A moment of silence filled the room before Ravina broke it with another question. "Do you know anything about the Vong’th Uprising?"

"What? No... I mean, Vong’th... sounds familiar..." Aurelia eyed Ravina as she tilted her head. She blinked. "I think it’s a ruling family in the south, a small country—what was that name?"

"No, that’s not it." If it was a foreign country, what reason would it have to affect our politics? Even if the country was overthrown, it wouldn't cause a political change that would impact hiring here. Anti-human policies were significant. They were akin to racial policies after emancipation, right?

"Whatever." Shaking her head, Ravina dropped the subject, realizing it was a dead end. "Let's get back to my original question. Will you please train some kids? I need this. If I can get proper results, it might help me reclaim the institute."

Aurelia took a sharp breath in. "My lady, I am your guard, nothing more, and certainly nothing less." She chuckled, a single, melancholic laugh. "In fact, that’s a bit of the problem, isn’t it? My identity is nothing more than just being your guard," she muttered, her frustration punctuated by a click of her teeth.

"And what were you before?" Ravina asked, genuinely curious.

Silence hung in the air, filtered through the sunlight streaming through the window.

"I was…” she hesitated, “...an adventurer," Aurelia answered simply, a defeated sigh escaping her lips.

"And now you are a knight, my knight. The first and only. True, my father is the one hiring you, paying you… but you were hired because of me," Ravina said. And due to an impending war—a strategic move to boost morale among the capable commoners, encouraging them to take up arms in hopes of rising above their station and be named knights themselves. She kept these thoughts to herself as she continued, "You can choose not to be." Of course, the count wouldn’t allow that and would probably have her killed and her name buried, as a commoner becoming a knight and then quitting would be a devastating blow to his plans.

Again, Ravina kept her thoughts to herself.

She broached the subject only because she needed to ensure that Aurelia didn’t quit, for her own sake. The Heroine of the story fleeing an evil count. She ‘d probably go north and warm the cold dukes heart, showcasing that love is more powerful than… something. Honestly those types of stories were more about how the heroine warmed the duke's heart. "But I would miss you." She concluded.

Aurelia scoffed. "You’d survive. I’ve seen your work up close; you're no innocent child," she shook her head. A knowing smile taking her lips, stealing it from Ravina. "You have a plan for those kids."

A cold chill ran down Ravina’s spine. As she took a breath she told herself that it was okay. I'm not evil, just pragmatic. She found herself thinking. “My plan is to help them live.” short, sweet and to the point. "Sure, the church would care for them, but only up to the point where the children can return the favor. They would disregard any of the kids who didn't. No one would care about a few missing kids, even if they turned up in the streets as cold as the ground."

For a moment, they looked at each other, and then a question formed in Ravina’s head. “Did I do anything to you?” she asked. As far as she knew, their relationship was quite good. Sure, she wasn’t the girl's friend, but they were satisfied as employee and employer. Yet suddenly, Aurelia was becoming quite hostile, and Ravina couldn’t recall doing anything to deserve being called ‘no innocent child’. What an odd thing to say… it was true, in its own way—but…

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Finally, Aurelia answered, “Not you. You're fine, just a little… manipulative sometimes.” She sighed and shook her head. “I used to be an orphan.” The girl was looking up at the ceiling, past it, and into a memory. As such, she didn’t see Ravina twist her face, trying to digest her words. Yet before Ravina could ask, Aurelia continued. “My mother and father… my whole village suffered because of a noble. Every month we would shell out over half our work to them, and they kept demanding more.” Aurelia looked back at Ravina. “It was a knight who killed my parents. That was the reason I joined that stupid competition in the first place. I wanted to beat them, and I did beat them. One of them. Just one. I beat one knight, and then became one…” Aurelia was muttering now.

Ravina was unsure if she was talking to her or to herself, but she listened silently all the same.

“I don't have any good memories of my…” Aurelia locked freshly focused eyes on Ravina. A soft breath loosened from her thin lips. “Fine. I’ll do it. I'll be your good little knight, but you will do something for me.”

There was a dangerous look in her eyes—one that caused the hairs on the back of Ravina’s neck to stand on end. Still, the young girl swallowed her fear with a sip of tea before replying, "Within reason, of course," she offered cautiously.

"It’s nothing that’s out of reach for a noble as powerful as you. About 20 years ago, a village was destroyed by a group of knights. Their emblem was that of a bird, black and silver with a rose or some other flower on its head.” The light had left Aurelias eye. The once beautiful jewel was dark and empty. “I want them. I feel like I should have a proper conversation with them after all."

Ravina fell silent at the request. Aurelia was an adventurer, a woman who was orphaned because her village was destroyed—or something similar. Becoming the thing you hate. No wonder she said no at first. Joining must have been difficult. It was painful to admit when you are wrong or weak. One knight—and it was off a technicality no less.

So, she joined to learn from them to defeat them. Somewhere along the line she must have realized how very human knights can be. Still there was something beneath the surface, revenge seemed a new concept. In fact, Ravina would bet that she had just come up with it. With only an emblem of a bird to go on, it would be quite difficult to find, especially since nobles didn’t have any qualms about stealing others' ideas. There was a war about that, between two counts. Red dragon with green nails vs green dragon with red nails. Still, the rose was rather unique—not the object itself, but its placement on the head of the bird.

The choice would be far-reaching, yet there wasn't really a choice to make. "Deal," that single word earned Ravina her loyalty. This went beyond money, beyond helping her because it was her job. Now, Aurelia would help her because it was in her best interest. The young woman could rebuild her identity. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Aurelia stared into the young girl’s eyes before blinking away and nodding. Standing up, she offered, "Fine, I’ll go train your kids for you." Turning to leave, Aurelia almost made it out before Ravina asked her another question.

"Are you human?"

Aurelia turned her head back to Ravina, her brows furrowed.

"It's just that Brian complained about you the other day.” Ravina said quickly, suddenly a little nervous. “Apparently, you are too talented. They seem worried that you are not human."

She tilted her head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing really. I called him out for being sexist. Not many female knights in the order, so he would be hard-pressed to call me out on that one."

"...and that works for you?"

"What do I care? My knight is both strong and loyal. All she asked me to do was find her a few birds—if I can't do that, then I doubt I would be worth her loyalty." Ravina tried to make it sound easier than it was, but the fact remained that finding a needle would be easier.

Aurelia nodded. "I... I'll be back," she said after a moment of thought. With that, she left to accomplish her task, and Ravina was able to enjoy the rest of her tea in peace.