The journey started out in awkward silence, with the stranger staring at Euphemia but would whip his eyes away the moment those blue irises attempted to return the favor. Not a sound was allowed to escape the young man's lips; he walked just beside the cleric with his focus only on the road. They were the only people out at that time; not a figure was in sight within the vast belt of the Antikwald's living fence surrounding them.

A dimming sun could be seen up ahead; the whistles of the forest told the travelers of a night that was about to descend on the land. Although damp even at the peak of the day, the earth around them bade farewell to the last few minutes of daylight. The scent of the cooled, musty ground began to take over what the retreating day was leaving behind.

Both did not know how long it had been since they met up on the path. The road gave no hints of the towns that Euphemia mentioned before their long walk started. Secretive, silent, and seemingly endless – it was as if the earth their feet were moving on wanted to lead them off their destination. On one side was the jagged whitewater of the Kön, while opposite it was the dense, seemingly uniform forest growth.

The boy won't open up on his own volition. It was time for Euphemia to be the older individual and break the silence.

"It is a fine time for a little talk, wouldn't you think?" Euphemia stopped in the middle of the road and tried to look farther ahead. "The end of this road isn't coming any sooner, or I should say that it's another hour or two before we see the town. Well, care to spend a few words on me for a while?"

"I would think so. Yeah."

"Excellent!" Euphemia gave the stranger a closed smile, yet she could feel his apprehensions in figuring out what to do with this sudden surge of mirth coming out of her. "Your clothes aren't native in these lands. Where did you come from?"

"I... I-it's a place very far from here. Molodensk."

Molodensk... Euphemia heard of that name before, but it took her quite some time before she could regain pace in the conversation. She picked up fragments of the old geography lessons she attended years ago. It was a town, rather a large city in the northern country of Severniya. Euphemia remembered it being a great land of ice and metal, and that its people mastered the creation of alloys and other reinforced materials. Perhaps this would have explained the rather abundant metal adornments found on the boy's coat.

"You have come from quite a far place to be here." It was a matter of asking the right questions, considering that this foreigner has been wandering aimlessly in Kriemreich since their first meeting at the capital. More than five hundred miles of travel just to reach the empire's northern holdings was no small feat. Euphemia's tone somewhat bordered on the neutral when she said her next question:

"Are you here to visit someone you know?"

"I don't know anyone here. I may have, but I could have forgotten."

"And by wandering you want to know the answers..."

Poor boy, Euphemia thought. She felt something different aside from him being a foreigner after all. She was intrigued by his reason to be here, but then she remembered that one detail needed in any conversation. A jolt of reality made the canoness slightly jump from the head up; although it was so slight that the boy would have never noticed (the veil could have done its part as well). She then asked:

"I'm Euphemia, and you are?"

"Rook. They call me 'Rook' up there."

"Very well, then I shall call you the same." Euphemia took a second stop and looked at a view obscured by two great pines in front of them. An outline of a town was seen in the dimmed daylight. "We are nearing the fork I was telling you. So, will you be all right on your own from here, or do you prefer if I stay with you until we reach the town proper? You still have an hour or more to walk and think about it."

"I... I'll stay with you until I get there."

A change from what Euphemia thought of as Rook's answer. She could have won a little of his trust, and the same could be said of Euphemia's diminishing tension over the situation. The forest seemed to have thinned out, but the river's reach was wider that the riverbank sat very close to the stone road. A slight slush could be heard when their soles stepped on the ground. Euphemia resumed walking with Rook following closely.

"I see. Then you'd be walking with me a little more and we'll figure out what to do next once we reach the fork."

An outline moved to where they stood; a wooden wagon, empty from what seemed to be a business trip from another town rolled and rocked on the road. A soft crack traveled through the horse's reins, which made the creature snort upon making its last step; one of its bare hooves pecked on the ground.

