“Right this way, lady Laurania. This is where Lady Sena is staying at,” Rick said to Laureen, leading her through a relatively drab section of the castle. Watching the bare walls bereft of the usually colourful tapestries that decorated everywhere else in the castle, a sigh escaped from behind the girl’s veil. She could see why this wing was not open to an outsider like her. It painted a different picture than the other, livelier parts of the castle. A picture of isolation and lifelessness.

She frowned, wiggling her shoulder to loosen some tightness around her chest. The dress she wore, the same one she had arrived in, was uncomfortable, but she had still opted to don it as her travelling dress instead of the more comfortable dresses she had acquired since coming here. Because none of those dresses suited the nice veil she had, and what proper lady would sacrifice fashion for comfort? Especially when that fashion was such a crucial part…

“Open it,” Rick said to the guard standing beside a door composed entirely of heavy wooden slabs fitted together with thick belts of metal. It looked just like the rest of the Southern wing. Simple, inelegant, and most of all, sturdy. The undecorated corridor, guards at every corner, and doors that even a bear might not breakthrough; to Laureen, these circumstances resembled that of a prison more than anything else.

They were keeping Sena here? Did denying the marriage warrant such harsh treatment?

Stepping into the chamber after the door opened, Laureen couldn’t help but wrap the thick red and gold cloak tighter. The air of the room was chilly. And though a hearth lay straight on the wall opposite to the door, the chunks of oak wood in it were unlit and so were every other thing that could provide some warmth to the room, except for the dancing flame of the large candle on a table right in the middle of the room. Her eyes travelled beyond the flame, meeting two shining grey disks with flecks of golden light flickering within. And for a brief moment, both women could not help but stare at each other in silence.

“Lady Laureen,” Rick said to her. “I believe both of you already know each other somewhat, so there should be no need for an introduction.”

There indeed was no need. But greetings were still in order. Both women went through a moment of awkward hesitation before they accomplished the task that had seemed monumentally difficult all of a sudden. As Laureen was about to talk, she noticed something and turned towards Rick who stood beside the door.

The young man smiled. “Please talk with each other as much as you want. I will be right here until you are done.”

Laureen frowned at him. “You will be… staying here?”

“Yes.”

“But I wish to talk to her in private.”

Rick couldn’t help a rueful smile from escaping his lips. “My lord has instructed me to supervise your conversation, lady Laurania. And I cannot disobey it.”

A difficult look covered Laureen’s eyes as she looked at Sena. After all this preparation, was it going to fail?

“Rick, go out,” Sena said, her eyes narrowing as she gauged Laureen’s expression. The other girl had her reasons for wanting privacy, she was sure, and she saw no reason not to help someone who took care of her.

“My lady, I cannot—”

Sena turned towards him. The golden flecks in her eyes flaring, almost covering her entire pupil for an instant. “Go. Out.” Her voice was firm and unquestionable. And more than that, it had a strange ring to it that jolted through Rick. The young man’s heart seemed to stop its beating for an instant. He swallowed for a moment thinking to protest, but once he looked into those fierce eyes, he regretted that thinking and almost ran out of the door.

The occurrence, rather, the strangeness surrounding it, was not lost to Laureen. Her heart danced a nervous dance as her eyes travelled from the closed door to Sena, who had once again taken back her cold seat on the bare stone floor. For a time, they both studied each other in silence, judging each other, trying to speculate what was on each other’s mind. Though for Laureen, those attempts brought almost no result. All she could tell was that the other girl was curious, as curious as herself.

“You know,” she began, “ever since I heard of you, I’ve always wanted to talk to you once. All those times I had been beside the unconscious you, I had told you so many things, so many stories, events of my life, gossiped. I’ve complained to you of my grievances and shared the things I found joyful, I have even shared my deepest secrets with you. And even though you could not have listened to my words, from that time, I had seen you as my most intimate friend. Albeit an imaginary one.” she came forward, sitting down on the cold floor beside Sena. “I had always fantasised conversing with the real you. But never imagined our first conversation would take place under such circumstances.”

Sena smiled. “Why? You do not like my living quarters?”

Laureen sighed and looked at her eyes. “You rejected the marriage, did you not?” The golden-haired maiden’s silence was all the confirmation she needed. “I knew it! Just as Arakan said, you did refuse!” she said as a smile lit up her face.

“Arakan said?” Sena tilted her head. “What do you mean to say, miss Laurania?”

The red-haired one inhaled the cold air of the chamber, cooling the stream of nervousness inside her stomach, and took off her veil. “It’s not laurania, but laureen,” she said. “I am Laureen. Not, such as yourself, the lady of a noble house, nor the relative of house Sergel. Rather, I am the daughter of a butcher from Valar, and as it may concern you, the lover of your fiance Arakan Sergel.”

The last word left her mouth, bringing a deep quiet in its wake. The strong, angular curve of Sena’s eyebrows scrunched up as she judged this ‘Laureen’ who sat fidgeting beside her. From her timorous yet determined demeanour, her words should not be one of trickery. Besides, what could tricking her even accomplice, especially in circumstances such as this where the revelation of the truth could cause great harm to the girl herself?

“So lady Laureen,” Sena slowly tasted the words as she spoke, “what intention do you and your… lover have in playing such a game? Does he want me to get acquainted with my future sister-wife, so we can be on friendly terms with each other?”

Laureen’s eyes widened at the incredulity of the notion. “Of course, not,” she said. “Arakan does not want to marry you at all.”

“Does not want to marry me? As far as I am aware, he was the one who agreed to the proposal. If he has no desire to marry me, then why did he agree?” Sena frowned, not at all pleased at the notion. “Does he mean to deceive my family?”

