Charlotte awoke sometime later. She knew a lot of time had passed since the sun had now set. She looked around and Anastasia was still sound asleep next to her. She looked to her other side and did not see Liza. Charlotte was stiff from the hard ground so decided to get up and stretch some. She exited the tent to an inky black night. It was probably wise that the group did not make a fire. It was summer so the night would not get that cold, so no need to draw attention.

Charlotte walked slowly around the perimeter of the camp barely able to see anything. She came to a large tree and rested herself against it, stretching some to get all the kinks out of her back.

“You know you are going to get hurt stumbling around in the dark.”

Charlotte turned her head left and right looking for who had spoken but could not see anyone. Just then she heard a thump next to her as something fell out of the tree. Charlotte was not able to keep the gasp from escaping her mouth as she reached for her sword.

“I am sorry to startle you, Lady Charlotte. I had hoped my first comment would give away my position.”

Liza straightened herself as she brushed off some bark that still clung to her clothes. Charlotte looked up and realized that Liza must have been sitting in the tree on look out. She was able to relax some, but her heart was still racing at the sudden scare.

“Kind of a cliché to be up in the tree on look out.” Charlotte said, removing her hand from her sword.

“It is a cliché for a reason. It is easier to see up there than it is sitting on the ground.”

“How can you see anything as dark as it is?”

“Well to be fair, I was listening for intruders more than anything else. In fact, you were making that quite difficult.”

Charlotte huffed at the playful tone the very serious Liza was taking with her. Liza so far had been straight forward, almost cold. Now out of the blue she was teasing Charlotte. Charlotte pushed that out of her mind. This was finally her chance to speak to Liza alone.

“It is good that we could meet alone like this. I wanted to thank you properly for all you have done.”

“There is no need for that Lady Charlotte. I am repaying a debt.”

“That was also something I wanted to know. You seem to know me. I feel I would remember meeting someone as skilled as you.”

“I am not surprised that you do not remember me. The day we met was about twelve years ago.”

Twelve years ago, Charlotte would have only been sixteen and a newly minted knight of just barely old enough to be called an adult. Her duties as a knight would have had her assisting local patrols around the villages near the capital.

“I met you while being treated in the Knight’s infirmary.” Liza voice was low

“I am sorry that was a while ago. I met many people while doing those patrols, but rest assured I will never forget who you are now.”

A small smile curled onto Liza's face, but it was too dark for Charlotte to notice.

“Still as earnest as ever I see.”

Charlotte was disappointed in herself. It seemed Liza remembered her clearly. Charlotte needed to know more about her, maybe it would jog her memory.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why were you in the knights infirmary?”

“Hmm you sure do ask a lot of questions. I heard you asked the captain about his past as well.”

Guilt washed over Charlotte again for how her questions of Finn made it seem like she was doubting his motives.

“I am sorry. I will….”

“I do not mind telling you.” Liza paused for a while. Charlotte was unsure if Liza was waiting on her to speak since she could not see her face clearly. Unable to break the silence Charlotte just waited.

“I was raped.” Liza stated bluntly.

Charlotte tensed up at how frankly that fact was stated.

“A pair of nobles was passing through my village frequently and took notice of me. I did as I was always told. I was polite but refused and tried to remove myself from the situation. That worked the first few times.”

There was another pause before Liza continued

“I could only avoid them so much. I worked at the main tavern as a waitress to help support my family.”

The comment on family made Charlotte's heart sink. She was afraid of the rest of the story as she started to recall her own side of the events.

“One night they followed me to my home. They must have known my husband and boys were out, taking my youngest on his first hunting trip.” The pain in Liza's voice was obvious as she must have been fighting to retain her composure speaking about her family.

“I will skip what happened next, but my husband and boys came back to find the two men in the home we shared. My husband was… understandably upset. He attacked them without thinking. Being nobles I am guessing they had training. My husband had never even been in a fight before… he did not stand a chance. They killed him in the street right in front of my home and my sons. My eldest son was only nine but he understood what those men did to me. After seeing his father cut down he tried to come to my aid. They threw him into the street next to his father and beat him before killing him too.”