"Good day." The driver was a wrinkled man whose eyes were shadowed by the brim of his hat. "What brings a Holy Sister and a boy to the roads at this time of day? These paths have become dangerous as of late. Bandits, highwaymen and other undesirables have been haunting a lot. It's not the quiet path it used to be. Not anymore."

"We would be more careful traveling along these roads then." Euphemia looked up the old driver and gave a faint smile, which was returned with the same courtesy.

The horse's head swung from right to left, as if in search for something on the path. No sign of it being readied to move was being done by the driver. Euphemia and Rook were about to take the left fork when the old man spoke:

"You are taking that route? Why not come with me instead? There's space at the back."

"I suppose taking a ride with you would help. Do you agree Rook?"

Rook nodded and followed the canoness aboard the cart. The horse began trotting along; the trees around them seemed to be moving as if the forest borrowed the fluidity of the river on the other side. Their entry to more developed terrain was marked by smooth stones that were under the wheels of the wooden transport. It was a new road, one that Euphemia thought to be somewhat less than a decade in service. The Empire's span of progress was beginning to flow beyond its major cities; slow, but with visible results.

An orange outline of what seemed to be a section of a citadel wall was seen beyond. Rook surveyed the place and saw men in what looked to be military attire roving around the battlements. The barrier seemed to have reached a jagged end; a portion of stone and mortar crumbled to reveal a town that was behind it.

"Strange, don't you think?" Rook was not aware that the canoness was also looking at the broken walls. "This was the site of an old fortress town, destroyed in a great war decades ago. I wasn't born at that time, so I only based it on what my father and history lessons taught me. The place was named in honor of the commander who died fighting off the invaders."

Rook gave another nod; he could only take her word for it, for everything in this place was new to him. Empty wooden crates became makeshift seats at the back of the cart; they were not exactly the best substitutes, but they were better than sitting directly on the floor where some spots of broken earth were seen. Potato or some other root crop was delivered to a town before the driver set on a return journey.

The horse has cut the travel time short and managed to reach the fork faster than expected. An orange sun was seen making its descent, taking the day along with it. The cart stopped at a point that split the road in three. On the left was an outline of a farmhouse with a barn behind it; the rightward path led to Wulfstadt and not too far ahead was a part of Altrecht's walls where the town's western gate was situated.

"We have reached where we need to be, kind sir. I thank you for your help."

"It is nothing, Holy Sister." The driver's eyes followed the two when they left the cart. "Are you planning to make your way to Altrecht?"

"Yes. There are matters we need to attend to there." Euphemia felt a tinge of alarm from the old man. She jumped on it when she asked, "Is there anything we should be careful with?"

"Strange things are running at the towns a month from now. Those brigands are up and about again." A longer pause was heard from the old man when he uttered the last few words. "I can give both of you a room to stay for the night if you wish. It is dangerous out there at night."

Was this opportunity perhaps? A clue to where her father's captors could be? Euphemia used to remember Altrecht as a distant yet peaceful place, but things might have changed within those years of the cloister. Her chances were vague, and these events would most likely have little to do with the quest for answers she committed herself in. If there were truth to the old man's words, then...

"We thank you for your generosity, Sir, but I'm afraid we must decline." Euphemia bowed before returning the driver's gaze. "There are things we need to do inside the town."

"I understand. If these matters need doing right away," he said. The aged driver tilted his cap and resumed grip on the reins. "The house is open should you change your mind. Come see us some other time."

"Bless you and your home Sir." Euphemia's hand waved a cross in the air. "May the Creator continue to protect you and your loved ones from harm."

"Thank you, Holy Sister."

The reins snapped and the horse started clopping leftward. Rook's eyes followed the cart and horse to the point where a fading figure could be seen. He followed Euphemia to the town's gates.

Altrecht did not have grand buildings like Blaurosen or the cool coast like Alberta. Walls that glowed orange in the sun were what was left of a citadel that once stood there. A central square replaced the main fortress that was destroyed during the years of the Grand Invasion; an arch that led to where the main door was remained intact as a reminder to the townsfolk of what happened years before.

