The night was cold. Gavin's stomach still grumbled, even after all the berries he sacrificed to it and his body shivered.

"You really ought to make yourself a fire Gavin. You will rattle your bones out of your body by this point."

"Could, could you make it?" Gavin asked. Though he did feel better than yesterday, his body still ached. It seemed that sleeping on cold hard ground did not help him much.

"I would if I could, but you know?" Cormac said as his hand gone through a few twigs. "Can't really pick anything up can I?"

"Yeah, you are right. I forget that you are a ghost, sorry." Gavin stood up, he gathered a few sticks together with great effort and lit them on fire. "What is it like? Being dead."

"Well, you know that yourself, don't you?" Cormac laughed at Gavin. He did not really understand, but he let his friend make fun of him anyway. Cormac's laughter slowly faded, until it disappeared completely.

"What do you plan to do Gavin?" his friends tone was serious, deadly so.

Gavin did not know himself. He did not want to be in the body crater, that much he knew, but that was pretty much everything. He was fairly content now, if a little hungry.

"I don't know. Don't really feel like I need to do anything."

"Everyone needs something to do. Stagnation breeds misfortune, or something like that. It's not healthy not to do anything. I mean if it was a day off sure, but your whole life?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. But I just…I don't know. I never had a plan or anything."

"Never? Are you sure?"

"Well…" it was true that Gavin's memory did not seem like what it used to be, but he really struggled with finding a single goal of his. He was just kind of…going about. Doing simple things that did not take up too much time.

"Alright. I can see that you are having problems recollecting. Let us start from the very beginning then. Tell me where you grew up."

"Me?" Gavin laughed out, a smile across his face the moment he started thinking about it. "The green village of Ingluvies. My mother and father used to live there with me. We were just taking care of a piece of land for our lord. It was very nice."

"We used to do this thing with a girl I knew." Gavin lost himself in the memories, his smile growing in depth. He did not even notice his friend's somber expression. He was too lost in the past. "We'd sneak out into a little barn, there was always a pile of hay there. It was cozy. We brought a few candles and we talked. She promised to be my wife someday! Ah, Julie was her name. She was great, I wonder what she is up to now."

"And why aren't you two married?" Cormac asked.

"Well, I had to leave the village. Otherwise I would marry her for sure."

"Why did you have to leave?"

"Well I…I…" Gavin's smile froze and his eyes widened, as a part of himself came back to him.

"Gavin! If you won't come back till the candle burns down I will make sure you will stay home for the end of the week!" His mother shouted back at him. He just waved back at her, like he always did. He will be late of course, but she would forgive him. Like she always did.

He slowly pulled out the plank of the barn and slid inside. Julie was already there, preparing their makeshift lodging. She even brought some dried fruit from her house this time. Her long brown hair reached her knees. Oh how he loved her hair.

He sneaked about until he was right behind her, when he quickly snuggled against her. Her whole body twitched in shock, as she screamed a bit.

"Don't yell! Gerret will find us out!" Gavin whisper-yelled at her.

"Well don't scare me then! You shouldn't scare others like that! What if they hate you!"

"Do you hate me?" Gavin asked, a little scared.

"No. But I just might if you continue to do this every time!"

"I promise. I won't scare you ever again!" Gavin put one hand on his heart and the other towards the skies.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Julie eyed him warily for a moment, calculating his honesty no doubt.

Then they lied on the blanket across the hay together, talking about the sky, stars. Slowly but surely, they moved to magic and what they would do, had they this power.

"I would, make this barn into a castle. I would conjure a league of knights to protect us and we would always have food and water and I could make all kinds of machine's. Like, imagine a cart, but you sit in it and you would drive without horses."

"What would that be for?"

"For travelling, without horses."

"You don't like horses?"

"No. They are big." replied Gavin honestly. Julie went into a laughing fit, much to his embarrassment.

"Hey! They are big!"

"Yeah, they are." Julie finished laughing at his expense.

"What about you? What would you do?"

"I would like to have a garden." Now it was Gavin's turn to laugh.

"A-a garden?" he muttered while laughing.