Liza paused there, unable to continue for a minute. Charlotte now could recall what had happened. She remembered coming across the case while on patrol. She even was there when her commander questioned the two nobles. They had claimed ignorance of the assault and claimed self-defense against the father and boys saying they tried to rob them. Charlotte knew they had killed Liza’s youngest as well, but she did not press Liza for the details.

Charlotte had insisted the woman be taken in for treatment at least. She had brought her commander in to see Liza in the infirmary. She forced him to look Liza in the face when he said he would not be pursuing charges against the two nobles.

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“I remember you now. I can never give back what was taken from you that day… May I ask their names.”

“Henry, Johnathn, and…. Samuel.”

Charlotte paused and thought about the young boy with them now. She knew that both Liza’s sons died that day and the boy with them was no more than fourteen so he could not be her son. Still having a boy that is close to her son's age with the same name. It must be painful on a daily basis. Charlotte had not said anything after hearing the names so Liza responded to what she thought would be the obvious question

“No Sam is not my son.”

“I figured he is too young... I am sorry for your loss.” Those words felt so hollow to Charlotte. Liza’s whole world has been destroyed at the whims of two monsters and all Charlotte could offer was those weak useless words.

“Thank you.”

The pair stood silent for what must have been fifteen minutes. Charlotte could not bring herself to speak or walk away. She had pushed so hard at that time against what she saw as an injustice that she was removed from her knight platoon. Her commander moved for her to be expelled from the order. How could she have forgotten this woman’s pain?

The guilt was unbearable. What was one of the worst moments of Liza's life ended up changing Charlotte’s life for the better. Her majesty the queen had heard of the incident, being so close to the capital. The very public request to remove Charlotte from the knights drew her notice. The queen could not move against the nobles. It was two nobles’ words against a commoner.

The queen had called Charlotte into a private meeting. That was almost unheard of. She did not even have any attendants present. Charlotte had been the top performing knight from her class. To be so publicly attacked by her commander must have seemed odd to the queen. Charlotte had told the queen what she thought happened in the village. While her details were not exactly right, as she just found out, she was close enough. Charlotte could still remember the pained expression on the queen’s face as she explained her theory of the events.

The first thing the Queen asked for, after hearing Charlotte out, was for what proof she could offer. Charlotte felt even worse now hearing the story again. All she could offer at the time was the testimony of the victim. The queen asked her to drop it. When Charlotte refused the queen had made it a command. The next day Charlotte was assigned to be one of princess Anastasia attendant knights. That fact had made her so happy at the time. Over the years she thought about the reason for her transfer less and less.

Charlotte felt the world pressing down on her. The guilt for forgetting this woman was too much to bear, but then a life line was thrown to Charlotte's tortured soul.

“You know you saved me that day in the Infirmary.”

Charlotte looked toward Liza. The action was fruitless given the darkness of the night.

“If I had not seen this young girl barely an adult screaming at her commanding officer in front of everyone…” Liza paused. Charlotte remained silent.

“I would have killed myself that night. I had a plan and a small knife. I was going to wait for the infantry to clear out. Then I could join my family.”

“Liza…”

“Here was this girl that did not even know me, willing to fight so hard for me. It was shameful that I would not even fight for myself.”

“I was not able to do anything for you… I didn't even remember you.” The pain in Charlotte’s voice clear

“Is that why you are so upset at yourself? It was twelve years ago. I had been beaten. You met me for only a few hours. Not recognizing me is not the same as not remembering me.”

“I did forget you. I have not thought about you in years.”

“That should not bother you. I was just one person you have met in many years of life. You cannot be expected to shoulder all the pain of every person you cross paths with forever. It was enough that you fought for me that day.”

“But I did nothing, all my bluster made no difference.”

