The three men walked through the front entrance to the Hold. All eyes fell upon them as they walked through the main receiving area. Desks and benches dotted the large room for typical clerical tasks as well as to be used for a policing station, a few under arrest sitting on the benches as Braddock, Lestith and Amrin walked passed.

A few were drunk and passed out, so the reason for them being there was obvious, others looked to be in pretty bad shape, bruises and cuts on various parts of their body and face, so chances are they were arrested for assault, resisting arrest or something else.

Amrin couldn’t help but wonder why he was being escorted through the Hold, when the young girl should be in a clinic or temple of some sort for healing.

“Is there a reason you’re bringing me into the Hold?” he said cautiously.

“Oh, right, please don’t be alarmed. We have our own in house healer. The young lady is in an upper room at the end of the hall.” Lestith said to ease his worry.

They continued to walk in silence through the corridors and up the stairs. Inside the hallway there were a few soldiers not in armor, but instead casual wear and some were wearing sleeping attire, he could only assume this was also used as a dormitory of sorts for recruits.

They came to a stop at the door at the very end of the hall, where a guard in full plate armor stood at attention. He saluted Braddock and Lestith quickly and then opened the door carefully to let them in. Braddock and Lestith took a place at the foot of the bed, where a young girl with long straight black hair that fell to the middle of her back was staring out of the window close to her bed.

Amrin entered the room and saw she had bandages on both arms and hands, her face also had the occasional patch to cover a wound and while she looked worse for wear due to the bandages, her hair was shiny, and she looked much better than when he first saw her. She was no longer gaunt and haggard, her eyes didn’t sink into her face and were no longer surrounded by dark black circles that made her seem older than she was. He came to stand at the side of her bed and waited patiently.

The girl finally noticed the two at the foot of the bed in the corner of her eyes and turned slowly. After the incident, her reaction to her surroundings was much slower and almost labored in its execution. She looked tired, but only slightly as her eyes moved around slowly to take in her surroundings.

After she registered that Braddock and Lestith were here to visit she smiled gently and slowly, as everything else she seemed to do. Lestith raised a hand and waved gently to her as he returned the smile. Braddock only nodded in recognition. Amrin watched the exchange and made a mental note to raise his opinion of them.

It was then the young girl turned towards Amrin finally, and rested her eyes on his. Amrin’s eyes were unique and anyone that had seen them before would easily be able to remember them, as evidenced by Lestith realizing he was the ‘old man’ from the village.

“Hello. I’m glad that you are doing well now.” He said as she continued to stare.

She didn’t respond and only continued to stare intently at his face. Amrin turned to the two men and furrowed his brow and raise his shoulders in confusion. Lestith shook his head side to side and showed he too was unsure of what was going on. When Amrin turned back to look at the girl she was crying. The tears were flowing from her eyes, but she was totally silent. No sobs, no gasps for air and no screams in pain or despair.

“A-are you here to help us?” she asked in an almost whisper like tone.

“I’m….sorry?”

“You…you were summoned….to help us….right?”

Again, he turned to look at Lestith and Braddock who both had expressions matching his, total confusion.

“I don’t know what you mean. I wasn’t summoned.”

“The shiny rock….you….were there….they all died….you were summoned….right?” each word seemed as if it pained her to utter. And still the tears flowed unhindered down her cheeks.

Amrin was taken aback slightly. This girl was under the impression that everyone in the cave had died in order to summon him. That’s what Adalyn was talking about when she mentioned a ritual. He exhaled sharply and placed his right hand over his face and crossed his left arm across his chest to support it.

“What is she talking about? You were summoned?” Braddock questioned him.

“No! I don’t know what’s going on either.” Amrin shot back in defense.

“Not true! Family died, friends died…abandoned by king!” her voice was cracking and sounded rough. “Elder summoned…demon. Punish greedy nobles! Food gone. Money gone. No one helped! Everyone died...you punish all of them!” her incomplete sentences made it somewhat hard to follow but the men in the room understood.

“They attempted a demon summoning to take revenge on the nobles that abandoned them…” Braddock said quietly. “It makes sense…they were left to fend for themselves for so long…But does that mean.” He looked up to Amrin.

“Let’s get one thing clear, I wasn’t summoned. Whatever ritual your village attempted…it didn’t work. I was not brought here by anything. I just happened to be impr….” He paused abruptly and attempted to correct himself. “I was just in the area when I heard the cave in. I found you unconscious and hurt. I nursed you to health the best I could and then these Knights found us. That’s it.”

He didn’t want to be so direct and insensitive but he needed to clear up any misunderstanding before he was suspected for being some kind of demon or something ridiculous like that. He began to notice the girl starting to show emotion other than the silent tears. Her face began to turn flush and her lips began to quiver.

She reached out and grabbed onto his shirt and started to sob, her breath was the only thing able to escape her throat though, it seems that she had lost her voice and that was the reason her form of speaking was labored and broken. Amrin furrowed his brows, he didn’t know what to do, and he looked to the others who also had looks of concern but equally at a loss.

Being all men, it wasn’t exactly their forte with dealing with females, let alone younger females. The only thing that Amrin could think of to do might raise concerns and questions, but he figured he owed it to the girl, he couldn’t shake the fact that the villagers attempted some ridiculous ritual because they knew he was trapped in that mountain. If he wasn’t there, they would probably be alive…probably. The state of the village made him also doubt that, but it was a good enough reason for him to want to help her regardless.

He lay his left hand on her shoulder to steady her, and then his right was gently placed on top of her head. He closed his eyes and his hands began to glow a gentle rose pink color, within seconds the young girl stopped crying and she released his shirt.

