to eat before the king’s men came for him. He walked through the door, said hello to his landlady, who remarked that he looked pale and asked if he had slept, and then a booming voice came from outside.

                “The king has sent us to retrieve the one named Heero! Bring him out at once!”

                The landlady’s eyes went wide. She had heard the news like everyone else. What she didn’t ever suspect was that Heero had something to do with it. She backed away from him, pointing at the door silently. In that silence there was an unmistakable mix of betrayal and fear. Heero left immediately. He suspected he would never return but he also didn’t keep anything valuable in the tiny room he rented. The guards handled him roughly but Heero didn’t object. He knew what they thought he did. He knew they wanted to slit his throat to avenge their fallen comrade. He also knew that they were holding back the urge. That was why he made a point to be compliant.

                Somewhere along the long walk to the castle Heero suddenly wondered if he would be burned in place of the man they already had in custody, the scapegoat for the queen’s murder. It would be much more convenient to blame Heero for both murders. Then again, for the king to admit he lied would cause more political problems than burning two innocent people. A dishonest king was more dangerous than a murderer roaming the city. Heero wondered if that perspective might change if the populace became aware of how Veyihan was killing people.

                The guard behind him shoved Heero at Karigno’s feet. Heero stayed on the ground, feeling the spears pointed down at him even though none of them actually touched him. One command, one unanticipated jerky movement, and Heero would be stricken from all angles.

                “That was my son dead in the alley,” said Karigno. Heero’s eyes went wide. He dared not look up at Karigno’s face. “He may have tried to act tough around everyone else but I’m his father. I know his aspirations stemmed from the stories I told him of my adventures. He was a promising child, noble from an early age, always striving to help those around him. A position as a guardsman was suitable for him. Now he’ll never live up to his potential.”

                Heero said nothing. He wanted to cry but he was too afraid to let the tears fall. What if those tears were interpreted as guilt? What if they were proof enough that he had killed Karigno’s son in the eyes of all the guards currently pointing sharp spears at his back? Heero was flat on his stomach, arms tied behind his back. He was defenseless and there was absolutely nothing he could say or do to prove his innocence. Maybe they’d let him have a final request. Maybe he could see Rinska one last time before they burned him next to the other innocent shmuck this evening. For a single moment, Heero wished Veyihan had killed him. That would have proven his innocence. Rinska wouldn’t think badly of him then.

                “Untie him,” said Karigno.

                Heero couldn’t believe his ears. Only now did he risk glancing up at Karigno’s face.

                “Sir,” said a guard who was unsure of the reason for Karigno’s command but also angry. He didn’t want to untie Heero. In his eyes Heero shouldn’t be given the chance to fight or a proper trial. In his eyes, Heero deserved a spear in the back. That single word solidified the relationship between Karigno’s son and this particular guard in Heero’s mind. They had been best friends. It was so obvious. Heero wondered if anyone else would have gotten that out of one word and the inflection used to speak it. He wondered if Veyihan was on to something with his talk of powers and animal senses.

                “I’ve given you an order,” said Karigno.

                The guard didn’t pull Heero to his feet to untie him. He kneed Heero in the back in the most painful position he could think of while he cut loose Heero’s wrists. Heero tried not to cry out but he couldn’t help a small grunt from escaping him.

                “Stand up,” said Karigno. Heero wasn’t sure if he was speaking to the guard presently kneeling on his back or to him directly. Either way, the both of them, Heero and the guard, rose to their feet. Or rather, the guard rose and grabbed Heero by the collar, dragging him up like a fish on a hook. Heero stumbled to stand on his own two feet but the guard held him fast, keeping him just off balance on his toes.

                “Look me in the eyes, Heero,” said Karigno.

                Heero did.

                “Who killed my son?”

                “A man named Veyihan,” said Heero. When Karigno didn’t speak, he added, “The same man who threatened the king and killed the queen.”

                Karigno scrutinized Heero. He looked deep into his eyes, observed the slight tremble in Heero’s voice when he spoke, saw how ragged his breathing was, noted how dark circles had formed beneath Heero’s eyes. This was not the face of a killer. Karigno had seen plenty of killers in his day and Heero held none of the traits from Karigno’s experiences. Heero was a frightened child, someone who had cheated death and still didn’t understand how he had pulled it off. This is not the person who killed my son, thought Karigno, this is a witness.

                Heero gulped, which was difficult given the fact that the guard still had him by the collar.

                “He is telling the truth,” said Karigno. “Put him down.”

                “Sir, you can’t be serious!”

                “I gave you an order. Put him down.” As an afterthought Karigno added, “Gently.”

                The guard raised the arm holding Heero to a full stretch above his head and then let his fingers go slack. Heero crumpled to the floor.

                “Go cool off,” said Karigno to the guard. The guard puffed out his chest and opened his mouth as if to protest but one serious look from Karigno made the guard reconsider. He left as ordered but he stomped all the way to another corridor of the castle. When the guard was out of eyesight, a deep roar of frustration followed by the sound of a spear-point panging against a stone wall erupted from that direction. “Come on,” Karigno hoisted Heero to his feet, “Up you go.”

                The rest of the guards backed away as Heero stood, all of them seeming to carry the same unsure expression. Karigno ignored them, assessing Heero’s state.

                “You’re lucky to be alive,” Karigno said, voicing his guess. “Veyihan, was it? I bet he had you on your toes all night, didn’t he?”

                Heero nodded, blinking rapidly when he brought up his head because a sudden dizziness overcame him. He swayed but didn’t stumble.

                “Easy,” said Karigno, grabbing Heero by the shoulder to keep him upright. “You hurt, lad?”

                Heero didn’t make the mistake of moving his head this time. He said, “No.”

                “Could’ve fooled me,” Karigno said, keeping his eyes on Heero as he waved one of his guards over. “See that he gets a proper meal. I will inform the king. Veyihan will see justice.”

                This guard, unlike the one who had stomped off earlier, saluted Karigno and led Heero away with the kind of compliance and dignity that was expected of a proper soldier. Heero felt his last bit of remaining energy wane as he shuffled past the royal garden behind the guard on the way to the guardsmen’s dining hall. A wave of nausea hit him when he spied the single red flower still prominently contrasting the white roses, on which it was placed, a splatter of blood on a clean cotton sheet. Luckily for Heero, there was nothing in his stomach. That made it easier for him not to wretch.

The dining hall was outside the royal grounds but near enough to appear as part of the castle from afar due to its similar architecture and proximity to the palace. It was furnished with wood, lit by candles tucked inside sconces and empty except for the cooks and one or two armored men.

“A lunch platter,” said the guard. The guy behind the bar gave a curt little nod and disappeared into the kitchen. The wooden door creaked as it swung closed, must have been rusty about the hinges.

“New recruit,” asked one of the armored men, though it sounded more like an assumption than a question.

“Guest,” answered the guard.

The discussion ended there. Heero collapsed into a chair, folding over to put his head on his arms on the nearest table. He must have passed out because it seemed as soon as he closed his eyes someone was poking his shoulder.

“If you die before you eat, my labor will have been for nothing,” said the guy who had been behind the bar before. He held a steaming platter that smelled like salted meat. The scent revitalized Heero enough for him to sit straight up and give the guy room to set the food on the table.

“Sorry,” Heero mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Eat up, lad.” Heero gave the guy a weak smile and took the fork that was handed to him. Lad, huh, Heero thought, recalling that most of the guards called him boy, not lad. I wonder if he’s friends with Karigno.

His groaning stomach removed all contemplation from Heero’s mind and from then on all of his thoughts were focused on the food in front of him. He gobbled up the potatoes first, buttery and spiced with chives. Then he scarfed down the green beans and broccoli, olive oil slipping smoothly down his throat along with hints of black pepper. Having saved the best for last, Heero took a deep breath now that his body was beginning to recognize he was feeding it, and stabbed his fork into a bit of sliced pork, mixing it into the caramel sauce before he popped the morsel into his mouth.

It was the single most delicious thing Heero had ever tasted. He wondered if he could enlist in the army just for the food. Rejuvenated, Heero cleared the rest of his plate, downed the mug full of water that the guy who ran the kitchen had brought to the table when Heero was halfway done with his food, and then leaned back in the chair with a satisfied sigh. He was still tired as hell but at least he wasn’t starving anymore.

“So Karigno sent you,” said the guy who had brought Heero his food. “I’m a good friend of his. Name’s Alyntar. What should I call you?” Alyntar pulled out the chair across from Heero and sat down, elbows on the table. He pulled off the cloth tied over his hair and ran his hands through his long bangs.

“Heero,” said Heero.

“Well, Heero,” said Alyntar with a playful smirk, “Next time you almost die why don’t you run here instead of all over town, eh?”

Heero felt an embarrassing heat in his cheeks and neck.

“We wouldn’t be a very good army if we couldn’t handle someone who could barely keep up with a kid, would we?”

Heero didn’t know whether to feel insulted by that comment. He kept quiet, looking away from Alyntar.

“Aw, don’t be like that. I’m just teasing, lad.”

“Wait, how’d you know I ran all over town?” Heero said.

“News travels fast,” said Alyntar. “Spooky, isn’t it?” The cocky smirk on Alyntar’s face suddenly turned into a frown. “Actually, that guard who brought you in here told me the lowdown while you were napping. So Karigno’s son is dead, huh? Damn shame. I liked that kid. He wasn’t much older than you are.”

Heero’s gut sank. Alyntar rose from the chair, tying the cloth back over his head to keep his hair out of his face before he pulled Heero’s emptied dishes away and sauntered back into the kitchen. The door creaked loudly when it swung closed again.

What am I supposed to do now? Heero asked himself, sighing and leaning over the table again. Karigno and Alyntar know I’m innocent but will that be enough to convince the king? He’s going to need another scapegoat to blame for the guard’s murder. The poor guy he already has in custody was locked up at the time of the killing, a fact the populace won’t overlook. The façade of justice is already thinner thanks to Rinska’s freak-out yesterday. Obviously a lot of folks are going to side with the king but there are plenty of able-minded people who’ll question the man’s innocence tonight at the burning.

I wonder if my landlady will be one of them. Well, former landlady, I suppose I should call her now.

Why am I even thinking these things? Shouldn’t I just be happy I’m alive?

Veyihan’s predatory smile, emotionless and hungry, entered Heero’s mind. He visibly jolted, sitting up straight in his chair, wide-eyed as he put a hand to his chest and tried to calm his breathing.

That’s why I can’t be happy I’m alive. He’s still out there and I know it. He could be lying in wait to kill me, or anyone else that gets in his way. Veyihan… what are you really after?

“A little jumpy there, aren’t you,” said one of the armored men. It was a good-natured comment, camaraderie disguised by teasing. Thankful for the distraction, Heero faced the guy and forced himself to chuckle.

“Oh yeah, like a rabbit,” said Heero, “I guess sleep deprivation will do that to a guy.”

The armored man raised his mug and took a sip, then went back to speaking with his companion, leaving Heero to his thoughts. Heero almost wanted to ask the man some stupid conversation starter, if only to get himself out of his head for a while. Veyihan wasn’t the only thing on Heero’s mind. Rinska was there too, not quite at the forefront of his thoughts but still lingering, and whenever he would think of her he would worry.

I can’t even tell if I really want to see her or not, thought Heero. What if she hates me now for siding with her father? Or hell, what if the king doesn’t believe Karigno and convinces Rinska I’m some sort of deranged murderer like that Veyihan guy? If her father told her something like that about me, I wonder if she would believe him. Not that it matters if I get myself killed before all this possible drama comes to fruition. If Veyihan so much as touches Rinska I’m going to kill him myself. I don’t care if I’m already dead; I’ll climb out of my grave and strangle him if he dares to threaten her or her family again.

I guess that’s pretty tough talk coming from a guy who couldn’t even save his own hide. I’m so useless. What am I really going to do if Veyihan comes back? Probably run like hell. I need help. I can’t get rid of Veyihan on my own, especially not if he wants to use me for some ridiculous scheme like he says he does.

Who can I ask for help? Who would even believe such a ludicrous story?

Karigno believed me.

Heero stared at the wall as the food settled in his stomach. Silently, he decided. Karigno was the person to turn to. When Heero had just met him Karigno had showed him kindness. Even after his son died, when any other person would have immediately turned blind rage towards Heero on account of what he had supposedly done, Karigno remained level-headed and offered Heero assistance instead of damnation. Karigno, a seasoned warrior, the person Heero had asked to be Rinska’s bodyguard, the person who believed Heero when nobody else did; no matter how insane the situation, Karigno could help. Heero need only find him and ask.

Heero stood from the chair and left the facility, walking all the way back to the castle, which was the only place he could comprehend Karigno being at the moment. It wasn’t the usual two guards at the gate. These two didn’t know Heero very well, not that it would have changed what happened even if they did. The guards both held spears. They blocked Heero from entering any further by crossing the spears together in the shape of an x. From one look at them Heero could tell he wasn’t going to get any leeway with these guys. Assuredly, the fact that times were dire wasn’t helping him any.

“Please,” Heero said, getting down on his shins to beg, “I need to see Sir Karigno.”

Immobile as statues the guards did not budge or speak.

“I’m begging here,” said Heero, his voice sounding a bit more exasperated than he intended.

“Sir Karigno is not here,” said one of the guards, eyes straight ahead.

“Where is he?”

“Sir Karigno is saying his last farewells to his son.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Heero thought, feeling his teeth grind; How could I have thought he was at the castle when his son died only hours ago? Of course he’s at the funeral!

“When will he be back,” Heero asked.

“That is none of your concern.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

The other guard spoke up now, “We don’t know.”

Heero started hating himself for even considering asking Karigno for help after Karigno had suffered such a tragedy. But who else could he ask? Alyntar came to mind but Alyntar didn’t evoke the same type of trust in Heero that Karigno did. Sure, they might be friends, even possibly war buddies, but Alyntar didn’t have the same feel that Karigno did. Put simply, Heero didn’t trust him. It wasn’t an instinctual mistrust. It was just that Heero didn’t know Alyntar as well as he knew Karigno.

I don’t even know Karigno that well, do I? I’m an idiot. If Rinska were here, she’d smack me.

The guards put their spears back into the attentive position, with the tips pointing towards the sky. Heero stayed where he was on the ground, gazing up at the clouds, thinking. He hoped Rinska was okay. He hoped the king hadn’t told her he had killed Karigno’s son. Then again, if that were the case then he would most likely be dead or arrested already. The thought of being arrested brought Heero’s mind back to the poor innocent guy locked up for the queen’s murder. The execution was at sunset, only half a day away. If everything went as planned, if the guy burned and the kingdom was thrown into chaos because half of the populace would see it as justice and the other half would see it for the lie it really was, would Veyihan be satisfied?

“You’re shading our door,” said one of the guards. It was the politically correct way to tell someone to leave.

“What about Rinska, can I speak to her?” Heero asked, knowing the answer.

The answer was one of the guards using his spear to point Heero in the opposite direction of the castle, which was exactly what Heero had predicted. Even the gesture was the same. It gave Heero an oddly comforting sense of déjà vu. He stood, wiped the dirt off his knees and shins. Then he walked away, aimlessly wandering until he found himself in the familiar setting of the bazaar. His feet had taken him there without his conscious effort. He sighed.

When did life get so frustrating?

A shadow bent in Heero’s peripheral vision. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it if the shadow’s movement wasn’t so unnatural.  Specifically, it stretched the wrong direction in relation to the sun. And aside from that, its mere presence was enough to send Heero’s heart racing.

It’s Veyihan. He’s here.

“Come with me,” said the shadow.

Heero had no choice but to follow it as it stretched even longer, forming itself into an arrow on the ground to guide him. He didn’t want a repeat of last night. He had learned his lesson. Or, at the very least, Heero had weighed his feelings and found that going along with Veyihan this time would be the safest path, both for himself and Rinska. So that’s what he did.

He followed Veyihan’s shadow in a convoluted route through the bazaar until he was face-to-face with Crazy Maedi, a person he hadn’t expected at all to see standing alone in the middle of a run-down alleyway. Well, that was a lie. She was every bit the person one might expect to see by herself in some off corner of a place. What Heero hadn’t expected was for her to look down at Veyihan’s shadow, give a polite nod of greeting and a curtsey and then knock three times on the nearest door.

The door opened silently. A woman with red, curly hair poked her head out to leer at Heero.

“So you’re the seer,” she said, trilling her R’s. “Veyihan has told me much about you.”

“I bet he has,” Heero said.

“Come inside,” she said, opening the door wider.

Heero did not hesitate to cross the threshold but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. Veyihan’s shadow followed him inside. Once the redhead shut the door, which left Crazy Maedi outside, Veyihan slipped up from the floor, cracking his neck once he regained human form.

“Ah, the kinks I get when I stay that way are so irritating,” he said.

“So this is the new recruit,” said the redhead.

Heero made a point to shove his hands in his pockets and look as put off as possible. He scanned the room subtly when nobody was looking his way. The only door was behind him. The only window was shaded by a curtain and didn’t face the street. In fact, if not for a slight breeze billowing the curtain, Heero might not have thought it was a window at all. It was in the most inconvenient place, nestled almost completely into a corner, the corner farthest from the door, and when Heero thought about it he realized there shouldn’t be any wind coming from that direction at all. The window was oriented to face the wall of the next building over. Either the alley it opened to was far bigger than Heero remembered or it wasn’t a window at all. But what, then, could it be? A fan of some sort, Heero thought, latching onto the most reasonable explanation. Except, if it were a fan then why would it be covered?

“Heero is an interesting name,” said the redhead, “It sounds like it belongs in a fairy tale. I wonder if you were teased as a child.”

Heero stopped contemplating the window and looked to her, scowling. He wasn’t teased. There were no friends to tease him and the bullies feared him. He had been a mangy child, always dirty and even more violent.

“Now, now,” said Veyihan, “Don’t get all offended. Nahleen makes comments like that to everyone.”

Nahleen smirked and twirled her hair. The color reminded Heero of blood scabbed over.

“It’s obvious you only want me here to be used,” said Heero, “So what are you people using me for?”

“You people,” Nahleen said, mocking Heero’s voice. Her accent made her impression sound foreign and terrible. “That’s not very nice.”

Heero turned his best, most intimidating glare towards her. She smiled like a feline back at him. For only an instant, something in her eyes made Heero think of Rinska. It made him drop his glare.

“I told you before,” Veyihan said as he stretched to the side, cracking in three places, “We’re going to overthrow the royal family.”

“You’re the rebellion,” said Heero. “But why bother doing something like that in the first place?” And how do you expect to pull it off with only two people, three if you count Crazy Maedi?

“Because I deserve to be queen,” said Nahleen. “Much more than that cunt that married the king.”

“Her death was as painful as I could make it,” said Veyihan.

Heero gasped, hearing himself in a weird, disconnected sort of way. He knew Veyihan had committed the queen’s murder because it was obvious but Nahleen, shady as she appeared, was a beautiful woman, not someone Heero thought capable of wishing death on someone. Rinska’s crying face appeared in Heero’s mind. He lost it.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people,” Heero yelled, blood boiling, fists clenching. “It was ‘as painful as you could make it’? Why would you go that far for some stupid rebellion! Not only is it unnecessary cruelty but it’s my best friend’s mother you’re talking about! I can’t work with you! I don’t care what happens to me! Kill me if you want. I refuse to be twisted into someone like either of you!”

“Oh, he’s got spirit,” said Nahleen. She stood up straight and then jutted out her hip, pointing at Heero with a perfectly manicured nail. “Tell me something, Heero. Your best friend is the princess, isn’t she? How would you like if we threatened her?”

Heero blanched. The rage rose inside him like a kindled fire. Veyihan stepped toward the window, away from Heero and Nahleen. He was smiling that fake smile of his as he leaned casually against the wall and crossed his arms. Time for a show, his posture said.

“How would I like it,” Heero shook with fury, turning his eyes to Nahleen’s. “I’d kill you!”

“Oh? Good luck with that, kiddo.”

Heero screamed, pulled back his fist and punched Nahleen square in the jaw, or at least he would have had she not dodged at the last moment to catch his wrist in her hand.

“Listen to me,” she said. Heero struggled to get free but her grip was too strong. “If you disobey us, Rinska will be the one at risk, not the king.”

“If I kill you two, she won’t have anything to worry about.”

“You can’t kill us.”

Heero deepened his stance and twisted out of her hold, sweeping a kick towards her legs. She jumped up to avoid being tripped, landed in a classic stance and flipped her hair out of her face. Heero lunged at her, reaching at his belt for his knife. In his haste he had forgotten he no longer had his knife. Rinska did. His hand came up empty but he still got a decent punch out nonetheless. Adaptability was his strong suit in a fight, after all. It had provided him with many opportunities to run from his pursuers in the past. This time he hoped to get Nahleen off balance enough to pin her.

She stumbled. Perfect. Heero made his move then, grabbing her hair to get her close enough to knee her in the stomach. A shadow got in between Nahleen and Heero’s knee, knocking him back with so much force that his breath left him. Heero rasped, scrambling to his feet. Dizzy, he fell back down to his knees and coughed. To his credit he still managed to keep his fists up and ready.

“I can’t have you two killing each other,” Veyihan said. He was still in shadow form, a pitch black arch that curled up from the floor like a viper rearing to strike. “We can’t overthrow the kingdom with just me.”

“Stand aside,” said Nahleen. “If he wants to kill me let him have his chance. He needs to learn how small he is.”

Heero’s grinded his teeth so hard it started to give him a headache. He didn’t wait for Veyihan to get out of the way. He reached inside himself, found his courage and resolve, and tackled the both of them down in one rush of power.

Veyihan slipped out from beneath him, leaving Heero atop Nahleen. Not having a weapon, Heero raised a tightened fist. Nahleen twisted her torso to keep from being pounded, gaining leverage to kick Heero off of her by doing so. Heero rebounded quickly, maneuvering behind her.

This took her by surprise. Heero grabbed her by the hair, wrenched her face-first into the wall and elbowed her in the back, catching her floating rib with the impact. Nahleen grunted in pain but didn’t cry out.

Heero saw the backwards kick she was about to do in his mind before she actually raised her leg. He let her go, backing away fast enough to avoid it.

What was that? Heero shook his head, seeing specs of light in the corners of his vision. I saw her kick before she kicked. I saw her move before she did anything.

Nahleen spun around and closed the distance between herself and Heero in a heartbeat. She got his neck in an eagle’s grip and forced him to the floor. Heero had seen that move coming too. The difference was he hadn’t had a chance to react to it in time.

“Have you noticed,” Nahleen said, “The patterns of my movements?”

Heero, who was pinned on his back and being strangled, groped at Nahleen in an attempt to get her hands off of his throat. Panic had set in by then. The logical way of getting out of the position he was in didn’t occur to Heero. He was too focused on trying not to choke.

“Seems you took it too far,” Veyihan said.

“Give him a moment,” said Nahleen. Her fingers tightened around Heero’s neck, nails digging into his flesh. “Focus, Heero. What do you see?”

Heero couldn’t answer her even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. All he could think was I’m dying and what will happen to Rinska?

Then in a flash of blinding white the scene changed and there was no longer the room or the strange window or Nahleen’s hands around his throat. Heero stood up. He was in a field on the outskirts of the capitol city from the looks of it. In the distance, he could see the castle looming above the rest of the buildings but only small cottages and single-room households lined the road nearest to him. When he turned around, the river passed by his feet and a willow tree’s leaves drooped into the water.

An infant was crying in her mother’s arms by the riverside.

“Where am I?” Heero asked. When the woman didn’t respond, he thought about tapping her on the shoulder but he didn’t get a chance to because she stood up with her child in her arms and cooed. He instinctively stepped back to give her room.

“Hush,” she said, her voice cracking. “You’ll make me cry too, Rinska.”

“Rinska,” Heero said, grabbing the woman’s shoulder with every intention of turning her around to see her face. Heero knew what the queen looked like. This woman wasn’t the queen.

Just as he was about to see the woman’s face, the blinding light returned along with a severe pain in his head, deleting the scene and replacing it with the surroundings he had been in before: inside the room with the strange window, Veyihan and Nahleen. Heero writhed on the floor, his mouth agape in a silent scream as he pressed his palms against his temples to try and keep the pain from overwhelming him.

He didn’t hear Nahleen say, “There, you see? He only needed a small push.”

Nor did he hear Veyihan’s response, which was, “For you a ‘small push’ means something way different than it does for normal people.”

Heero did manage to get ahold of himself long enough to hear snippets of Nahleen’s voice as she said, “Since when are you an expert on ‘normal people’?” From those snippets, Heero realized who the woman in his vision had been. It had been Nahleen holding Rinska as an infant by the river, acting far too much like her mother for Heero’s comfort, not that anything about this situation was remotely comfortable. Heero felt like his head was about to split in two.

“You,” he said, forcing his voice out of his sore throat, “What were you doing with Rinska? Why were you there at the river?”

For the first time, Nahleen frowned.

Heero sat up completely, still crunched in pain but supporting himself with one hand with the other clamped against one side of his head. He winced. The headache was vanishing slowly.

“I remember that day,” Nahleen said.

Veyihan yawned, completely uninterested in the sudden serious atmosphere. Heero, knowing by some strange but sure sensation that he wouldn’t have to pry to get Nahleen to elaborate, waited for her to continue.

“That was the last time I held my daughter.”

Heero’s eyes bulged. Meanwhile, Veyihan moved toward the curtain that covered the window and pulled it apart just wide enough to let more of the draft inside. The window itself remained shaded enough to be completely obstructed from view, not that Heero was paying any attention to that at the moment. He was far more concerned with what Nahleen had just said.

“Rinska can’t be your daughter,” said Heero. “She’s a princess.”

“Which is precisely why I deserve to be queen,” said Nahleen.

“You’re lying. I knew Rinska’s mother and I know Rinska. You look nothing like either of them.”

“Bloodlines are a funny thing,” Nahleen said, glancing at Veyihan for a moment as the draft crept up her back and blew three strands of her red hair frontwards over her shoulder. “Not everyone looks like their mother. Rinska took after her father.”

Come to think of it, Rinska had always had the king’s jawline if you looked at her from the side. Their cheekbones sat in a similar place too, a bit higher than usual. But that was normal, Heero told himself, of course she would look like the king. The king was her father!

“I don’t believe you,” Heero said.

“I don’t care,” said Nahleen. “It’s the truth. Besides, as long as you do what I tell you to I don’t care what you think.” She stood and pulled her hair behind her ears. In that gesture she turned her head to one side and Heero saw that her nose poked out at the exact angle on her face that Rinska’s did.

“You would go so far as to threaten your own child to get me to cooperate,” said Heero, still not completely sold on the whole Rinska is the daughter of Nahleen thing.

“That was only to get you angry,” said Nahleen. “I needed to assess your potential.”

“And how did I fare?”

“Averagely,” Nahleen said, shrugging.

Heero scoffed. If his head wasn’t still pounding he would find some way of getting back at her for toying with his emotions.

“If both of you are finished,” Veyihan said, pulling the curtain completely apart, “Let’s be off.”

A sudden blast of wind nearly knocked Heero onto the floor. He took a step backwards to steady himself, squinting past Nahleen and Veyihan to see that it was not a window behind the curtain but an opening in the wall much like a door that led to a dark, chilly place.

“I’m not going in there,” said Heero. Both terror and defiance enveloped him as if two constricting snakes were overlapping each other after striking and coiling the opposing ends of the same mouse, with Heero being the mouse.

“Then we will waste no time causing an uprising and instead assassinate the king tonight,” said Nahleen. “I’m sure Veyihan wouldn’t mind that one bit.”

