--- Roric

Weeks passed.

The days leading to May became warmer and warmer. During that time, Roric doubled his efforts in helping Dominic with the farm and actually came out doing most of the work by himself, allowing the old man to rest whenever he needed. He had nearly abandoned his stern attitude and spending time with him was now very pleasant, yet the boy couldn't help but being curious about him.

Clearly his landlord hadn't been a farmer for the entirety of his life. There was no way someone who had always been in the fields would have had such an amount of knowledge and the attitude of a well educated man. Roric wanted to ask Dominic about his past, but between a task and another he couldn't find any occasion. Still, he intended to do that.

Meanwhile, his bond of friendship with Elise kept growing. Finally free to hang out with him, the girl showed him all the secret places she had found in the surroundings, and introduced him to a good part of the village. Roric had already met the old Gerna and some others during his brief exploration of Fradot, and soon found himself buried under an avalanche of names and faces to associate them to. As he struggled to put some order in his head, however, he was amazed to see how loved and respected his friend was among those folks. They constantly cheered for her and asked her for help and guidance, almost like she was the adult and they were the kids.

It's so strange... She is a natural born leader. Reminds me a lot of commander Lowan.

Roric shook his head. Sometimes he still caught himself thinking in military terms, but in Fradot there wasn't any need for that. The valley was peaceful, and its dwellers weren't at war with anyone.

"Do you always act like that?" he asked, when he and Elise were alone once again. "You are like a beloved princess, to their eyes."

"Don't be absurd!" laughed the girl. "They just trust me, even if I end up doing something stupid at times. As far as I recall, they have treated me well. It's only natural that they ask me for some advice once in a while."

"I'm not talking about that," continued Roric. "You see, my father too..."

The words died in his throat. Yes, how could he miss that? His father was also well respected in Spjaldir. Maybe the folks of all villages needed someone to rely on after all...

"Something's not right?" inquired Elise. "You were saying something about-"

"It's nothing important," he replied, hurriedly. "Just some old memories."

The girl gave him a worried look. The way her beautiful green eyes seemed to gleam when she was concerned caught Roric's attention.

"If you want to talk about it I'm here, you know."

"It's difficult," explained the boy. "After all these years, I came to the conclusion that's just better to avoid thinking about the past."

"But you'll never get over it this way. Why don't you open up a bit?"

Roric gulped. Just the idea of talking about that day was enough to give him shivers.

"You wouldn't want to hear about it. It's a violent story."

"You literally killed three people a minute after we met."

"I don't want to annoy you with my problems."

"It won't be an annoyance."

"What if you start seeing me in a different way?"

"Why would it happen? Give me a chance."

He turned to face her. She was smiling, her gaze radiating with strong will. She wouldn't have given up at any point.

"Fine," he sighed. "I have to do some things with Dominic now, however."

"Tonight, then," exclaimed Elise, toddling along the road.

***

--- Elise

Elise waited for the sun to disappear behind the western mountains, and right after it happened she zipped downstairs to have dinner with the others. After the meal, the girl sneaked outside and advanced towards the barnyard in complete silence.

Trying to surprise Roric had become a little habit of hers. He seemed to be always watching out for some kind of danger, even during the calmest of times, but there had to be a gap in his attention. Sometimes Elise had managed to get so close that her heart almost stopped at the boy announcing that he had already noticed her.

That evening, however, something felt different. Elise hugged the outer wall and crouched to avoid some plants, heading for the back door. Every side of the barn was made of wood, allowing the light of the lantern inside to filter between the planks, but the girl couldn't allow herself to be distracted by that. She finally reached the entrance and peeked inside. Roric was nowhere to be found.

Where...

She nearly passed out when someone tapped her right shoulder.

"Got you."

Elise jumped on the spot and turned around. Roric let out a big laugh.

"That was a good try. I didn't actually hear you until you arrived near the wall," he mocked her. "One day you might even manage to sneak up on me. If I'm asleep."

"Ha, ha. Very funny," replied Elise. "Remember our promise, do we?"

The boy's expression became uncomfortable as he sat down. His eyes focused on the dim flame of the lantern as he sighed.

"Alright. I don't even know where to start, but I'll try my best."

Elise took a spot in front of him, ready to hear to the story.

Roric told her everything he remembered about his parents. They had died in a plunder along with the rest of his native village when he was just a child. Elise listened closely to the description of the boy's birthplace, looted and burned to the ground by a band of evil men. She shivered at the thought of a mother dying in the flames before the eyes of her own child. At that point Roric could only run away. It was too much for a kid to bear.

The girl could only try to imagine how scary and devastating all of that must have been for him. Having always lived in the safety of that remote valley, Elise wasn't able to know for sure if she would have been able to endure something similar. A deep sadness squeezed her heart as she fought back the need to cry.

The day after that tragedy the priest of a mercenary group had saved Roric. The child had chosen to remain with his saviors, as a recruit, and had found a new purpose in his life. He sought to become stronger, to prevent those bad things from happening in the future in any way. How could someone that young decide to carry a similar weight on his own shoulders was a mystery to the girl. At the end of the tale, it was already late night and Elise's cheeks were wet with tears.

"That's how I ended up here, more or less," concluded the boy. "Our company was destroyed in a battle, and there wasn't anything left for me in the Republic. What I needed was a long, long trip. I don't know if I'll ever go back there."

"Roric... You have to deal with this all the time?"

