Soft moonlight and sparkling stars illuminated the clear and silent night of Kingsford. Despite the serenity, Aileen kinda felt worse. She could no longer sleep soundly as a terrible dream of her son’s death was always haunting. That night became the third night in which she woke up from her bed. Cold sweat dripped down her pale face.

Gideon woke up and tried to calm his wife.

“That dream again,” said Aileen. “Are they going to be alright?”

“I don’t know either.” Gideon was speechless. He also felt the same anxiety.

Gideon rubbed Aileen’s back gently, hoping that they could endure every night that was getting tougher. The two of them were silent for a few moments.

“I’m going to go for a walk to calm myself.” Aileen glanced at her husband’s eyes. She then got up.

“You want me to come with you?”

“No need. I’m not going far,” said Aileen. She kissed her husband’s forehead, then left the room and strolled around the castle balcony. A gust of wind caressed Aileen’s face and blow her red strands. Feeling cold, she hugged herself while tightening her fur coat. Some torches affixed to the stone walls could not warm the atmosphere but provided only modest light.

Aileen paused for a moment at the edge of a parapet and prayed for her children. A few moments passed in silence before Aileen saw a flash of shadow at the end of the balcony. Driven by the sudden curiosity that arose, she rushed to follow it.

The shadow turned right and continued walking briskly towards the northern part of the castle. Seeing her small stature and graceful movements, Aileen concluded that the person she was following was a girl. Her blonde hairs were a little out of the hood she wore to cover her face.

Aileen continued to follow until they finally arrived at another side of the castle parapet. She then hid behind a stone wall while still lurking.

After looking around to make sure that no one was following, the veiled girl removed her face covering, allowing her to breathe easier.

That’s Princess Isabel. Aileen’s breath paused. Allegedly, the queen’s story about her daughter—who goes out at night—has proven true.

A moment later, the princess climbed up the parapet and jumped down. Aileen, who saw that act, was so shocked. She knew that the castle’s height was about twenty feet off the ground. Logically, there was no way someone could jump from that high without getting hurt. Aileen rushed to the spot where the princess jumped and looked down.

There was a pile of dry hay under the castle walls where Isabel had just plunged. After landing, the princess put her face mask back on and hurried away from the castle to the west part of the city.

Driven by growing curiosity, Aileen followed Isabel and climbed the parapet wall slowly. Even though she knew there was a soft landing below, the height of the wall still made her hesitate for a moment. After taking several deep breaths, she jumped.

The wind was blowing as the force of gravity pulled her rapidly towards the earth. A second later, her body sunk into the haystack, making her breath stop for a moment. She got out, caught her breath, and hurried after Isabel to the west.

Where is she going? Is it true that he will meet Bram, the young gerpa? The question kept resonating in her head while following the princess.

The two of them walked through the narrow, dark, and silent town alley. There are no more torches to light the streets. Only the dim moonlight remained faithful to aid vision. Aileen had to hide behind a wall or crouch behind a barrel several times so that the princess would not notice her presence.

Before long, they finally arrived at an inn. Aileen let princess Isabel go in, while she hid behind a narrow alley.

Why did the princess go in there? Aileen’s mind was filled with negative things about Isabel. Feeling that getting too involved in this matter could drag her to an unwanted problem, Aileen decided to return to the castle.

However, when she was about to turn around, she was startled by the presence of Karl Agerd, the head of gerpa. Along with five other young gerpas, they all wore long-sleeved clothes and white headgear.

“What could a noblewoman like you possibly do at this late at night?” asked Karl.

Aileen just kept quiet, as she couldn’t find any suitable answer. Her mouth gaped wide, but no sound came out of her throat.

“Let’s go inside. I’ll treat you to a drink. They say the innkeeper has the best wine.” The old gerpa said gently while smiling faintly. He then opened the inn gate and let Aileen go before him.

“Sorry sir, we’re closed.” The innkeeper was surprised to see many people coming since the night was late.

“But I bet you just accepted someone, didn’t you?” asked Karl calmly.