“You know me and killing,” Veyihan said as if he were commenting on the weather.

Heero knew by instinct that they were both telling the truth. If he didn’t obey, they really would kill the king. He couldn’t put Rinska through that. He forced himself to inhale, exhale and then follow the both of them through the strange opening in the wall, stepping into the darkness.

The wind was intense walking through there. It seemed Heero was walking behind Veyihan and Nahleen through a corridor or tunnel. The narrow space amplified the wind and by the end of it, when he could finally see a snippet of light up ahead, Heero’s quadriceps had that shaky fatigued feel to them, throbbing whenever he bent his legs to take another step.

I should be freaking out right now, Heero thought to himself. This whole situation is crazy. Maybe that’s what this is. Maybe this is me going crazy. If I were hallucinating, would it feel this real?

The light at the end blinded Heero as he stepped out of the tunnel.

“He finally emerges,” said Veyihan.

“He doesn’t have the ability to navigate the darkness like you do,” said Nahleen.

Heero’s vision finally cleared, color slowly saturating his field of view like watercolor being poured over a canvas after a good few rubs of his eyes. The space they were in was vibrant in a clashing way that made Heero want to shut his eyes all over again. The trees and the grass were the truest green. The sky radiated blue from above and the animals scurrying through the forest in front of them Heero saw as animated blurs of brown or red rushing past.

“What is this place,” Heero asked, squinting to keep his eyes from burning.

“This is the Null,” said Nahleen. “It’s a sort of in between realm.”

“In between what?” Heero turned to look towards the forest, whose entrance faced them in an archway of intertwining tree limbs, twigs and vines.

“Life and death, we assume.” Veyihan said, “The Shadow Realm I traverse to use my power is similar, in a way. Not as dramatic, of course.”

“Many ancient texts describe the Null and the Shadow Realm as complements of each other. They’re opposite planes of existence,” Nahleen said. “But that isn’t important right now. Right now we need you to get a handle on that power of yours, otherwise going through all the trouble of recruiting you will have been a waste of our time.”

“Lucky me,” said Heero.

“Get used to it, kiddo. Now,” Nahleen pointed to the forest entrance in front of them, “Tell me what you see right there.”

“It’s an entranceway,” said Heero. Why bother asking such a stupid question?

“Interesting,” said Nahleen. “I’ve always wondered what was truly there.”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” Heero arched an eyebrow, looking at the forest and then back at Nahleen and Veyihan. Both of them carried thoughtful expressions now, although Veyihan’s posture was more of an indication than his face. While Nahleen scrunched her eyebrows together, leaning a little bit closer towards the forest, Veyihan’s only indication he was contemplating anything was the fact that he had his chin cupped in his hand. His face was passive as ever. Heero decided he preferred this passivity to when Veyihan smiled. It wasn’t as creepy.

“I have always seen a mirror,” said Nahleen. “Just like now. It’s just a mirror, a mirror and white space.”

“I haven’t ever seen an entranceway here,” said Veyihan. “Then again, I’ve never seen a mirror either.”

“But it’s right there,” said Heero, pointing at the entranceway. “It’s right in front of us. A bunch of branches and vines twisted into an arc that leads into the forest. See?”

“A forest,” said Veyihan, “That’s an interesting development.”

“Yes,” said Nahleen.

“You people aren’t making any sense.”

“Which is precisely why we need you,” said Nahleen. “Your ability is unique. What you experience is truth, Heero. What you see is what’s really there. What Veyihan and I see are mere illusions.”

“That still doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t matter if it makes sense” said Nahleen. “Go through the entranceway. Explore all that’s inside and then report back to us with what you find.”

“No,” said Heero.

“Honestly, do we need to remind you of our previous threats?” Veyihan said, slouching slightly.

“I’m not being defiant for the reasons I was before,” said Heero. “You say I experience truth? Well the truth is even if I wanted to scope out the whole area, I wouldn’t be able to. It’s too big. I could waste a lifetime in there and not emerge with the entire forest explored.” Heero knew this in his soul, felt it with his heart, heard it like a whisper from a room on the opposite end of a hallway; there was no way to traverse the entire forest. It was simply impossible.

Nahleen crossed her arms, staring at the ground. Heero wondered if she saw the vibrant green grass there that he did.

“If there’s an entranceway, there must be a path to follow,” said Veyihan.

Heero looked back towards the arch. “There is.”

“Then follow that until you reach the end and bring back what you find.”

Nahleen looked at Veyihan curiously. Heero did the same.

“Paths aren’t made for show,” said Veyihan, “They always lead to somewhere significant.”

Heero scrutinized Veyihan, unnerved that he couldn’t find even a single trace of emotion in the guy, even with his supposed power to help him. And those red eyes of Veyihan’s were far more vibrant here in the Null, so bright they might as well have been glowing. Then again, that could just be the way the Null was. So far, everything Heero laid eyes on was the purest version of its color.

“What if I don’t find anything?”

Now Veyihan smirked. The white of his teeth showed through the tiniest crack in his lips and this time there was real emotion, eagerness specifically, when he said, “You’ll find something.”

“Off you go,” said Nahleen. She wafted her hand towards Heero with a loose, lazy movement of her wrist. “We’re on a time crunch, remember that.”

Heero bit back the snide remark on his tongue and spun on his heel, marching towards the entranceway. Just before he stepped through he looked back at Veyihan and Nahleen one last time. Maybe it was because he was curious or skeptical or maybe he was trying to assess how much he could really push his supposed power, but in that moment Heero stretched his awareness towards the two of them. Two impressions, one for each of them, came to mind.

Firstly, Nahleen was nervous for him. That came as a surprise to Heero. However, she had definitely meant what she said before. If he failed or abandoned his task, she fully intended to kill the king. Or rather, she fully intended on ordering Veyihan to do so.

Secondly, Veyihan was empty. Heero didn’t quite understand what that meant on an intellectual level but somehow he still knew deep down inside himself that it meant Veyihan had no soul.

What is a soul, anyway? What do I care if Veyihan doesn’t have one?

Because his lack of soul frightens me, that’s why I care. I have to go. I can’t dawdle any longer or I won’t make it back in time.

Wait, back in time for what?

“We’ll wait for you back on the other side,” said Veyihan. That was the final push that got Heero to determinedly step through the entranceway. He heard footsteps as both Veyihan and Nahleen returned to the tunnel, going back the way they had come. Being out of their presence left Heero relieved but at the same time there was a relentless sense of encroaching danger, one that Heero hadn’t experienced until he fully passed through the entranceway.

The forest was vast but there was a path to follow, the only uncolored thing in the entire Null as far as Heero could tell. Staring at his feet as he walked prevented the headache of overstimulated eyes from getting to him. The path was a calming, muddled grayscale textured with pebbles and dirt. Heero walked it in a mind-numbed silence until he came upon a similarly colorless stone staircase. At some point on his hike, Heero had become winded. Looking behind him, he could no longer see the entranceway and the forest seemed all the denser, the canopy blocking the saturated blue of the sky with jarring, bright greens that radiated off its leaves and deep, thick browns from the branches holding them aloft.

When Heero’s stomach growled, it echoed. He couldn’t see the top of the stairs. They were carved into the side of a mountain, or a landmass equally large. Half of them were chipping at the edges. At least they looked stable for the most part.

“This is going to take forever,” Heero said. He took a deep breath and started climbing.

He still couldn’t see the top when he sat down hours later to catch his breath.

I’m thirsty, he thought. And then, I’m hungry too.

Heero leaned back on his hands, felt the next stair touch against his neck and rested his head there. His legs felt like gelatin and his chest hurt and his stomach was making all sorts of awful noises at him. The blue of the sky, now unobstructed since the forest was far below, made his eyes sting even when they were closed. His throat was sore and scratchy from dehydration.

Groaning Heero twisted around and got back up, crawling on his hands and feet for a few steps before he righted himself completely and starting marching up the stairs again. It took another hour and a half before he saw the peak like a spec in the distance, a pencil point drawing ultra-white clouds on the sky.

“I can see the top!” Heero said, grinning like an idiot. This small change in the scenery felt like accomplishment to him. At least now he could see where he was headed, even if he still had a long ways to go.

His second wind hit him and he quickened his pace, taking two stairs with every step for a while until his legs refused to cooperate anymore and he had to slow down and think about every stride or risk falling over. Being able to see his destination made him impatient and frustrated more than he had been before but it was also this same impatience and frustration that propelled him forward at a smarter, steadier pace. Before now, he had been inconsistently stopping and going, wondering if there even was a precipice to these endless stairs.

When Heero finally reached the top of the stairs, he let all his muscles go slack and collapsed, wheezing on his side. Like the stairs themselves, the ground was made of stone here, colorless stone that was soothingly cool to the touch. Heero rolled to his stomach, sprawling out to enjoy the comfort of the coolness against his arms, neck and face.

“Made it,” he said, barely able to hear himself with how quiet he had spoken.

“You are halfway to the second test,” said a booming voice.

“Huh?” Heero struggled to peel himself off of the ground. He lifted himself to all fours and stared ahead, squinting as a man five times his size came to stand squarely before him, casting a long, bulky shadow over Heero. “Test?”

The man had no color, much like the plateau on which the both of them were standing. Well, to be fair, Heero was kneeling.

“To reach the Elixer one must pass three tests. You are halfway through the first.”

“Oh.” Elixer must be what’s at the end of this path, then. “Can I ask you something?”

The man raised both his bushy eyebrows and stared past his beard down at Heero.

“What’s the Elixer?”

The man threw his head back in laughter.

“What?” Heero wasn’t sure if he was being laughed at or had simply said something the man found funny.

“You would challenge the Null without knowing what is to be gained at the end of the trials? You have guts!”

Heero thought it wise not to point out he wasn’t doing this by choice.

“I will leave the Elixer for another Thresholder to explain,” the man said, “For now, I will tell you the second half of the first challenge.”

Heero gulped. He got off the ground, shaky as he stood. He guessed just arriving at the top of the stairs was the first half of the challenge. Considering how worn out he was from that, he dreaded what the second half would be. He especially wanted to give up and turn back when the man raised his fists into a flawless boxing position and towered over him.

“You must best me in hand-to-hand combat,” the man said.

Heero laughed nervously, sweating from nerves now as well as fatigue.

“Do you think me funny?”

“No,” said Heero, “It’s just I don’t think I can beat you.”

“If you thought you could beat me then this test would be worthless,” said the man. His fists remained up and ready but he didn’t make a move. Heero took that to mean he would have the first hit. That didn’t make him any less unsure of himself but it did get him thinking.

“What constitutes as besting you?”

The man smiled. “You’re sharp. Nobody has ever thought to ask me that.”

“Is it against the rules to ask?”

“Not at all,” said the man. “Therefore, I shall tell you. To best me in combat one must land a single damaging hit to any area of my body that is not a limb.”

“Define damaging,” Heero requested.

“Damage is a bruise or a bleed.”

Heero looked at the man’s bare abdomen. The muscle was so toned it might as well have been plates of steel painted to look like skin. The fact that the man was entirely without pigment did nothing to help that metaphor leave Heero’s mind. I can’t bruise him, thought Heero, and how can I bleed him without my knife? I can’t do this by fighting him head-on. I have to be clever about it.

While Heero placed his chin in his hand and thought this through, the man kept his stance, immobile as a statue, a ready patience in his visage.

“Okay,” Heero said, putting up his guard, which was much sloppier than the man’s. “I can just come at you whenever I’m ready?”

The man nodded.

Heero took one step.

The man didn’t move.

Heero took another step and then dropped his arms. “I really don’t think I can do this. I’m exhausted from climbing all those stairs.”

“That was a test of stamina. This is a test of strength.”

Heero sighed and bit his lower lip. He raised his guard again, tiredly. Then he lunged towards the man, sending out one weak punch. The man swatted it away and knocked Heero off balance. Heero fell flat onto his face at the man’s feet.

“Ow.” Heero wiped his mouth with his fist. His left arm felt like lead and the side of his face stung with pain. He stayed on his hands and knees for the time being, feeling the man lean over him. Being in his shadow made Heero feel vulnerable, much in the same way being chased by Veyihan had. “You aren’t very opportunistic.”

The man stepped back as Heero rose to his feet and wiped himself off and smeared the blood from his cracked lip onto his knuckles.

“I know a guy that would’ve killed me as soon as I fell,” said Heero. He smirked, giving the man his most taunting expression, “He’s not a coward like you.”

That got a reaction out of him. The man grunted angrily, speeding towards Heero with a right hook. Heero dodged it just barely. The man spun around, swinging a leg out, which Heero jumped over only to be elbowed hard in the side. Hearing something crack, Heero fell and coughed. Coughing sent waves of pain like needles all up and down Heero’s side.

“Is that all you got,” Heero said, sputtering blood. “You’re pathetic.” Keep him angered. He’ll make a mistake if you enrage him.

The man picked Heero up by the hair, bringing him up to a praying kneel. Heero twisted his face into a patronizing smile, trying his best to emulate Veyihan.

“No wonder you’re the first Thresholder. The first of any series of tests is always the easiest.”

The man tightened his fist, brought it back preparing to strike. Heero waited a nanosecond and then his mind screamed now!

Heero kicked off the ground and caught the man by the throat, digging in with his nails. Just as the man’s punch would have landed, Heero hollered at the top of his lungs.

“You’re bleeding!”

The man’s fist halted a centimeter from Heero’s nose.

“See,” Heero said frantically, showing the man his bloodied nails. Some was red but there was also a tiny trickle of gray intermixed with the crimson, “Blood from your neck, which isn’t a limb.”

The man dropped Heero, folded his arms over his chest and nodded. Wordlessly, he pointed to the side of the plateau opposite the stairs. Heero hobbled past him, clutching his side, wincing with every step.

“I didn’t mean any of it,” whispered Heero, “I’m sorry.”

The man placed his large hand on Heero’s head as he went past, ruffling his hair. Heero didn’t have any energy left to smile a goodbye so he walked on to the end of the plateau, staring down at another equally long staircase in dismay.

I would prefer to slide down a shoot like a rich man’s laundry, thought Heero. But he sighed and clamped his arm to his aching side and went down anyway. Each step was a gamble to see if he could stay upright until his bottom leg took his full weight or tumble to his death below.

At least I’m not going up. Up was harder.

By the time he reached the bottom, his stomach felt like it was imploding, his brain throbbed at his temples and his legs gave out on him. Heero lay on the colorless ground, each breath painful and shallow.

“My, my,” said a woman’s voice, “That first threshold really did a number on you.”

Heero didn’t even bother trying to move. He knew he couldn’t even if he wanted to. He stared at the obnoxiously blue sky and breathed in and out, in and out; counting to make sure he didn’t stop from sheer exhaustion.

“Ignoring people is rude, you know. Or could it be you’re dying? Body has always been a brute. He must have beat you senseless, you poor thing.”

“Body,” Heero said, not realizing he had spoken aloud. That must have been the name of the first Thresholder. What a stupid name.

“So you are alive,” said the woman as she came into view, bending over Heero so her long black hair tickled the sides of his neck. She had a gaunt face and a slender build. Her hair was stick-straight, silky to the touch, a stark contrast to her light eyes. She smiled flirtatiously, “Greetings. My name is Mind.”

Heero gazed up at her dumbly.

“Tired?”

“Long staircases,” Heero said.

Mind giggled, “That they are.”

“So you’re the second Thresholder.”

“That I am.”

Heero sighed, “Okay then. What’s your test?”

“My, my,” said Mind, “You certainly don’t seem very enthusiastic about this quest.”

“Yeah, well. It wasn’t exactly my decision.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I don’t want to go back over that mountain full of stairs,” said Heero in a far more spiteful tone than he had intended. Talking made his sides hurt. Not surprising since breathing made his everything hurt.

“I don’t know if I want to administer my test to someone who doesn’t even want to be here in the first place,” said Mind. Although her words were shrewd, her face was playful. She was teasing.

Heero almost wished she were serious.

“My test is one of intelligence,” said Mind. “There are four sections. First, you must solve a riddle. Second, you must solve a puzzle. Third, you must create a solution to a problem and lastly, you must convince me to allow you passage to the next Thresholder.”

“Couldn’t I just skip the rest and convince you to let me pass to begin with,” Heero said, still not getting up.

“Tut-tut,” said Mind, “Passing the first three tests is required for me to even consider letting you past my threshold. Think of them as prerequisites.”

Heero groaned. His stomach echoed the sentiment.

Mind tilted her head at him. It made her hair sway over his cheek. It tickled.

“A riddle is just words. I shouldn’t have to move to solve it,” he said. “I think I’ll just sprawl here and think of the answer, unless that’s against the rules.”

“It is not, therefore I shall begin.” Mind cleared her throat, straightened her back and projected in a crisp voice, “There is a bee in my hand. What is in my eye?”

Heero scrunched his eyebrows together. “Is that my only clue?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a riddle otherwise,” said Mind.

Heero huffed. Okay, a bee in her hand… what does that have to do with her eyes? Why is eye singular instead of plural? Riddles always have some stupid language loophole, right? Why is this so difficult?

“My, my,” Mind said, “You’re taking longer to solve it than the last person who reached this point.”

“Well maybe they had something to eat on the way down all those freaking stairs. My head’s pounding. Hunger makes it hard to think.”

Mind blinked, leaning over Heero again. She got far closer than before this time and Heero saw a youthful curiosity in her face that he hadn’t noticed before.

“What?”

“I’ll feed you if you solve the riddle,” she said, winking.

“Stop making fun of me,” said Heero, although he really did wonder if she were serious. He hoped she was. The thought of food made his stomach clench and his mouth water.

Mind smiled at him, amused. “I’m not making fun of you.”

“If I solve this riddle and you don’t feed me I’m going to be angry.”

“Then obviously I should keep my word. Defeating Body in combat is no easy feat. I wouldn’t want to anger someone who accomplished that.”

“You’ll really feed me?”

“What have I done to inspire so much doubt in you?” Mind looked honestly insulted, which made Heero feel kind of guilty.

“Okay, whatever. Could you repeat the riddle?”

“No,” Mind said, crossing her arms and jutting out one hip.

“Why not,” Heero whined.

“My tests are of intelligence,” said Mind, “If you can’t even remember something I said three minutes ago then why would I allow you to pass?”

Heero hated it, but she had a point. He inhaled and thought back. There’s a bee in my hand. What is in my eye? “A bee,” said Heero as he closed his eyes to concentrate, “And an eye. Okay then…”

After the longest pause, Mind poked him in the forehead. “You’re going to get wrinkles if you keep your eyebrows like that all the time.”

“Shut up. I’m thinking.” He swatted her hand off his forehead.

Mind giggled, “My, my. Should I not have interrupted you? You’re taking forever. I’d hate to have disrupted your thought process so much as to make you take even longer.”

“You talk too much,” said Heero, frustrated. “This riddle is doesn’t make any sense. What does bee holding have to do with an eye?”

Wait, bee-holding… beholding? Heero’s eyes shot open. He knew the answer! He was really going to get some food in his stomach!

“I’ve solved it!”

“Have you, now? Then what is the answer?”

“Beauty,” Heero said proudly. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Took you long enough,” said Mind. She even flipped her hair like an unimpressed diva.

Heero made a face at her. Way to ruin my moment of triumph, he thought.

“Now then,” said Mind, “Shall we eat?”

All is forgiven. I can deal with her attitude since she’s feeding me.

Mind offered Heero a hand, which he took gratefully. She helped him to his feet and they walked off the main path through a valley of yellow wildflowers until they reached a purple blanket spread out over a flattened section of grass. A picnic was already prepared there and the food smelled savory and delicious. Furthermore, it was in full, luminous color like the rest of the Null. Mind sat and opened one of the wicker baskets. Her movements were fluid and graceful, unlike Heero’s who plopped down noisily and with no finesse.

“Have you ever had sautéed vegetables?” Mind asked producing the exact dish Alyntar had cooked for Heero earlier that day. Or maybe it was longer ago. Heero couldn’t tell anymore, not after all he had been through.

“I have,” said Heero, salivating. Normally he would object to eating something that nearly glowed with color but right now he was too famished to care. Besides, the oversaturated nature of color seemed to be the norm here in the Null if you didn’t count the colorless path and the Thresholders so far.

“You must have liked it, making that face,” Mind said. She smiled, handing Heero the dish. It filled him up and tasted wonderful, very much like Alyntar’s with a few minor differences in spice.

“Can I ask you something?” Heero asked between mouthfuls.

“That’s a stupid question,” said Mind, “Considering it is a question in itself and my presence doesn’t in any way prevent you from inquiring anything.”

Heero’s headache returned tenfold. “Okay then I’ll just ask anyway and see if you answer.”

Mind bit into a red strawberry that reminded Heero of Veyihan’s eyes, smirking.

“Do you know someone named Alyntar?”

“I do,” said Mind.

Even though it wasn’t all that surprising since he had inferred it already, Heero nearly dropped his fork.

“He solved my riddle immediately, far faster than you.”

“So he also challenged the Null?”

“Obviously,” Mind said in a terse, patronizing way. Heero got the feeling his questions were beginning to annoy her so he stopped asking and just focused on the food.

I wonder who taught whom. Did Mind learn to make this from Alyntar or was it the other way around?

“You’ve gone quiet,” said Mind.

“I’m savoring each bite,” Heero said after a swallow. “Who knows when I’ll get to eat next.”

“You’re lying,” Mind said, leaning forward, “You were thinking about something. What was it you were contemplating?”

“I was just wondering if I’ll be able to pass your second test,” Heero lied.

Mind let her eyes pass over every inch of Heero before she responded. “That’s up to you,” she said.

“Okay,” Heero said, rising, “Then what’s this puzzle I have to solve?”

Mind didn’t move from her place on the purple blanket, sitting on her right hip.

“Thank you for the food,” said Heero, “But I really need to get moving.”

“How rude,” Mind said. “It’s not very nice to leave in a rush right after a meal. It gives a gal the wrong impression.”

Heero stared down at her, not knowing what he was supposed to say to something like that. He settled for, “Um.”

“My, my,” Mind’s playful expression returned, replacing the stone cold stare she had been fixing on him, “You really are easy to fool.”

Heero narrowed his eyes on her, “Must you toy with me?”

She laughed in a light, textured way. “I wouldn’t be Mind if I did not enjoy play.”

Heero didn’t understand. He just stood there like an idiot.

“If you insist,” Mind sighed, getting up off the blanket. She pointed back towards the gray path. “If you walk straight along the path, you will come upon a maze. At the center of the maze is the puzzle you must solve. Bring it back to me completed and I shall allow you to pass through my threshold.”

“Great,” said Heero, “More walking.”

“If you really are in such a rush then you’d better hurry!” Mind grinned wide and waved him off as Heero cut through the field and reentered the path.

“At least the land is flat this time,” Heero mumbled under his breath. He started down the path once more, nursing the dull throb that had made its home inside his temples. Getting something in his stomach had done wonders for his energy levels but it hadn’t gotten rid of any of the bruises he had received from Body so it was slow going all the way until he reached the maze.

Like the path, the maze was without color. It sprang up like a knife sticking out of the path in front of Heero. The field of yellow wildflowers and long, green grasses appeared far softer than they had for the rest of Heero’s hike in the maze’s rough, stony presence. The entrance was a square, not an arc, making it seem more like the entrance to a building than to a natural structure. All the mazes Heero had been exposed to up until this point had either been formed by crops or landscaped bushes but this one seemed to have a ceiling.

Great, that means I can’t cheat by climbing over the walls, thought Heero. He hesitated for a moment before stepping inside, not sure what to expect.

Inside was dark, so dark Heero could barely see an arm’s length in front of him.

“How am I supposed to get through this maze without being able to see?” Heero felt ahead of him, coming in contact with the wall. It scraped against his palm, must’ve been made of solid stone. “So I can’t go over the top and there’s no way to push through the walls. I bet Mind has had people try to cheat before. Or maybe she anticipated those notions to begin with when she built this place.” Heero pulled his hand off the wall, stricken by a realization. Wait, how did I know it was Mind who built this place?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Is it because I’ve got the awareness of truth, as Veyihan and Nahleen call it? Somehow I’m positively certain Mind built this place. Although, come to think of it, that didn’t occur to me until I put my hand on the wall.

I’m overthinking this. It can’t be my ability. This has to be a clue. No puzzle exists that doesn’t contain a clue to its solution.

Heero put his hand on the wall again. A rush of knowing washed over him like wind through a valley. Mind really did build this place, all by herself. And she had fun with it too.

“Well, there is one cheap way left to get through a maze,” He said to himself palming the wall, “I won’t get any shortcuts but at least I’ll never get lost this way.” Keeping one hand on the wall, Heero walked into the total darkness beyond the opening, making his way through the maze blind.

His left hand had blisters by the time he emerged from a different entrance point. Unfortunately, he hadn’t come upon anything akin to a puzzle the entire time he’d been inside. Having gotten used to the dark, his eyes burned when the light reached them. He almost took his left hand off the wall to rub them but then remembered to keep it where it was and used the back of his right hand instead.

“Okay, so there’s more than one entrance,” he said, “Not surprising.” He paused. “When did I start talking to myself?” Then he sighed and walked along the outside of the maze with his left hand plastered to the wall, blistering further. It was starting to sting and because he was outside for the moment, Heero wouldn’t get confused about which way to go. He removed his hand, pulled a cloth from his pocket and wrapped his palm before he continued. When he reached the next entrance, he replaced his left hand against the wall and completed the process all over again at least three more times.

“How many entrances are there,” Heero said kicking a pebble out of his way and into the wildflowers. The very next time he emerged and turned a corner, he found himself right where he had begun the maze the first time. “Ah, that means the rest of this will be inside,” he said as he reentered the maze, this time taking the opposite turn than the way he had gone in the beginning.

He traveled the dark using his hand to wall method until he came upon a single luminescent object glowing from the center of one of the rooms.

“That must be it,” Heero said. But it’ll be easy to get turned around in here if I’m not careful. I’ll memorize my steps to be sure I retrace them exactly.

He reached out, claimed the puzzle and returned to his place at the wall without incident. Then he looked at what he had taken.

It was the most complicated contraption Heero had ever seen but there was obviously a correct orientation to it and it was out of alignment. He would need both hands to work at it so Heero decided to wait until he was out of the maze to begin. It took him twice the amount of time to get out of the maze as it did to find the center.

“I could have turned back once I found this thing and gotten out faster,” he said, emerging from the maze with half-closed eyes to shield his vision from both the sun and the rich colors of the Null. The time in the dark had actually helped his headache though, so he couldn’t quite hate the entire experience even if he hadn’t wanted to do any of this challenge stuff to begin with.

“I see you have yet to solve the puzzle,” said Mind. She stood waiting for him on the path, a clever twinkle in her eyes.

“Yeah, well. I didn’t want to lose my place in the maze,” said Heero.

Mind nodded but it also seemed she was stifling a giggle at Heero’s expense.

“What?”

“Nothing at all,” she said, “Go on then. Solve the puzzle if you want me to let you pass through my threshold.”

Heero arched an eyebrow at her and then sat down, staring at the glowing module in his hands. When thinking of it logically didn’t help, he decided to just fiddle with the darn thing until he accidentally found the solution. All that did was make it more convoluted to solve. With each twist or turn Heero made, the pieces appeared to become even more tangled and intertwined. After a good half an hour he let a frustrated, gravelly noise escape his throat.

“Having trouble,” said Mind leaning over him.

“Having trouble,’ she asks,” Heero said. He poked one of the protruding parts of the contraption, setting it into a makeshift angle until he could figure out where it really went.

