Armel paused. He watched as Heartless seemed to relax, her face melting slowly as she watched the babe sleep. He watched as she squatted on her haunches, no longer concerned about holding her iron bar. He watched her breathing slow and the tension in her jaw slacken.

He heard the door open in the common room. Exiting, he saw Unter standing tall near the exit.

“Hullo, Armel! Nice to see you again. You look like hell!” said Unter, his voice loud and deep. Armel nodded to him, his earrings jangling.

“I battled earlier. You come at a good time.”

“I heard there’s a uni and a baby! That’s something different,” Unter said, “I’m not usually called here, now. Let’s see…last time was, what? Two years ago?”

Armel took his rocky hand, shaking it in greeting. Some dust fell to the floor.

“It’s nice to see you again. It has been a while since I started working more in the community.”

“Getting old, eh?” Unter said, attempting a wink.

“Something like that,” Armel replied, rubbing the scar at the back of his neck. Unter was a bit of a hammer. Unicorns were not delicate physically, having been bred for fighting over generations, but golems were on a whole different level. Armel had found Unter to be a solid fighting partner when clashing with the fairy mafia or encountering unicorn raiding parties.

“She’s in cell C. Across from mine,” Armel said, “I’ll need you here on the regular.”

“Sure! No problem! I’m here to help,” said Unter, clapping Armel on the back. Armel winced a bit.

“Day has been assigned to come in and work with the baby. She’ll be bringing food and things for us. She just went a while ago to pick up some things for the baby,” Armel continued, ignoring the pain shooting down his back.

His hooves were loud against the floor, and Unter’s footsteps were heavy. Armel stifled a sigh.

“In fact, I…need to rest, Unter. If you could stand guard and watch for Day, I’d appreciate some time to recuperate,” Armel said to him. Whatever painkillers Dr. Havoc gave him were starting to wane.

“Sure thing, boss. Whatever you need, I’ll do,” Unter replied as they reached the cell hallway.

The prison area consisted of a common room, a solitary room, a hallway with four cells and a closet which remained locked. The common room had a few tables and chairs, warped from age and elements. The solitary room was for violent prisoners. Though they rarely used it, Ryuu convinced everyone it was necessary to have a place to put people so that they could not harm others if necessary. They only ever used it once for someone within their community in the past few years since they established their base.

There were four different cells. Usually, one of the rooms was occupied by a drunken gryphon kicked out of the community for brawling. Sometimes a random couple might be found in one of the other rooms. Because of how their community functioned, they rarely needed to put anyone away for a long period of time. Safety was important; order was important. Troublemakers were sent out, usually to help with a crash settlement. Usually troublemakers wanted to be out in the world, anyway, which was why they caused trouble. They tended not to cause an uproar about leaving.

Armel’s room was another cell. He moved in after it was obvious they needed someone to man the area. He had no other family. Some of the other unicorns who had joined up were grouped in their own section, but he felt more comfortable by himself.

It was easier to separate himself from them; some of them were still set in their ways despite renouncing their tribe.

When they entered Heartless’ room, he saw her clench her jaw and bring her right hand to the iron bar. She rose, puffing out her chest, and snorting softly.

Armel had debated about letting her keep her weapon. She was dangerous. And a cornered unicorn was more dangerous. Some kind of semblance of independence was necessary, even if the risk was a bash in head. Good thing Unter was a rock.

“Heartless. This is Unter, one of our protectors,” Armel said, motioning to the smiling golem, “Unter, this is Heartless of the Bloodfury clan.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Unter, waving his hand a bit.

“I don’t need anyone,” she replied harshly. Unter looked at Armel.

“No,” Armel agreed, “You don’t. I do. Let Unter know if you need anything. He will be stationed in the common room. When he is around, you can go to him. Day should be back soon.”

Heartless snorted at him, slowly sliding between them and the sleeping child who had started to make some noises.

“I take my leave now. To my room across the way.”

Heartless left her face stony as they exited the room.

“Holy shit,” Unter said, “You let her keep a weapon?” Armel audibly sighed.

“Better than a cornered unicorn. You can sit in the other room. Send Day out for things if you need them when she comes back.”

“Yes, sir,” said Unter, and he plodded slowly through the door. Armel allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment before opening the door to his room.

It was sparse. A single cot was against the wall with a yellowed pillow at one end. A small, empty table was at the opposite corner with a single four-legged stool that had a broken leg which was propped up with a piece of wood. His favored weapon, his cudgel, he kept on the floor by the cot when he didn’t take it with him.

He sat briefly on his stool. Under the table was a small box. He reached down, pulling it to him.

For a moment, he pondered his insanely strange luck. Heartless was the daughter of Bloodthirsty of the Bloodfury clan. When Ryuu had debriefed him, he had to hold back his words. A daughter of the chieftain! Of the Bloodfury! And her coloring…

He ran his fingers along the top edge of the box.

And she had a baby phoenix with her.

She didn’t kill him.

He could tell she was conflicted inside about what she was doing. Not killing? Carrying around a baby? She was still putting up walls, fronts, taking offense at everything she could to gain some kind of pride.

He started to pull the box lid back, but he stopped.

It was too soon.

He felt the hesitation in his heart.

And he put the box back.