Kindred Ruins

When they finally pulled apart, Alvise’s eyes roamed over her face, taking in every detail. “You—your father—” His voice wavered, “My lady, you’ve grown so! But… what happened? Why are you here?”

Fiora’s smile faltered slightly. “It’s quite a long story.”

Alvise’s gaze flicked behind her, settling on the dark-clad mercenary lingering at the entrance. River didn’t move, his expression unreadable.

The steward studied him carefully, eyes shifting between the two of them before exhaling. “Let me prepare some tea.”

✾

The warmth of the tailor’s sitting room was a stark contrast to the cool night outside. A kettle whistled gently, the scent of steeped herbs filling the air as Alvise poured three cups.

Alvise used to be the Di Lorenzo’s lead steward, Fiora’s personal caretaker, and by all accounts, a man of impeccable discipline.

River leaned back in his chair, while Fiora sat more properly, hands wrapped around the delicate porcelain cup. They had just finished explaining everything—what had happened to the Di Lorenzo estate, how Fiora had escaped, and how River had found her. Alvise listened without interruption, his brows furrowed deeply.

When they finished, a heavy silence settled.

Finally, the older man sighed. “So… you need an invitation to the ball.”

Both Fiora and River nodded.

Another sigh. Alvise set his cup down, his gaze settling once more on River, unimpressed.

“And in the company of this man, no less.”

“You wound me.”

“I mean it,” Alvise said sternly. He turned back to Fiora. “My lady, if you have nowhere else to go, you are welcome to stay here. You should stay here, in fact. Adventuring is not an easy road to walk.”

Fiora frowned for a second. River expected her to hesitate. Expected her to at least consider the offer.

But she didn’t.

Fiora shook her head, firm. “I can’t.”

Alvise frowned. “Lady Fiora—”

“I don’t want to spend the last year of this world taking it easy,” she said, more determined now. “I want to see it all. This is what I always wanted to do.”

Alvise stopped, searching for something in her gaze. He must have found it, because after a long pause, he simply sighed. “I cannot stop you from achieving what you always desired, my lady.”

“You don’t have anything you desire to do before… you know?”

Alvise narrowed his eyes at the question. Then after a long pause.

“There is nothing to do. Only wait for the end, I suppose.”

At those words Fiora couldn’t deny the pang of heaviness in her heart.

“Alvise, I never did learn…” The girl leaned closer to him, curiosity in her blue eyes, “Why did you leave the estate so abruptly?”

The man’s hesitation flickered in his features.

“You never did learn, did you?”

Fiora blinked, surprised by the sudden shift. “No… nobody ever addressed it properly.”

The older man hesitated, adjusting his spectacles. Then, finally, he spoke.

“I was there the day your father cast out a woman from the estate, One of the servants. A maid.”

“Cast out?”

“She was pregnant.” Alvise’s fingers curled slightly against the porcelain cup. “With his child.”

Silence.

Fiora felt her breath hitch. Her father—?

“He refused to acknowledge her. Refused to acknowledge them. She was sent away with nothing, exiled from the household without so much as a coin to her name.”

Fiora’s grip on her cup tightened.

“I… protested.” His lips quirked in something bitter. “I thought I had served him long enough that my voice would matter.”

River sighed, “Didn’t go well, I take it.”

“No. He dismissed me the very next day. Without warning. Without explanation.”

Fiora stared at the table, her heart pounding in her chest. She had always known her father was cruel. But this?

She swallowed hard. “And the child…?”

Alvise shook his head. “I don’t know. By the time I sought them out, they had already vanished.”

River raised a brow. “So what you’re saying is—”

“If they survived…” Alvise hesitated. “Then somewhere in Castovia, you may have a half-sibling, my lady.”

Fiora’s stomach twisted. She had a brother. Or a sister. Someone she had never known.

She exhaled, steadying herself. Now wasn’t the time to spiral.

Alvise sighed again, shaking his head. “Regardless… let’s deal with the present, shall we?” He turned back to River. “Stand up.”

River blinked. “What?”

“We need to take your measurements.”

River remained firmly seated. “Why.”

“You can’t very well go to a noble’s ball looking like this.”

Fiora barely contained her laughter as River’s eye twitched. “I like looking like this.”