Mind sat down next to him and watched him work, which Heero felt was an unnecessary distraction.

“Do you mind?”

Mind smiled sweetly at him. It would appear she wasn’t going to move. Either she enjoyed messing with Heero or she saw no reason for her presence to bother him.

Heero was about to crash the stupid puzzle to bits when she finally spoke up.

“Having trouble?”

“Don’t give me that look,” said Heero, plucking another bit loose on the face of the puzzle in order to slide it to the other side. “I’m sure someone like you could’ve solved it already but quite frankly I’m just a normal guy. I’m not used to thinking this way.”

“So you are having trouble,” said Mind as she stuck her tongue out, “I knew it.”

“Oh, shut up.” And then, with a click, the puzzle was finished. Somehow Heero had solved it! He let out a long, satisfied sigh and handed it to Mind, who pressed the protruding bit at the top.

The maze vanished in a flash. Heero spun around and stared dumbfounded at where it had once stood.

“You mean I could have solved it in there and not had to waste all that time finding my way out?”

Mind smiled in an amused way that would have pissed Heero off if she weren’t so darn cute when she was being mischievous.

“These tests of yours are tiresome,” he said.

“Tests are meant to be tiresome,” said Mind. “Follow me. The third assessment awaits.”

Heero glared at where the maze had been, got up and followed her down the path. The wildflowers’ color arrangement changed from yellow to orange to red on the way. They came upon two men sitting in two chairs. Both the chairs and the men had no color and the men’s arms were roped to the chairs’ armrests.

“This is a test of creativity,” said Mind. She clapped her hands together excitedly. “It’s my favorite!”

“Okay,” said Heero as he approached the two men. Neither of them betrayed any emotion and they both were dressed in the exact same clothing. The only difference between them was their hairstyles and face shape. One had short, curly hair and a narrow jawline while the other had shaggy hair that reached his earlobes and razor stubble about his masculine chin.

“One of these men has committed a crime,” said Mind, “It is up to you to determine which one. Now, the first man—”

“He did it,” Heero said, pointing to the second man.

Mind’s jaw dropped. “You are correct. My, my, how did you figure it out so quickly?”

“I guessed.” Actually, I knew which one had done it the moment I laid eyes on both of them. This awareness of truth thing might come in handy after all.

“You’re lucky then,” said Mind. She snapped her fingers and both men vanished. “Walk with me to my threshold. On the way, convince me why I should allow you passage.”

They walked. Heero remained silent until the threshold came into view. It was an archway much like the first he had passed through to reach the path leading to the mountain of stairs.

“All this time we have walked and you have yet to say a single word,” said Mind. “How do you expect to convince me without voicing your case?”

“I shouldn’t need to speak my case to someone like you,” said Heero, settling for flattery in the off chance that it might charm her regardless of his logic. “You devised these tests for the purpose of finding out who was worthy of passing your threshold, right? You’re smart, Mind. None but those who are worthy would have been able to pass any of the tests to begin with.”

“Have you ever heard the saying,” Mind said with a smirk, “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

I’m found out. “I have, but it’s a lie.”

Mind giggled.

“Anyway,” Heero said, “It doesn’t matter what I say. Ultimately it’s your decision whether you let me pass through your threshold or not. Nothing I do now can change that.”

“You may have passed my tests,” said Mind, “but you are naïve. Change can come at any point in any situation, especially those involving people.”

“Is this your way of saying you won’t let me through?”

“Not at all,” said Mind. They halted before the threshold and Heero looked at her as if to ask permission to leave. Mind smiled but a look of sadness crossed her face. “Remember this as you move forward: there exists no being who knows Full Truth.”

“That goes without saying,” said Heero, waving the back of his hand at her as he passed under the archway.

What the heck did she mean by that?

“I am Soul,” said a genderless voice, snapping Heero to attention. The landscape had changed to a desert void of anything but the path and red sand. Before Heero stood a bald hermaphrodite clothed in white. Its bare feet merged with the colorless path in a way that made it seem to be an extension of the gray path in and of itself. Heero bowed reverently because he thought it was the proper thing to do.

“I’m Heero. What would you ask me to do?”

“You are to do nothing,” said Soul. “Turn back. You have failed the final test.”

Heero balked, pointing behind him. The red wildflowers were still visible but only through the archway, framed and as if the arch separated two completely different worlds. “I’m not turning back after going through all that!”

“You have failed,” said Soul, “I shall not allow you to continue this challenge. Turn back.”

“How have I failed when I haven’t even started your stupid test yet?”

“There is no need to test someone who is not challenging the Null of his own accord. Turn back.”

“Look, pal. You can tell me to turn back all you like but I’m not going anywhere.” Heero crossed his arms, glaring. “Just because I’m here on behalf of someone else doesn’t mean I don’t want to finish the challenge.”

“Even as you say this, you are afraid.”

“Of course I’m afraid,” Heero said, “Who wouldn’t be? Rinska’s family is on the line here and I know I can’t trust Veyihan or Nahleen to keep their word about not killing the king. But what choice do I have? I don’t have the power to go against them as I am now. I can’t save Rinska or her father unless I have some leverage, which means I can’t return to Veyihan and Nahleen until I have the Elixer. Let me through!”

“I shall not.”

“Then I’ll push past you whether you allow me to or not.”

Soul stood immobile.

Heero clenched his fists and walked onwards but right as he would have brushed past Soul’s shoulder, Soul flipped Heero onto his back with one decisive, solid motion.

“Ow,” said Heero, rubbing his head.

“Turn back,” said Soul.

“You know what,” Heero said, “I’ve got a right to know why I didn’t pass your stupid test. Tell me why I failed.”

“You are a coward, liar and thief,” said Soul.

At least he gave me an answer, thought Heero, too bad it was an idiotic one. Heero twisted onto all fours and then pushed himself up, holding his head in one hand, wincing.

“Turn back.”

“If you say that one more time I’m going to,” Heero started but then realized he had nothing tangible to threaten. “Whatever. I think your criteria are bullshit.”

“My criteria are absolute.”

“Then tell me this,” Heero grabbed Soul by the white garment it wore and got as close as possible, searching into Soul’s deep, dark eyes. “Who on Earth isn’t a coward, liar or thief?”

Soul stared right back at him, unflinching. “Those who are pure of spirit are not any of those things.”

“And how many so-called ‘pure’ people have gotten this far in the Null challenge?”

“One,” said Soul.

“Then whoever they were, they fooled you.”

“None exists who can fool me. I am Soul.”

“Anyone can be fooled, pal. All that statement proves to me is that you’re an arrogant prick.” A curiosity struck Heero. He asked, “Who was it that passed your test, anyways?”

“A man named Veyihan,” said Soul.

Heero’s grip loosened and Soul’s garment fell away from his fingers. “What?”

“A man named Veyihan,” Soul repeated.

“I know what you said! I mean how the hell did someone like him pass your test?”

“Veyihan was neither coward, liar nor thief. Veyihan was pure.”

“Veyihan isn’t pure! He’s empty!”

The skin around Soul’s eyes crinkled. It was the first expression of any emotion Heero had seen on Soul’s face so far. He decided to pry, to see if he could get another reaction out of Soul even if that reaction were small.

“What about Alyntar, then,” Heero asked, grabbing Soul’s shoulders, “Why didn’t Alyntar pass your test?”

“Alyntar was a coward.” Soul said as a wind blew red sand over the gray pathway, “He only sought the Elixer because he feared weakness.” Somehow even with all the blowing wind and sand, Soul’s white garment remained untainted. Heero let go of Soul’s shoulders.

“Then tell me why Veyihan challenged the Null,” Heero said, hanging his head and dreading the answer.

“Veyihan sought to better himself,” said Soul.

“And you thought that was a good reason?”

“What better reason is there?”

This is getting me nowhere. I need to just skip this part of the challenge and go after the Elixer myself. But how do I get past Soul?

Heero eyed the swirling red sand. He walked blatantly off of the path and into the open desert, squinting through the wind.

“That is not the way back,” said Soul.

“I don’t care,” Heero shouted back. “You can stand there and judge me all you want but I refuse to give up just because you tell me to leave. I’m forging my own path from now on.”

“You will be lost forever,” said Soul. “Only the gray path assures your survival.”

“You think I give a damn? In all my life, my survival has never been assured.”

Soul did not venture from the path after Heero.

The wind whipped at Heero’s eyes and sand got in his shoes but it was much better than listening to that judgmental blowhard tell him he wasn’t worthy of the Elixer.

“What is the Elixer anyway,” Heero asked himself, “And why would Veyihan send me on this stupid challenge if he already had the prize that comes at the end?” He regretted speaking aloud when his mouth filled with sand. Coughing until his tongue no longer felt granular, Heero kept walking, using his power to navigate the dunes.

I may not be heading down Soul’s path but I can feel the Elixer is in this direction. All I have to do is keep moving until I reach it. I’ll show that jerk who is worthy.

The sand dunes became larger and the wind blew more violently as Heero stomped onwards. More than once he tripped and fell or barely caught himself in time to keep from sliding down a dune he was already halfway up the side of. But each time, he cursed under his breath and kept on going, determined to reach the Elixer even if all he would accomplish along the way was being caked in red sand from head to toe.

Heero coughed, spitting some of the sand out of his mouth. He cleared his through, wiped his mouth and squinted through the wind. A light up ahead beckoned him closer. It was the Elixer, a red, pulsing light held within an iridescent white bottle. Heero would have sped up if only he were able but the blowing sand pressed at his ankles, keeping him from pushing forward any faster. Strangely, now that he could see the Elixer, it seemed farther away.

You are going the wrong way, something told him deep inside. Go left and then continue as you were after eight paces.

Heero obeyed the feeling in his gut only to be rendered nearly immobile by the dense, piling sand. This way was harder than the direction he had been going but Heero took that to mean it was the true path to reach the Elixer.

Close your eyes and feel your way through, his power told him. He listened, squeezing his eyes shut to stretch out his awareness and keep out the sharp wind. He hadn’t wanted to keep his eyes open any longer anyways. His corneas were thankful not to be bombarded by the elements any longer.

The warmth of the Elixer, a tingling sensation Heero hadn’t been paying enough attention to feel before, became stronger when his eyes were closed. Traveling this way, feeling instead of seeing, Heero made it through the dunes more efficiently, even if his whole body began to hate him and ache from fatigue towards the end.

But he made it. When he opened his eyes, the red sand had settled and the Elixer glowed at his feet. Now close enough to grasp it, Heero leaned over and picked up the bottle. It was warm to the touch yet felt somehow intangible, the same sensation one might get by grabbing at the smoke rising out of a fire. It glowed in Heero’s palm. The red liquid inside the bottle swished back and forth even when Heero kept his grip perfectly still, as if it were pumping to the beat of a heart.

Drink, Heero’s ability told him. Your strength will be replenished.

I can’t drink all of it. Veyihan and Nahleen need to think I brought it back to them without tampering with it.

Heero twisted off the lid. He put the bottle to his lips and sipped until half of the Elixer was gone. Then he swirled the lid back into place.

“I don’t feel any different,” he said, staring at the bottle as if it were its fault he was still exhausted. I guess nothing happens unless I drink it all. Good, if that’s the case then Veyihan can’t get any more powerful than he already is even if I do give it to him.

Then it happened. Heero felt something deep within him shift. In a flash of red Heero lurched forward, grabbing at his chest where his heart felt like it was tearing in two. The bottle fell out of his hands and back into the sand, sinking silently in front of him. He screamed and writhed on the ground, covering himself in even more sand than before, sweaty and miserable, the bottle forgotten.

It feels like I’m dying, thought Heero, is this because I didn’t follow Soul’s path?

No. This happens with everyone. This is how the Elixer works.

And Heero knew it was true. He had to tough it out. He focused on breathing instead of on the pain. Then he found himself thinking of Rinska.

He thought of the way she winked, teased. He thought of the way she smiled and walked and how the wind would catch her hair from the open window on cool nights and she would shiver and scoot closer to Heero unconsciously, seeking warmth.

Then he remembered her shaking shoulders, her anger, the way she had tightened her face in the beginning of that bogus speech to the citizens about who killed her mother, no doubt trying not to cry.

Whenever Rinska tried not to cry, she cried in earnest. Heero remembered Karigno pulling her from the edge of the outlook. He remembered how she kicked and screamed and wept.

The bottle was sinking faster now. Heero’s arm thrust out to grasp it before it vanished.

I’m doing this for Rinska. I refuse to fail.

Heero pulled the Elixer closer, cradling it to his chest with one arm as he crawled back through the red sand, inch by inch. The pain in his heart threatened to overwhelm him but he did not give into it. He pressed on, through the dunes and past Soul’s gray, lifeless path. The threshold to Mind’s territory was visible when he had to pause and focus on breathing. His lungs felt parched for air and his vision blurred for a moment.

When Heero came to, Soul bent over him, scowling.

“You have cheated the Null challenge,” said Soul as he rose up out of the path. “The punishment for this crime is death.”

Heero growled, “I won’t let you kill me.”

“You have no choice.” Soul raised a fist where a gray spear manifested at the ready.

Heero used what little strength he had left to grasp the spear’s point before it struck him. His palm and fingers bled in rivulets that trickled down his wrist. But physical pain was nothing to Heero now, not after what the Elixer had put him through, was still putting him through.

“Accept your punishment.”

“Bite me.” Heero’s grip faltered and all his energy left him. His arm flopped pathetically to the ground along with the rest of his body as the tension in his muscles dissipated, failing to keep him prone. The gray path was cold against his cheek. His eyes stayed closed longer than he intended them to each time he blinked. The world faded.

But then he heard something.

“Get up!”

I know that voice.

“Get past my threshold. Go now!”

Mind?

“Can’t… move,” Heero whispered. His voice sounded like sandpaper.

“Do not interfere,” Soul said. “He must be cleaned from the Null. He has cheated his way to the Elixer.”

The very endpoint of the spear brushed against Heero’s hair but didn’t come any closer. Mind must have been tugging on the other end to keep Soul from attacking.

Move, Heero told himself. Get up. Mind is keeping him busy. You can get up and get past him. It’s only a few feet. Just do it!

He struggled, trembling as he slogged slowly out of the range of Soul’s spear. The Elixer rolled after him and Heero swept it up in one arm, ignoring the pain long enough to use one last desperate motion to propel himself through Mind’s threshold.

Once through, he tripped and succumbed to unconsciousness.

When he came to, his head was in Mind’s lap and his hand was bandaged. The world was a haze but Heero felt the ends of Mind’s hair brushing against his neck and saw her light eyes staring down at him in perfect clarity all the same.

“Mind,” said Heero. His voice both felt and sounded scratchy. “You saved me.”

“My, my,” she said smiling, “You certainly get into a lot of trouble.” Her words were a tease but Heero’s awareness told him she had been very worried and was only now relieved.

“Rinska used to say the same thing.” Heero tried to get up but he simply couldn’t. His body wouldn’t listen to him.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I’m running out of air,” said Heero as he closed his eyes again. He felt Mind’s soft fingers against his forehead. It was soothing, gentle.

“It will pass,” she said. “The Elixer is changing you.”

“Why,” Heero asked, unable to stop himself, “Why did you come to my rescue?”

“Because I like you,” Mind said in a giggle, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You think your way through problems. I know you didn’t get past Body through combat and even though you didn’t pass Soul’s test, you still obtained the Elixer.”

Heero felt himself slipping away. Before he passed out again, he had to ask, “Doesn’t it bother you? I mean, Soul judged that I wasn’t worthy of the Elixer.”

“I rarely agree with Soul,” said Mind.

Heero chuckled, not caring that it hurt his chest. “Neither do I, apparently. Does that make me a bad person?”

“There is no such thing as a bad person,” said Mind. “Soul may cling to the archaic ways but everyone has reasons for what they do. Whether they are aware of it or not, people put thought behind every action regardless of idealism.”

“I don’t get it,” said Heero.

“Of course you don’t,” Mind said and smirked down at him. “You aren’t as smart as I am.”

Heero couldn’t argue with that.

“Get some rest,” said Mind. “You have a long way back and a new burden to carry with you. You will need your strength.”

“I can just sleep here on your lap?”

“I wouldn’t have placed you there in the first place if I didn’t want you to.”

Heero felt an almost-smile coming on but he was too tired to fully reveal it. It wasn’t long before he found himself before a canyon with Soul calling to him from behind.

Heero doesn’t know what Soul is saying, only that it’s a threat. Heero jumps off the brink into the canyon and then there is a dog snarling at him with Rinska curled at its feet in the fetal position. A noose lies on the floor. Heero follows it past Rinska to the fires where a man with green eyes smiles.

Now Heero is burning but there is no pain.

“Go. Run.”

Heero runs. Rinska is beside him, crying but smiling, and the water laps at their ankles when they reach the beach.

Then Heero is afraid. He pulls Rinska back, embracing her to glare at Veyihan as he walks towards them on the water.

“Your eye,” says Rinska.

When he opened his eyes, Heero found that Mind was looking off to one side, her hair blowing in a light breeze, silhouetted against the bright blue of the sky.

Heero sat up, getting off her lap, feeling weird about things in the transition between sleeping and waking. Mind stood up and offered him her hand, pulling him to his feet.

“Time to go,” she said. “The road back will be quicker.”

“You say that but I’m not sure I believe it.”

Mind winked, “You have the Elixer now, Heero. Pay attention to the changes it has bolstered in you.”

“I only drank half of it.”

“That is apparent.”

Heero tilted his head, confused.

“I have a meal here to go,” said Mind, handing him a basket that Heero couldn’t decipher when she produced, “It won’t do anyone any good if you collapse before you reach your destination.”

“Thank you, Mind.”

“Go on then. The longer the goodbye, the more upon it I dwell.”

With the Elixer and the basket in hand, Heero turned and went. Traveling the gray path, he crossed the fields of wildflowers and ascended the mountain of stairs.

Body nodded at him at the precipice, stepping out of the way.

“For some reason,” said Heero, “I expected you to side with Soul.”

“Soul and I rarely speak,” said Body. “It is Mind who does the talking.”

“Oh.”

“Eat and then go. Be swift about your leave.”

Heero ate the food Mind had given him and then descended the stairs, reaching the edge of the forest without breaking a sweat. Nahleen waited there, standing when she saw him, but Veyihan was gone. Walking up, Heero showed her the bottle of Elixer.

“I’m assuming this is what Veyihan wanted me to get,” said Heero.

“Beats me,” Nahleen said, bending towards the bottle to get a closer look, “It is very pretty though. Did you discover anything else on your journey?”

“Like what?”

“Like information, perhaps.”

“What type of information,” asked Heero. Nahleen slipped the bottle out of his hands and then looked him in the eyes.

Then she gasped as if she were seeing him for the very first time, stumbling backwards. Heero didn’t think someone like her was capable of such a startled motion so he took a step towards her cautiously.

“What’s wrong?” I shouldn’t care. She’s the one who blackmailed me. Why’d I even ask? I don’t care what’s wrong!

“It’s,” said Nahleen, regaining her composure and along with it the steadiness of her voice. “Your eye is different. It’s your left eye. It’s red, like Veyihan’s.”

Heero brought a hand up to his left eye and then realized it was useless to try and figure out what was different by touch alone.

“Then I do have information for you,” he said. And hopefully, Veyihan won’t kill me or anyone else for stealing half the Elixer.

“This bottle,” said Nahleen, catching on instantly, “It’s what changed you. Veyihan must have partaken too, although I don’t know when he could have. Perhaps it was before we met. Yes… to me his eyes have always been red.”

“I want to know something,” said Heero.

“And what is that?”

“Between you and Veyihan I can’t figure out who is really in charge. Tell me.”

“Oh, aren’t we suddenly demanding? And after only a few hours apart,” Nahleen said, flipping her hair as she turned away from Heero. “That isn’t of any concern to you. Just do as we command or the king bites it. I always hated him anyway. If you disobey, it gives me an excuse to rid the world of his hypocrisy.”

“Haven’t you wondered how Veyihan uses those strange powers of his,” said Heero.

Nahleen stopped in her tracks and a wind howled from the tunnel leading out of the Null.

“I could kill you right now and catch up with Veyihan before he gets news of my having done so. With the element of surprise, I could kill him too. Then I’d never have to worry about the king or Rinska’s safety again, at least not in regards to you two.”

Nahleen turned a forlorn expression on Heero, one that surprised him in its sincerity.

He held his tongue.

“You are still young. You don’t know the entire situation yet, so I don’t blame you for your arrogance, but it would be a mistake to kill me.”

“You can’t stop me from leaving,” said Heero. He pushed past her, entering the tunnel.

“That I cannot,” whispered Nahleen as she tightened her grip on the Elixer and watched his back disappear through the tunnel.

Heero emerged to an empty room with the quality of light one might expect of sundown. I have to get to Rinska and her father before they burn that innocent man at the stake or the whole kingdom’s going to go up in arms. Fueled by urgency, Heero sprinted out of the room, passing by Crazy Maedi who was dawdling in the alleyway, pacing back and forth in an uncoordinated pattern as she stared up at the sky.

The burning ceremony attracted the kind of crowds Heero expected to attend such an occasion. The rich and the poor all gathered to gawk while the executioner secured the man to the stake in the center of the square. As with all public burnings, the stake rose up from a pile of logs and other kindling and a perimeter was fenced off so that no commoner could get too close.

“Silence,” said the executioner as Heero navigated the crowd in search of Rinska or the king. The masses quieted to a dull buzz and the executioner continued, reading from a scroll in a loud, bellowing vernacular so that all could hear him clearly. “This man has been charged with the murder of our queen! Hereby he shall burn until dead and his corpse shall be offered to the wolves thereafter. For this man deserves not the peace of spirit brought forth by a proper burial! We commence!”

It was only for a moment but Heero looked to the man and in the millisecond their eyes met, Heero saw him smile. It was enough to stop Heero in his tracks. He eyed the man as the torch came closer to the kindling and that’s when Heero recognized the man’s green eyes. It was the same man from his dream.

And then, the flame on the torch went out. The executioner, thinking it to be the product of a gust of wind, struck a match to light the torch once more.

It was the second time the fires died that earned a collective gasp from the crowd. Heero narrowed his eyes on the man, who dropped his head just in time for an arrow to whizz past and land at the executioner’s feet, a note tied to the shaft with twine. Those guarding the perimeter drew their swords. The crowd, all as one, took a step backwards.

Someone grabbed Heero’s arm, forcefully dragging him away. When he recovered from his surprise he spun the person around, slamming them hard into a nearby brick wall with much the same swiftness Veyihan had shown the first time he put a knife to Heero’s throat. This reflection alone caused Heero to cut back a good amount of his strength but it was the next revelation which dropped his hands entirely.

The cloak over the person’s head had fallen and with her torso twisted towards the wall was Rinska, her eyes fearful.

“Rinska,” said Heero, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t hurt you, did I? But what are you doing here?”

“Going against my father,” said Rinska. “Heero, where have you been? I had Karigno search the whole city looking for you!”

“But for you it’s only been a day or so.”

“So what! I knew something was happening! I couldn’t just leave things as they were, not with that stunt you pulled yesterday when I made my announcement.”

Climbing up the side of the outlook seemed part of the distant past to Heero now. It unnerved him that for Rinska that had happened a mere day and a half ago.

“Heero,” said Rinska, “Your eye...”

“Don’t mind it,” said Heero as he picked up on a subtle rustle of the crowd, the calm before a disaster. He grabbed Rinska by the hand and ran with her, using his awareness to pick the safest route.

“Heero, where are you dragging me?”

“Out of harm’s way, obviously,” Heero said through gritted teeth. “You can be so idiotic sometimes, you know that? Why can’t you ever think things through instead of doing everything on impulse?”

Behind them, the fires roared but the man had been set free. The executioner and guards moved to seize him but he was agile and clever, using the bulk of the crowd to his advantage while arrows rained down from the surrounding buildings, scattering everyone in a panic.

“Shit, Rinska, who did you hire?” Heero asked, peering from a tiny side street at the chaos that unfolded a few blocks away. Bent over to catch her breath, Rinska couldn’t get enough air in her lungs to answer.

Meanwhile, riots sprung up and expanded past the execution grounds until Heero feared he and Rinska might get caught up in it once again.

“This way,” he said, taking her wrist to lead her toward the slums. The route was clear to Heero and stretched out in his mind, formulated by instinct and a drive to avoid any and all citizens along the way in order to keep Rinska hidden from the populace.

Rinska, to her credit, shut up and followed him without a word of protest until they reached a crossroads where a different, organized crowd was forming. Heero stopped so quickly that his boots threw up dirt as he twirled around to shove Rinska out of sight of the mob.

“What,” said Rinska, “It’s just another crowd we have to push through, Heero. What’s the big deal?”

“That isn’t an ordinary crowd of onlookers or people taking advantage of the situation,” said Heero as he peeked around the corner. “They’re too put-together, too distinct in their formation. That’s a group with a plan. Look, see? Some are readying weapons.”

Rinska poked her head out to look over Heero’s shoulder. It was true, short swords and daggers were unsheathed all at once as if someone had given an order to arms and once she got a closer look, Rinska realized that every single one of the people gathered there were dressed in combat attire.

“What is the meaning of this?” Rinska asked, “What do they intend to do, brandishing things like that?”

“Looks like you weren’t the only one who had the idea of disrupting the public execution,” said Heero. “This is a civilian army. They’re probably the ones pushing the idea of rebellion.” But they’re late, thought Heero. Why would they not mobilize sooner, at the start of the ceremony? Is it possible they knew of Rinska’s gambit? Who informed them?

Crazy Maedi popped into Heero’s head in a flash and he winced, gritting his teeth. With that image had come a burning in his right eye.

“Heero,” said Rinska.

“Come on.”

The army gave a battle cry and dashed out of the crossroads, heading towards the execution grounds, taking the direct route instead of the convoluted one Heero and Rinska had taken to get to this point. Simultaneously with the army’s rush forward, Heero pulled Rinska out of cover and dashed behind them, taking advantage of a few seconds of opportunity wherein the army’s members were all facing the opposite direction. Heero and Rinska made it to the other side of the street without being spotted and Heero once again tugged Rinska in a different direction. They made their way through the now nearly-abandoned slums until Rinska finally spoke up.

“Wait! I can’t run anymore, Heero!”

Heero halted, turning around. Rinska doubled over, gasping for air.

“I’m not used to this sort of thing like you are,” said Rinska, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.

“Sorry. You okay?”

“More or less,” Rinska said and then straightened out her back. “Jeez, you didn’t have to be so rough with me. I would have followed you regardless.”

“Sorry.” Heero studied her from head to toe, feeling as though he regained three years of his life for all the relief that washed over him. She was fine, the same as always, the same Rinska he grew up with. And this time she had picked a better outfit for infiltrating the common folk: no expensive gems or golden trim about her ankles this time. “It’s good to see you. I got carried away.”

“Heero, you saw me yesterday.”

“Right, well,” Heero stuttered, “For some reason it just feels like it’s been longer, that’s all.” He spewed the first rational explanation he could think of, “We haven’t spoken much lately.” I forgot that time in the Null flows differently than it does here. Stop acting weird, Heero, you’ll freak her out.

“You’re not acting like yourself, Heero.”

“Yes I am.” That was convincing. Next you should tell her you’re a nobleman in disguise.

“Heero,” Rinska asked, leaning towards him to get a better look at his face, “How did your eye turn red? What happened?”

“It’s a long story and we shouldn’t be standing around chatting even if most of the excitement is near the execution grounds. There are still people lingering nearby and who knows what they’ll do if they recognize you. Seeing that civilian army is enough to convince me you need a better disguise than just a hood.”