“Err… Yeah, she’s a guest staying here,” said the innkeeper. His face paled instantly.

“Show me which room she’s in, and everything will be fine,” said Karl calmly.

“That room, sir. She entered the third room,” said the host with heart pounding.

“All right, then we won’t disturb you. Here’s some money for bothering you at this time of night and buy a bottle of your wine.” Karl handed him five gold pieces. “Go to sleep. We’ll take care of our own business.”

“Please don’t ruin my place.” Having a feeling that there will be a fuss, the host didn’t want to be involved. He chose to hurry away and hid in his room.

“Let’s just sit here.” Karl invited Aileen to sit on an empty chair. He then coded the five young gerpas to go upstairs and get to work.

“What will they do?” Aileen looks confused and scared at the same time.

“Following God’s orders.”

“What orders?”

“You’ll find out.” Karl poured some of the wine and took a sip. “Try this, it’s delicious.” He handed the wine to the lady. Aileen shook her head as a refusal as she felt very uncomfortable being in this kind of situation. She just sat restlessly staring at the edge of the wooden table that seemed to be a little worn.

Not long after, a scream was heard from above. “Let go of us!” Bram tried to rebel, while Isabel just looked down in resignation when the young gerpa caught them both in the same room—a thing that was forbidden under Herod’s religious law. Some guests staying there looked out to see what was going on.

The two of them were then led down the stairs to meet Karl. The head gerpa glared at Bram. His face was reddened as he held back his shame and anger. “What a shame! Your father would be so disappointed in you!” The head gerpa had long been friends with Bram’s father, the ruler of the northern region.

“Huh… What does he care about me? I’m just an adopted child.”

A hard slap immediately landed on Bram’s cheek as a response from Karl. “You insolent! You really don’t know how to be grateful!”

“You can punish me as you please, but you have to forgive Isabel.”.

“Everything will be decided later in court. Take them away!” Karl ordered his subordinates to imprison the lovers while he stayed to calm the commotion.

“It’s done. Go back to your rooms. Sorry for the fuss,” said Karl.

The inn guests who came outside their room then came back in, leaving Aileen alone with the old gerpa.

“You’re going to imprison the king’s daughter?” asked Aileen, surprised.

“Of course. God’s law applies to everyone, even the king,” said Karl, as he took another sip of his wine.

“You’re not afraid of the royal army?”

“Why be afraid? Everyone will die anyway. Even if I have to die, I will choose to die for defending the honor of God’s teachings.” Karl explained the principle of his life, which seemed radical. According to him, the world today runs unfairly. A king who has absolute power tends to corrupt. Laws were applied sharply downwards but bluntly upwards. The old man felt the need for a separation of powers between the king who was to run the government and the gerpas who carried out law enforcement. This scheme was currently being implemented in the northern region.

“M-maybe your opinion is quite reasonable.” Aileen realized that there was truth in Karl’s thoughts. “But is it wise to treat the princess like this without communicating with the royals first?”

“How do you think I got here at this time of night?” asked Karl.

Aileen shook her shoulder, as she didn’t have any clue.

“The queen herself asked me to watch over Bram. She didn’t like that boy to be too close to the princess. That’s why I started paying special attention to him. And that led me here.”

“But that doesn’t mean the queen allows you to treat her daughter like that,” said Aileen.

“As I said earlier, law enforcers shouldn’t have any lower authority than the king. If I need the queen’s permission to arrest her child, am I not denying my own ideals?” said Karl.

Aileen then understood the old gerpa’s thought. Despite feeling there was truth in there, she also didn’t think that Karl’s actions by capturing Princess Isabel were wise enough. This can cause conflict between the kingdom and the gerpas and potentially cause unwanted chaos. By then, she felt even more uncomfortable.

“Err… it’s getting late. I guess I should head back to the castle.” Aileen submitted her resignation.

“Yeah, I’ll be out of here soon too. Thanks for the interesting chat.” Karl got up from his seat and walked with Aileen out of the inn. “If you are willing, you can be a witness at the trial.” Karl kissed Aileen’s hand and left.

