I awake to the sounds of heavy footsteps outside. My room is dark, and it is a cool, crisp morning. The sun has not risen yet. When I hear knocks on the front door, I push myself up from bed and rush over to my window. I find two men in armor holding lances standing at our door.

Royal Knights? From the castle? What happened?

A moment later, Papa opens the door and they begin conversing as faint murmuring reaches my ear. I cannot hear a single word they say, but the Knights hand over something to Papa and he reads it, still conversing with them.

It is a rare sight to see Knights here at a village like this. I haven't seen one since Papa came home in his armor suit those many years ago. He still has his armor and lance. They are mounted downstairs in the main room with gold lining to signify his experience before retiring.

They are not here asking for his assistance with something, are they?

Several more moments pass as Papa converses with them. Then both Knights step aside and Papa begins leading them away from our home. I watch them silently, hoping Papa will not see me as he leads them behind our home towards Cain's home, and Abel's too.

When I lose sight of them with my front window, I rush to the other side of my room to my back window and they appear again. Papa leads them out of sight and several moments pass before he emerges again alone. He slowly makes his way back home and the urge to go find out what that was about overwhelms me. If I go downstairs and ask, then he will know I was watching.

Did he lead them to Cain? Or Abel? I wonder why.

I continue watching out my back window, hoping for things to go back to normal. Yesterday was my birthday. I don't want my happiness to be crushed by horrible news. Papa doesn't talk much about these things. He receives letters all the time and never lets me look at them or talk about them.

From seeing these Knights here now, it makes me think that the fighting is not over just because Papa retired. Back when Papa was serving, the King was still ruling. During the last war, the King was injured when the war stopped. We surrendered and had to give our neighboring kingdom, Rhea, parts of our land and resources.

I know this only because I was too young then, that I could not stay home alone so Papa had to let me stand with him when the King allowed his retirement. The King spoke strongly of Papa and praised him as one of his finest, but had no choice but to allow Papa's request. I wonder why he just did not let me stay with either Cain or Abel.

Maybe that was just it though. Maybe he retired because of me and he just wanted to come home. I stayed with Cain and Abel for a long time while Papa was serving. But I cannot lie. I did miss you, Papa.

Funds have been tight ever since we lost parts of our farmland. Papa's funds have dwindled since and his retirement is starting to harm our daily living expenses.

Soft footsteps climb the stairs and I hold my breath, hoping Papa will pass my room and not notice me awake. But the steps stop near my doorway and I know Papa knows now.

"Katarina? Can't sleep, can you?"

Since he knows, I sit back up in bed and turn to him. I nod, "Yeah,"

He smiles and sits next to me, "Did you have too much excitement yesterday? It was a big day,"

He keeps my gaze and a small smile appears on his lips. He has aged a bit since he retired, but his strength is still there, showing under his clothing. I allow a small smile too and nod, glad to finally get to speak to him since I woke yesterday.

"It seems like it was only yesterday we were celebrating your last one. Cain and Abel have really outdone themselves this year though. Did you enjoy your horse ride?"

I knew that was why he allowed them to rush me out of the house yesterday. When I realized what they were doing, I knew Papa knew they were too excited to wait to bring me to the field.

"Oh, I loved it, Papa. It was such a lovely surprise..." I let my voice trail off as I recall the memory, allowing my smile to increase before narrowing my gaze playfully at him, "How did you get that horse, really, Papa?"

He chuckles at me, "Did they tell you it was from me? Oh, it was not my gift at all, sweetie. It was all Cain,"

My eyes widen slightly, "W—Wait, Cain said it was because of you they got the horse,"

He chuckles again, "Well, I did help, but it was all him on that one,"

My smile widens again as I chuckle a little, "Cain has always been that way. He doesn't give himself enough credit,"

So Papa does not know I saw the Knights in our village, or he would have asked me about it, to tell me that its nothing. I am trying my hardest not to ask about them. But I know he will not tell me. But I push aside those thoughts and try to bring the happiness back I felt yesterday, "Cain and Abel are the best, Papa. I hope they never change,"

Suddenly, after a short moment of silence, Papa's smile fades so slightly that I almost did not notice and everything about him changes ever so slightly. I feel a bit nervous and I draw my breath in.

"Katarina,"

His voice comes out, almost, tranquil, but his vibe I'm now getting does not show tranquility at all, "I want you to know, whatever happens, there is a good reason,"

What does he mean?

"Whatever happens? Papa, is there something wrong?"

He shakes his head slightly, "I will keep you safe, no matter what happens, okay sweetheart?"

I grab his hand in both of mine and I cannot stop worry from spilling from my gaze on his, "Yes but... what do you mean?"

He takes too long to answer me. I feel worry overwhelming me now and I want to ask so badly why those Knights were here.

"Everything is fine, sweetie, I just wanted to tell you how proud of you I am and that I love you. Try to get some sleep, but if you can't, then you know where to find me,"

I nod, but the worry does not let up as he gives me a kiss on my forehead before standing to leave the room. When his footsteps lessen to silence, I move from the bed and look back out the window as I lean my head against the side. I do not see the Knights anywhere in the village now. Maybe they left, and everything is back to normal.

My gaze stays on the tree where Cain and Abel were practicing last night and the calmness of my feelings from yesterday calm down my worries. I lean against the window for another long moment as sleepiness starts to take effect.

I sleepily watch lights turn on inside of Cain's home and I perk up. Does he wake this early every morning? I see movement inside for several moments before I see Cain emerge from the home. He does not notice me, but instead he wanders to the right, away from my home, towards Abel's just down the way. Like Abel knew, he emerges from his home many yards away and they meet up together in the middle of the dirt path.

As I watch them chat for a moment, my smile increases as they turn and walk slowly towards my home. Cain turns towards the woods to his left suddenly like he heard something and stops walking, stopping Abel too.

A moment passes that feels like an eternity and I find myself holding my breath again. What does he see? I move slightly and wait patiently for them to turn back and notice me up here when a loud whooshing sound is heard right at my face as something sharp stings my shoulder.

Pain radiates from my shoulder like a sharp needle was just plunged into it. I let out a scream as the force pushes me back onto the floor. My hearing morphs and makes everything sound warbled while everything else just turns into a blur after that.

I hear my name loudly being called from somewhere as footsteps appear next to me and strong arms wrap themselves around me, "I got you, sweetie, you will be fine,"

Papa's voice warbles into my ears and I can barely make the words out. Another moment passes as I try to focus on what is happening around me, and I hear Papa's voice whisper near me, "Cain! Abel! Go get those lances I showed you before. Help me protect Katarina,"

"Is she alright?" You can hear the worry drip from Cain's voice.

"Yes,"

A moment passes as I hear more shuffling around me as I feel myself being gently placed down onto something soft, "Ruffians are about. From the south. So they have finally decided to hit our village..."

Papa's voice trails off as my vision slowly clears up. The first thing I see is Papa wearing some of his armor and wielding his lance while peeking through the doorway.

"R—Ruffians? Wh—?"

Before I can finish speaking, Papa swiftly spins around, swings his lance extremely close to me and blocks me with his lance. A loud sound of metal clanking against metal rings loudly though my ears, forcing them to throb. The force was so sudden, I felt it though my skin. I spin around to find a thief face to face with me with his blade against Papa's lance.