Rinska pulled the hood back over her head, remembering that it had slipped down when Heero twisted her against the wall. “You know more about this stuff than I do, so where do we get a better disguise?”

Heero looked right, then left. “This way,” he said, walking down a narrow, run-down street that he knew would lead to an off-spurt of the main river. Rinska followed him diligently, which Heero took to mean she was scared. Normally she would have fought him tooth and nail or at the very least argued over which way to go but right now she remained quiet and alert, stepping in tandem with Heero’s long strides. When Heero felt no more curious eyes upon them he knelt by the edge of the stream.

“Where are we? Everything stinks.”

“We’re in an area where the poor reside. The guard doesn’t think they get paid well enough to bother with maintaining this sort of place.”

“But it’s their job to maintain every corner of the capitol city!”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Heero. “Look, Rinska, I know you aren’t exactly an expert on this sort of thing but I know you’re not dumb enough to overlook the fact that money is a greater motivator than duty.”

“Even so, they should do what’s required of them otherwise their positions are meaningless.”

Most positions are meaningless. “I suppose. Here, kneel next to me.”

Rinska knelt.

“Bend your head forward,” said Heero.

Rinska bent her head forward. She felt Heero pull something off of her belt and then remembered she had tucked his knife into its sheath and then attached it there before she left the castle.

“Don’t move.”

Rinska held her breath, trying her best not to fidget as Heero lopped off large sections of her hair. She watched her blonde strands fall and swirl away with the stream’s current. By the time he was done her neck and back had begun to ache from staying in that position too long.

“There,” said Heero, “It’s the quickest way to avoid recognition but we should still be cautious. There are a few people here who might know your face even if the majority of the commoners don’t.”

“My head feels light,” said Rinska. “And my neck is cold.”

“You’ll get used to it. For now we need to keep moving.” Heero did not give her back the knife. He tucked it into his boot and helped Rinska to her feet. Rinska rolled her eyes and took the sheath off of her belt, giving it back to Heero.

“You’ve been badgering me about giving this back to you anyways and I’m not even going to bother pretending you won’t be able to take it from me if you really want it,” she said.

Heero smiled and moved the knife from his boot to the sheath and then put the sheath at his belt.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so cold to you lately, Heero. Losing my mother was…”

“I know.” Heero felt someone watching them and made for the next alleyway where they would have some cover, although not much considering the state of the buildings in this section of the city. Luckily, night was falling all around them. After a silence he said, “You know you never answered my question.”

“What question?” Rinska walked sometimes beside Heero and sometimes behind him, keeping to the deeper shadows as he had instructed while the few fire maidens who worked in this sector lit the streetlamps of the main roads.

“Who did you hire for that stunt of yours back at the execution grounds?”

“Oh, that.”

“Well?”

“Karigno offered his assistance. He said he didn’t think it was right that the king would put someone to death who didn’t deserve it. He said even if it would cause some unrest to know the real killer still roamed the kingdom, that unrest might be useful in catching the real culprit.”

“Huh,” said Heero. So Karigno really was bugged by the king’s ruling. I wonder if Alyntar was involved somehow too. “I’m going to make the assumption here that you don’t intend to return to your father anytime soon.”

“Naturally,” said Rinska. “If he’s content to let an innocent man die for the sake of his image then he doesn’t deserve the throne. Even if I hadn’t intended for the people to revolt when I told them the truth, this little uprising is well-timed. Losing my mother has made my father a complacent ruler.”

“You don’t mean that, Rinska.”

“Yes I do.”

Heero sighed.

“Don’t sigh at me like that, Heero.”

“Rinska, haven’t you ever considered that this rebellion might end up getting your father killed?”

“Then good riddance.”

“Rinska! What’s gotten into your head lately? You never would have said something like that when your mother was still alive!”

“Well she isn’t alive now, is she? Heero, you can be so stupid sometimes. My father isn’t doing his duty and kings who don’t do their duty get killed. That’s just the way things are. It’s the way the world works.”

Heero grabbed Rinska by the shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. “You don’t mean that. I know you don’t mean that.”

Rinska broke eye contact in order to stare at the ground.

“Do you mean to tell me that the same Rinska who would go out of her way to redeem a man she has no personal connection with would condemn her own father for doing what he must to maintain order in his kingdom?”

“You’re twisting my words. Let go of me.”

Heero let go of his physical grip but his eyes remained fixed on Rinska. Somehow she looked even younger with short hair. It made Heero feel old, like he was arguing with a child. He loathed that feeling.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Heero scratched the back of his neck. He turned around and started walking again. Rinska followed after him, albeit a little slower than before.

“Where are we even going? I’m assuming you have a destination in mind, Heero. Otherwise, why drag me all over everywhere?”

“I don’t. I don’t know where I’m going. I just wanted you away from the execution grounds.”

“Why did you even attend the ceremony in the first place? I thought you didn’t care about that sort of thing.”

“Well I care about you. I thought you might pull a stunt like that.” Or rather, I thought someone else might and you’d get caught in the crossfire. “Look, I just didn’t want you getting hurt, okay? Is that so strange of a motivation for being there?”

“…no.”

“Okay then.”

“Heero, I feel like there’s something you aren’t telling me.”

“There’s plenty I’m not telling you. What do you want to know?”

“Your eye for one thing,” Rinska said hopping over a bit of the street that protruded from wear in their path. “How’d it turn red like that?”

“Magic,” said Heero, offering her a hand so he could steady her when she hopped down from the ledge that separated the streets from the actual bordering wall of the city. Sand filled the gap between the edges of the streets and the wall, with the very last buildings sometimes on the elevated platform that served as the foundation for the rest of the city and sometimes just off of it, built straight up from the sand.

“What kind of magic?”

Heero shuffled through the sand towards the city’s stone wall, which fully encased the rest of the capitol and only compromised its structure with entrance and exit-ways to allow for trade roads that connected the capitol to the rest of the kingdom. Treetops peeked over the top of the wall, reinforcing the fact that both the forest and the wall served as protective barriers for the city.

“Heero, what are you doing?”

“Trying to find the best way to climb this thing,” he said as he slid his hand up and down the stone bricks, testing the deeper grooves that his fingers brushed over.

“And why would we climb out of the safest place in the entire kingdom?”

“Because it isn’t the safest place anymore,” said Heero. “Look, that stunt you pulled was the perfect catalyst for the rebellion to begin. Your father’s troops are good at dealing with threats from outside the kingdom but they’ve never had to face an uprising, at least not the current generation. They won’t know how to handle it, which means it’ll be nothing but chaos here in the capitol until things are under control, regardless of who wins the actual battles.”

“Heero, I can’t just leave. What about the mercenaries I hired?”

“What about them? I assume they’ve already been paid, right?”

“Well yeah,” Rinska put her hand on Heero’s wrist and he stopped patting down the wall. “Heero, what’s going on with you? I mean obviously you’re worried about me but I’ve seen you worried about me before and it hasn’t ever been this dramatic. Usually you just hang around the castle more than usual. You never drag me off to weird places spouting conspiracies!”

“They aren’t conspiracies, Rinska. They’re very real possibilities, and possibilities that have a high chance of happening. You haven’t lived among the common folk like I have. I know how they think. They don’t like being lied to and they’re opportunistic by nature. The situation going on right now is the exact push the people of this city as a whole need to convince them to align with those who already oppose the king. It’ll be a boon for the power-hungry and an excuse for the rest to indulge in all sorts of criminal activity. I just don’t want you caught in the middle of all of it.”

“It’s my duty to be in the middle of all of it. I’m the princess.”

“If you purposely throw yourself in the center of all of this, you’ll end up dead!” Heero had raised his voice, something he had only done in Rinska’s presence on two other occasions. Rinska, however, didn’t even flinch. She stared at Heero as if to challenge his statement. Something like yearning and despair tugged at Heero’s insides, seeing Rinska’s face so placid after so bold an outburst. “Rinska, don’t tell me you want to die.”

“Mother is dead and father has turned into a ruler nobody would be proud of,” said Rinska, turning her back on Heero. She trembled, saying, “Who else do I have? Would it be so bad to be a victim of the riots?”

Heero’s throat tightened and his chest pounded and his mind seemed to bend in on itself hearing Rinska speak that way.

“I don’t want to rule this kingdom if father dies. I’d rather the whole family be purged. The world would be better that way.”

“You’ve never been out in the world,” said Heero. “You don’t have any idea what it’s like beyond the royal grounds except for that minor excursion you took not too long ago.”

“I’ve seen enough to know my family hasn’t ruled correctly.” Rinska pointed to all the battered buildings at the edge of the foundation on the other end of the sand. She finally looked back at Heero and she was crying. “Look at all this ruin! How can someone whose family failed to even maintain the capitol city’s aesthetics ever hope to manage an entire kingdom?”

“Rinska,” Heero said, pulling her into a tight hug as if keeping her close to his center would shield her from the pain inside. “This whole thing is complicated. Despite what fairy tales and history books might have told you all your life, keeping an entire kingdom in peak condition is an impossible feat. There will always be someone or something that suffers. The best anyone can hope to do is keep that suffering to a minimum.”

“I miss mom,” said Rinska, burying her face into Heero’s neck as she broke down into sobs. “I miss her so much.”

“I know.” I miss her too.

“Why’d she have to die? Why her? Why couldn’t it have been somebody else?”

Veyihan’s eyes shot through Heero’s mind. He tensed, pulling out of the hug. Rinska sniffled and inched closer to him, not yet ready to be let go. She still shook with weeping.

                Night had fallen entirely and the wind that blew through the trees made the branches creak and then snap back together like rattles. Heero was suddenly aware of how deep and dark all the shadows around them were, how tall the wall seemed to stretch overhead and how frail Rinska felt in his arms.

                “We have to go,” said Heero, his voice raising an octave in his panic, “Now!” He turned from Rinska and knelt, offering her his back. “Grab on and don’t let go. We’re scaling this wall.”

                “What? But Heero, what are you—”

                “Just do it!”

                Rinska swallowed the next word she was going to say and latched onto Heero’s back like a monkey, clinging tight with both her arms and her legs. Then Heero found the closest dent in the stone and grabbed hold, beginning their ascent. He did not look below once he began climbing but he knew that down where they had stood moments ago the shadows were converging like yarn knitting itself of its own accord, twisting and building until Veyihan stood at the epicenter with his smile and his eyes and his malice.

                Heero climbed faster and Rinska clutched tighter. Heaving himself over the wall Heero finally glanced below to see Veyihan giving him a glare suitable of a soulless murderer.

                “Where did he come from?” Rinska asked, “Who is he?” Her voice shivering like a malnourished child struggling against a frigid wind she said, “He’s frightening.”

                Veyihan turned from them, slipping back into the shadows whence he came, and Heero held his breath for a full half a minute before the void in his lungs finally forced him to inhale.

                “H-how did he do that? And his eyes, red eyes,” Rinska said, stuttering every two words as if her tongue would not cooperate with the orders she was giving it.

                Heero’s grip faltered slightly, forcing him to dig his fingers harder into the cracks in the wall, deepening the makeshift handholds by the sheer force of his clutch. Rinska’s weight on his back made it difficult to stay steady as he descended the other side of the wall. The trees grew so close to the structure that Heero had to shimmy his way past branches in order to avoid getting scraped or risking the same of Rinska. Before he had actually touched the bottom, when they were still a good three feet up on the wall, Rinska let go, falling into the dirt. Heero let himself slide down the wall after that, checking their surroundings by instinct the moment he touched earth.

                The forest was dense. The trees grew so close together that some were indistinguishable as separate from the main formation of trunks. A fog drifted along the ground in wisps of off-white intangibilities that swirled over everything except the tree trunks that interrupted its trajectory as if it were a body of water and the trees rose from it like islands of bark stretching towards the starry sky.

                “I’ve never been in a forest before,” said Rinska. “It’s different than I expected.”

                Heero came up behind her, scanning the area. With so much fog, the fact that it was nighttime, and the strange claustrophobia that was slowly creeping up inside Heero, he determined the forest would be difficult to navigate. That wasn’t the only problem, though. They needed a place to sleep and Heero knew the nearest town aside from the capitol city was still miles away. He didn’t even know which direction to start walking, frankly.

                At least Veyihan didn’t chase us out here, Heero thought.

                Rinska said, “Heero.”

                “What is,” Heero didn’t even finish his sentence. He knew why her voice had wavered. A howl rang through the forest like a bell of warning, sounding both close and distant.

                No, it wasn’t the same howl. They had heard two howls.

                “Do wolves speak to each other like that?” Heero asked.

                Rinska grabbed at his arm, shivering. She didn’t know and she didn’t want to.

                “Okay,” said Heero. “Plan is we keep moving. Right,” He took Rinska by the hand, leading her through the fog as silently as he could manage with the twigs snapping underfoot and the leaves crunching along the ground as if they conspired to give away Heero and Rinska’s location as quickly as possible.

                “Heero,” Rinska whispered, “What are we going to do if whatever was howling finds us?”

                “We’ll figure that out when it happens.”

                “When it happens,” Rinska said, “Not if it happens. You’re freaking me out.”

                “Yeah, well I’m freaked out too. I don’t know what to do if we run into a pack of wolves. That isn’t exactly my area of expertise, you know.”

                “Maybe we should turn back. Dying in the riots of a rebellion sounds better to me than getting torn to shreds by feral wolves.”

                “How about we keep moving and decidedly not die either way,” Heero said, his voice coming out in a hiss because he was trying to speak silently yet at the same time sternly. It was an ugly sound and it attracted the attention of the nearest wolf of the pack.

                Heero halted, causing Rinska to walk into his arm. A wolf stood no more than two yards in front of them. With how suddenly it had come into view, it seemed as if it had manifested out of the fog instead of simply walking towards Heero and Rinska until they could see it.

                Rinska held her breath, unable to avert her eyes. The wolf was a grey so deep it could have been black and its fur also contained a hint of blue highlight only visible when the fog drifted across its legs. There was a lighter grey pattern in its coloration that resembled vines climbing up and around its neck before dipping down its snout. The lighter blue hue was even more apparent in this pattern, giving the wolf an eerie, spectral appearance. Perhaps it would have looked less otherworldly in daylight.

                Heero placed himself in between the wolf and Rinska.

                The wolf took one step forward. Heero pressed Rinska two steps backwards. The wolf sat, licked its lips but did not bare its fangs. It sniffed loudly.

                Something clicked in Heero’s awareness. This wolf meant no harm. This wolf was trying to communicate. In a flash, Heero’s red eye throbbed and a headache wormed its way into his temple. He winced, keeping one hand out in front of Rinska. When the pain became too much, Heero dropped to one knee.

                “Heero!” Rinska said, dropping down with him.

                “It’s okay,” said Heero, “I’m okay.”

                “Are you doing this,” Rinska said to the wolf, a threat in her eyes.

                The wolf twitched one of its ears and turned its head away.

                “Rinska, stop,” Heero knelt on both legs now, placing a hand on the side of his head. “She’s only trying to understand.”

                “What are you talking about, Heero? Understand what? She’s, no it’s, an animal!”

                Now the wolf snarled. Rinska backed away, scooting on her knees. Another low growl came from behind them, and then another from the left, followed by two more from the right. A second wolf came into view to join the first, its coloration similar but not quite as dark as the first wolf, with fewer vine-like patterns on its neck but more around its ears and legs. This one had yellow eyes instead of blue. Unlike the first, it didn’t hesitate when it approached, walking with its head held straight out as if it were pointing to Heero and Rinska with its nose. Heero stilled, as did Rinska behind him.

                The difference was, while Heero stopped moving out of a strange sense of respect that had suddenly engulfed him, Rinska bit her lip and stilled from fear.

                “We’re lost,” said Heero. When the yellow-eyed wolf stared him down, he averted his eyes and gulped.

                He saw Rinska tremble in his peripheral vision.

                “We didn’t mean to trespass.” Heero blinked, swallowing again. He licked his lips nervously. “We only wish to travel to the next town. We fled the capitol city because we feared for our safety. There’s a rebellion going on and a murderer after the both of us.”

                “Why are you talking to it, Heero? It’s not like it’ll understand you. It’s probably just sizing us up to see if we’d make a good meal.”

                The wolf with yellow eyes gave a canine huff and moved its attention from Heero to Rinska. When she backed away, it came closer. When she gave a pathetic little whimper of terror because she was certain it was about to open its maw and chomp down on her, it turned away from her and walked back to the other wolf that still sat a yard or so away.

                Heero and Rinska both let out their breath. The wolf that had been sitting got up now and came towards Heero with its head dipped low and its ears relaxed. Its tail swished at the fog casually and when it reached Heero and Rinska it spun around so they could see its back. The pattern of light grey, bluish vines crawled all the way down its spine, dipped towards its belly and even extended over the entirety of its tail. Now that its back was to Heero, the wolf sat and lifted one if its front paws, pointing past the other wolf, the one that had yellow eyes.

                “We should go that way?” Heero asked.

                The wolf remained poised, its paw reaching out. It turned its head towards Heero and then looked back to where it was pointing.

                Rinska held her tongue even though she wanted to say a few choice words to Heero about wild animals.

                “Let’s go,” said Heero. He shifted his weight slowly and pulled both himself and Rinska to a standing position. Then he started walking in the direction the wolf was pointing them.

                “This is insane,” said Rinska.

                “They aren’t tearing us to shreds, are they? Look, I can’t explain how I know this, but they’re just trying to get us out of the forest. It’s obvious they’re sentient. They just don’t have the same language that we do so it makes it hard to understand each other.”

                “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

                “Will you shut up for a second,” Heero said. Rinska quieted as they passed by the wolf with yellow eyes, who dipped its head at them as they went. Heero nodded back at it in a jittery, graceless copying of the gesture it had given the both of them.

                None of the wolves attacked while Heero and Rinska’s backs were turned, nor did they do anything else that was even remotely threatening as the two humans traversed their forest. Eventually, Rinska needed to rest. She sat on a fallen log and sighed deeply. Looking at her now, Heero saw how her pulse throbbed from her neck, how every time she closed her eyes they remained shut longer than before.

                “You need sleep,” said Heero. “We should find a comfortable spot and lie down. I can watch over you until morning. I’m used to staying up late.” More like I feel safer out here in the wilds than I have for the past few days with that madman Veyihan constantly threatening me.

                “I don’t want to sleep in the dirt.”

                Heero made a strained face as if he were holding back something he wanted to say.

                “Oh, don’t give me that,” said Rinska. “I meant I can keep walking until we reach the nearest town. I don’t have to sleep yet. I’m just resting for a second.”

                “Rinska, you look like you’re about to fall over.”

                “I do not!”

                “I’m just worried about you. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I don’t want it to start affecting your health.”

                “Oh,” Rinska said, staring at the fog circling her legs with glazed eyes. For a moment, Heero thought she might start crying again but she spoke up before he could ask if she was alright. “The stress I’ve been under is my fault, you know. It isn’t anyone else’s responsibility to take care of the chaos I’ve let loose. Sure, my mother’s… murder wasn’t my doing and my father’s actions against that innocent man were his own but I still have a rebellion to quell.”

                “Rinska, you don’t have to quell anything.”

“Those riots are something I started, Heero. You said so yourself.” Rinska looked straight into Heero’s eyes, saying that, and then returned her gaze to the fog. “Until we saw those rebels rearing for battle I never imagined there was such a strong hatred towards my family. It makes me wonder what we did to upset them. But it doesn’t matter what we did. I have to fix it. It’s my duty.”

Heero knelt to meet her at eye level. He said nothing, only listened.

“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do that.” Rinska hugged her legs so her arms braced underneath her knees and her back hunched. “Here I am, the heir to the throne, running away from the capitol city at the exact time my people need me. What would mother think if she were still alive?”

“You can’t solve what’s going on just by staying in the capitol,” said Heero.

“How would you know? Maybe if I hadn’t sprung that innocent man from his execution, my father and I could have done something to stop the riots going on right now. I mean, that’s what you said, right? That my actions were the catalyst that set off the rebels’ attack?”

“That is the shorthand of it,” said Heero, “But Rinska, you can’t undo what you’ve done. It’s in the past. And besides, even if you could change it, I know you. You’d regret letting an innocent person die regardless of how it might benefit the kingdom.”

Rinska lowered her head a bit, considering this. Heero took that to mean he had assumed correctly. When she didn’t say anything, he continued.

“Right now we need to focus on survival. There’s more going on in the capitol than just a rebellion.”

“What?” Rinska’s eyebrows pulled down and her mouth twitched at the corners when she looked back at Heero.

“I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you,” said Heero. “That man who emerged from the shadows, the one with red eyes who met us at the wall, I know him.”

“You know him,” said Rinska.

“Yes. His name is Veyihan.”

“And what does he have to do with anything? Aside from that weird illusion he used to sneak up on us.”

“That wasn’t an illusion, Rinska. He has an ability of sorts. He can travel through shadows.”

Rinska’s confusion multiplied on her face, coupled by indignation.

“Look, I know it doesn’t make any sense but I can’t put it any other way. Point is, he’s dangerous and even though I don’t know his real objective he seems pretty hell-bent on killing as many people as possible.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Rinska, spreading her arms out with her palms flat as if she were pressing against two invisible walls on either side of her. “Slow down. He was really creepy, I’ll give you that, but what’s this about him killing people? I just thought you dragged me over the wall because you didn’t want—what’s his name, Veyihan?—to recognize me as the princess, what with the riots and everything. Heero, you aren’t telling me everything.”

Heero tried to think of a way to condense his story without sounding insane. He couldn’t. So instead, he told Rinska he would tell her on the way to the next town. He helped her to her feet, not unaware of how she stumbled as she rose, and together they walked hand-in-hand through the forest, listening to the twigs snap beneath their fog-covered feet. Heero didn’t tell Rinska about his ability or the trials. He only told her about Veyihan, how he had threatened Heero and how Karigno and Alyntar had helped him along the way.

“So you’re the one who told Karigno to guard me,” said Rinska. “I figured. He isn’t the type of man my father would appoint as a personal bodyguard for anyone, especially not me.”

Heero blinked, “Why not? He’s trustworthy.”

“He’s too charismatic. He’s the type to question orders. My father never liked that in a soldier.”

“Makes sense,” said Heero, returning his attention to the intertwining trees in front of them. He ducked under a low-hanging branch and Rinska did the same.

“You haven’t told me why this Veyihan person keeps targeting you,” said Rinska.

“Because I don’t know,” said Heero.

“I think you do know but you don’t want to tell me. And I doubt it’s a coincidence that Veyihan has red eyes and now so do you. Well, one red eye anyway.”

“Nothing gets past you, Rinska.”

“Don’t be smart with me. Just tell me this, Heero. What’s my family have to do with it? From what you’ve said, Veyihan is working just as much to fuel the rebellion as he is to eliminate you.”

“Does someone who likes killing people need a reason to be power-hungry?” Heero said. Then he thought of Nahleen and felt guilty for it.

“No,” said Rinska. Their conversation lulled. Rinska lagged behind Heero even though they were still holding hands, slowing down with every step. “How far until we get to civilization? My feet hurt.”

“Well,” said Heero and then he let his voice die.

“We’re lost,” said Rinska.

Heero opened his mouth to tell her he had been going the way the wolf had pointed them as best he could but, with how the forest all looked the same, it had become impossible to tell which direction they were actually headed any longer. It was a gruff bark that interrupted him. Rinska jumped at the noise, clamping onto Heero’s arm.

One of the wolves emerged from the fog and stared at them as if they were the most idiotic humans it had ever seen. Or at least that’s what Heero’s awareness was telling him.

“Sorry about Rinska,” he said, “She’s just really easy to startle.”

“Hey!”

“Well it’s true, isn’t it?” Heero smiled that stupid smile of his and Rinska couldn’t find it in herself to be mad at him. She released her grip on him in more of a shoving maneuver than a loosening one and then crossed her arms over her chest, looking petulant. Heero had known her long enough to know it was an act.

The wolf sighed, drooping its ears before it shoved itself against both Heero and Rinska, nudging them in the opposite direction than they had been going for the past fifteen minutes.

“Were we really that far off track?” Heero said, “Sorry but the forest all starts to look the same after a while.”

“You’re talking to an animal again, Heero.”

The wolf stopped, turned around and stared at Rinska. Since it was staring at her fixedly, she saw that it had light gray eyes to match its color pattern, which was yet another variation on dark fur swirled over with vines two or three shades lighter than the rest of its fur. On this wolf in particular, its paws and ears were the darkest parts of its coloration and the vine-pattern thinned over those areas, appearing brighter for the steeper contrast.

“She didn’t mean anything by it,” said Heero.

The wolf turned around and kept walking, apparently deciding to serve as a guide so they didn’t get off track again. Rinska and Heero fell into step on either side of the wolf, exchanging glances with each other as if they both wondered if it were proper to continue their conversation while in its presence. Heero shrugged. Rinska focused her attention forward and did her best not to whine about how her feet ached and her muscles felt as uncoordinated and wiggly as cooked noodles.

With the wolf leading them, they reached the next town without incident far faster than Heero had anticipated. The trees parted and the fog slipped away as they approached the edge of the forest. Firelight from the street lamps illuminated the town in a ring around its perimeter but otherwise from what Heero and Rinska could see all the buildings and streets sat dark and silently amidst the night.

“Thank you,” Heero said, turning to the wolf.

The wolf yawned, pressing its ears back a little. Heero smiled, knowing that the wolf was saying it wasn’t a big deal.

“Yes,” said Rinska, kneeling down to meet the wolf at eye level. She hesitated for a second and then reached out her hand nervously. “I’m sorry I was so rude to you. I’m not used to this sort of travel. But Heero is right, we owe you thanks for bringing us this far.”

The wolf looked at Rinska’s hovering hand for a second and then nuzzled its snout against her palm. All of Rinska’s nervous tension left her as she smoothed its fur and then scratched a bit behind its ears. Heero looked down at the two of them with a smile. When the moment passed, Rinska stood up again with a sigh.

“Do you think anyone will allow us into their home at this time of night?”

“There are things called inns, Rinska,” said Heero.

“Oh. Right,” Rinska said, tucking a strand of tangled hair behind her ear.

Instead of going back into the forest, the wolf stayed where it was and looked up at Heero until he met its eyes. Then it blinked slowly at him.

“What’s up?” Heero asked the wolf.

It kept staring, blinked one more time. Rinska tilted her head a little to the left.

“You want to come with us,” said Heero.

Rinska made a confused noise that rose in pitch at the end.

“Hate to say it, but we don’t exactly know where we’re going from this point forward,” Heero said rubbing the back of his neck.

The wolf swished its tail back and forth.

“You really don’t mind?”

The wolf seemed to shrug its shoulders, dipping its head low. Heero knew this to mean it was trying to copy a gesture he himself had used previously.

I crave something greater than the life I have here, the wolf communicated to Heero. The forest is plentiful but it’s also boring. I want a pack of my own.

Along with this strange knowing that overcame Heero, a knowing that germinated in his mind without gesture or words from the wolf, his red eye strained a bit, blurring for a moment. This must be my ability, thought Heero. The Elixer must have made my natural awareness more potent. Good. Maybe if I can communicate with more than just humans then I can help Rinska better.

“All right then,” said Heero. He faced Rinska, “Any objections to our friend coming along?”

“None at all,” Rinska said with a smile, giving the wolf a little curtsey, which looked odd because she wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress for once. Mental note: ask Heero what’s going on with him lately and this time demand a real answer. There’s no way he could understand animals before, whether or not they were sentient ones.