Laureen pinched her forehead. Arakan had given her the permission to explain the events, even about his premonitions she just needed to grasp the way to phase them properly so it leaves no lingering misunderstanding. “I know it is a bit hard to grasp, but he had his reasons for doing so. And he also wished to help you. So please allow me to explain.”

Sena stared at her for a long time, considering her words. Arakan wished to help him? He had already helped her once when she was abducted in the capital, but why and how did he plan on helping her now?

“All right, tell me,” she said. “What is his reason for this act?”

Laureen stood up. The cold look in the other girl’s eyes, along with the chilly stone floor, made for a very uncomfortable stay. If it was uncomfortable now, how would she bear it for the duration she had to spend here? She took the candlestick from the table, noticing a heap of residue at the bottom which could not have been from just a few sticks, and took it to the hearth. Sena silently watched her light the fire without interrupting. It was, after all, not her love for the cold that she had left the hearth unlit, but, as childish as it may have been, as a sign of protest to her father.

After she had a satisfactory fire going, Laureen turned around and faced the other girl.

“You should know that Arakan took such a risk because he sees you as a friend,” she said, her face turning grave. “But that was not the only reason he had. There was a deeper, more important reason underlying his action.”

Although she was not the most articulate storyteller, Laureen had arranged the explanation in her mind over several weeks that she had spent taking care of Sena. And now her effort certainly bore fruit. As silent as she was during the explanation, Sena’s eyebrows had kept elevating along with the other girl’s words. Some of the stuff she heard might have been too outlandish to her before if she hadn’t had the chance to travel with Erhan Raiser or hadn’t faced her personal horror, the Shadewolf.

Yes, Arakan did warn her, probably more than a few times, to not take on the queen’s quest, and besides the quite foreseeable danger, the reason could have been myriad, but for it to be his premonition was out of her scope of imagination. And not to mention him, even for his lover to help her out like this…

They both were good people. A good couple. But as a commoner and a noble, the future for their love would certainly be fraught with difficulties.

Sena sighed. To be honest, if she had to marry, she would rather it be with Arakan than any other noble scion she had met. Though she certainly hoped she didn’t have to, as other than the things she had to do, she had never even considered Arakan Sergel that way, and she certainly did not want to now, knowing he had someone who loved her enough to do so much for him. However, her father refused to give her the choice.

“It seems his plan does not have the effect he desired,” She chuckled. “Still, thank you for taking care of me, and since you are leaving, when you reach the capital, do thank Arakan for his effort.”

Laureen shook her head. “I am not leaving, at least, not today.”

“What?” Sena asked, taken aback by the remark. “But my father said you will leave for the capital today. If you are not, then…”

“Oh, I certainly am not leaving, but someone else will,” Laureen said, starting to take off her cloak, then the other pieces of clothing came off one by one as she constantly groaned about how stuffy they were and how much she hated them. And just as the other girl’s eyes started widening after catching on to her intention, she stood in only her breeches and looked at her.

“Well? Do you need me to help you undress, my lady?” she asked, imitating the maids who had always used that to unintentionally annoy her to no end during bath times.

“Or would you please hurry up? If you don’t, I would probably catch a cold from staying like this in this room.”

“Are you done with your conversation, lady Laurania?” Rick asked as the veiled girl came out of the room. Instead of answering, the girl gave a curt nod, wrapping her cloak tighter and drawing her hood even further down. Rick couldn’t help but sigh and take a glance at the interior of the room. The hearth roared, looking recently lit, but its warmth still hadn’t spread to the room fully. Sena had been too stubborn, keeping the room in the dark like that. He hoped Laureen hadn’t caught a cold there.

“Let us be on our way, then. The other knights are waiting for us outside,” he said, again only receiving a single nod for his effort. Not that he was surprised. Laureen had been one of the least talkative people during these few weeks he had seen her. Though she was usually more expressive with her gestures. Perhaps the talk inside had made her unhappy somehow? What kind of conversation had they had? Rick was curious, but he kept that curiosity to himself and led the girl through the corridor. It was, after all, not his place to ask.

“Whoa there.” A grizzled old knight patted the flank of the mare he was riding, “steady girl, steady!”

His horse wasn’t the only one however, all the horses gathered at the castle gate ready to make the journey to the capital acted strangely, frisking and fidgeting. Even the two horses prepared for the carriage the noble girl was supposed to ride. And that was strange, considering the Briggs draught horses were usually quite docile and easy to handle. But now, as the future steward, Rick still wasn’t at the seats. The handlers had to hold them down physically so they wouldn’t bolt.

“What spooked them?” asked another knight with a scar across his face, trying to calm down his own horse.

“Damned if I know. Must have smelled something funny in the wind,” the old knight replied, looking towards the interior of the castle. “Hubrik’s boy and the lady are here at last. I thought they would spend the entire day inside.”

“Be careful when mounting the carriage. Lady Laurania. The horses seem agitated,” Rick commented as he observed the four knights and three stablemen trying to regain control over the animals that had gotten friskier as the duo came close.

The veiled girl also noticed the odd behaviour of the equines, but unlike others, she had an inkling that the reason lay with her. Sighing, she released a low hum from the back of her throat. And suddenly, all the animals quietened. Their frisky stomping and stamping calmed down, and they stood even more silent and docile than when they were first brought to the gates.

The exchange, however odd, was a brief one, and except for Rick, everyone else was too preoccupied with their horses to notice. He looked at the girl with eyes full of surprise and question, but she did not heed him; instead, the castle behind her had taken all her attention. The towers, the battlements, the ramparts and… the keep. Her grey eyes freckled with gold scrutinised every detail without missing an inch, framing them in her memory. After all, she knew not when she would return here again. Or if she could return at all.