“Be that as it may, you will need to look presentable.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Come along, mercenary.”

River did not move.

Fiora nudged him, grinning. “Go on.”

He shot her a flat look. “I hate this.”

“I know.”

With a long, suffering sigh, River finally stood, grumbling under his breath as he followed Alvise into the back.

Fiora sipped her tea, victorious.

✾

It was late by the time they left the shop. The streets were quiet now, the usual bustle of Montevio settling into a lull.

River adjusted his gloves, letting out a breath. “Remind me to never do that again.”

Fiora smirked. “You’ll look very nice, lord River.”

He shot her a glare.

Before they could take another step, Alvise caught up to them by the doorway. “Lady Fiora,” he said. “If you have nowhere else to go, you don’t have to resort to an inn. I’d be delighted to house you here.”

Fiora paused.

Yet she knew there was no way Alvise would let a mercenary sleep under his roof. And there was no way Fiora would leave River alone. There was an odd fear within her that if she let him out of her sight for even a single night, he'd up and leave her never to be seen again, even if he needed her as much as she needed him.

So instead she simply smiled.

“Thank you, Alvise, but no. I have to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t run into trouble.”

River gave a dry chuckle. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Alvise sighed but didn’t argue. “Very well. I wish you a pleasant night.”

With that, the two of them made their way towards the inn, the streets of Montevio stretching before them.

✾

The room was quiet.

Most of the city had long since settled into sleep, but Fiora found herself restless, lying awake beneath the weight of her thoughts. 

She turned onto her side, staring at the ceiling. The blankets felt too heavy, the air too still. No matter how much she tried, sleep refused to come.

With a sigh, she sat up.

Across the room, River shifted. She had almost forgotten he was there, lying on the other bed, arms folded behind his head.

“You’re thinking too loud.”

Fiora stiffened. “…What?”

River cracked one eye open. “You’re thinking too loud. Some of us are trying to rest, y’know.”

"But I wasn’t saying anything.”

“You didn’t have to.” He turned onto his side, “What’s the commotion about?”

Fiora hesitated. But it was late, and the weight in her chest wasn’t getting any lighter.

She exhaled, drawing her knees to her chest. “I have a lot on my mind.”

River hummed. “Figured.”

“You know, now that I see it from a different point of view, I realized… I never did love my father. Nor did he love me. He was cruel, and cold and… nothing sort of what family should be like.”

River listened in silence as Fiora spoke in a slightly hushed tone.

“Nor did my mother for that matter. They were never what I hoped them to be. Yet to hear my father had done something so evil… it’s weird to put it into words. I was disappointed in ways I didn’t think possible of him. And yet to have a half-sibling out there, not knowing who they are…”

“Didn’t you have any siblings?”

Fiora’s throat tightened, "I did. Matteo.”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything else, and River didn't press her.

“He was my older brother. My role model. From my family, he was the only one who ever really understood me.” She smiled faintly, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “He never treated me like a pawn in some political game. Never made me feel like I had to be anything other than myself.”

She exhaled. “He was killed in the raid on my home.”

A heavy silence filled the space between them.

River sat up properly now, resting his arms against his knees. He didn’t speak right away, but there was something knowing in the way he glanced down at his hands.

“…I know how that is,” he said finally.

Fiora blinked.

River leaned back slightly, his tone lacking the usual sharpness, “Losing a brother, I mean. Except… mine wasn’t my blood brother. My whole clan was my family. And every single one of them was taken from me.”

Fiora stilled.

“We were betrayed. Sold out by the very man who hired us. Lothar Vitale.”

Fiora’s breath caught.

“You’re probably one of the few people I’ve met who know how it feels to lose it all in a single night.”

Fiora tightened her grip around her knees. “I… I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorry that it happened.”

River glanced at her, studying her for a moment. Then, to her surprise, his expression softened.

“…Thanks.”

Fiora smiled faintly.

For a while, neither of them said anything. The room was silent again, but it wasn’t the same kind of silence as before. It was quieter. Lighter.

Fiora lay back down, letting her eyes drift shut.

River leaned back as well, “You done thinking now?”

Fiora let out a breathy laugh. “For now.”

“Good. Go to sleep, little noble.”

For the first time that night, she actually felt like she could.