Together, all three of them made their way into town, navigating the streets in a disorganized, backtracking manner until they found an inn. It wouldn’t have been so difficult to locate if it weren’t in the center of town. Aside from the single, hanging lamp above the inn’s door and the others that circled the perimeter of the town, no other light shone. That meant that all the streets and homes were nearly pitch black, an obstacle only the wolf remained unhindered by. Rinska in particular had walked into quite a few walls and caught her elbows on even more building corners on the way. Heero fared a little better, only because he was used to skulking around in the middle of the night, being a thief and all.

“So do we knock?” Rinska asked.

“I suppose so,” said Heero, taking hold of the weighted, metal ring in the center of the door. He used that to knock and sometime later a tired woman with a lantern opened the door a crack and leaned half of her upper body outside. She sighed, didn’t even bother looking them over before she spoke tersely.

“Next time you decide to spend the night at an inn, come knocking earlier.”

“Please excuse the late hour of our arrival,” Rinska said bowing, “We have crossed through the forest and are in need of a place to rest. If you will allow us entrance, we would appreciate the opportunity to occupy one of your vacant rooms.”

Heero tittered. The woman opened her eyes to stare blankly at the three of them, raising her lantern a bit to see Heero’s face. He thought it wise not to immediately scold Rinska for being overly formal.

“If everyone in the capitol talks like you do,” said the innkeeper, “It’s a wonder anything gets done.”

Rinska opened her mouth, but Heero cut in before she could say anything.

“Right, well we have money so it doesn’t matter how we talk, now does it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the innkeeper with a yawn. She opened the door wider and Heero saw in the lantern-light that she adorned a matronly, brown nightdress. She turned around, flapping her hand to indicate they should follow her, and Heero also saw that her hair was tied back in a large bun at the base of her neck. “The mongrel stays outside.”

Heero and Rinska looked back to see the wolf put the paw that it had extended over the threshold back down and stare coldly from outside the entranceway.

I’m no mongrel, Heero heard in his head. I know exactly who my parents are.

“Wait a minute!” Rinska caught the innkeeper by the sleeve, forcing her to turn around. “That ‘mongrel’ guided us through the forest. If not for him then we wouldn’t have been able to make it this far. You have to let him stay!”

The innkeeper sighed, “My husband makes the rules, not me. Either it stays outside or you all do.”

“But that isn’t fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, sweetie. Now what’s your decision?”

The wolf turned around and walked away before anyone, namely Rinska, could protest.

“Wait,” Rinska called but the wolf had already vanished into the night.

Heero said, “We’ll take the room. Sorry for the commotion.”

“But Heero,” Rinska started and then shut her mouth when she saw the look Heero was giving her. She lowered her gaze to the floor.

“This way then,” said the innkeeper as she moseyed behind a counter that must have served as the reception desk, placing the lantern atop it. Heero made his way over there with Rinska dawdling behind him and after they had paid their fees the innkeeper led them upstairs to a vacant room that contained two beds and an unlit lamp in one corner. There was no window, which made Heero a bit uneasy. “Do try to keep it tidy.”

Heero assured the innkeeper that they would. She told them where to find her if they needed anything and then left after saying goodnight. Heero counted the creaks of the stairs as she descended them at the end of the hall, listening to be sure the innkeeper was out of earshot before he said anything to Rinska.

“Next time just go along with it if someone says the wolf can’t come in,” he said. “I haven’t been out of the capitol much myself but I gather that sort of discrimination is pretty common.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” said Rinska.

“It doesn’t.”

As a long silence stretched between them, Heero lit the match the innkeeper had given him before she left and then used that to light the lamp in the corner. It didn’t illuminate the room very much but it was better than nothing since now Heero could see the look on Rinska’s face clearly. The word that came to mind was that she looked defeated. Heero sympathized with her, understanding how tired she must be considering all that had happened that day. He wondered if the wolf had found a comfortable place to sleep as well.

“Let’s get some shuteye,” said Heero.

“Mm,” said Rinska. She moved like she was slogging through mud on her way to the bed, tugged back the covers and burrowed underneath them without bothering to remove her shoes. Heero, while just as tired as Rinska, was more used to this level of fatigue, especially after challenging the Null, and took the time to remove his top layer of clothing and tuck his shoes under his bed before he walked back to the lamp. He pulled open the glass door to expose the flame.

“Are you comfortable?”

“No,” said Rinska, “But blow out the light anyway. I’m too tired to care.”

Heero blew it out then slipped into bed. In the edges of his hearing, just before he fell asleep, he could hear Rinska softly crying. It made him sleep restlessly, tossing through the night.

In the morning, nobody knocked on the door and therefore Heero and Rinska remained undisturbed. They both slept past noon but it was Heero who awoke first. He groaned, sitting up in bed, and looked over to Rinska as she slept, snoring softly, the tears from last night completely dry. He considered waking her immediately then decided against it. He wanted some time for himself to think things over, maybe come up with some sort of plan for the both of them. He flipped the blanket off and got out of bed, stretching and cracking his neck.

He was hungry and suspected Rinska would be too once she awoke. With a final glance at her, Heero left through the door and did his best to close it quietly behind him. His ankles cracked as he descended the stairs, heading towards the reception area. A perky brunette was behind the counter and she asked him how his day was going. He mumbled something intelligible at her, nearly walking past but then remembered that most inns had a breakfast deal that went with the room.

“Hey, uh,” Heero said, turning back around to face the receptionist. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have a kitchen here would you? I forgot to ask last night.”

“Oh, you must be one of the guests who came in past midnight yesterday,” said the receptionist. She dipped behind the counter and pulled out a slip of paper which Heero could only assume was their bill so far for the room. “It’s a little bit of an extra charge but we can bring food up to the room if you like. Is your companion hungry as well?”

“If she isn’t then I’d be surprised,” said Heero. “Yeah, we’ll do that.” Heero yawned and stretched, still groggy from his unrestful slumber. He suddenly remembered the wolf was still outside somewhere. “Actually, could you make that three meals?”

“Sure thing!” The receptionist bustled off somewhere and Heero decided now would be a good time to check on the wolf. He walked out the front entrance of the inn and found that he didn’t have to search very far to find who he was looking for. The wolf had curled up right outside, in the grass next to the stoop. Its tail flopped over its face.

“Hey,” said Heero.

The wolf’s ear twitched. Its snout emerged from beneath the fluff of its tail. It stared at Heero.

“Look, sorry about last night.”

If wolves could shrug, that’s what it did. Heero squatted next to it.

“I ordered breakfast for you. Or I guess since it’s so late it would be lunch now.”

The wolf stretched its front paws out and stuck its butt in the air. Then it reversed the direction of the stretch, lifting its tail higher. When it was finished, it shook itself off and licked its teeth, blinking. Thanks to Heero’s awareness, he knew that by that the wolf meant they were good and while Heero was at it, he should bring that food he had mentioned.

“Right,” said Heero. “I’ll swing back around when the food’s ready.”

Where is your mate, the wolf indicated with a twitch of its ear and a glance towards one of the inn’s curtained windows. It was creeping Heero out a little bit how good he was getting at interpreting the wolf’s body language.

“Asleep,” he said. “And by the way, what should we call you? We just keep referring to you as ‘wolf’ but you must have a name, right?” More importantly, did I just admit to Rinska being my mate? What does that even imply to a wolf?

The wolf yawned, laid back down. I don’t care what you call me.

“Whatever. I’m checking back up on Rinska. She really shouldn’t sleep in so late, not that I’m one to talk.”

The wolf groaned gruffly as it gave its back and shoulders another stretch.

When Heero made it back to the room, the receptionist was bringing up their food. She gave him a perky greeting and bowed deeply when he offered to carry the trays into the room himself. He did his best to be polite in brushing past her and her unwanted pep.

Rinska was just waking up. She sat with her feet half-swung out from under the covers and stretched one arm over her head. The other hand covered her yawn and then rubbed at the corner of one eye.

“Sleep well?” Heero asked, handing her one of the platters of food.

“Food,” said Rinska.

Not awake enough for conversation then, Heero thought to himself with a chuckle. He picked at his meal. It wasn’t anything special but it was warm so he was thankful for that. Rinska swallowed a morsel.

“This is awful.”

“It’s inn food. It isn’t exactly known for being gourmet.”

“I miss the palace cooks.”

“So would I, if I had grown up eating what you did.”

Rinska sighed, shoved another forkful into her mouth and chewed. She made an unhappy face upon swallowing it.

“Oh, come on, it isn’t that bad. Now you’re just being dramatic.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Rinska glanced at the third plate, which Heero had placed on the nightstand. “Still isn’t allowed inside, huh?”

“Hm? Oh,” Heero said after he swallowed. “I’ll bring it out to him after I’m done eating.”

“That isn’t fair.” Rinska crossed her arms. “Why should he have to wait until we’re finished? He’s just as hungry as the rest of us, probably more so. You’re acting as bad as the innkeeper!”

Heero showed Rinska his palms, “Alright, alright. I’ll bring it out now. Sheesh.”

“Finish your food, Heero. I’ll do it.”

“If you say so,” Heero mumbled. There’s no winning with her sometimes, I swear. What’s the big deal, anyway? He’s a wolf. I’m sure he knows how to hunt. The plate of food is most likely excess for him.

Rinska got clumsily out of bed and grabbed the wolf’s plate, heading out the door, down the stairs and out front where she found it curled up in the grass.

“Food,” she said, placing the plate under its nose.

It bowed its head slightly at her and then leaned over to eat. The food was gone after only a few seconds yet not a morsel of it had spilled. When it was finished, the wolf licked the plate clean and used its paw to push it back towards Rinska.

“I guess you were pretty hungry, huh.”

The wolf stretched and shook itself off again but before it went about its business it placed a paw on Rinska’s shoulder, since she was crouching low enough for it to reach. It was as if it were saying thank you. Rinska smiled at it and took the plate back, standing up.

“I’ve kind of been calling you ‘wolf’ all this time. I guess we should come up with a name for you or something.”

The wolf looked Rinska in the eye, blinking slowly.

“I mean, I know you’ve probably already got a name but I mean one that Heero and I can pronounce. For some reason I doubt we’d be able to articulate your actual name.” Rinska laughed nervously, “I hope I don’t sound insulting saying something like that.”

The wolf yawned, a passive gesture.

Rinska bit her bottom lip. Soon enough, Heero came down to free her from the awkwardness.

“You both full,” asked Heero.

The wolf half-nodded, half-shrugged, bringing its shoulders up before it stretched its paws out in front of its body and leaned back with its tail in the air.

“Yeah,” said Rinska, handing him both plates. “I was just asking about naming our wolf.”

Our wolf, Heero heard in his head, along with a gruff but affectionate chuckle. Rinska was still talking spiritedly, as she always did after breakfast.

“I mean, we can’t understand him, but I’m sure he can understand us. It’d be easier if we gave him a name, wouldn’t it? If that’s okay,” she said, tilting her head at the wolf, who yawned. From that, Heero knew it didn’t care either way.

“If you want to, I don’t think he would care. But what do you even want to call him?” He purposefully failed to remind Rinska that he could communicate with the wolf. Then again, even he was surprised how far that communication went. Rinska may have been assuming that Heero could only read the wolf’s gestures, which was true, but it was also true that he could sometimes hear the wolf speak like a howling in his mind.

Anything but Fluffy, Heero heard the wolf say in his head and had to stifle a ruddy snort. He coughed, busied himself taking the plates back inside. When he came back outside, Rinska was sitting on the ground beside the wolf, her chin propped in one hand, pondering.

“What about Cyan?” She asked, “Because of his markings?”

The wolf’s ears drooped.

“That’s a no-go,” said Heero, taking a place in the grass next to the both of them.

“But I feel like calling him Blue would be too normal.”

“What qualifies as ‘too normal’? A name is a name, right?”

“Why is this so hard?” Rinska flopped back in the grass, staring up at the sky as if it might provide her the answer. The clouds shuffled by, unhelpful.

I suppose I could just ask him his name.

The wolf licked its nose and settled its face between its two extended front legs. I meant it when I told you I don’t care what you call me, it communicated to Heero.

I know that, but I’m not ready for Rinska to know I can talk to you.

The wolf didn’t stir even a little at that mental comment, and Heero suddenly realized the communication didn’t work two ways. He could hear the wolf, but in order for the wolf to hear him he would have to speak aloud.

“Teal isn’t quite right,” Rinska was saying, counting off on her fingers, “Aqua and Azure don’t sound good either, at least not as names. Navy doesn’t work. Celeste sounds too feminine. Oh! What about Glaucous?”

“What the heck does that mean?” Heero couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s the sheen on plants. You know, the bluish tint they get when they’ve got a waxy surface.”

Sounds weird, the wolf told Heero. I don’t like it.

“How do you even know that word? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I read things, or I used to. You know that. The library was about the only place in the palace someone wasn’t hovering over me, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Heero said, leaning back on his hands to join Rinska in her gazing of the sky.

“But it doesn’t sound good,” said Rinska. “I’ll think of something else.”

The wolf sighed. The breeze tickling the grass made the moment seem like it meant something and when the wind vanished, a name came to Heero.

“Cobalt,” he said, “Or Steel.”

Rinska made a scrunched face. She didn’t argue though.

Steel, the wolf told Heero, rising out of its lounged position.

“Steel,” said Heero.

Rinska looked at the wolf. It dipped its head, as if to nod. She smiled.

“There, we’ve named him.” Heero rose to his feet next, cracking his back. “Now we need to figure out how to get us some food around here. I doubt you took that much money with you when you ran away.”

“You’re right,” said Rinska. “I only took enough for a day or two. For some reason, I thought I wouldn’t need any more.” She hugged her legs, mood deflating. “I can’t believe I was so short-sighted.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” said Heero. “This isn’t exactly something being a princess prepares you for. I’ll figure a way to scrounge up enough to get through this.”

“I don’t want you stealing anything, Heero.”

“That’s not what I was gonna do.”

“Yes it is.”

Heero’s resolve deflated.

Everything steals, Steel told Heero with a swish of its tail and a realignment of its jaw. It’s a law of nature. You should tell her that, see what she says. She may change her mind.

Clearly, you don’t know Rinska. Oh, wait. You can’t hear me, can you?

“Well, got anything we could sell?” Heero asked, pointedly ignoring Steel’s suggestion. “If not, we’ll need jobs of some sort.” Of course, none of this would matter if she’d let me use my skillset. Rinska, why do you have to be so stubborn? I bet she’d freak if she knew how many of the gifts I’ve given her were stolen. She’s got contraband all over her old room in the palace. Shame she didn’t bring any of it.

“Nothing,” said Rinska. She curled farther into her knees. “I’m so stupid. Now that I’m away from the capitol, away from my father and my duties, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Don’t call yourself stupid,” Heero said, sounding far more irritated than he had intended to sound. “Come on.” He offered Rinska a hand, which she took, and lifted her to her feet. She patted the dirt off her backside. Steel began walking and they followed.

Not long after that, they came across a house where a crowd had gathered. Across the entranceway were symbols of fire and a large, hanging sign that said in calligraphic handwriting: Maiden’s Post.

“Back away, back away,” a woman dressed in red was saying, parting the crowd near the door to make way for her companion, who adorned the same crimson uniform and carried a little boy in her arms. Rinska and Heero shuffled out of the way with Steel backing up between them.

“Not another,” said a member of the crowd.

“He’s so young,” whispered another.

When the boy crossed Heero’s vision, his red eye throbbed. Wincing, he brought a hand up to his face, suddenly overcome with a headache. It took him by surprise, so he didn’t see the black markings that spindled up the little boy’s neck like vines. Steel shook himself off once the two maidens and the boy passed them and Rinska, noticing Heero’s pained expression, asked him what was wrong.

“I don’t know,” said Heero, red eye clamped shut. “Something’s off about that little kid.”

The sun shimmered orange, about to set. After a whole afternoon of searching, their stomachs clenched in hunger and not one of them had found a job.

“You think that little boy is okay?” Rinska asked, one hand rubbing her stomach, a distant look on her face. “He looked like he was in a lot of pain. I wish I could’ve helped him.”

“You aren’t a doctor, Rinska.”

“But I’m the princess of this land! I should be able to help my citizens.”

“Didn’t you give that up?” Heero said, “When you fled the capitol, I assumed you didn’t want royal responsibilities anymore.”

Steel yawned. The last of the local birds chirped their goodnights.

“That isn’t why I left, Heero. I left because I didn’t agree with my father’s methods. We’ve been over this.”

Heero shrugged.

“I’m hungry,” said Rinska.

“Me too,” said Heero. “But we should still have enough money for dinner and at least one more night at that inn, which would include breakfast. So if we figure something out by noon tomorrow, we’ll be set.”

“I’m tempted to let you steal something.”

“Now she gets it.” Heero said, smirking, “Just had to wait until she was hungry enough.”

Rinska stopped talking and made a sour face. Steel licked his nose and perked his ears, flicking his tail upwards.

“What is it?” Heero asked, feeling suddenly very defensive.

“What’s what?” Rinska asked, but Heero placed a hand in front of her to keep her from moving any further.

The sun had set. The wind had died. There was only silence and the scent of burning.

Something is hunting us, Steel told Heero with darting eyes that never fully pierced into anything. A crackle of fire made itself known in Steel’s superior hearing. He turned his head, pointed with one paw. Heero squinted into the dark. One of the lanterns was being lit. They could all see it like a beacon at the end of the street.

Rinska shivered. She screamed when something gripped her arm and spun her around. Steel whipped around, growling.

“Rinska,” yelled Heero, but all three of them fell into quiet when they saw who it was that had grabbed Rinska’s arm. It was the innkeeper. Around her neck was a bottle where a flame danced seemingly without kindling. To Steel, it smelled of magic. To Heero and Rinska, who had lived in the capitol for all their lives, it only lit the innkeeper’s wrinkled face from below, shading the tops of her cheeks so that her eyes appeared sunken and dreary.

“The sun has set,” she said. “You shouldn’t be out this late.”

Heero and Rinska looked at each other with a mix of relief and embarrassment on their faces. Steel relaxed his face, closing his lips to hide his fangs. The innkeeper let go of Rinska’s arm, turned around and headed back to the inn. After five or six strides without hearing them behind her, she stopped and gave them all an expectant look. None of them thought it would be wise to ignore it, so they all ended up following her back to the inn. At the entrance, after Heero and Rinska had stepped inside and Steel had curled into his tail by the stoop, the innkeeper used a long wick that hung from a loop just outside the threshold to transfer the fire from her neck to the lamp that lit the doorway. She rushed inside and slammed the door behind her, locking it immediately afterward. Even though the movement she used to get inside was frantic, it was also natural, as if she had conditioned herself to do it that way from a young age. Heero caught on to this. Rinska didn’t.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” said Rinska, “Why does it matter that the sun set?”

The innkeeper gave them both a look that indicated Rinska’s question was quite possibly one of the stupidest ones you could ask.

“What,” Rinska said indignantly.

“Let’s just leave it at that,” Heero said. “We can pay for another night here, after all.”

Rinska eyed the door.

“It’s best not to be questioning what’s out there,” said the innkeeper.

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Rinska,” said Heero.

“Off to bed with you two,” said the innkeeper, shoving Heero and Rinska upstairs. Heero didn’t need his awareness to get the sense that she did not have time to deal with the two of them. He pulled Rinska into the room and shut the door softly, then listened to the innkeeper’s footsteps recede.

“Aren’t you even the least bit curious?”

“No,” Heero lied.

Rinska caught him trying to sneak past her in the middle of the night to go outside. She cleared her throat at him and he stopped in his tracks, cursed, and looked at her sitting there on the bed. She crossed her arms at him, giggled.

“Shut up,” said Heero.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking something.”

They stared into each other’s eyes in the dark.

“It’d be safer to wait until morning though,” said Rinska.

Heero let out his breath. He crawled back into bed and didn’t try to leave again for the rest of the night.

The next morning the innkeeper made a point to be very noisy in banging on their door to wake them at dawn.

“Why,” groaned Rinska. She rolled over, shoved her face into her pillow.

Heero was already awake, tying up his boots. He rolled her eyes at her in an affectionate way, smiling. He stretched his arms overhead before he opened the door to face the innkeeper.

“Got a job for the lass,” she said.

“For Rinska?” Heero asked, honestly surprised. He leaned back, using the door to block the view of Rinska’s bed. She was still in a clump, bundled under her blanket with her pillow fluffed and stretched atop the back of her head, but she had stopped squirming. That meant she was fully awake, even if she hadn’t risen yet.

“Tell us the details at breakfast,” Heero said.

“Fine, fine,” said the innkeeper, “Hurry it up, then.”

“Will do.” As Heero shut the door, Rinska turned her head without picking it up from the pillow, dragging strands of her blonde hair into knots at the top of her head with the motion. She stared at Heero without a word. He smiled at her to coax her out of bed and she dragged herself up. “A job, Rinska. Isn’t that great? Now you don’t have to ask me to steal anything.”

“I wouldn’t have asked you to steal anything anyway, Heero. Not even if we were starving.”

“You say that now, but I bet you would have if you got hungry and cranky enough.”

“Were you always this much of a morning person?”

Heero laughed. He turned his back to Rinska while she changed out of her nightdress and into more appropriate day clothing. Rinska insisted on eating with Steel, which meant the innkeeper had to wait until after breakfast to tell her the details of the job. Heero gave the innkeeper a gesture that said don’t look at me, this wasn’t my idea, and followed Rinska outside with his own plate of eggs while the innkeeper glared at all of them from the stoop.

Steel sniffed the eggs and turned up his nose, but the look from Heero got him to eat it all in two gulps. He licked his teeth and settled back in the grass, turning his ears backwards so they both faced the door where the innkeeper waited with crossed arms and an impatient expression.

What’s up with her, Steel asked Heero with an ear twitch.

“Nothing,” said Heero, aloud, confusing Rinska.

“What ‘nothing’?”

Heero waved a hand at her, hoping she would let it go. But this was Rinska, so she didn’t.

“Don’t give me that, Heero. What ‘nothing’?”

Heero shoved more eggs into his mouth. Steel yawned, readjusting in the grass. The innkeeper’s presence loomed over all of them from the doorway and Rinska’s incessant curiosity, for once, abated.

“So about that job,” Rinska said, getting up. She walked to the innkeeper with as cheerful a smile as she could muster, “What would it entail?”

The innkeeper ushered Rinska inside, taking her empty plate automatically as she did so.

Heero and Steel both sighed, thankful to have the innkeeper’s apprehensive disposition gone. Heero took his time eating the rest of his breakfast before he headed back inside with both his and Steel’s plates.

Hey, Steel communicated to Heero. Don’t let her do anything too dangerous. I can always teach you two to hunt if it comes to that.

“Right,” Heero said as concern crept up his spine, wondering why Steel would tell him such a thing. Walking inside, he overheard a snippet of the innkeeper and Rinska’s conversation.

“A Fire Maiden,” Rinska was saying, curiously.

“Yes,” said the innkeeper. “Your job would be to light the torches at the edge of town every night and extinguish them each morning.”

“Well, I gathered that much. We had Fire Maidens in the capitol too.”

“Ah, then you are familiar with the tradition.”

“More or less,” said Rinska, shrugging.

Heero let out his breath. Fire Maiden work was the opposite of dangerous. It was practically the safest job there was. He took his plates to the kitchen, washed them himself instead of waiting for the attendant. Looks like Steel was worried over nothing, he thought to himself, placing the plates on the drying rack.

“Oh! I can get the rest!”

Heero twisted his torso to see the attendant rushing over, far more frantic than she had been yesterday.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said. Flustered, she grabbed the plate out of Heero’s fingers clumsily, nearly dropping it. “I would have been here earlier if my brother hadn’t caught The Strangles.”

Heero had never heard of The Strangles. He moved out of her way.

“Luckily, the Maidens caught it quickly enough to save his life, but he’s been bedridden ever since. I had to sit with him this morning since my mother couldn’t. She had errands.”

“Wait,” Heero said, putting her comments together. “You don’t mean that little kid that got sick yesterday was your brother, do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“But it’s fine now. He’s fine now.”

Sounds more like she’s trying to convince herself than me, thought Heero, but he didn’t say anything. He only patted her on the shoulder by way of farewell and left the room. Wind blew the front door of the inn harshly shut.

“Rinska,” Heero called and received no answer. I guess she must have already left.

Steel caught Rinska’s dress in his fangs at the door.

“Get that mongrel to behave, would you?” The innkeeper said, huffing. “Didn’t anyone train it to know better?”

“You take that back,” said Rinska. She knelt by Steel, pet his forehead, scratched his ears. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back tonight. I’m just going to work.”

That’s the problem. It’s dangerous work.

Rinska kissed his forehead lightly and then jogged to catch up with the innkeeper.

Steel stared at her back until she rounded a corner and then got up from his place in the grass. He awaited Heero, who arrived shortly thereafter.

You need to keep an eye on your mate, Steel communicated with a piercing gaze into Heero’s eyes.

“What are you so worried about? It’s just a Fire Maiden gig,” said Heero. “All they do is light the lamps.” And there he goes with the mate thing again. I wish he’d stop doing that.

Steel wandered off, following after Rinska. Heero scratched his head, shrugged, and thought about what exactly they were supposed to do now that they were out of the capitol and into the world. He certainly didn’t want to do honest work. It’d be easier to be a thief if they could move around frequently to avoid being caught, but with Rinska getting a job in this town it meant they’d be staying here for at least a little while. Heero sighed.

“Dammit,” he said, kicking the dirt. “Guess I better find something productive to do too. Why’s Rinska gotta be such a good influence on me? I should just leave her here to do her own thing and take care of myself the way I always have. But stupid me! I guess I can’t do that anymore. Man. Being in love sucks.”

If Steel hadn’t meandered away, Heero was sure the wolf would have made fun of him for his ridiculous train of non-logic. Such it is to be human. Maybe it’d be better to be a wolf. He’d have to ask Steel what it was like sometime, but for now, an honest job hunt.

He would feel much better about that if they hadn’t exhausted their efforts the other day trying to find something normal. Heero made a point to check the non-normal section of town this time, a partially boarded-off portion of street whose shadiness was made evident by the peddlers reaching out as Heero walked past. It was a familiar atmosphere, reminded Heero of his childhood, and once he circled the alleyways a good three times, observing, he knew exactly who to talk to.

An old man stood leaning against his cane at a street corner at the very center of the run-down district. It was he who Heero approached.

“You lead the underbelly,” said Heero.

“It doesn’t take kindly to strangers,” said the man.

“I’m no stranger to this sort of thing.”

The man paused, looked deep into Heero’s eyes. Then he lowered his head in a sigh. The brim of his hat drooped to hide his expression.

“Who needs a sneak?”

“Nobody in this town needs anything but a hero, lad.”

“Maybe a hero and a sneak are the same thing in this case.”

The old man lifted his head again. His eyes were under-saturated and framed in wrinkles.

“I need a job.”

“Then be our hero.” The man pulled back his shirt collar. Etched into his skin like an embossing was the pattern of a thorn, a black ridge of pain rising from his shoulder up one side of his neck that looked less like a plant and more like a claw the higher it got. Upon seeing the mark, Heero’s red eye throbbed, giving him a momentary ache in his temple. “Rid us of The Strangles and maybe this town will have the means for an underbelly again, but sneaks are useless with everyone clinging together.”

Worth a shot. Heero found himself tailing the fire maidens, and growing increasingly worried for Rinska, later that evening. It wasn’t long before Steel was behind him, alerting Heero to his presence with a low woof. Heero turned around, arching an eyebrow at Steel, but then he realized something: Steel had been tailing Rinska earlier. That meant she was close by.