On the way back to the castle, Aileen’s mind was filled with uncertainty. Should she support Karl’s idealism by attending the trial as a witness, or should she step back from all this and choose not to get involved?

“Aileen! Where have you been?” Gideon’s voice sounded frantic. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Sorry, I followed Princess Isabel to the inn over there,” said Aileen.

“Are you sure? She could be someone else?” Gideon, who was just relieved, tensed up again.

“I’m sure. I’ll explain everything later in the room. This could be a big problem,” she huffed. Aileen’s face was as worried as her husband’s.

***

Meanwhile, Eric has just woken up. His vision was still blurry as he felt the pain all over his body. The rotted wooden ceiling appeared above his bed. He then tried to get up to check out the situation. But he failed as the wounds were so painful.

“Argh…” he groaned in pain while wondering in his mind, where is this?

“Are you awake?” A female’s voice was heard nearby. Eric rolled his eyes to find out. A beautiful girl with long brown hair tied in two was standing at the door. She wore a modest long dress as typical of a country girl.

“Here, drink it.” The girl walked near Eric. She helped Eric to sit and thrust a glass of water into his mouth.

“Thank You.” Eric felt better after the refreshing liquid ran down his parched throat. “Who are you?” His gaze was fixed on the figure of a young girl sitting in front of him.

“My name is Egelina.” A sweet smile graced her face. She also has pink freckles from too much sun exposure. “And you? What’s your name?” asked The girl back.

“I’m Eric. Where is this?”

“You are in Peteonia Village. We found you yesterday, severely wounded in the forest.”

“Is he awake?” Another older woman entered the house carrying a basket full of vegetables.

“Yes, ma’am… He just woke,” said Egelina.

“Wait a minute, I’ll prepare some food. You must be hungry.” The middle-aged woman then left to work in the kitchen.

“She’s my mother, Elise,” said Egelina.

Eric took another sip of his water and looked around. The house is small but comfortable. The walls were made of wooden planks with windows on several sides, making the room rather light.

“I have to go to Kingsford,” Eric said while struggling to his feet. However, the wounds on both legs made him stagger. Egelina then grabbed the man’s arm, preventing him from falling.

“Get some rest, sir. You’re still weak.” Egelina helped Eric sit back down on his bed.

Not long after, Elise came back from the kitchen with some pieces of boiled potatoes on a plate. She then gave it to Egelina as she will help Eric eat.

“Thank you.” As his stomach was empty, Eric didn’t bother with the taste and ate immediately.

“Why do you have to rush to the capital?” asked Elise a moment later.

Eric then explained everything that had happened. Gideon, his master, was in the capital city while his children—who were his responsibility—were stranded on a deserted island. He was on a mission to seek help to save the young master.

Elise and Egelina nodded in understanding of the knight’s condition. “But your wound hasn’t healed and we don’t have a horse. At least wait until your wound heals. It’s still a long way from here to the capital.” Elise explained the condition Eric was currently facing.

“Yeah, it seems I have no choice. I’m sorry that I have to bother you both for the next few days,” said Eric.

“That’s not a problem. My daughter will take care of you in the meantime.” Elise patted Egelina’s shoulder briefly and left.

“Oh, I forgot something.” Egelina rushed out and back a minute later.

“Here’s your cloth. I’ve fixed it.” She handed Eric’s clothes, which were now adorned with patches in several places.

“Thank you,” said Eric with a smile. Although his journey had to be delayed for a few days, he felt lucky to be saved by a very kind person. From his conversation with Egelina, he learned that the young woman’s father had died recently. He was killed by a gang of bandits. They were seemingly to be the same as the group who had injured Eric the previous day. Lately, the bandits often came and caused trouble around the village. That’s why there are no inns on the road to Peteonia village.

After hearing Egelina’s story, Eric’s little heart was moved to free the villagers from the threat of the bandits. But on the other hand, he must hurry to continue his mission of saving his young master. Whatever choice he had to make later, his priority now was to rest and recover from his injuries.