A Well Deserved Break

"Are you sure we can trust him?"

I didn't bother being tactful. Nothing the beastman said made any sense, nor did his interaction with the guard captain, Murus. Why would a human know an Exiled by name? Why would he turn the other way when he saw the Exiled fighting in the street?

"We can trust him," Bixey replied. The smile on her lips didn't quite reach her eyes. "He's just a lost kitten. I've known him since he was born, you know."

I looked over the supplies lining the shelves of the hideout. There were enough dried goods to feed a family for at least a year. I knew that Bixey had noticed, too.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't say he was the smartest and I know what it's like to do whatever it takes to survive. It's a miracle he's still alive on his own at all."

"That's the problem! How does one rebel have all this after saying their last hideout was raided? What happened to all the others? Did they just cross the wall like they were taking a stroll?"

"I don't know!"

Bixey's pale cheeks were flushed and the smile she'd been hiding behind was gone.

"I don't know. You think I don't find it strange? We tell him we need to cross and he suddenly leaves to 'prepare'? Do you think I'm not suspicious after coming back to find the other dozen resistance members missing while Shiro is living a life of luxury?"

"Then why haven't you said anything? Why haven't you forced the answers out of him?"

"Because…" Her ocean eyes were moist, her jaw clenched. "I want to believe him. I don't want to believe that someone I watched take their first steps yesterday grew up to be a gutter scum."

I didn't know how to respond. I'd never spent time around small children, so I couldn't empathize. All I knew was that Shiro was dangerous and Bixey's affections were going to get us killed.

"At least make him tell us what happened to the others before we go along with any of his plans. I want you to hear it all from his own lips before you decide we can trust him."

Bixey wiped her eyes and nodded. Her pointed nose twitched as she did and something about her deflated demeanor filled me with the overwhelming impulse to wrap my arms around her and squeeze as hard as I could. Not that I actually did.

It was nightfall before Shiro returned to the hideout. In his absence, Bixey had shared more about Purga and what to expect past the wall which boiled down to: freezing cold, monsters, bandits. Nothing unexpected. Yahime could handle bandits and monsters, and I'd yet to have any issues with the cold.

The greatest obstacle would be getting the Exiled to accept me. Bixey suggested we travel to the closest settlement, a small village named Stonewood, nestled into several mountains to the north east. Most of the resistance, including Shiro, had been born and raised in Stonewood. Bixey hadn't visited in decades, but I could tell by the softness in her eyes that it was important to her.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the closest place to a real home that she has. Living centuries as a nomad has to be exhausting. I can't imagine outliving everyone around me. Well, I guess that's not much of a problem anymore.

I snickered at my own morbid joke. With everything that had happened to me over the last week, I hadn't thought much about my old life beyond Royal Hearts. How had my parents reacted to the news? Or was I just in a coma imagining everything?

"What are you laughing at over there?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "I just thought about my family."

"You haven't told me anything about them. I didn't want to pry, but I won't say I'm not curious. How did one of the richest young ladies of the Empire end up in the middle of the northern forests in rags?"

"So you knew?"

"Of course I knew. I'm not an idiot, ya know."

"Debatable," I laughed. I took the seat next to Bixey and closed my eyes. How much could I tell her? How much did I even know? "I don't even know where to start."

"Your name, for one."

Kyomi Yozora, age thirty-one. Graduated in the top twenty-five of my class from X University and I've worked as a sales accountant at XX Firm for the past decade. Yeah right.

"My real name is Aurelie Scelerat."

A sour tang filled my mouth as I told my pseudo-truth. Technically, I was Aurelie. Not that I saw myself as her. If anything, I was an impostor traipsing through the wilds wearing her corpse. I glanced at Yahime. She hadn't moved in hours, not since Shiro had shoved his way past her. Had she gotten wrapped up in all of this because of me? If Dusk were guides for departing souls, had my sudden awakening as Aurelie corrupted or mutated her somehow? I wished I could just ask her.

"Scelerat… Whoa! Aren't you the Crown Prince's fiance?!"

"Was. He replaced me and exiled me after I tried to kill the woman he left me for."

Bixey's eyes widened as she bared her fangs. "What do you mean exiled you? He's the womanizer! Why didn't you try and kill him?"

"It wasn't that simple. I didn't want to kill anyone." I scraped what few of Aurelie's memories I could recall. "I was forced into it after losing Prince Stolz's favor by our parents. Then, when it went belly up, I was given two choices: run or wait for execution."

"Despicable." Bixey spit on the floor. Her thick hair was bristling and I had a feeling she'd be more than happy to hunt down the main cast for me. "This is why I hate humans. Always scheming and lying. Why punish you for something they made you do? How your species ever took over the continent…"

"What about you?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "You seem like you're close to the people of Stonewood."

"Close is… I guess you can say that. It was a lot smaller when I was born there."

Born there? She normal deflects conversations about her personal life. Is it because I opened up a little? Then, if I told her the whole truth…

"I imagine the village has changed since you lived there as a child. Do your parents still live there?"

Bixey shrugged. "I have no idea who my father is. As for my mother… yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed at me.

"Yeah."

We sat beside one another, staring at one another, waiting for the other to break first. Of course it was me.

"Dammit!" I yelled, rubbing my eyes as Bixey curled over, cackling. "I can't believe I lost just because you made a stupid face."

"Works every time. You're just one of a long list of victims who have fallen to The Great Bixey's power!"

"The Great Bixey indeed."

I jumped at Shiro's sudden arrival. I hadn't heard the door at all.

"You know it. How did preparations go?"

Shiro tossed a small satchel onto the table in the center of the hideout.

"New clothes for the human girl and the Dusk. You can fill it with whatever food you want to take, too."

Whatever food we want? That's quite the generous offer for someone who's supposed to be scraping by.

"Say, Shiro. Did the other resistance members really quit?"

I froze with my hand wrist deep into the satchel.

"They did. Why are you asking, Bix?"

"I'm just wondering since we're headed to Stonewood after we cross. I was hoping to see how baby Lass is doing."

"She's not a baby," Shiro said quietly. "She was thirteen."

"YAHIME!"

The shadow familiar appeared in front of me before I finished calling her name. Had my suspicions been right?

"Explain yourself," I demanded. "What do you mean 'was' thirteen."

"I don't need to explain myself to—"

A black claw flashed past Shiro's head. A thin red line appeared beside his eye on his cheek and blood trickled to his chin.

"H-Hey, let's all calm down. Come on Shiro. Just be honest before Yahime rips your head off."

"You're really siding with this human? You're a damn traitor to the cause, Bix."

"Just tell us the truth if you don't want Yahime to gut you."

"Shut… Fine. You two want the truth?"

Shiro's fists clenched at his side and for the first time since I'd met him, I could feel his sincerity.

"They're all gone, and it's my fault."

01:25:55