Steel moved past him, jutting his snout in the direction of the nearest corner, where two fire maidens, adorned in their traditional red dress, lit the lamp. With the corner illuminated, Heero could make out Rinska’s profile, concentrated and poised as she held the match over the oil, and he felt his breath catch. He hadn’t ever seen her so serious before, and the lighting illuminated her facial structure in a soft, yet somehow passionate blaze. Steel had to bump into him, scrubbing his fur against Heero’s knee, to snap him out of it. Rinska stepped down off the ladder, following her mentor into the darkness.

Heero took one look at Steel and they both followed silently behind. Just in case.

It was three corners later, at the very end of the route, in the final stretch of darkness around the perimeter of the town, when Rinska let out a scream so raw that Heero’s feet moved before his brain had told them to. Steel somehow made it to the scene faster, but Heero was at Rinska’s side first. After a moment, he realized why. Steel was caught in something, something like vines and darkness and shadow all curling into one, invisible claws digging into his scruff.

                But for Heero, Rinska came first. Her mentor was dead, sprawled out and bloody beside her. He moved in between Rinska and the body, placing himself directly in her line of sight so that she wouldn’t be able to see it clearly, then grabbed her shoulders.

                When his hand came back slick and sticky, he realized why she had that dazed expression on her face. Steel broke free of the force holding him, the Strangles as they were called, and blocked them from reaching Heero and Rinska, snarling and growling something awful.

                Heero could swear he heard the wolf’s voice in his mind asking if Rinska was okay. He knew Steel could smell the blood, and he knew there was more to her wounds than just that. A flash of that kid with the vine-shaped scars crossed his mind, along with the old man who had told him to be a hero.

                “Rinska! Rinska, can you hear me? Hey!”

                No use. Her eyes were open, but she was out. Heero gritted his teeth, slung her over his shoulder and ran. Steel retreated with him, snapping at the shadows that chased them until they reached the light of the nearest lamppost. There, Heero lowered Rinska to the ground, and he nearly gagged seeing her condition.

                She was pale, paler than he had ever seen her, and he had seen her sick plenty of times, and the blood soaked through her shoulders and neared her chest. Foregoing any regard for her modesty, Heero ripped open her clothing to see the wound better, and black liquid poured out with the blood when he did so.

                “Shit, shit, shit!” He put pressure on the wounds as best he could and then risked a glance at Steel.

                The wolf was baring his fangs at the darkness, the markings on his fur alight and vibrant. They glowed in the same color as the lamp above them: bright white, though before that moment Heero could’ve sworn the lamplight was a different color, that usual off-shade of yellow that fire takes on when it’s fueled by oil. The shadows whipped out into the circle of light they occupied in violent tendrils, lashing unnaturally and with malice, until Steel howled. Then the Strangles retreated. Only afterwards did Steel’s markings cease to glow. The wolf slumped to the ground in exhaustion, but it bumbled over to Rinska and Heero first.

                She was bleeding out. She was bleeding out and there was nothing Heero could do and it was getting hard to breathe and he couldn’t bear it if she left him. His heart would shatter, his world would break. If she died, he died. He couldn’t let that happen. He spoke suddenly in a calm and calculated manner, one that betrayed nothing of the freak-out he was having inside.

                “Steel, get help. A healer. Anyone. Move.”

                Steel was gone instantaneously and back even faster with the innkeeper on his heels, barking.

                When the time came for talk, after Rinska had been sewn up and moved to a bed in the inn, which was the closest thing they had to a healer’s den around here, Heero held her hand and didn’t let go even when he started interrogating the man who had closed up her wounds.

                “Now’s the time for answers. What are the Strangles and why didn’t anyone warn us of them in the first place?”

                The healer sighed, cleaning his hands of Rinska’s blood in a basin next to the bed. Heero watched the crimson recede off the man’s groomed fingernails with a mixture of disgust and relief. This healer had saved her life. Heero told himself he shouldn’t be so demanding. Instead, he should be grateful. But he had to get answers. He couldn’t let anyone get away with putting Rinska in harm’s way. And that included the innkeeper who offered her the job in the first place. She was next on his list of people to grill.

                Impatiently, he snapped. “Well!”

                “We take all the help we can get in a town like this, so close to the capital, but so far from the radar.” The healer said this quietly, like he was regretting the words as soon as they escaped his mouth.

                “What is that supposed to mean?”

                “Our land is cursed, my boy. As you witnessed, the Strangles have all but taken over our little province at night, and we live in fear during the day whenever we pass through a shadow. There’s never any telling what might happen, who the curse might target next. So the capital has forgotten about us. Our problem is too great for anyone to solve, and the royal family doesn’t see fit to waste its efforts on a town it thinks is beyond help.”

                “You haven’t answered my question.” Heero’s voice was all bile and spit. He squeezed Rinska’s hand harder, and imagined she squeezed back, though she didn’t. His red eye throbbed again whenever he looked at her wounds, even though they were currently dressed in white wrappings all across her chest.

                “I haven’t answered because there is no answer.” The healer sat on a stool near the wall, sinking into it like it was a relief to sit down after hours on his feet doing surgery. “Because nobody has been sent to help us, nobody knows what the Strangles are or how to stop them. We’re preoccupied with damage control here, trying our best to survive. I truly am sorry for what happened to your friend, young man, but this is the best I can offer you. Only bandages, no cures.”

                Heero’s heart raced in anger just thinking about all the things he wanted to do to whoever decided it was a good idea to just leave this town to its devices. Whoever they were, they had indirectly put Rinska in mortal danger. That was a serious offence in his book. But the way the healer looked at him then, the way his eyebrows hung and his skin drooped in fatigue, told Heero that, at the very least, this man before him was doing his best to help, and was probably frustrated with his own lack of ability to do anything useful aside from patch up the damage from what Heero could tell. So Heero let his ire simmer away for the moment. No use turning it toward someone who was trying to help, toward someone who had actually saved Rinska’s life. He should offer thanks. So he did.

                “Look, I’m just pissed off. I don’t know what to do here. I’m… I’m not a hero, not really, and Rinska and I are just trying to get by. I just need her to be okay. Tell me she’ll be okay. Will she be okay?”

                The healer rose to his feet, placed a hand on Heero’s shoulder and then left without a word.

                Heero raised his hands to his forehead, keeping hold of Rinksa’s all the while, and he stayed there brewing his despair until Steel hobbled into the room. The door creaked as the wolf entered, and Heero turned to see his companion in the doorway leaning a bit on the frame, huffing like it was hard to breathe. A cloth was tied around Steel’s torso and neck, where he hadn’t escaped injury. But his wounds hadn’t bled black like Rinska’s had. There was still that to worry about. The healer had told Heero the poison from the Strangles could be deadly if not treated immediately, but it seemed for some reason Steel was immune.

                “You okay over there?” Heero asked.

                Steel slumped over to the bed and lay down next to the chair Heero was sitting on. Reaching down, Heero smoothed out some of Steel’s matted fur, and the wolf gave him a gentle grumbly noise in thanks. Steel asked with his eyes if Rinska was going to survive.

                “She better,” said Heero, and he put all his will into the wish that she would.

                Rinska didn’t wake up for three days, but she did recover. The first thing she said when she awoke was Heero’s name and the word help.

                “I’m here,” Heero said, jolting out of a fatigued daze when he heard her voice. He’d been sitting in the same spot for the entire time, and barely ate anything at all. He had slept even less, if that were possible. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

                Rinska winced and smiled, then brought a hand up to his face. She whispered, “You look so tired.”

                Heero couldn’t help the rough chuckle that escaped his throat. After all that, she was worried about him? Talk about backwards priorities. But he supposed she had always been like that. It was so good to hear her voice he nearly cried in delight but then his eyes found those bandages of hers again and he sank back into a solemn mood.

                Steel put his snout on the bed and Rinska looked down at the wolf, slipping her hand out of Heero’s in order to pat behind Steel’s ears. Her eyes were bagged and underscored in dark rings and her whole body shook whenever she made any movement, but she was alive and awake and that was all Heero could hope for at the moment.

                “You scared me,” he choked out.

                “I’m sorry,” she said.

                “Don’t apologize.”

                “But I—”

                “Just rest, okay? I’ll see if I can get us some food. You hungry?”

                She nodded and settled into the fluff of her pillow. Heero rose out of the chair slowly, every joint cracking. He told Steel to keep an eye on her while he was gone, getting an affirmative scoff in response, and then painstakingly made his way down to the main floor. By the time he reached the reception desk, he was out of breath. Not eating and not sleeping were apparently taking their toll.

                The innkeeper was there, reading a book with a black cover. The title was depicted with gold writing in a script Heero didn’t recognize. Instead of punching her like he wanted to for offering Rinska such a dangerous job in the first place, he slammed his hands down on her desk, making enough noise to wake the entire building, and then glared at her until she put her index finger between the pages of her book and acknowledged him.

                “We’re hungry. Feed us. I want the whole kitchen.”

                She sighed and moved away from him, leaving her book on the desk when she left. He took that as a sign of resignation and slouched over the countertop, listening to her bark orders at the chefs bustling about in the kitchen a few rooms over. Pots and pans clanged and the scent of fire filled the room soon after, along with the sizzle of cooking meat. Vegetables too.

                God, he was hungry. He hadn’t realized it until now, but his stomach felt like it was curling in on itself. He rested his forehead on the desk and focused on his breathing, which had at some point become uneven without his knowledge. Everything was aching too.

                “Water,” he said, eyes still closed over his arms. “Rinska probably needs water.” He dragged himself into the kitchen, dodged the cooks, and retrieved two tall glasses from the cabinets near the stove. He took them out to the well and filled them, then thought better of it and removed the entire bucket to bring up to Rinska’s room. This early in the morning, nobody was awake, so he didn’t have anyone complaining about him cutting through the rope to take the whole thing back upstairs. He managed not to spill that much, only a few droplets when he stumbled near the door and the water swished over the top of the pail. He shoved the door open with his shoulder and entered the room, his gaze falling on Rinska automatically, who had fallen back asleep.

                Steel looked at him and said in wolf body-language that her breathing was normal so far, like he had known on instinct the wave of panic that traveled up Heero’s spine the moment he walked in the room to see Rinska unresponsive all over again.

                Heero brought the water over to the bed and set it down next to the chair he’d been using to watch over her, and then he leaned over and gently rubbed Rinska’s shoulder until she awoke again. The fact that it didn’t take long to wake her put Heero’s mind temporarily at ease, but she was still so weak when her eyes opened that they were partially glazed over with fogginess.

                “I brought you some water.” He dipped one of the cups into the pail to fill it and offered it to her. She tried to sit up but couldn’t, so he set the glass aside for the moment and took her head in one of his arms, positioning her with most of her weight feeling dead. That worried him too, but he focused on the task instead of on his fretting and leaned over to retrieve the glass of water, bringing it to her lips. She sipped it slowly. Some of it dribbled down her chin and she raised her arm to wipe it from her face but winced halfway through so that Heero set the glass down and did it for her.

                “Everything’s blurry,” she slurred.

                “I’ve got you,” he said, voice straining. But his muscles were fatigued from not getting enough sleep and he was doing all he could to keep his arm from shaking, so he set her head back down on the pillow and told her that breakfast was coming. Steel looked at Heero. In his mind he heard the wolf’s voice telling him to get some rest for the moment. The danger was gone now. Strength would be needed later.

                “…yeah,” said Heero. He slogged over to his side of the room and gathered the blankets from his bed, bringing them over to the floor beside Rinska’s.

                He succumbed to his exhaustion then, and it felt like a mere blink of time until the innkeeper arrived with the food, though in reality it had been at least twenty minutes. The innkeeper nudged Heero with her foot since she was holding a tray full of breakfast and then set it down on Rinska’s lap, who had awoken before Heero. She also gave Steel a disapproving look before leaving the room, but she didn’t give them any snide comments or anything, and she seemed to be doing all she could to help since she got Rinska into this situation in the first place. As much as he wanted to hate her, Heero couldn’t bring himself to loathe her completely. There was something like sadness, like a profound regret, in the way she had carried herself since Rinska was attacked, so he couldn’t entirely condemn her. Maybe it wasn’t actually the innkeeper’s fault.

                No, that was the hunger talking. It was definitely her fault. Heero picked up a fork and helped Rinska eat before devouring his own meal, and then he gave the scraps to Steel, who didn’t complain one bit about how little was left.

                It didn’t take long for complications to arise with Rinska’s condition. They stayed mostly up in the room for days on end, emerging only for the bathroom or another meal in order to keep their strength, and just when Rinska was beginning to act like herself again, the real nature of the strangles struck.

                She was descending the staircase when it happened. Heero had taken hold of her arm and was easing her down step by step while she whined about how useless she felt, but the complaining meant that the Rinska he knew was returning, so he didn’t scold her for it like he might have before this all happened. Instead he kept his grip firm and swallowed down a chuckle. She got to the second-to-last step before she stumbled.

                “Easy,” Heero told her. Then his red eye started throbbing and he looked closer at Rinska—really looked.

                She clutched her chest. Her eyes unfocused and her skin broke into a sweat that didn’t seem entirely from expending her energy. From her expression, Heero could tell it was also from pain.

                “What’s wrong,” asked Heero.

                “It hurts… my veins…”

                Heero tightened his grip on her. “Your veins hurt?” He wasn’t a doctor, but he knew that if she was saying her veins hurt, that meant that essentially everything hurt. He regarded her closer and that’s when he saw them: black tendrils oozing across her neck, like the strangles that had hurt her in the first place. She collapsed on top of him, and he twisted to shield her from a harsh landing. He ended up on his back with his lower half sprawled up onto the lower steps. He managed to keep her from hitting any hard surfaces, but with her so close he could tell her breathing was irregular. From the position he was in he couldn’t get up without a lot of maneuvering and he wasn’t sure if he should, so he took a moment to brush his fingers through her hair, hoping the gesture was reassuring.

                “Breathe, Rinska,” he said.

                Her voice was tiny when she squeaked out, “it hurts.”

                “I know.” Why was he so goddamn useless? “But you have to. Inhale.” He waited for her to inhale, then he said, “exhale.”

                She exhaled. They repeated this until she had regained control of her respiration. Eventually, Heero managed to get them out from the awkward position they had landed in and scoop Rinska into his arms bridal-style. She let her head rest against his shoulder and breathed him in as he carried her back up to the room, but when he was about to put her on the bed, she grabbed his shirt and whimpered.

                “What is it?” he asked.

                “Your eye,” she said, choking back a sob. “Your red eye is just like his.”

                Veyihan’s countenance flashed across Heero’s mind. But it couldn’t be. No way.

                Steel moved over to give Rinska some room to lie down, but Heero kept holding her for a few moments longer since she had latched herself onto him like a monkey. In the back of his mind he wished he could enjoy her touch instead of worrying what it meant that she was clinging on him so desperately, but they all had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

                “My eye is like whose?”

                “The man,” she whispered in a terrified voice. “The man in my dreams with the scary smile.”

                There was no other person it could be. That had to be Veyihan. Had to be. But when Heero was about to ask for more details, the moment passed and Rinska coughed a bit and asked in a scratchy voice for water.

                “I’m on it,” said Heero, setting her down on the bed. He gave Steel a worrisome look as he left for the well, and the wolf curled around Rinska protectively, licking the black marks on her skin.

                And when he did, they faded ever so slightly.

                Heero returned with the water to find Steel breathing heavily and Rinska looking like the color had come back to her. He asked the wolf if he was alright and Steel gave him a weary ear twitch. The vines on Rinska’s skin had dissipated somewhat, and when Heero offered the tip of the cup to her lips she drank thirstily.

                “Careful. Slow sips,” said Heero, but he was obviously relieved.

                “The man,” Rinska said when she had been hydrated enough to get her throat to work without sounding like a woody scratch. “The man with the red eyes. I saw him in my dreams. He’s the one who cursed this town.”

                “Are you sure?” Because if that were the case, they had a bigger issue on their hands than they’d first thought. Come to think of it… he turned his attention to Steel and asked how the wolf had cured Rinska of most of the black vines that trailed on her neck, and Steel opened one eye to respond. He told Heero that his kind was immune to curses thanks to an ancestor from long ago. That must have been the reason for the light that emitted from the leafy markings on his fur when they were attacked the first time. Heero hadn’t made the connection then that the strangles had fled the light coming off of Steel at the time, but now it made sense.

                Which meant that possibly Steel was also immune to Veyihan’s powers. That would certainly be a boon. Maybe things were looking up. But it did seem like that immunity took its toll. The wolf looked positively shaggy now, skinny and uncharacteristically frail-looking. Even so, he assured Heero that he would be fine in time, with rest.

                Heero gave him a nod and helped Rinska lie back down.

                “The man in your dreams, I think I know him. He’s the guy that started the rebellion against your father.”

                Rinska surprised Heero by nodding as if she had come to the same conclusion. “I thought so.” Her eyes were closed and she still looked tired, though not as terrified as before. It seemed that just Heero’s touch could calm her down, not that that was much of a surprise to begin with since they practically grew up together. “Heero,” she continued in a small voice. “Do you think we can win? Can we overthrow him if we come across him again?”

                “Where is this coming from? I thought we were going to get out of the kingdom and live our lives like commoners.”

                Rinska opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling looking contemplative. “I thought I would be happy doing that, going about my life without ruling like my birthright says I should. But the thing is my people are suffering. I should be helping them. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try.”

                Heero sighed, took her hand and rubbed his thumb along her wrist absentmindedly.

                “I know that doesn’t make you any less worried about me, but it’s all I can think about now that I know that man has been causing problems in the rest of the provinces, not just the capitol.”

                “But you don’t know that for sure, Rinska. It could just be this one town. And maybe they deserved it.”

                Rinska tugged her hand away from him and looked peevishly at the opposite wall. “How could you say that,” she whispered.

                Heero sighed again.

                Steel was the one to break the silence. He got up, maneuvered over so that he was in between Heero and Rinska, which put him in a precarious position nearly half off the bed, and then told Heero that Rinska had a point.

                He just couldn’t win, could he?

                “I haven’t slept in days,” Heero announced. He shoved the bucket from the well over so it wouldn’t spill on him, and he fluffed his bedding that he had placed on the floor beside Rinska’s bed. “We can talk about this after I’ve got some shut eye.”

                After he was settled, in a little voice that was still edged with anger, although more so with comradery, Rinska told him, “G’night, Heero.”

                With newfound determination, Rinska recovered as best she could without the strangles being defeated. Heero managed to get some Intel on why they may have plagued the town in the first place during his trek around the neighborhood looking for jobs once it was clear she didn’t need constant care anymore, and Steel added his own instinctual insights along the way. Eventually they all came to the conclusion that the entire strangles problem was caused by Veyihan’s first trial where he earned his shadow power. They were a direct result of his interference with the Shadow Realm, the subspace opposite in consistency to the Null.

                So they came up with a harebrained plan. They were going to regroup and overthrow the strangle infestation from the inside, which meant someone had to go through another trial. Rinska volunteered.

                “No,” said Heero as soon as she brought it up. “No way. It’s too dangerous and you aren’t even completely better yet.”

                “Well how else do you expect me to get rid of the problem?” said Rinska, heated. “You yourself said it was the only surefire way to get rid of the strangles, and if the strangles are gone, wouldn’t it make sense that I’d get better too? Think about that, Heero, and stop trying to play the tough guy all the time!”

                “Rinska, you’re being ridiculous.”

                At that most inopportune moment, Rinska’s neck flared with the vines again and she did her best not to wince. She had gotten far better at hiding her discomfort, but Heero had way more experience with that sort of thing, so he knew she was putting up an act in order to get him to agree with her. He wouldn’t have it. He fetched her some water, waiting for her to be done sipping it tentatively, and then shook his head at her again.

                “I won’t let you do this. You don’t know what it’s like in one of those… nonphysical realms.”

                Rinska slammed her water down, spilling a little over the edge of the glass. “It’s my responsibility, Heero! These are my people! I have to protect them! It’s duty!”

                “You just don’t get it,” Heero said, clenching his fists to calm his temper. Blowing up at her wouldn’t convince her to listen to him. He had to keep himself under control and not tell her what an idiot she was being. She didn’t know any better. She wasn’t there in the Null. She didn’t know how grueling the trials were for him, and he doubted the Shadow Realm would have anything less involved, especially if Veyihan had been the one to complete them.

                Your mate has a point, came Steel’s deep gravelly voice. He was staring at Heero, looking regal. He went on to say: Rinska’s birthright is to become your kind’s Alpha. An Alpha’s job is indeed to protect the rest of the pack.

                “You’re ganging up on me now too? I thought you had more sense than that.”

                “Huh?” said Rinska. “Did Steel say something?”

                Oh, that’s right. Heero sometimes forgot that she couldn’t understand the wolf. But he didn’t want to translate so he just nodded, gritting his teeth.

                If you are concerned about her safety, then I will accompany her.

                Heero’s eyes went wide and he looked over at Steel, taking in the shagginess of the wolf’s fur and the drooping way his eyes seemed to barely stay open.

                I will keep her safe. I have been shielding her from the shadows for all this time. It would release me of my burden sooner if I were allowed to aide her in completing the mission.

                “You mean you’re the reason she’s…” Now that he thought about it, Heero hadn’t seen Rinska by herself this entire time. Steel had always been at her bedside when he couldn’t be, always with her when he wasn’t. He had just assumed (stupidly) that it was because the wolf was trying to look out for her, but it seemed it was more than that.

                “I hate when you talk to him and don’t tell me what he’s saying,” said Rinska. She crossed her arms and looked sullen like a child, but deep down she didn’t like it one bit. Keeping secrets… it was the entire reason she was so upset with her family and ran away in the first place. It didn’t sit well with her that now her surrogate family seemed to be taking up the habit as well.

                Heero sighed. “Fine. Sorry. I guess I’m only looking out for myself, huh? I just can’t bear to lose you, Rinska. But if this is what you want, there’s not going to be anything that stops you, is there?” He gave her a tired smile, but there was an endearing factor that came along with it.

                She chose to ignore it for the time being. “That’s right.”

                “Steel says he’ll go with you, if he can.”

                Her eyes lit up. “That’s great! Does that mean he sided with me in the first place?” She pulled Steel into a bear hug, snuggling her face into his fur. “Oh, I knew you were always more sensible than Heero. Hey, maybe you could teach him a few things, right?”

                Steel gave Heero a know-it-all look, but it was a kind one.

                So it was decided. Heero had already gathered the information about where the portal was, so all that was left was to enter it. He led them to the alleyway where the shadows never ceased, even in daylight, a part of town the residents never stepped foot in anymore. Actually, a few families had been permanently separated because of that barrier of shade, as if the townsfolk took it as an actual physical blockage. Though, none of the adventurers headed that way could blame them. Especially not Rinska, now that she had experienced being cursed by the strangles herself.

                The darkness pervaded in the eerie way a whistle can carry on the wind as soon as they stepped close enough to see it nestled into the side of one building, connecting the two ends of the street in shadow.

                Steel, Rinska, and Heero exchanged meaningful looks. Then they all took one step into the shade. But Heero was left behind, or more like thrown back as soon as his ankle crossed over the shadow. He flipped himself over and kicked the wall he was about to crash into, saving himself from a bang on the head, but when he looked into the darkness, Steel and Rinska were gone.

                They had crossed over to the Shadow Realm, and they both looked about themselves curiously at the scenery which surrounded them. It was nothing like the village. No buildings, no trees, no nothing really. Or perhaps it was the embodiment of nothing. They were walking on something, but at the same time there wasn’t a discernable way to tell between the sky and the ground. All was black. They were in an expanse of shadow that didn’t seem to have a form of its own aside from the suffocating aura it held within it.

                Steel sniffed the air.

                “Wait a second, where did Heero go?” Rinska asked, suddenly aware of her childhood friend’s absence. Panic swelled inside her, and she brought a hand up to her face, a hand she couldn’t even see thanks to the pervading darkness that enveloped them.

                Steel followed her scent and caught her arm gently between his teeth.

                She squeaked in surprise but held her scream inside her.

                The wolf made a gruff noise in the back of his throat.

                “Oh, it’s you. For a second I thought those things had gotten me again.” Rinska moved one hand over her eyes as if to shield them from the sun on a bright day. She could feel it against her forehead, but she couldn’t see a thing. “But how do we even tell what direction to go in here? I can’t even see my own skin. Did Heero really go through something like this to get that red eye of his? I wasn’t all that impressed with him before, but now…”

                There was a glow in her peripheral vision. Steel’s markings were illuminating slowly, the light subtle at first and then growing stronger, like coals becoming fire.

                “Of course! Thanks, Steel. You know, you’re way more dependable than Heero sometimes.”

                Steel would chuckle if he could, but Rinska no doubt wouldn’t understand him if he vocalized the humor he found in that sentiment, so he just kept on lighting the way. The lay of the land wasn’t any better than before, but at least they could see themselves and each other. The scars on Rinska’s neck in particular were not affected by the light of Steel’s markings, and when he looked up at her, she looked as if she were emerging from the darkness herself, like the scars were the final connection she had to the mother shadow from which she had materialized.

                A strange scent was in the air. It smelled of swamp vines and ashes. Steel snapped to attention, his ears swiveling to and fro, trying to catch the sound of something that might have ignited the scent, but even their footsteps didn’t echo here, and there was only the whistle of silence and the beating of his and Rinska’s hearts, throbbing faster the deeper they went.

                “This place is creepy.”

                Steel walked closer to her. She put her hand on his head like a lifeline.

                In the distance, or maybe very close to them, another glow appeared. They both halted for a second, looked to each other, and then made the decision simultaneously to run towards whatever it was. When they got there, they were astounded.

                The strangles weren’t made of darkness in the Shadow Realm. In this subspace, they were made of light. And they were ironically beautiful. Their tendrils were intricate and thinned at the tips like feathers or ferns. They swayed back and forth in a dance that twisted their roots deeper into the space that served as the ground. Beside them, Steel and Rinska found that the surface on which they had been walking resembled glass. It was clear and pure, so much so that the roots of the strangles could be seen expanding down under their feet for miles, or even more perhaps, and not an ounce of clarity was lost until the natural boundaries of vision were reached. The portions of the strangles that grew out of the surface of glass reached towards a never-ending black sky in reverse silhouettes.

                It was mesmerizing. So much so that Rinska barely was aware when one of the roots slithered up from the ground and made a move for her ankle. Steel shoved her out of the way.

                “Hey! What’s the big—” Her eyes found the tendril slinking back under the ground like a vine sinking through murky water and she scrambled to her feet, having nothing more to say on the matter. Steel dashed after her, and they meandered their way through the strangles, dodging the slithering extremities of the plantlike entities that threatened to snatch them into their branches.

                At one point, Rinska became separated from Steel, and that’s when she learned she couldn’t see the strangles if he wasn’t nearby. She screamed his name into the dark just as one of the strangles clamped onto her torso, and he came thundering back to her in a ray of wolf-shaped light.

                The strangle let go. Rinska fell to her knees, shaking. But Steel leaped over her head and snarled at the strangle, putting himself in between her and the white mass of twisted lines that had snagged her. This one was clearly the largest, and it imposed itself on the space like a boat cutting through currents of water.

                It was the leader. That much was obvious. Rinska stood up, shuddering. Her hand absently came up to brush the scars on her neck, scars that were still pitch black in the light here.

                “This is the one,” she said with a quivering voice. “This is the source of them all.”