Rook's eyes shifted from one area to another after Euphemia was granted passage by the town watch. The religious habit she wore plus the fact that she was a canoness of an imperial church did not elicit further inspection from the guards. He passed by the men, who could only follow him with uneven stares.

Euphemia and Rook passed by a house that was reduced to soot, ash, and ruins. No smoke or embers were seen on the pile of rocks and wood, but a team of constables and firemen salvaged whatever items of value could be hidden inside. Two men with picks and axes broke off some of the stone and wood and loaded those untouched by fire on a nearby cart. Not too far from the scene of the ruins were houses with broken windows and dislodged doors. Rook could see their interiors filled with chair legs and fragments of what used to be glass showcases. The boy began to wonder why his companion would decide to venture out in a place like this, and what Euphemia was expecting to know here.

That man was right, and the extent of the dangers was more visible from inside the towns. Constables and other uniformed men of the Empire's armed forces were posted on the streets. Euphemia could recall warmer people out and about the streets when she last visited the place. Could ten years really change people from pleasant to cold and doubting? Many stared at from their windows and would look away or shut the panes the moment the stares were returned. Perhaps Rook's presence with her cast distrust amongst the townspeople; his outfit quickly labeled him as an outlander.

"We would need to find a place to stay for the night." Euphemia has forgotten the reason for accompanying Rook at that time. "It looks like you will have to stay with me a little longer. I wouldn't want you to be on your own in a place that is far from comfortable at the moment."

Rook nodded. There was nothing he could say at that time; all the decisions lay heavily on the cleric.

They found an inn near the warehouse block at the right-center of the town. It looked too simple for paid lodgings, more of a cottage that was converted into a place of business. There weren't any nearer competition around, and both Euphemia and Rook were somewhat relieved to find out that they did not need to venture farther to look for a place to stay. Euphemia opened the door and made her way to the front desk, with Rook following closely. A portly maid who seemed to have come out of a cleaning duty attended to the two; she fixed her headband that caught a patch of gray dust along the sides.

"I would like two rooms, preferably those next to each other."

"I am sorry Sister, but all the single rooms were rented. Perhaps I can interest you in a room for two instead?"

"I see..." there should be no problem if she were to stay in the same room as the boy. He somehow earned a degree of trust from the cleric. "I'll take it then."

The attendant went to the wall and took out one of the keys from a hanger to give to Euphemia; the number '14' was etched in fading black fonts.

"Take the flight of stairs to your right. Your room is the first to your left. Thank you for your patronage and rest well tonight."

It was nothing grand like what Rook imagined to be the insides of a common dwelling in one of the great cities, but the space could properly hold two people. It had beds, a table for writing, and a window for viewing the outside. Euphemia has put down her bag – something which Rook only noticed after the entire journey to Altrecht.

"If you're hungry, you could take the biscuits in the large bag. All the time we've spent walking has tired me out faster than I expected." The cleric went to the bed opposite of what Rook picked for himself. Euphemia stretched her arms and dropped her back on the mattress. "I'll close my eyes a little. I know that you've been traveling longer than I, so take the chance to rest. I'll talk to you again in the morning."

She meant what she said after all; Rook saw that Euphemia did not exert any effort to remove her head covering. She lay flat on the bed at first, only to move with her face half-buried in the pillow minutes later.

He could only imagine what Euphemia looked like without that heavy-looking headpiece covering the rest of her head, but that did not dim his gradually-forming glee to accompany a woman. It could have been so because something reminded him that he used to enjoy the company of one of the opposite gender. Rook would always hear a girl's voice in his memories of that place he left behind. She was among them who lay in a small cell who never failed to talk about how they will free themselves of the oppressive man one day. If he could only remove the shadow that hid her face in his mind – curse that man who messed up his memories. Euphemia was a different case, but then her existence in this reality, and perhaps the presence of any woman would have been enough to trigger a locked memory. Nonetheless, her sleeping face was a sight his eyes would indulge in. Rook began to feel drowsy after watching the canoness rest.