"Alright. I won't tell you! Jerk!"

"Sorry, I…sorry. Please, tell me about yo…" Suddenly a few screams cut through their conversation and Gavin decided to escape his memory.

"I don't know why I had to leave." replied Gavin, as he stared into the fire.

For what it was worth, the tutor was not half bad. He was young, somewhere in his twenties, but still extremely knowledgeable, enough to humble Aviana herself when it came to her studies. Additionally, he was tall and obviously no stranger to physical training.

Her mother's intentions were obvious, her machinations were obvious. Though Aviana still did not understand why she wanted her daughter to be attracted to her tutor, it was something she must have desired. Her mother seldom did something with no motives and just being nice to her daughter was not her usual one.

Still, Aviana did enjoy these lectures more than she did all the others she had. The man was all she dreamed in a man after all.

"…so for that reason and for the death of Ludwig the eight, the wilds are called the wilds."

"Interesting, I had wondered how such a chaotic society can even exist in this day and age. Thought that people had an instinct to be…civilized."

"Human nature is a mystery that might never get resolved miss Veron. It is the catalyst to too many things to seem consistent. Still, the wilds and why they operate in how they do can be explained rather easily. Our kingdom, god bless as he did, has a sole monarch as its head. The same cannot be said about the tribes and clans of the wilds. Though their territory is wide and there are roughly five times the people, they are unable to form themselves under a single ideal. Making them weak, and inefficient from the infighting."

"Understood. I think I will have to think this lesson over, the wilds are an…interesting subject."

"I would advice that, if you had not said it first. It is indeed very important and interesting. I will take my leave then, I expect to see you here tomorrow at the same time." Darius said as he quickly started putting his books and chalk and other of his belongings to his bag.

"Wait, mister Darius. I thought me might have a look around? I was permitted to wander around the city, but I need company to keep me safe." Aviana nudged him, peering at him with her eyes, puffing her chest.

"Yes, well. Maybe next time princess. I would have been glad to do this next week, however, I am quite occupied at the moment."

"Yes I understand. Well, see you tomorrow then, mister Darius."

She could see the man's cheeks light up red as he hurriedly left the lecture chambers. She was making progress on the man, slowly but surely. She needed him to vulnerable, to trust her and see her as more than an obligation to be carried out. It was very…Trisna-like to act in such deception, but Aviana had to know what was going on.

Her mother, her smile when she was leaving. Aviana shivered at the thought of it, while putting on more casual clothes.

Her mother wanted her to be here, for some reason. Aviana thought that she managed to outmaneuver her mother in their conversation, that maybe she gave Aviana credit for being fluent in "convince speak". But now? Now it seemed more like she was doing exactly what her dear mother wanted her to.

Not only her it seemed.

The streets of the capital were less crowded than she ever remembered, but there were many, many more guards. They did not wear the classic white and red colors of the kingdom, rather going for gray and brown -an unfortunate turn of events in Aviana's opinion.

The people seemed on edge, although also unaware of what was keeping them there. As if there was a pressure in the air itself. Expectations and anticipation. Something was about to happen and everyone could feel it a little.

Still, it was so little to feel negligent, but Aviana did not like to overlook her emotions. She could not really, they ruled her with an iron fist.

Suddenly a cart of fireman drove past her. Aviana almost stumbled into it. Scared and frankly interested in what might happen, she followed it.

It was exactly what one would expect, a building on fire.

Aviana wondered where the district wizard had gone, they were supposed to clear such simple occurrences by themselves, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The men quickly ran to the house, they handled the affair rather quickly and efficiently. Nobody got hurt and they quelched the fire. Though the house creaked and the roof came caving down.

It all reminded Aviana of a wound still fresh in her mind. Of a friend she let down.

Her hands balled into fists as she watched the new ruins of the house. She had a bad feeling growing in her for the last four months. A bad feeling she tried to reason away.

She came up with many arguments why the feeling was unjustified, but the more she thought about it, the more the feeling pierced her mind.

Her mother was involved with the murder of Cormac, somehow. And Aviana was resolute to find it.