                Steel’s hackles lifted. His fur stood on end and his eyes and snout crinkled into animosity at the strangle in front of them. Rinska took a step back, trying to keep her knees from knocking together in fear.

                “Steel,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”

                Steel twirled his tail. He couldn’t give up his position in front of her or risk her being open to another attack from the strangle’s limbs, but he hoped the gesture was universal enough to put her mind at least a little bit on ease.

                She seemed to regain a marginal amount of confidence. Rinska told herself she wasn’t alone, that if anything went wrong Steel could protect her. He had so far without fail, after all. And if Heero could figure a way inside this place, she had no doubt he would try to save her too. For the first time, she realized she had complete faith in both of them, and the only person she didn’t trust was herself. But Heero had mentioned that in the Null there were trials. Maybe this was one of hers.

                “Okay,” she said, getting her voice under control. “So what do I do? How do I get past this thing and save the town?”

                Steel had no idea.

                The strangle tree stood proudly before them. It swayed and reached out more of its branches, aiming for Rinska again. And this time, she got an idea. She let them take her without even trying to run. She heard Steel howling and growling and howling even louder as the strangles pierced into her all at once, but this time she didn’t feel any pain.

                It sent her into an abstract frame of mind that she couldn’t describe even if she wanted to, but Steel somehow managed to follow after her. He must have let himself get caught as well, and a glow interrupted Rinska’s frenetic thoughts, guiding her into oblivion.

                And then she was alone. Completely and totally alone. The air taunted her with its staleness despite the field being so open and remote. Blades of grass tickled her ankles. The wind rushed her with hot air and particles of dust. The world was gray and stagnant. No animals, no trees. Just Rinska, the grass and the sky high above. Splitting the horizon was a jagged line of grass blades, silhouetted like the strangles had been.

                She was totally and completely isolated, and she was entirely alone. She yearned for Heero, for Steel, for someone, but nobody came. There was only her and herself. Things didn’t get any worse than that. She crumbled in on herself and wept. Then she stood up, wiped her eyes, and brushed the dirt off her dress and kept walking. If she wanted company, she’d have to find it. So she would.

                She walked for eight miles before collapsing onto the ground, feeling as though she hadn’t gotten anywhere. The horizon looked the same. The scenery didn’t change. She was going mad with the sameness, but she couldn’t give up now! Could she?

                But to give up would perpetuate it. So she rose again and caught her breath and kept walking. She didn’t make it very far before falling over, this time landing at the edge of a pond.

                Eyes alight, she drank thirstily and reveled in the sensation of the liquid slipping down her esophagus.

                She was hungry. Too hungry. Hungry enough to feel it rattling her joints. But there wasn’t any food anywhere. The only things were the grass, the sky and now the pond.

                But the pond meant she’d gotten somewhere. It meant that walking endlessly wasn’t truly an endless endeavor. So she kept going after a rest and didn’t stop until she reached yet another different thing.

                This time the strangle tree was back. And it was in color, swaying in the humid wind like a willow, its branches a luminous vibrancy like fresh summer light, its bark grooved in omnicolor creases.

                It spoke to her.

                It said, “Do you wish to take me unto yourself, young girl?”

                “What would happen if I said yes?”

                “That is not for you to decide. Even I do not know the result.”

                “Then why should I?”

                “Because there is no way out of this place, except for you to do so.”

                “Then I’ll do it.”

                “Are you certain?”

                “We’re the only ones in this place, right? People can’t live in a void.”

                The strangle tree chuckled. “That is the first time anyone has referred to me as a person.”

                Rinska felt her eyebrows lift in surprise. But she stood ready for whatever the tree would do. There was no use in running when there was no one to run to. She thought of Heero, and her heart ached for him, but she tried to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. The tree didn’t seem evil, either. That was a surprise as much as this strange place was, and she didn’t expect it to be colorful when she first challenged the Shadow Realm. If anything, she thought it would be like how it appeared in the other world: silent, deadly, and dark.

                “The last one who challenged my realm simply sat quietly until I approached him. I wonder what is so different about your natures that you would seek me out with such impatience. You both came from the same world, if I am not mistaken.”

                “We’re completely different, if that’s what they did. I’m trying to reunite with my friends and save the town. It’s my duty to find a way out and help, whatever means I must take. Being content to sit around would never accomplish anything. If I’m being honest, I’d say the person you met last time was a selfish fool.”

                “You may be right,” said the tree wistfully. Then it leaned down, fully bending its trunk, and bestowed Rinska with one of its branches. Rinska grabbed on, and stepped onto its roots when it told her to do so. “Now then. Shall we? Oh! I nearly forgot. What is your name, young lass?”

                “Rinska, heir to the throne of the kingdom. What’s yours?”

                “Viode,” said the tree. “Now we must imagine our spirits synching. Imagine your essence coming into mine, and I shall do the same. When we have merged, you must wish for the place you want to be. That wish must be direct and exact, or else there will be no escape from this place, and the shadows will have you forever.”

                Rinska thought suddenly of Veyihan, and the shadow power Heero had told her he possessed.

                The process began. They glowed with their own auras, and then the auras merged, and the two of them pictured the places they wished to be. Rinska’s wish was immediate and pointedly exact, just as Viode had told her.

                She materialized in Heero’s arms. Which was rather awkward because he had been pacing up and down by the shadows and promptly dropped her.

                “Ow!” She yelped and rubbed her bottom. She’d landed on her tailbone and it was stinging something awful. “Jeez, Heero, why’d you have to go and drop me?”

                “Rinska! You’re here! You’re… why do you have extra ears?”

                “What?” She reached up to the top of her head and there they were: wolf ears twitching back and forth. And it turned out it wasn’t her tailbone she landed on. It was her tail. A new one that had spontaneously grown throughout the transition into this plane of existence. She bounced to her feet and spun around trying to get a closer look at it, which made it look very much like she was trying to chase her own tail.

                Steel approached in a jogging run. And this time Rinska could understand him.

                You’re not hurt? What happened? How did you get out of there?

                “It’s okay, you two. I’m fine now.” She suddenly realized she could understand Steel and her eyes widened in shock. “Oh my gosh, I can understand you now! Can you understand me?”

                I have always understood you. The language of my people extends farther than just our pack’s colloquialisms. I am pleased you’ve found a way to understand me, of course, but how?

                “Yeah, how?” Heero added, indiscriminately and unabashedly looking Rinska up and down for any and all sign of injury. He found none, but kept on looking.

                “Well, I suppose I wished for it. For understanding. I wanted to figure out a way to save this town, so… when the tree, I mean when Viode asked me to wish for something, I wished for an understanding of how to fix the problem. And to come back here of course.”

                Heero and Steel made the same confused face. Neither had anything to say, but they were trying very hard to say it.

                And suddenly, lost in concentration, Rinska’s ears and tail shrank out of existence. Heero gasped, pointing confusedly at her bottom and head and making obnoxious choking sounds of surprise.

                “What?”

                She couldn’t understand Steel’s body language any more.

                She realized the ears and tail were gone. So she wished them back, and there they were. But not only that; this time she shifted into an animal entirely. She became a white wolf, with black markings that crawled from her tail to the scruff of her neck, and amber eyes.

                You’ve acquired a shifting ability, said Steel.

                “Rinska?” asked Heero. But then that part of his brain that understood animal speak came to the forefront and he could understand the conversation the wolves were having in front of him.

                How did I do that? Rinska was saying.

                You must have become able to transform because of the trials, said Steel.

                You really think so? I guess that makes the most sense. I mean as much sense as that can make anyway.

                “This is incredible,” said Heero. Now his amazement covered his befuddlement. “We can all understand each other now. Think how much easier it’ll be to take down the strangles!”

                About that, said Rinska with a swish of her tail. She was still getting used to her new form, testing the waters so to speak. She liked it so far, though. It was very freeing, in any case. She morphed back into her human form in order to enunciate better, since she wasn’t entirely sure how to do so in wolf language just yet. She kept her ears and tail though, little puffs of white adorableness poking out of her hair and a fluffy swishing thing from the back of her spine. It kept her warmer than usual, which she was happy about as well.

                “I don’t think the strangles are exactly evil,” she said.

                Heero’s confused face returned. Rinska could tell he was trying to understand by the angle of his eyebrows scrunching over his nose, though. “What are you saying, Rinska? That we should just let the town be swallowed? But didn’t you say it was your duty to protect them or whatever?”

                “I did say that…”

                She means that something in the trials convinced her that the strangles aren’t quite out to terrorize the town. It may have been entirely accidental that they scared the townsfolk in the first place.

                “But people have died,” said Heero.  And with a bit more anger in his voice, “You might’ve been one of them if Steel and I didn’t get there quick enough.”

                Rinska scratched her left wolf ear. It twitched almost by itself in response. “Well, I’m not saying that what they did isn’t wrong. I’m just saying there might be a more peaceful solution. Or actually that there might be a solution at all, since we didn’t really have a plan before in the first place, aside from what you said about challenging the Shadow Realm. And I did that, and now look at me! But just because I did that doesn’t mean that the problem is solved. I mean…” She turned around, intending to indicate the shadow she had passed through to get into the Shadow Realm initially, and then stopped short.

                It was gone. The shadow was gone. The entire neighborhood looked lighter and open. Like it was free. Like the shadows had never been there in the first place.

                “That’s weird,” said Rinska. “Isn’t this where we went in?”

                It seems it has been purified, said Steel.

                “Purified?” asked Heero.

                Rinska brought a hand up to her face and gasped. She’d figured it out.

                Of course the other two waited on baited breath for her to explain herself.

                “Of course! My wish! Heero, did you get a wish when you challenged the Null?”

                “Not that I know of,” he said, crossing his arms in thought. “But when I challenged the Null, I kind of cheated my way out. That’s why (at least I suspect it’s why anyway) I only have one of these red eyes. But are you saying what you wished for made the shadows retreat?”

                “That’s exactly what I’m saying! Oh, how wonderful!” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “Such a grand issue solved in such a small amount of time. I’m a great heir to the throne, don’t you think?”

                Heero’s eyes drooped. “Don’t let it get to your head or anything.”

                “Oh, come on. You know I’m kidding. Anyway, don’t you want to know what I wished for? I wished to…” Suddenly words failed her. She wished to see Heero and Steel, to not be alone, to understand the both of them and also to save the town. “Wow, it’s actually really complicated what I wished for, now that I think of it. But I trust that Viode fulfilled it.”

                “Viode?”

                “The strangle tree. I think it was their leader or something. Oh! But it also said something about the guy who came before me into its realm. It said that the guy was content to just sit there in that emptiness and wait until the tree approached him. Which is kind of weird now that I think about it.”

                “Wait, by ‘guy’ do you mean Veyihan?”

                Steel’s ears twitched.

                “Most likely,” answered Rinska. “But I kind of got the feeling that Viode didn’t like him very much. It was almost like Viode only approached him in order to get him to go away, now that I think about it.”

                Heero, Rinska, and Steel all made the same contemplative noise. Somewhere far away, Veyihan lost his ability to walk through shadows, unbeknownst to the rest of them—but only for a moment, in fact it was the exact moment of Rinska’s transformation, but neither party had any way of knowing that.

                Inside the Shadow Realm, Viode let his bark settle contentedly. Let them fight over who gets his power. Let them decide. He was tired, and old, and couldn’t be bothered with governing things anymore. So Viode had pulled back the shadows that Veyihan had planted in the town originally and left it at that. Of course, Rinska and the rest of them had no real way of knowing that.

                So when a villager interrupted them, praising the town’s newfound heroes, Rinska took all the credit.

                “You can tell the rest of the town that I, Princess Rinska, have saved everyone from the shadows. Do not feel abandoned by the kingdom! We are working to remedy all the ills that my father has left ignored. I am the heiress to the throne, and I will fulfill my promise to take my land under wing and raise it higher than my father ever could!”

                There were cheers. The town believed her, with the exception of one single old man, the very same old man who was the leader of the underbelly, that very underbelly which would soon reignite now that the strangles had been vanquished.

                It wasn’t long after Heero, Rinska and Steel left that place that it erupted into the chaos it had known before the strangles kept them all in fear and at bay. But our heroes had no way of knowing that, so they traveled on without realizing that behind them, the town erupted into a borderline civil war full of tragedies.

                Anyways, they kept walking, and eventually came upon the forest’s edge again. Not the side where the wolves lived, no. This was the side opposite the town, the side across the valleys between which had separated the town from the wood on that flank of the world.

                The trees were moaning. The creaked and bellowed with the wind, not an ounce of greenery attached to them. It was a dead forest. Or at the very least, it was a monochrome one. The branches undertow and the crinkling leaves underfoot were all various shades of crumpled gray, and Steel perked to attention the moment they stepped over the first root.

                “What?” asked Heero.

                Rinska popped her ears up to understand what Steel was saying.

                This place puts me on edge, he was saying.

                “It does?” asked Rinska.

                “Hmm,” said Heero.

                And they kept walking, and none of them knew that the canopy above them was tangled together with invisible tendrils of magic, magic that had once served a usurper long ago who had threatened to take over the lands of Rinska’s great, great grandfather.

                They set up camp as best they could with what little supplies they had gathered from the inn before they embarked on their journey. Heero kicked the dead leaves out of the way and dug into the dirt far enough for their fire not to catch on anything. Then he ignited it, and the dark sky ascended with the moon, and they all sat around on their sleeping bags wondering what was next.

                All except Steel, that is. Steel sat rigidly, sniffing the air in a paranoid manner, ears swiveling about.

                “Dude, chill,” said Heero. “What’s up with you today?”

                Steel flattened his ears. Nothing. Sorry. I find myself inexplicably nervous here. Is it not the same for you two?

                Rinska poked her ears out to understand him, but only caught the last sentence, so it was Heero who answered.

                “A little, now that you mention it.” He poked at the fire, the flames cascading off his face like flickering lightning bugs swarming his eyes. “I just don’t know what we’re supposed to do about it. Nothing’s attacked us or anything. I think we’re all just on edge from what happened in the last town we visited.”

                “Yeah,” said Rinska. “I’m sure it’s probably nothing.”

                Even so, none of them slept that night. When the dawn rose in between the trees as a yellow blinding hue of reminiscence, they all yawned, gathered up their things, slung their packs over their backs and kept walking. Begrudged, maybe, but still on the move. Rinska even took the lead, being too impatient to listen to Heero when he said he needed to find a way to mark coordinates.

                “Look, either we’re lost without admitting it, or we’re lost and we keep going,” said Rinska.

                I agree, said Steel. Although, I don’t like our situation any better than you do, we best keep going. This place is strange in a way I can’t express.

                “Fine, fine,” said Heero.

                And once again they kept on walking.

                That is, until they reached the edge of the forest, rejoiced, and then fell into an awkward sense of despair once they realized they were back where they started.

                “I swear we were walking in a straight line,” said Rinska.

                “Clearly not,” said Heero.

                Steel drooped his ears as the two of them argued, each of them blaming the other one for getting them turned around with ridiculous reasons that had nothing to do with anything. They grew up together, all right. Anyone could tell, even someone who wasn’t their species like Steel. He sighed loudly so they’d stop bantering and then nudged Heero back towards the forest.

                “Okay, but this time we need a plan,” said Heero, crossing his arms over his chest and displaying for them all with certainty that he would not move until they came up with something to keep them from walking in circles again.

                Rinska crossed her arms too, unknowingly taking the exact same posture as Heero, lost in thought. Really, it was like they were statues made by artists purposefully imitating each other’s work.

                There was a ringing in Steel’s ears. He jolted to attention. Rinska and Heero soon followed along, straining their ears to figure out what Steel was listening to. Rinska caught a bit of it first, seeing as she had some of the animal instincts that Steel had now. The wolf ears helped, obviously, but the tune wasn’t so subtle that Heero couldn’t hear it. After a time, over the jittery rhythm of their breathing, he finally picked up on a high pitched note.

                “What is that?” asked Heero.

                “Dunno,” said Rinska.

                I have an idea, said Steel. He leaned back and then forward and howled with all his might, his markings glimmering, though not glowing, in the setting sunlight.

                Then they all listened again.

                No answer. But the ringing had stopped.

                It could be a piper, said Steel.

                “A what?” Heero and Rinska asked at practically the same time. They were too on edge from not sleeping to find humor in it, though.

                A piper, Steel explained. It’s a type of being that collects other beings, and they usually carry a magical pipe with them to lure things into their company. Supposedly no one knows why they do it, but there’s suspicion that they eat the charges they keep after a while. For some reason, they can’t hunt normally, but I forget what the legends say about why. They used to be a cub’s story back in the old pack woods, a way to keep our young from wandering away at night. I never thought they were real, though, not since I was a wee pup.

                “Okay,” said Rinska. “So if that’s true, does that mean it wants us to… not be in its company? At least that probably means we aren’t its favorite type of meat, right?”

                “I mean I guess,” said Heero. His eyebrow was doing that thing where it arched up and then slid back down into a contemplative posture. It was all very animated on his face, not that he ever noticed since it was so habitual, but Rinska hadn’t seen that look in a while and she nearly giggled despite herself. “What?”

                “Nothing,” said Rinska. “Anyway, we should figure out how to get the tune not to affect us, if that’s what’s throwing us off course. How about we cover our ears?” She grinned like she thought she was clever (which Heero always found adorable but would never admit to a soul that he thought so) and then clapped her hands over her ears like they were trying to get through a snowstorm and she was preventing frostbite.

                “Works in theory,” said Heero with a shrug. He plucked a scarf out of his pack and wrapped it over his head and under his chin, tying it tightly so it wouldn’t move. He could still hear a little bit, but only in a really muffled, inaccurate sense.

                Rinska used her palms, and then thought better of it. She wondered if she could do it. Then she wished for it and it happened. Her ears disappeared into the recesses of her hair, and she lost the ability to use them. She gave Heero and Steel a thumbs up. Guess transformation powers had their perks, huh?

                That left Steel, though. Rinska snapped her fingers and dug two scarves out from her pack, copying Heero’s idea, only using the two of hers to cup over and around Steel’s ears, flattening them.

                When it was done, they all looked very silly.

                None of them could hear each other or the tune. Heero reached a hand to Rinska, who put her hand on Steel’s scruff so she was between the two of them, and they walked into the forest for a second try.

                This time they made it farther in, in enough to reach an abandoned (or so they assumed) brick cabin in the middle of nowhere by woodsy standards. The walls were stone arranged in dull green vines that seemed to be the only thing holding them together, and the floor was dirt and caked mud suckled into the deeper foundations of the rock. The smell was mildewed and rancid, but the place got a lot of sunlight on account of being located in the center of a clearing up on a hill. The weirdest thing was, in the center of the room, there was a flute, and it was in perfect, shiny condition.

                That’s strange, said Steel in wolf. On account of her ears being gone, Rinska couldn’t understand him, but Heero translated with his eyes, and they all came to an agreement on the matter: it was indeed very strange. Heero went to pick it up, but then stopped at the last second. Such an odd thing could possibly be a trap of some sort, although he saw no wires or shady things emerging from the flute itself. It was just sitting there being shiny and vibrant amidst the dankness of the rest of the room.

                Steel sniffed the air. He couldn’t smell anything.

                Wait, he couldn’t smell anything. That wasn’t normal. Now alert, he looked around, ears moving in time with his jittery glances.

                What? Heero asked in wolf.

                There’s no scent, answered Steel.

                Rinska arched an eyebrow at the two of them and tilted her head. She mouthed, “What are you two saying?”

                “No scent,” mouthed Heero, pointing to the flute, and then gesturing to the rest of the room.

                Rinska shifted her nose into that of an animal (although it wasn’t a wolf this time) and sniffed. They were right. There wasn’t a smell anywhere in this place. How weird. That couldn’t be right, though, could it?

                “A spell?” Rinska mouthed to Heero, shifting her nose back to normal.

                Heero shrugged. Steel hopped over the threshold back outside. And there were scents there, in the forest around them, just not in the brick room full of vines.

                Wait, they had smelled things before, hadn’t they? When they first came in, they smelled the wetness and mildew on the walls, and Steel had scented the crisp silver metal of the flute. So what happened in between those two things?

                “I get the feeling we shouldn’t stick around,” said Heero.

                Steel looked at the two of them. Rinska had her human ears back, Heero didn’t have the scarf wrapped over his head, and putting a paw up to his own ears, Steel realized his scarves were gone as well.

                He barked.

                Heero and Rinska realized it at the same time, and they both slammed their hands over their ears, blood pumping. Steel tucked his back, but there was no telling how long they had been under the influence of the tune from earlier, or even if that was what was going on here.

                Where were the scarves? He couldn’t smell the scarves. He couldn’t smell anything. He hated not being able to smell things. It was such a part of how he interacted with his environment that it felt like one of his limbs were missing and he was hobbling around as an invalid.

                Steel jerked his head towards the outside and they all followed him out.

                The forest had changed. It was colorful now, and there was a wafting scent of sugar and warm honey that reached their noses.

                Heero lowered his arms. “This is seriously weird.”

                “So if this is caused by the flute or the tune, then how do we get out of it? Or is it something else entirely?”

                Keep alert as best you can, Steel said in wolf. Rinska popped her ears into those of a cat, without realizing they were different than before. She still understood him, though.

                “Could be danger afoot, right? Well,” Heero said, red eye glowing. “We’ll be ready. Rinska, stick close.”

                “Okay.”

                They walked on.

                And in the center of that stone room, the flute raised of its own accord, as if being brought up to the whistle of an invisible mouth, and it sang.

                The world shifted. The forest vanished. They were falling.

                Rinska screamed, Steel yelped, and Heero did his best to grab hold of both of them, as if that’d do anything when they hit bottom, but it was a long time falling and they never reached the ground.

                “What’s happening!” screamed Rinska. “Are we really falling, or what’s going on?”

                Heero caught his breath, but his head was still pounding with adrenaline. “I don’t know! We should’ve hit ground by now, but I’m not complaining.”

                Steel howled over the wind. He illuminated the markings on his fur.

                They were floating in a much darker version of the forest that they had traversed before, one with whispering shadows, cloaked ephemeral figures and swooning grasses that swayed below them. They were only a few feet off the ground, just enough so that if they reached out with any limb they wouldn’t be able to touch down.

                “Heero, what is this place?” Rinska said in a squeak.

                The Haunted Plane, Steel answered in wolf. He had a grave expression on his wolfish face. I have been here before. Whatever you do, do not touch anything.

                “Yeah, yeah, okay, but if you’ve been here before than how do we get out?” Heero asked, flipping himself over so that his torso faced the ground as if he were swimming. They all figured out a way to push themselves through the air as if they were flying or wading through water, and they kept a pace with each other thusly until they reached a fork in the path where a giant shade of a figure stopped in front of them and wouldn’t let them pass.

                Steel stared it down. His markings glowed. Still the figure would not move, and it was too large to get around without touching it, even if it didn’t make a move for them.

                “Now what do we do?” asked Rinska, tugging nervously at the hem of her dress.

                “Good question,” said Heero. “Push through?”

                No! said Steel. I told you not to touch anything, remember? There is a reason for my caution on that matter.

                “Yeah well how else do you suppose we get around this thing?” demanded Heero.

                “Calm down,” said Rinska. “We can think of something together. We’re all clever, right?”

                Heero sighed, but he crossed his feet in the air and put his hands behind his head and thought along with the rest of them.

                “Couldn’t we go up and over?” Rinska asked tentatively. “I mean we are floating, after all. Why couldn’t we just float higher?”

                “Hmm, good point,” said Heero. “But somehow I doubt it’d be that easy.”

                May as well try, said Steel, rising above the rest of them. The shadow grew taller to block him, its wispy cloak willowing out like the extremities of a swaying reed. Steel flipped himself over midair and sank back down.

                “So much for that,” said Heero. “But maybe I can see around it with this.” He covered his non-red eye and focused.

                They all waited for him to find something, some clue as to how to pass this thing, but he came up empty-handed, which they were beginning to think was to be expected.

                “Hmm,” said Rinska. She crooked her finger under her chin in thought. “Well, what actually happens if we pass through it?”

                Steel looked away.

                “Come on, you can tell us. We’re your pack now, remember?”

                Heero arched an eyebrow at Steel for a moment, and then realized it may not be best to pry. He started to say, “Rinska—” but Steel surprised him by answering her question.

                If you pass through, there is no telling where you end up or how your body is once you get there. Everyone I know who has gone that way has never returned. I do not think it wise to take that risk.

                “Oh…”

                Heero snapped his finger. “What if we went under? That thing’s pretty big. I doubt it could follow us if we dug a hole underneath it and kept in narrow enough so it wouldn’t be able to reach down and grab us.”

                Steel’s eyes widened.

                Rinska smiled.

                It was decided.

                They dug and dug and dug some more, and eventually they had an opening enough for the three of them—one passageway each—that hopefully would reach to the other side without collapsing on any of them.

                “Ready?” asked Heero.

                Rinska nodded and swallowed. She wondered if she could shift into something that would make it easier to traverse the tunnels, thought of a badger, and became one. Like before, she was white with black markings and amber eyes, which was unlike any natural badger any of them had seen, but it would get the job done nonetheless. She bid her friends farewell and dove in, burrowing far faster than before thanks to the claws that tore through the earth like it was cream instead of caked dirt.

                Heero went in next. He clawed through the soil like the thief he was, experienced in making quick exits under gates of stone through breaks in their foundation.

                When it came time for Steel to enter the hole, the dark figure seemed to smile at him and leer. He ignored it, puffed out his scruff, and jumped inside head first like a fox hunting its prey.

                It was utterly dark for a while, and Steel wondered if Heero and Rinska would be okay without a superior sense of smell to guide them. He crouched and crawled, digging with his front paws as well as his snout when the time came for that sort of thing. And eventually, he breached into a larger space.

                He’d know that scent anywhere.

                A howl pierced his ears like birds pecking at them and cawing. It was a loathsome sound, full of turbulence and arid, dismal notes. It was still too dark to see, so he lit up the markings on his body to aide his eyes, and there standing before him in the cavern he had found himself in, was a black wolf with red markings and bright blue eyes.

                Running with a pack of humans, are you? I never thought you would stoop so low.

                Steel stopped like his paws were stuck in drying clay.

                How can you be here? he breathed in tethers.

                You put me here, said the wolf as it advanced on him. You should know that. Is that not the reason you fled the pack? To get away from the shame of killing a sister?

                I never harmed you, said Steel, though he had always felt he did. I did not flee our pack. I left of my own accord to find myself a new family, one where I could be alpha without disrupting the roles of our entire community.

                So instead of fighting your way up with dignity, you abandoned us entirely and went off to find an easier way.

                That is not what I did. I simply did not wish to hurt anyone in the stations above me.

                But that is the natural order! You betrayed your family with your nonsensical ideals! The reason those laws are in place is to ensure the leader of a pack is strong enough to carry them in harsh times. And yet you would deny the rest of the pack your usefulness even as a gamma, leave them to fend for themselves like you did me, because you do not agree with our customs? How selfish can a wolf be? Your affinity for humans has warped you. It is the reason you left me to die.

                Steel felt his teeth showing and shut his eyes, trying to keep from growling. He wasn’t angry at her; he was angry at himself, but sometimes wolves can’t tell the difference. It was one of the subtle nuances of humanity he had become fond of in the first place.

                The black wolf kept her eyes on him, those vibrant blue eyes like a cloudless, sunlit sky.

                There is nothing I can say to change your opinion of me, said Steel. But I cannot idle here. My pack awaits me on the other side of this hole, and I am certain you have used some form of magic to trap me here, so come forth in your truest form and let us settle this as equals.

