"Oh man, we are in trouble!"

Erveyn taps nervously on the ground with the back of his boot, running his hand through his hair.

"What did you even think!" I scream before lowering my voice.

The young prince is eating quietly the onion soup I clumsily made in Gray's living room, who thankfully went away for a mission.

"Kidnapping a child? A prince, nonetheless! Are you unconscious or completely stupid!" I whisper aggressively.

He stays silent, looking at the floor.

I bite my nail and continue to observe the Prince. "We still have some time before the knights pick up our traces..."

"I don't think so," interrupts Erveyn.

I freeze and slowly turn around to watch his dark expression. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was only hired to escort him from Drábek to an unknown destination. I didn't even know the identity of the boy! I thought it was a random noble child."

An uneasy feeling knots my stomach hearing his detachment. In the mercenary world, as long as you didn't harm a child physically, you don't risk any repercussions from the community.

"In other words, he might have been kidnapped for a long time. They could arrive at any moment!"

SLAM!

The door breaks open.

"Erveyn!"

Gray's son understands me and jumps immediately out of the window, breaking the glass on the way.

I jump on the Prince. He gasps and falls to the floor as I cover him, ignoring the soup spilled on my back.

"Put your hands behind your head!" yells a thunderous voice.

I don't listen to him and blindly kick his arm. I hear the whistle of the blade falling. I twist my arm off the boy's head and grab the sword before it reaches the ground.

I push the previous kid into the corner of the room and position myself in front of a menacing knight, his armor drenched in blood.

I feel a shiver run down my spine. This is definitely not one of the warriors I encountered earlier. This is an entirely different level. A level that I am far from.

I clench my fingers even more tightly and calm my shaky breath.

It's impossible to know if he is a real soldier or not. I can only try to protect his Highness's life until help comes.

I decide to attack first. Even without his sword, the knight is stronger and heavier than me. I can only count on my speed and agility.

I prepare to hit on the right before diving for his feet. He pivots and kicks me in the ribs. I partially manage to block the attack with my elbow.

The pain rings in my arm, but I ignore it and bite my tongue.

I jump back on my feet and swing for his left arm, where a small crack in his metal clothes shows itself.

I hit the weak point, but I feel something lifting me. Before I know it, he makes me flip. The heavy weight of the sword makes his tactic easier.

My back hits violently the ground. A gasp escapes my lips as my vision becomes blurry for a second.

'Please make Erveyn hurry up.'

I won't be able to resist much longer. I reach out for my katars and throw two of them in his direction. He turns around to dodge them.

I don't waste a second and balance myself with the small metal chandelier. I land on his shoulders from behind.

He immediately reaches for his throat. Too late, my legs are firmly tightened around his neck.

He tries to shake me off, but I firmly continue to strangle him.

His movement becomes slower. Suddenly I feel myself fall. It was a ruse. The knight traps me on the floor and starts to inflict the same treatment he received.

'Sh*t.'

The air in my lungs becomes less and less present. In a desperate attempt, I stab his face. His hand grabs the top of the blade.

'I got you.'

I break my knee free and hit his chin with a strength I never expected from myself. His helmet flies in the air before landing with a metallic noise on the wooden floor, revealing a middle-aged man with numerous scars crossing his dark skin face.

"EIRAN, STOP! DON'T KILL HER!"

As soon as the Prince cries these words, my assailant stops and rushes to his master.

I roll on the side and cough violently, trying to restrain the urge to vomit.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" asks anxiously the knight.

'He is, but I am not,' I think, massaging my throat.

"Yes, I am so sorry, Eiran. I should not have gone to the dunes alone."

"It is alright," he comforts gently.

How could such a violent person be as gentle as a lamb?

"This girl saved me, so please don't kill her!" begs the boy.

'Finally, someone who notices me.'

I throw a dark glance at the Prince's escort and clench my jaw. He judges me before offering his hand to help me get up.

I ignore him. Even exhausted and gutted like I am, I will not throw my pride away.

He doesn't formalize my rude behavior and instead says, "I owe you my Prince's life, Miss...?"

"Mhyrr, My name is Raven Mhyrr," I respond coldly with a papery voice.