"Not always. If I'm working hard enough I don't have the time to dwell on the past," he replied. "Sometimes I'm sad when I recall the old days, but it's not all gloom and doom. When I'm laying down to sleep I can still see the faces of the ones that aren't here anymore, yet their memory isn't haunting me like it did before. They are just memories. In a certain sense, it's like I'm carrying them all with me. Especially my mentor, Tolwin."

Elise took her head between her hands, and cried her feelings out. Her friend didn't try to stop her, and kept his distance respectfully.

"I had never talked to anyone about this," went on Roric. "I feel better now. Thank you."

"This Tolwin..." asked Elise, drying her eyes with a sleeve of her dress. "He seemed like a really good person."

"He had his faults," sighed the boy. "Just like commander Lowan and all the others. Even my parents weren't perfect. But nobody among them deserved to die. That's the reason why I became a warrior. You have to protect the ones you love."

He took out his sword and lifted it, showing it to the girl. It was an instrument of death, but the way it reflected the light of the lantern made it almost seem like an elegant, noble thing. Elise had witnessed him using that weapon once, turning three men into bloody corpses in mere instants, yet knowing it was in Roric's hands made her feel safe. She realized that for him too it had to be the first priority.

"Roric," she said. "What happened to your village won't happen here. Right?"

"Who knows."

"To be honest, I can't bear the thought. The people of Fradot are my family, and without anyone defending them..." Elise stopped for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I never thought about it, but if the need of fighting ever comes they-"

"Like I already said, I learned the hard way that violence isn't always the answer. Knowing how to fight is important, but didn't save anyone I knew. Sometimes you just have to find a different way."

"Still," insisted the girl. "If I asked you, would you teach me?"

Roric gave her a surprised look.

"I'm not sure it would be a good idea. Dominic wouldn't approve. With you being a girl and all, it's not something you should even consider."

"I don't care!" she protested. "Even if he doesn't want it. Even if... All the village doesn't. We can do it in secret, right?"

Her face must have been very determined, because the boy smiled her back and averted his gaze.

"There's really no way to say no to you," he replied. "But it will be only you. And only to keep you and this farm safe."

Elise was overjoyed. She moved to grab Roric's sword but the boy instantly put it out of reach. Retracting her hand, she huffed like a spoiled child.

"You are a strong girl but this isn't the right weapon for you, trust me. It would take a lot of time and effort to become skilled enough."

"What can I use, then? We only have farming equipment here."

"I'll make you a spear tomorrow. It's a much safer instrument, not to mention it will be easier to learn how to use it," answered Roric. "Go to bed now, or Dominic is going to skin me alive."

The girl stood back up and instead walked up to him. Roric reacted by rising as well. She gave him a big hug without before he could dodge away and rushed back to the door. While leaving, Elise turned around and cheerfully wished him good night.

His expression was priceless.

***

The following day the two met in the afternoon.

There wasn't much work to do at the farm so Roric had taken the time to craft not only one but two wooden spears from spare pitchfork shafts that lay unused in the barnyard. Elise examined the makeshift weapon, nothing more than a roughly pointed stick, and tried swinging it around.

It's light. I can move around with this no problem.

"Your sword seems much heavier than this," she commented.

"That's because it is. And it requires a lot of practice to use it well, as I told you," explained the boy. "Most armies hand out spears to untrained farmers who join their ranks, because a few days of training are enough to grasp the basics."

"How are we doing this?" asked Elise, stabbing the air with her new weapon. "Huh, I'm already feeling tired."

"We'll start working on simple movements for now. No need to rush," answered Roric. "You won't have to train harder than you can."

"But I'm willing to give it all!" whined the girl. "Wait, if you are going easy on me just because I'm a girl, I-"

"No, I just want to spend this time effectively. I promise it has nothing to do with you being a girl."

Elise gave him one last puzzled look, then gulped and went on.

"So, what do I do?"

Roric took his own spear and showed her a stance. She tried to mimic it at the best of her possibilities.

"For now, I'll teach you a couple of easy moves and how to use them without wrenching your wrists. Remember, we have all the time in the world. Now, follow me..."

They went on for a good half an hour, after what Elise just dropped her weapon and sat on the grass, panting.

"It's hard!" she complained. "Can we take a break?"

Roric spun his spear in the air and nodded, sitting beside her. The two lay in the fields for some time, looking at the clouds in silence. It was the girl who first broke it.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Now that you are a skilled warrior, do you feel like the people you care about are safer?"

The boy thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I don't know. There are still many threats I wouldn't be able to face alone."

"So, in the end, nothing changed?"

"Now that you make me think about it, something has," said Roric. "If there aren't too many enemies, I can take my stand now. That's something that wasn't possible a couple of years ago. You are here because I became stronger, after all."

Elise hummed, focusing her gaze on the sky once again.

"I want to learn more," she declared. "And help you if the need comes."

"Let's hope it doesn't... But remember this. In times of danger, you need to adapt to the situation. A good weapon and the skill to use it is nothing compared to good judgment. I'll keep training you as much as you want, but if you ever see a fight you can't win you have to run as fast as you can, understand? I've seen too many people dying for nothing."

She nodded in response.

"Roric," she turned towards him. "I'm happy that you feel better here."

"Home is where you feel safe," he replied. "I'm starting to think that maybe the time of battles is finally over."

As silence came back, Elise closed her eyes.

Bad people won't touch my home like they did with yours. If it happens, I'm going to bite back.