Amrin then raised his hand from her head and gently pushed her back towards her pillow and laid her to rest, covering her with the blanket. If not for the tears that were still wet on her cheeks, the look on her face would show that she was completely content. He turned to the exit and walked out. Braddock and Lestith were stunned at what happened, confusion and questions abound in their minds. Lestith was the first to chase after him, Braddock was still slow to move and hobbled his way out of the room after the two.

Lestith was quick to catch up, the sound of his armor clanking as he jogged to meet Amrin’s stride.

“Hey. Hey!” he yelled as Amrin walked out into the courtyard.

“Ugh, what?!” He quickly turned around, frustrated.

“W-what was that? That you did to her? You didn’t….” Lestith wasn’t accusing him, but his habit of being cautious and concerned about those in need brought it up.

“Hurt her? Kill her? Or something ridiculous like that?” Amrin said, his voice filled with annoyance.

“N-no…well, yes. Look, I’m just worried. It’s my job.”

Amrin released an exasperated sigh.

“Look, I just helped ease her mind, that’s all. She was clearly traumatized by what happened. She was under some asinine impression that she summoned me to help her with….something! I simply implanted the idea that her family had been lost in a plague that struck her village, her being the only survivor.” He blurted out.

“Implanted? W-what do you mean implanted? How is something like that possible? And how could you make her believe a lie?!” Lestith was angry and confused.

“And what would you have me do?! Huh!? What would you do!? Tell me, oh mighty Knight who art here to protect the weak and innocent! If you are so righteous and holy, the upholder of all that is just and good in this world…Where were you when their village was on the verge of death!? Where was your righteousness when they had to resort to some stupid fucking ritual to summon some…thing!?”

Amrin had no idea why he was so furious. He just was. It might have something to do with the young girl being left all alone, essentially abandoned by those she most likely held dear, regardless of whether it was their fault. She was alone in the world now. Everyone and everything she knew, all she held dear, taken from her in a single night.

The pursuit of power, regardless of its reasoning, was yet again the downfall of a people. He had lost count, no, not lost, forced himself to forget, the amount of times he had seen this same event happen over his ancient lifespan.

Lestith noticed something in Amrin’s eyes. They began to have very faint traces of color, reds, blues and purples and for a very brief moment, pitch black. He was terrified, but still compelled to answer…but nothing would come out.

He could feel it, again. Amrin couldn’t explain what it was but he was so angry. Always so angry. He never used to have an issue keeping his emotions in check, but the anger was always at the top now. It took more effort and willpower for him to keep from losing himself entirely.

He was completely conscious of what was happening, but he couldn’t stop himself, the emotions, the words and actions were beyond his control unless he focused all his efforts on stopping himself. The only way he could explain it was he was merely along for the ride, and the anger was taking over while he was forced to watch.

“If you must blame someone, then you can blame me!” Braddock came stumbling out of the doors. “Captain Lestith had no control over the allocation, expedition or its period of execution!” he came to stand beside Lestith.

Amrin was out of breath, his face was flush and he began to shake from anger. He knew that if he lashed out here, hundreds if not thousands would suffer the consequences, even the young girl that caused him to feel this helpless and angry for her.

“I did what I could. Her memories may now be a lie, but tell me…if that were your loved one, if that were someone you held dear and you knew, you knew, that she would suffer unimaginable pain, agony and suffering from the memories of something so traumatic as watching people die needlessly before her eyes…would you not do anything in your power to keep that from happening?!” he was shaking, pointing at Lestith and Braddock as he shouted with his other fist clenched.

“Thank you.” Braddock said gently, and bowed.

The rage within Amrin immediately took a blow. He twitched at the sudden politeness and gratitude given to him. He furrowed his brows and looked confused.

“W-what are you thanking me for?”

“You’re absolutely right, I have no idea how you did it, nor do I care at this moment. They may be a lie, but in the absence of any other alternatives, I agree with the solution you came to. She will be at peace now. She is alive, she will have a much easier time coping with her new memory of the event, and she has you to thank.”

“She must never know!” he said angrily.

“Of course. Not about the truth of her village, but if you ask me to keep from telling her that the one who saved her is truly an honorable and just person…I must kindly refuse.” He said firmly.

Lestith didn’t know what to say, but Braddock, coming in during the middle of the exchange knew exactly what to say and exactly how to solve the issue so that whatever he saw in Amrin’s eyes never came to fruition. He was in awe once again by the man that he was proud to serve.

“Very well. Now that I’ve held up my end of this agreement, I’ll be on my way.” Amrin turned and headed towards the exit of the Hold. Before leaving he turned “You. Lestith? I hold you responsible for her well-being. I don't care about your circumstances at home, as you so eloquently put it, it is your job. Think of it as comeuppance for failing to uphold that holier than thou mentality you hold so dear.”

Lestith’s jaw dropped, he quickly looked to Braddock who quickly looked away to avoid needing to answer.

“Y-you can’t…!”

“And because you pissed me off!” he yelled once more as he walked through the entry way of the Hold.

“He…he can’t do that can he?” Lestith stuttered.

“Don’t look at me. Lest you want to feel the wrath of the Headmistress, as well as the one that she apparently holds in very high regard, I suggest you get your affairs in order to take on a new member within your household.” Braddock said unsympathetically and turned to walk back into the building.

“Besides, you’re single aren’t you? I’m sure it’ll do you some good to have a female touch around the place.” He began to laugh as he closed the door behind him.

Lestith was now alone in the courtyard, his jaw still dropped, shoulders slouched and head reeling over what he was now placed in charge of.