"A mercenary, I guess?" he scoffs, looking at my clothes.

"I didn't know that the knights were civilized enough to engage in conversation with others than their peers and the nobility," I reply sarcastically.

"Then you must know none," he says without backing off.

The electrical tension between us is broken off by the Prince.

"Can we go home?" he asks shyly.

"I need to know first what happened to be able to judge whether or not it is safe for us to go back to Noreen."

I feel forced to lighten his worries, for the benefit of my pride.

"You do not need to trouble yourself with that," I start with an arrogant smile. "I took care of the six mercenaries who kidnapped his Highness, all by myself. Really, they were a real piece of cake for a mercenary like I."

"By yourself," he asks, surprised.

Kallias nods vigorously his head as I raise proudly my chin.

"She came out like a shadow and took care of them as fast as the wind! She was as brave as the Imperial knights."

My smile freezes. Please do not compare the mercenary and the knights. Even Eitan frowns uncomfortably in front of that image.

Seeing the twinkling eyes of the young teenager, I guess that he is not yet aware of the silent animosity between the mercenaries and the knights.

When I was Aideen, I was on the side of the valorous knights who risked their lives for my sake. Until a simple order of my father made their swords point in my direction.

The knights are not loyal towards the person they protect but towards their master. Because of that, it is easy to be deceived by them.

On the contrary, mercenaries are not deceivable because they are clear from the start: their loyalty goes towards themselves and no one else.

"Raven is that?" he asks, his eyes lost in some intense reflection.

I nod and wait for him to continue.

"Well..."

SLAM!

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!"

I catch the dagger just before it hits the back of the knight's neck and place myself in front of him. The enormous sword of my mother stops just on time and only slightly grazes my neck. Her eyes shoot wide open. She grabs me and puts me behind her.

"Erveyn told us that you were attacked by an unknown man."

"He was right, but in the end it was just a misunderstanding," I shrug, ignoring the blood coming out of my mouth.

'Well, Erveyn did kidnap the prince.'

"You must be Raven's mother," interrupts Eiran.

"Who are you?" aggressively replies Marianna.

I tense myself, worried that she just committed a mistake in front of high-ranked nobles.

"I am Eiran, the Duke of Aldraril and commander of the Royal guard."

Marianna's gaze slowly shifts towards the boy hiding in the dark corner of Gray's living room. She slowly approaches him and kneels down solemnly.

"I, Marianna Mhyrr, greet the small sun of the empire."

A strange feeling pierces my heart as I watch her perfect courtesy. It reminds me of the old time.

"It is quite late; we could offer the third place a room to sleep for tonight."

I hide a smile hearing the underlying meaning of her proposal.

Eiran frowns and replies dryly, "I have to stay with the Prince to assure his safety."

"Then you can guard our house for the night," she proposes with an almost innocent smile.

🗡️🗡️🗡️

Meet me in the training ground as soon as you can.

The stone that carried the message went through my open window as soon as I opened my door. Looking at the unknown writing, the identity of the writer leaves no doubt. Eiran wants to see me. My mind is wandering in imaginary scenarios about the subject of our future discussion.

"I think we should report your birthday tomorrow, Raven," proposes Frederick. "Many things happened, and you look pretty tired."

My forks freeze in front of my mouth. Today is my birthday; I forgot about that in the middle of the fight.

"This is a good idea," I agree, swallowing the rabbit's meat.

My plate is soon empty.

I stand up. "I think I am going to take a nap. I don't feel very good."

I quickly climb the stairs leading to my room. After stuffing clothes underneath my bedsheets, I sit on the outside of my window and carefully close the curtains.

Without any hesitation, I jump on the floor before climbing back on the little garden house.

A rope flies up in the air. I would have been suspended like an idiot if I didn't jump in time.

"Impressive," comments Eiran.

I turn around and find him standing behind me.

"What does that mean?" I ask angrily, pointing at the empty trap.

"I just wanted to make sure if I made the right decision."

I tilt my head, unable to understand his words. He catches my perplexed gaze and chuckles lightly.

"Raven, I want to take you as my student."