Liza's voice had a slight anger to it “Do not cheapen what you did for me. I was able to leave that infirmary alive because of you.”

“But I could not do more. I could not get you Justice.” Charlotte’s voice was raised as she threw her arms out in frustration.

Liza took a deep breath. “Justice is an ideal for children.… You saved me that day and I am thankful.”

Liza paused for a moment to collect herself “ I later found myself on the streets of the capital. After about a week a group of women took me in. They had seen me sleeping in the gutter.” Liza sigh deeply then continued

“They were from a local brothel. They guess the gist of my story right away. So, they brought me back to their establishment. They clothed me and fed me. Then put me to work.”

Liza paused to allow Charlotte a minute to come to the wrong conclusion. “My gods, knowing what happened to you they made you…”

“No. They had me clear the place… Sorry for playing that trick on you. Some of the captains’ bad habits must be rubbing off on me…. However, after some time I did join their trade.”

Charlotte remained silent and allowed Liza to continue.

“It paid better than clearing up after. I worked there for two years. Until one day a wet behind the ear adventurer boy came in and selected me for the night. I was excited, breaking in a boy coming in for the first time was always fun. They would start chest all puffed out full of bravado but were always so timid when you made it back to the room.” Liza continued but in a more frustrated tone.

“But not this boy, he was brash and arrogant, but I could tell he was kind by the way he approached me. His words were rough but that look in his eye was so warm. I could tell he was willing to bear all my sins, for some reason.”

“Was that…”

“Yes, it was the captain.”

“So, you and he are…”

“No. We are not in a relationship. Truthy, we did not even have sex that night. We spoke all night and he ended up telling me his story, so after… I told him mine. The next night he came back but this time not to stay the night, but to take me away. It was so embarrassing. I was thirty at the time, but this boy of no more than sixteen was telling me he was going to take me away. I had heard it all before. How they would spoil me and how they would treat me better than any other man. That I could be all theirs.”

“So why did you go with him?”

“Because that is not what he offered me. He offered me power. The power to never let that happen to me again. The power to prevent that from happening to others. The power to get my vengeance.”

“So, you became a mercenary just like that.” Charlotte was unable to hide her surprise

“Of course not. He took me to a friend of his and left me there for two years. When he came back, I had learned as much as I could without real-world experience. So, I joined him. I have not left his side since.”

Charlotte realized that Liza did not have to share any of this story with her. She was grateful that Liza chose to tell her. That incident changed Charlotte's life so much, but compared to how much it changed Liza that was nothing. “Thank you for telling me.”

“I was just reminding you and filling in some of the blanks… As a favor to me do not ask anyone else about their past, especially the captains.”

Charlotte hung her head “I did not mean to pry.”

“It is not just that. We all have similarl stories. That is what brings us together. However, most do not have any nobles in them like you. I at least saw that some of you would try to stand for what is right even if you could do nothing. We all hate nobles. Forcing the others to tell their story…. to a noble who would have no context for the fear, the pain, the anguish that they have gone through… it’s hard.”

Charlotte was stunned into silence.

“Come on, let's get to bed. It is time for me to change shifts anyway.”

Liza and Charlotte headed back to the tents. Liza went over to the other tent and kicked Brox’s feet.

“Wake up your turn.”

Charlotte climbed back into the tent Anastasia was still sleeping soundly. A few minutes later Liza Joined them.

“Good night, try to get as much sleep as you can. The next few days will be tough.”

“I will…. And thank you again for telling me.”

Liza did not respond and settled into her bed roll. Charlotte was not able to get to sleep easily. One of the last things Liza had said was stuck in her head. “We all hate nobles” If that is the case why are they helping Anastasia. Charlotte wanted to trust them but for some reason she now felt more uncomfortable than she had earlier. Charlotte was unsure at this point what their end goal was, but she was still alive, and her strength was coming back to her. She would make sure the Princess was safe even if it was from these four.