Eirik had lost blood but was in good enough condition to move, leaning on Siegfried's shoulder. On the way back, Svana was unusually reserved. "Sorry guys, I really wasn't much help in there," she admitted quietly.

"No, Svana," Hall retorted, looking her in the eyes. "Bolverk was right. This wasn't your job, a guard's job. Any of us could have easily lost our life fighting that monstrosity. Being frightened when confronted with a natural predator is a normal reaction. Proves that you are mentally healthy." The last sentence was added with a self-conscious smile on his lips.

Svana returned the gesture with a brighter smile that immediately let the young man's heart jump higher. "Thank you. But I was really impressed by you there. I saw everything from where we sat in the dark. Your bravery and skill with the sword are admirable for your - sixteen or maybe seventeen years?" Svana asked, once again with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Uh, I'm sixteen..." he answered, his face a comical mixture of embarrassment, pride and resignation at her compliments and the fact that she likely still thought of him as a boy rather than a man. He was somewhat confused by his own feelings and the fact that her opinion mattered so much to him.

Svana's smile only widened. "Sixteen, how convenient, right above the legal age in Nemeah" she stirred his emotional cocktail further, adding a nervous red blush to his expression.

"Oh, go get a room, you two," Eirik interrupted, inducing a fit of good-hearted laughter from the whole group and saving Hall from having to reply. Alas, it didn't keep him from repeating her words over and over again in his head. Since that fateful day, four years ago, there was no space in his life for anything but vengeance. All his time taken up by training body and mind for the battle against his sworn enemy— every day until the sun went down.

And now, suddenly, that alluring young woman pulled out his missed puberty from the corner in which he banished it. Her dazzling smile was warming his heart, the taunting glances making it skip a beat. When he closed his eyes, he could see her mesmerising, light blue eyes and finely arched brows like she was standing right in front of him. But worst of all was her confident, playful demeanour and the teasing words, keeping his intellect from dismissing the possibility of ever having the chance to act on his feelings. Hall knew, on a conscious level, that Svana was playing with him. But she was good enough at the game to captivate his heart, nonetheless.

A wolf in sheep's clothing. Hall remembered Bolverk's warning. Alas, it just added an unfamiliar kind of thrill to the situation.

††††††

Upon reaching the guardhouse, Bolverk relayed the relevant information to the stationed officer and arranged for Agnar and the children's bodies to be recovered. The stone-built structure accommodated an office room, which doubled as the infirmary, a dormitory with eight beds for male guards and a small bedroom for the fewer female guards. With Bolverk tending to Eirik in the infirmary and the officer gone, Siegfried and Hall were alone in the dormitory.

When Sieg saw the forlorn look on the younger recruit, he decided to address the apparent issue. "Hey, Hall, everything okay?"

"Yes, of course... I'm just still a bit shaken by all the events of today."

"Mhmm," Sieg hummed. "Come over here and sit down for a spell," he instructed while making space on the bed he had claimed. Bewildered, Hall sat down beside the broad-shouldered man. "I've known Svana for quite a while now," Sieg started, ignoring the blush on Hall's face for being so easily seen through. "She is definitely an amazing woman, no question, and always up for a little bit of mischief—"

"But I shouldn't get my hopes up," Hall interrupted him, looking as if the Red Brigade just sentenced him to death. "That's what you want to tell me, right?"

"Wrong," Sieg negated his assumption. "I want to give you counsel when you are set on playing her game." He gripped Hall by the shoulder with a serious expression. "Take whatever she is willing to give and enjoy what you get as much as you can, instead of hanging yourself up on what more could be possible. I don't believe Svana is ready to commit herself to a relationship, but that doesn't mean you can't just savour the moment."

Siegfried barely held back a snicker, seeing how Hall's face lit up again as if he just rescinded the death sentence.

"So, you think there is a chance?" the love-struck youngster asked, overly excited.

This time, Sieg couldn't stifle a short laugh at Hall's eagerness anymore. "Can't say for sure, but I doubt she would have that much fun teasing you if there wasn't a chance for her to act on it. She's not cruel, just always trying to live her life to the fullest. Just be yourself, Hall. If that's what picked her interest, it will also be what keeps her interested."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind! I think I need some fresh air, thanks again," Hall intoned.

As soon as the boy left the dorm, Siegfried's expression turned into a frown. Svana had never before shown interest in a guy younger than her. The whole thing seemed suspicious from the start. But he honestly did not believe the young woman would tease Hall just to hurt him. So it was still the best advice he could give. Maybe he just read too much into it. She was a slaphappy young thing after all.

††† Hall †††

Despite having that anxiety turned to lightheaded excitement, Hall still couldn't calm down enough to sleep. After changing into a simple brown tunic and matching loose trousers provided by the guard, he chose to go for a quick night stroll instead. The guardhouse was placed near one of the grand aqueducts, which supplied Nemeah with drinkable water. It was raised about the height of a single-family building, wholly from stone and in the form of multiple arches. The generous dimensions of the structure allowed a safe walk on the edges, and the quiet rush of the water, reflecting the soft moonlight, created a beautiful scenery.

The destination decided, Hall climbed the ladder intended for maintenance purposes. Usually, one would hardly find people walking the aqueducts after sundown, but it seemed on this particular night, someone else already had the same idea.

Some twenty steps in front of him, bare feet dangling in the water, sat the most enticing woman he had ever laid eyes on. She wore a light-blue, sleeveless shirt, the colour of her eyes and a pair of snug, blue shorts. Her loose, blonde hair seemed to glow under the moon's pale light, her delicate, girlish features illuminated in the most flattering way.

For all that she appeared lost in thought, Hall still managed to stare long enough for Svana to come out of her daydream first and recognised his presence.