                The black wolf pulled its lips back to reveal its teeth, but it was more a gesture like a smile than that of a snarling wolf.

                “You figured it out,” said the shadow which had suddenly replaced the wolf. The red markings still glowed, but in a different shape, and now the color reached its eyes. “How long have you known I steal memories?”

                Since I entered this realm, answered Steel. Then he crouched and sprang and chomped down hard into the specter’s neck, or where a neck might be if it had one. Steel tasted only stale air, and then dirt. He landed behind the figure and hacked up a few loose pebbles before shaking out his fur. The shadow was gone when he turned around, markings still aglow, and above him was the exit. He jumped out the top of the underground cavern (or as close to one as it was) and found himself back in the room with the flute, except he was not inside himself and neither were his pack.

                Heero, Rinska, and his own bodies were sprawled across the floor in front of him, and when he turned around he realized he had emerged from the flute itself, and that the room had warped into one like the realm they had initially found themselves in—a shadowed, eerie place. Nonetheless, Steel was sure by the scent that this was the real world and he had found himself out of the trap of the piper and its flute.

                He almost returned to his own body immediately, but then something stopped him.

                Where were the others?

                He circled around, sniffed Rinska and Heero by their ears, and discovered that the smell of life, the scent of a spirit that inhabits something living, wasn’t in them. When he sniffed himself (or his own body at least), the scent wasn’t there either. He returned his attention to the flute in the center of the room and pushed his ears forward, listening.

                It was a long, intent silence before he heard Heero’s raw screams from within the instrument.

                Steel leapt back into the flute without a moment’s pause and found himself beside Heero, who was clutching Rinska’s bloodied body in his arms and trembling.

                “No, not again,” he was saying in almost a whine. “I can’t have failed her again.”

                Heero, you haven’t failed anyone. This is a trick of the flute. Remember the piper?

                Heero jerked to attention and whipped his head towards Steel. He was still crying, tears welling over the skin below his eyes. Most disturbing was that despite his usual instincts to do so, he didn’t brandish his knife out front to protect him. He had given up on protecting himself the moment he thought Rinska was done for.

                Think, Heero. We went separate ways. Rinska is on her own path, and may need our help.

                “But Rinska is… Rinska is…” But when he looked into his arms, the body was gone. He let out a shaky breath, testing the air with his fingers and wondering if he wasn’t just imagining her disappearance. “Wh-what?”

                Like I said, said Steel, a trick. Follow me. She may need our help for real.

                Heero collected himself, wiped his tears, caught his breath and slapped his cheeks. Then, he pulled out his knife, which he really should have done in the first place, and Steel felt a little better about the whole thing.

                “Okay,” said Heero. “So how do we get out of here?”

                Steel started to lead the way, but then Heero stopped short. Steel craned his neck back around, wondering why he wasn’t following.

                “Wait, if this is all a trick, how do I know you aren’t part of it?”

                Do we really have time to dally?

                Heero slanted his mouth and put his knife away. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

                The shadow that he had to defeat was in the shape of Rinska and bloodied like a battle-worn corpse, with red eyes and a crazed glower. Instead of hesitating like Steel had, Heero immediately disposed of the imposter and found himself outside in the room again with Steel floating midair behind him.

                You didn’t hesitate, said Steel.

                “It’s easy not to when I know it isn’t really her,” said Heero. “So…” He looked down at his own body with a squeamish look on his face. “That explains a lot, I guess. But it brings up more questions, too, doesn’t it?”

                It does, said Steel. He turned back toward the flute, urging Heero to do the same, and they both were about to jump back in when a shuffling from behind them stopped them.

                They turned to see Rinska, in her body again, scraping across the floor towards the two of them—or their bodies, at least. She shook them desperately, panic in her eyes, and called their names in their ears. They both heard it loud and clear, echoing like she was yelling into a canyon. They looked at each other first curiously and then amused. Sharing a chuckle, they sank back into their bodies and roused with Rinska hanging over them in the stone room, which looked far better now than it had when they first entered it.

                “Thank goodness!” cried Rinska, throwing her arms around Heero and then Steel. “I thought you’d never wake up!”

                Heero returned the hug awkwardly, half leaned back on his other hand, as Steel rose up to hook his neck over Rinska’s.

                “Don’t ever do that to me again!” she said to them in the scolding tone of a mother chastising a child that had gotten lost and then found again.

                “Yeah, no problem, but,” said Heero in wonder. “How’d you get out of the flute?”

                Rinska blinked at the both of them, realizing Steel was wondering the same thing, and she tilted her head. Wolf ears popped out in case she didn’t catch something that Steel had said.

                “It wasn’t exactly easy for either of us,” said Heero, though he didn’t actually know what Steel went through for sure. He could assume it was something equally unpleasant as he had.

                “Well, I just knew it wasn’t real,” said Rinska. She waved her hand like she was swatting an insect. “My mother would never associate with that crazy Veyihan guy.”

                “Veyihan? You saw Veyihan?”

                “Yeah, why?”

                Steel barked in alarm, interrupting them. They both straightened right up to their feet and snapped to see what he was noticing.

                The flute in the center of the room was floating in the air and playing a melodic tune.

                They flattened their hands and paws over their ears, but the effect was different this time. This time, the world didn’t shift and they didn’t get sent to some spooky place. This time, a man, a very small man in a coat that was larger than he was except for his belly, which stretched the fabric, became visible before them.

                “I am the piper,” said the man. “And you have all passed my test. Feel free to wander these woods as you see fit. I will not hinder your progress again. Go well, my friendly travelers!”

                They all hesitantly uncovered their ears. The man gathered up the edges of his coat, put his hands on his hips, and skipped past them out of the room, whistling a lighter song, and gave them not another word.

                “Well, that was weird,” said Heero.

                “I say we don’t spend any more time in this forest than necessary,” said Rinska. She straightened out her skirt, found their belongings in a corner stacked neatly, and tossed Heero his share of the load.

                He caught it and whipped the bag over his back with purpose. “I agree.”

                So they all exited the stone cabin and didn’t look back, finding the forest far easier to navigate than before. In fact, it was only a few miles before they were out the other side, and none of them remembered or thought it important that Rinska had dreamed about her mother and Veyihan while in that spectral plane.

                Once they were a good few paces away from the tree line, where a dirt path opened up the earth before them with long grasses swaying on either side of it—and no normal grasses, vibrant, purple grasses that none of them had ever seen before, Steel took a moment to pause and evaluate whether or not he should say something.

                “What’s the hold-up?” asked Heero.

                Rinska twirled around on her heel and perked her ears out, can ears this time. It was clear she was experimenting each time she used her shapeshifting ability by now, and neither of the others pointed it out anymore.

                I owe you both an apology, said Steel. He sat on the golden-hued dirt, folding his head into his chest like he was ashamed of something. His tail was a dead bit of fur behind him, lax and uncurled, flopped on the ground next to a particularly royal shade of purple plant. It would seem they had not in fact emerged from the forest to see just grasslands, but also wildflowers that had deeper purple stems and white tops bespeckled with blue in the middle. Bees that had eight wings and were the size of Steel’s paw buzzed about pollinating them.

                “Apologize? For what?” asked Rinska. She couldn’t think of a single thing Steel had ever done wrong, at least not since she’d known him. From the look on Heero’s face and the shrug he sent her way, he couldn’t either.

                The sun blared down on them, making everyone sweat and the land in front of them warp in the way fire fumes can blur a horizon.

                When I left my pack, I told you that I merely sought adventure, but I was lying, at least half-way.

                Rinska and Heero had nothing to say about this. Heero eventually rolled his wrist as if to prompt Steel to keep going.

                Steel raised his head. The real reason I left, or the other half of it, was to escape from something I did a long time ago that the pack wouldn’t let me forget, and to forge a way to a new life on my own.

                “Makes sense. So what?”

                “Yeah,” added Rinska, “What’s the big deal about that?”

                You humans… Steel scoffed, raising his tail and dropping it to the dirt again. It made a cloud of soft brown dust rise from the path and settle moments later.

                “Look, whatever you did, it can’t be any worse than what I’ve had to do in the past,” said Heero.

                “Right!” said Rinska with an enormous smile that showed pointy canines, which she had obviously been practicing with because they didn’t impede her speech. “What Heero said. We’ve all got our pasts to account for, and I didn’t think you’d be any different. But what matters is your dependable now. Don’t worry so much. It’ll give you wrinkles.”

                Heero laughed. “I don’t think that applies to wolves, Rinska.”

                She tilted her head, cat ears a-twitching. “Really?”

                “Really,” said Heero with a roll of his eyes. He was cheerful though, so no harm was meant by the gesture, only teasing. “Anyway, let’s keep moving. Our rations are dwindling, so we might have to rough it for a while, least until we get to the next settlement.”

                Rinska nodded and then pointed dramatically forward, taking a large step towards the midday sun. “Onward!”

                And so they went, and Steel felt not a lick of regret about leaving his original pack any longer.

                They passed through the purple fields and the red plain lands that came after them, and then circled around, following the bend in the path into the woodsy area full of blue trees that crossed with a river as clear and sparkling as water that springs from mountainsides. Eventually, filling their canteens in the river, they decided to follow the water’s flow instead of keep to the path, and they all became aware that they were eating the last of their food rations.

                “Looks like we gotta start hunting,” said Heero, cutting into a potato.

                “Yeah,” mumbled Rinska. She had no clue how to hunt, or how she could even help if she did know.

                Will it be your first time? asked Steel, who was rending the flesh of the last bits of dried, salted meat. Rinska had kept her animal ears out for the entirety of the trip, so she heard him just fine.

                “First time what? Hunting? Well, actually…”

                I will teach you, said Steel, without waiting for her to complete her sentence.

                “Come to think of it, I didn’t ever teach you, did I?” Heero said more to himself than the rest of them.

                Steel finished his serving, licked his teeth, got to his feet and shook himself off. Best to learn on the road, he said. We can be efficient by travelling and tracking simultaneously. It may be easier if you shift into a shape like mine for this.

                Rinska swallowed the last bit of an apple and wiped off her dress. She slung the bag off her shoulder and handed it to Heero.

                He took it without question and shouldered it himself, then turned around to follow the river. It flowed out steadily for a while, but some ways ahead the land bent jaggedly around the rocks cluttering the bank and raised up high enough to form a waterfall. They could all hear the thundering of it getting louder as they got closer and the trees seemed to bend away from the river as if they were climbing over each other in an attempt to stay dry. In this part of the scenery they had blue trunks but their tops were the ripe green that Heero and Rinska were used to from the capitol, so it seemed the strange aura about the place was receding, even if that was only psychosomatic on their part.

                Anyway, Rinska shifted into a wolf and Steel led her along the wilder path that rose above the one Heero took, and they hunted for small game along the way.

                Rinska struggled for a long time because she couldn’t quite master being quiet enough not to scare the other animals off, but eventually she caught herself a squirrel and was surprised to find that it tasted delicious even raw and furry in her mouth when she was in wolf form.

                They travelled together as always for some time, passing through strange lands and hills and valleys made of crystals, all the while keeping each other company and also looking for oddities along the way that Rinska always felt the need to try and fix. This was her country, she always said, and it was her duty to keep it in tip-top shape. Heero found himself smiling at those words like it was a catch phrase after a few long months of adventuring with her, and Steel seemed content for the most part willingly going along with the two human’s schemes.

                A year and a half later, Heero found himself no longer needing to steal to survive (though he kept his skills up tremendously thanks to the shenanigans Rinska got the rest of them into), Rinska mastered her shapeshifting to the utmost degree, and Steel had found a place as their mutual mentor-slash-brother. He had a pack now, and he meant to keep it. They lived like animals for the most part, in the wilds, keeping each other safe and warm, nursing each other’s injuries when they happened and sparing extra rations whenever someone wasn’t well enough to hunt so they could rest. It rarely happened that they got into trouble, though, even during the times Rinska forced them into tense situations. They always somehow managed to come out on top and solve the problems along the way that Rinska saw fit to solve.

                There came a point when even Heero suggested they help a townswoman out in a certain district far from the capitol, when she came to them for help having heard of their various quests. At that point they finally realized it, after everyone else already knew: they’d made a name for themselves.

                “We should come up with something official,” said Rinska.

                “Hm?” asked Heero, chomping down on the fish they’d caught in a nearby stream for dinner that night. The moon was split in two in the sky, one half darkened entirely while the other half glowed enough to blot out the light of the stars.

                “A name,” she continued. “For us. For our team. We could introduce ourselves officially whenever we come to someone’s aide, and then the rest of the kingdom would know who to ask whenever they needed help.”

                Steel napped contentedly by the fire, no longer feeling the need to keep himself guarded while he slept. He was lax against the ground, paws sprawled out, and he had been enjoying the fact that he felt safe with his new pack far more than he let on. He dreamed of running in a white forest and a man with red eyes boiling into oblivion before him. He felt no emotion on the matter and kept a steady pace past the man as he disintegrated. And once he was past him, he knew the man’s identity. It was Veyihan.

                Little did he or any of the rest of them know, Veyihan had lost nearly all his power over the year and a half that they had been travelling, on account of Rinska’s shapeshifting practice. The tree in the rift bowed in kindness at the edges of Steel’s dreamy vision, and he felt thankful to Viode for its involvement. After all, it had been the tree that gave Rinska the ability to communicate with him, and for that he would be forever thankful. The dream that almost turned nightmare ended on a bright note, with lands stretching far out before him and his pack, and he with great joy in his heart embarked on a never-ending journey with the rest of them.

                In the waking world, Heero and Rinska were deep in thought, staring up at the midnight sky.

                “How about The Helpful Triplets?”

                Heero sniggered.  “That sounds dumb.”

                Without taking offense, Rinska crossed her arms and thought again on what she might name them.

                “I feel like you’re missing something vital here, Rinska.”

                “What’s that?”

                “We aren’t supposed to just adventure forever. You yourself said that we should get to know the kingdom and its problems, solve as many as we could, and then return to the capitol to incite reform when you take back the throne. Wasn’t that the mission from the start of our journey?”

                Rinska leaned back on her hands. She let out a sigh, and it was so deep and emotive that Heero wondered how he had missed so much of her journey. When had she become so grown-up? When had she gotten to the point where she thought things through? He let a smile play on his lips. He was proud of her. She’d make an even finer wife than he first thought. Back then it had been puppy love, nothing really to base a relationship off of except for the fact that the feeling was mutual between them even though neither would admit it at the start. But now… now he’d be proud to wed her. He even wondered if he could live up to her expectations, which was a feeling he welcomed with open arms.

                “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

                The fire flickered, tongues of flame dancing towards the sky, casting shadows over everything, but also casting light. The crackle of the kindling was the only sound between them for a long moment. Then Rinska looked him in the eye, and Heero saw a kind of regret there, but one that was overshadowed by a knowing sort of look: the kind of thing you see on war veterans who have returned and no longer want to fight. Yet somehow, it was if the expression was in reverse, a tumble of excitement curdling under her gaze like water about to boil over, or the rush of a current in a river about to smash against a rock and curve around it. It was adaptation, and Heero would know that look anywhere.

                She didn’t want to go back. She’d gotten caught up in the journey, forgotten her original objective, and now she didn’t feel it was necessary to return. The throne meant nothing to her now.

                “What about your father?” asked Heero. “What about the rebellion that started this whole thing?”

                “I don’t know,” said Rinska. She sprawled on the ground, arms wide, feet wider, and looked like a laying monkey. “I thought that… I thought that I’d find some problem out here that I could fix back on the throne, but there wasn’t anything like that. All the immediate stuff has been pretty much only solvable through direct means. I can’t imagine being able to do as much from the throne room of some imposing castle than I’m doing right now. It seems kind of pointless to go back.”

                So Heero had thought right. He’d thought so, but it gave him a sense of completeness having Rinska say it herself.

                Why not keep adventuring, then? Steel yawned and readjusted himself on the patch of dirt he was occupying. He moved closer to Rinska and nuzzled underneath her neck to create a fluffy wolf-shaped pillow. She adjusted as well, and by the end of it they were adorably stacked on top of each other, her back against his torso and his tail curled over her legs. They had become more-or-less siblings over the long months of questing, and the fact that Steel had taken up that role for Rinska meant that Heero had the opportunity to pursue her romantically, which they both agreed was the best thing anyway.

Now was the time to ask. Now was the perfect moment.

“If we keep going like this, it’d give us the opportunity to be an item, you know.”

Rinska blushed, going wide-eyed, and Heero was so happy that side of her hadn’t disappeared over their journeys. She was still cute as ever.

“So, what do you say? Wanna be my wife?”

She cupped a hand over her mouth, eyes tearing up from happiness. Steel raised his head and gave the both of them a sagely look.

Heero cleared his throat, wondering if he’d interpreted her response right. “Uh, give me an answer or my heart will explode. You’re making me nervous being all silent.”

“Yes!” She scrambled away from Steel (thought that wasn’t entirely her fault; he nudged her in Heero’s direction) and caught Heero in the strongest, tightest hug either of them had ever experienced. “Of course, yes! I’ve been waiting months for you to ask!”

Heero breathed in her scent, and in that moment it was only them. No past mistakes, no kingdoms to reclaim, no endless danger around the corner, nothing but their embrace and their hearts syncing together and the calm of the night and the crackle of the fire.

He had her. He finally had her! Life was grand! Life was beautiful! He’d stay like this forever if he could.

She pulled out of the hug, grabbed his cheeks, and kissed him. And it was the first time he’d kissed anyone, and she was better at it. The flush running up his neck was enough to make him wonder if she’d been dissatisfied with his lack of skill, but when she looked at him her eyes and aura sang with delight. She was giddy with the kiss, giddy with the prospect of never returning home, giddy with the fact that the adventures would never end, not until she wanted them to.

And Heero suddenly thought of the perfect name for them.

“The Gracious Trinity.”

Rinska licked her lips and made a contemplative noise.

Works for me, said Steel. Though I don’t particularly care what we call ourselves. I just want to keep going for as long as possible.

“I don’t know. It sounds kind of…”

“Like yours was any better! Besides, we both came up with the same underlying meaning. And mine sounds cooler.”

Rinska giggled. “Okay, fine. You win. But only because you just proposed.”

Heero smiled the widest most gleeful smile he’d ever smiled. He snatched her closer and tried the kiss again. This time they were evenly matched because he was expecting it. It made hot butterflies buzz in his chest in a very good way. When they pulled apart and looked in each other’s eyes, Steel got up, shook himself off, and left them to their own devices. He stood watch for the rest of the night as they clawed open the earth in the throes of passion.

When he came back, they were sleeping soundly in each other’s arms, and he watched over them with a contentment he hadn’t ever felt back in his old pack.

He was home, and he had been for as long as he’d known these two. He wished them well in the way of his people: by howling brightly into the night. They didn’t even stir, curled up inside each other with just one blanket to cover them and their clothes tossed carelessly aside. Assuming his old role, Steel sat down nearby and watched the tree line for signs of ambush or other dangerous things as the rest of them slept soundly. But nothing malevolent came, and the night was pure and beautiful.

They journeyed on, until eventually they came to the edge of the kingdom.

They met the royal army there, just on the border, along with a slew of invaders who were camped out past a hill on the other side, technically out of the country.

It was Alyntar who recognized them, jogging over as they emerged from the wilds. At first, he was under the assumption that they were civilians who had accidentally wandered into dangerous territory, and he tried to warn them that a battle was about to commence, but then he took one look at Rinska and dropped down to one knee, bowing as expected of someone’s royal subjects.

She tugged him to his feet immediately, but not before his actions had gotten the rest of the army’s attention. Heero kept a hand over the hilt of his knife, just in case things got complicated, and Steel darted back to the edge of the woodlands to secure an escape if it became necessary. They were so fluid in their choreography, having traveled together for so long—three years by this point in fact, that they didn’t even need to think about positioning anymore. Now it was like breathing whenever an obstacle stood in their way, or someone advanced to attack them. In that time, they’d made a name for themselves for real, the name Heero had picked. They even had a flag, one that Rinska wore as a cape with the symbol for three and a dragon, the insignia for hope, stitched around it as if it were swallowing the number and breathing it out as fire.

Recognizing Heero and seeing his subordinate crouch to the ground before being abruptly stood back up again, Karigno told the army to hold its position and stalked over, his face hidden behind the mask of armor he wore. Oh, but Heero’s red eye could see it was him. He’d never forget that walk of his, the confident stride of someone so sure of their convictions with the slight lilt of someone trying not to appear threatening, but who could appear that way if they really wanted to.

“Princess! We have searched everywhere for you!” said Alyntar.

“Well, well,” Karigno said in a boisterous voice that betrayed the pleasantry he felt on reencountering Heero after all this time. “If it isn’t The Gracious Trinity! I sent word for you a year ago and you never came to the aide of the queen. Could it be my messenger never caught up to you?”

Knowing this was a joke and that Karigno had left them to their own devices on purpose, Heero laughed and pulled him into a brotherly hug for a moment before letting go. “Nice to see you again too, Sir Karigno. I hear you’ve been staving off an army at every corner of the kingdom. By the looks of it that’s still the case.”

“We haven’t yet found out why they want to invade us,” said Rinska. She’d been gathering Intel on the situation. All of them had, and they still hadn’t found anything, which was curious to say the least and disturbing to say the most. “It makes me wonder if their motives are really sinister.”

Steel howled. The army across the way was on the move. Rinska straightened, flattened her hand over her eyes and peered into the distance past the short stone wall that surrounded the kingdom. She shifted her pupils into those of a hawk and saw the advancement as if it were already arriving, though they were a good few miles off from where she was standing. The benefits of shapeshifting new little boundaries, as she’d discovered along her journey with the rest of the Trinity.

Amidst this excitement, none of them caught that Alyntar had used the title of “queen.”

“I trust you to defend our borders,” Rinska said to Karigno.

He and Alyntar looked at each other, the latter regaining his militaristic composure.

“We’d help, but our formations would confuse your men,” added Heero.

Steel howled again. He was telling them that there was a scent like fire to the east.

“Keep your eyes sharp,” said Rinska with the authority she had learned to use in her travels, one she had never thought possible when she first embarked on her quest. By now it came naturally and sometimes she slipped into it without realizing only to have Heero tell her she didn’t have to talk to him that way to get him to listen to her. It was embarrassing in those intimate moments, but useful in these high-stakes ones. “There’s a scent of flames on the wind to the east.” She pointed. “They’re using a front decoy force so their main objective stays hidden. I suspect they wish to set fire to the border village up the prairie. I implore you to use whatever means necessary to halt their progress. I may not be princess anymore. After all, I abandoned the throne—and you’ll do well to remember that, Sir Alyntar—but I trust you both will lead our men to victory. If at all possible, I would like to speak with those who are so desperate in their tactics towards taking over the kingdom, if that’s really what they’re after.”

Karigno scoffed in disbelief, but it wasn’t a wry sound. “You’re really something, Highness. And no, I won’t ever relieve you of that title, at least not in front of me.”

Rinska blinked. She hadn’t thought she’d done anything particularly impressive, but then again she’d spent years in the wilderness and working as a hero for the people she and her trinity encountered. It was natural, instinctual, to help those in need. She didn’t even see it as a mission anymore, just as part of life, and of course she would try to help the army that was protecting her homeland, a homeland she was originally supposed to rule. What was so odd about giving them information that might help them seize the battle?

Heero saw the wheels turning in Rinska’s mind and had to stifle laughter. Trust her to never know how awe-inspiring she really was, but he loved her for her humility, among other things.

“You seem to have missed out on my calling someone besides you ‘the Queen’,” said Alyntar.

Realization dawned on both Heero and Rinska at the same exact moment. Their mouths gaped open like it was the most obvious thing in the world and they’d somehow missed it. Not to mention, the queen, the real queen according to Rinska from her journey’s beginning, was her mother. And her mother was dead. So who?

Karigno filled them in. “A woman named Nahleen claimed the throne a few months ago. Everyone figured you were either dead, lost, or knew and didn’t care. I guess that news never reached you.”

“We spend a lot of time in the wilds,” said Heero. Mainly because it was easier and they didn’t have to deal with people questioning their motives or use up resources that the people of this country had already worked so hard to gather (not that Heero cared so much about that). “So no, we didn’t hear. Why does that name sound so familiar?”

Rinska gasped. “Because we’ve met her before! Or you have. Didn’t you tell me she was the woman who traveled with Veyihan?” Come to think of it, aside from a few isolated incidents, none of them had pondered what happened to Veyihan in the first place. Perhaps they should have. Perhaps he was the reason for this foreign army that attacked the kingdom. Maybe Nahleen was still working his schemes from her place on the throne, which is where she had always wanted to be, to have a kingdom all her own.

“Oh yeah,” said Heero. He thought Steel might wish to hear this too, since it affected the people they as a trinity sought to protect. He whistled high and long and the sound carried far enough so that Steel perked his ears and headed down the hill for easier listening.

“If you’re mentioning Veyihan,” said Karigno. “He was killed a few months ago, about the same time Nahleen rose to power. Not before he massacred most of the third battalion, but…” His hand shook into a fist at his side, like the wound was still throbbing over that. Alyntar looked at the ground. It appeared they’d both suffered personal losses in that scuffle.

“He seemed to lose control of that strange power he had,” finished Alyntar, because it was clear that Karigno didn’t have the will to complete his sentence. He clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Keep your head, man. We’ve got a border to defend here.”

Karigno nodded, took a bow, and headed back to order his troops.

“I won’t ask you to help in this battle, but if you want to do some recon for us at some point, that’d be appreciated. I’m sure we can pay you a hefty fee for your services if you take us up on the offer.”

Rinska, Heero, and Steel all nodded.

“I do have one question for you, Princess Rinska.”

Annoyed at the title, but not wanting to delay him, Rinska looked in his eyes and rolled her hand in the air to indicate he should continue.

“If you’re the rightful heir to the throne, why did you abandon it?”

Rinska gave him a kind and knowing smile, a smile full of accomplishment and subtle admonishment and all manner of emotions in between. “I can do far more for my people out here in the open, helping those I come across, those whose situations are dire, than I could ever do for the country as a queen, sitting atop a throne so disconnected from the rest of the populace. There is a place for a queen, of course, but it isn’t my place, and I don’t think it ever would’ve been. This Nahleen character, she seemed like she wanted to rule the lands from what Heero has told me. Has she made a good queen so far?”

“Yes ma’am,” said Alyntar immediately, and he meant it.

“Then it is better for her to have her place and me to have mine.” Rinska turned to the horizon, feeling the tension in the air and the waft of wind that came along with it that rustled the grass. Both armies moved now. They were inches away from bloodshed. She thought of a little boy in one city they’d been to that taught an entire flock of birds to relay messages to specific people and keep the ecosystem going since they were so far removed from the capitol. She thought of a little girl who took up arms in a small village and protected her whole family from an angry mob of bandits without hesitation. She thought of a woman so long ago who had raised her like her own child even though she wasn’t related by blood, and she thought of Nahleen and her vendetta against the king, her father, who she hadn’t known at the time was trying his best to do the same as all the rest: protect what was precious to him. “If the queen works from her position, and I work from mine, then we can create a land that’s born of its people. And that’s a kingdom I’d be honored to protect from wherever I am in the world, no matter my title.”

Heero smiled down proudly at her, and pulled her into his side with a grin. “See? She’s a stubborn one, no changing her mind on this one, right? So go on then, Alyntar, enough prying. Go win that battle and keep the borders safe. We’ll keep internal affairs under control.”

And with Steel’s primal howl, the battle commenced, and the Gracious Trinity looked first to each other and then to the horizon, and the sun blazed down and their journey continued.

The End.