"Hall," her sweet voice was accompanied by a half-questioning, half-knowing, cocked eyebrow, "for how long have you been standing there?"

"I... —" abruptly pulled back to the real world, his mind was not ready to follow, "I was just—"

"Can't sleep either?" she helped out innocently.

Hall just managed a quick nod.

"Well, you're welcome to join me," the charming young woman hinted at the space next to her. Instead of stumbling further over his own words, the blushing teenager marched mechanically forward and sat down cross-legged.

"Nice outfit," Svana smirked at his slightly oversized clothes.

"Not my choice. They don't have anything that fits in that chest!" he answered, slightly heated. "How is it possible that you found something that looks tailor-made from the standard-issue they keep at the guardhouse?"

Satisfied that she coerced him out of his timidity, she arched her back, emphasising the skin-tight fit of her own garb. "This? Of course this isn't standard-issue. My parents live in the next district, and I always leave a spare set of clothing here in case I visit after duty." Svana replied coyly.

The tantalising display forced Hall's gaze to wander over the athletic body of the bold temptress. Her medium-sized bust, in perfect relation to her slim waist, the tight-sitting shorts, hiding nothing of the shape of her firm backside and her toned, long legs…

When he managed to look back up into her face, the glint in her eyes and her signature-mischievous smile revealed that she knew precisely where his own eyes had roamed.

Hall instantly blushed and turned his head back towards the water, which elicited a joyful giggle from Svana. "Goddess, Hall! How can it be that someone so brave and resolute can be so shy at the same time?" she asked in a cheerful and honestly curious tone, shaking her head in wonder.

To suddenly have the obvious pointed out, added an even deeper shade of red to his blush. The boy racked his brain to find a response that would distract from his shyness and instead impress her with bravery as Siegfried's words came to his mind again.

Just be yourself, Hall.

Taking a calming breath, he let his thoughts slow down and just let the words flow out by themselves.

"I think it is because I never liked a girl like that before. Or even thought about it in that manner."

Svana's expression was a mix of scepsis and surprise— she obviously didn't quite believe it. So Hall continued before she could voice her thoughts. "I've lost both my brother and my father to a changeling. My mother was devasted. When she took ill, a short time afterwards, she simply didn't have the will to live through it anymore."

All the cheerfulness was gone from Svana's face. Alas, she proved to be a better listener to such a story as he feared and did not interrupt with unwanted condolences.

"As for myself," Hall went on, "I continued the only way I could and hung onto the feelings that remained." Although he didn't voice it, the cold look in his eyes spoke volumes to Svana. "I dedicated my whole self to the sole purpose of training with the sword until I was finally old enough to enlist for guard service myself."

A pang of anxiousness interrupted Hall's explanation. Fear of what she would think of him after he went into self-exclusion for years, fuelled by nothing but the desire for vengeance. But there was no look of disgust or apprehension on her face. Only sympathy and a sliver of guilt that he couldn't comprehend. But it was gone a moment after his eyes met hers. Maybe he just imagined it.

"I'm sorry! If I had known—" Svana started to apologise.

"No, please don't apologise," Hall retorted, wanting to get the difficult part out before his courage failed him again. "I've lived on nothing but those feelings until I've met you. And I know we just met each other," he quickly added, "but I think you are amazing, Svana. You are confident, lively, and your buoyant, energetic presence alone can light up a room full of dark thoughts. And you are astonishingly beautiful - not that you don't already know this," he rambled on as he started to trip over his own words.

"I do," Svana replied with a provocative smile, "but please continue, showering me in compliments." Hall let out a chuckle, some of the tension leaving him again.

"What I want to say is—" he searched for the right words, and looking into that stunningly pretty face, he realised something about himself that made him all the more grateful for Svana, stepping into his life. "Today, for the first time in four years, I felt something different than my hunger for vengeance. I felt a kind of desire that was strong enough to blend out the hatred that became my only reason to live. A feeling strong enough to show me that there might still be something else worth living for, even for my broken self."

That was it. He had laid himself bare before her and waited anxiously, unable to read the half-amused, half-wondering expression on Svana's face.

"You know," she said in a slow, alluring manner while moving closer to him until their legs were touching, "for someone who never had any experience with a woman, you can be awfully romantic albeit a bit clumsy in your advances."

Her face was now directly in front of his. Hall's mouth was suddenly so dry, he had to swallow, which in turn just seemed to entice Svana even more. Her lips parted, slowly, as she ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. Hall opted to do the same, albeit with a shaky hand and quick breath until their lips finally touched. Chaste as their kiss was, every fibre of Hall's body seemed to explode in a myriad of feelings, ranging from excitement through arousal to a kind of happiness unknown to him. As she opened her mouth again, gently probing for entrance with her tongue, Hall obliged without hesitation and was nearly overwhelmed to find that those feelings could intensify even further.

When they parted after an infinite, and yet far too short, moment, Svana grinned again at the stunned, young man. "Not bad for your first kiss. I'm looking forward to continuing what we started when we get a day off, maybe. Although for tonight, I think this was enough excitement," she said, her grin touching into the realm of mischief once more.

It took Hall a few confused blinks to understand what she was implying until he became aware of the suddenly much tighter space in his trousers. As he quickly turned a nearly scarlet red, Svana let out that sweet-sounding laughter of hers. "Akali's grace, you're so sweet," she said, kissing him on the cheek and standing up again. "I need to get some sleep before Bolverk chases us out of bed again," the playful siren announced. "Good night, Hall."

"Yes, good night," Hall answered, not making any attempt at standing up before his lower parts had calmed down. Despite feeling still ashamed, he couldn't help the broad grin stealing across his features. I'm looking forward to continuing what we started.

An unintentional smile grew on his lips. And for the first time in years, Hall was genuinely looking forward to what the next day would bring.