The Price Of Family

The forest fell silent. Even the wind held its breath as Faelar and the cloaked figure faced one another across the firelight.

The assassin moved first. One heartbeat she stood still, the next she was a blur of black and steel, kicking up a flurry of snow as she charged.

Faelar reacted instantly. His boot slammed into her chest with a sharp thud, sending her sprawling backward. She rolled, fluid and relentless, springing back to her feet before he could press the advantage.

“What do you want from us?” Faelar barked, his sword held firm, his voice echoing through the still woods.

The figure tilted her head, her face hidden beneath her hood. “It is not ‘us’ I’ve come for,” she hissed, leaping unnaturally high into the branches above. “It is you I wish to slay!”

She launched herself off the tree, daggers flashing. Steel met steel with a resounding clang, the force of her strike reverberating through the clearing.

Faelar’s sword overpowered both her daggers, catching her cloak and ripping it away as she leaped backward through the air, revealing a tall woman with emerald eyes glimmering against the flame, straight silver hair that flowed in the icy winds, and a scar that ran down her left eye.

“Lianne…” Faelar whispered, his sword dropping to his feet. “...you’re alive.”

The woman sprinted again, her daggers held in front of her face. Faelar stood still, his jaw dropped as a single tear traced down his face.

“FAELAR!” I shouted, diving at him.

We crashed into the snow just as her daggers slashed through the space where he’d been standing, the force of her strike carving deep furrows into the ground.

Before I had time to stand up, the assassin pounced on me, a dagger held against my throat, her eyes wide as she yelled. “STAY. OUT. OF. THIS. HUMAN!” Her teeth ground against each other, the cold blade sending a trickle of blood down my throat as it cut through my skin like fabric.

“LIANNE. NO!” Faelar cried out from behind us, his arm outstretched. “HE SAVED SAMIRA!”

The blades in her hands loosened as her emotions went from enraged to shocked in an instant. I kicked the assailant off, then pinned her to the ground, grasping her wrists with my hands over her head.

She struggled, trying to break free for a few seconds. “Get off!” she screamed, but in an instant, she stopped, her body freezing in place as I saw Amber’s hand glowing above her.

“This isn’t what it looks like…” I said, trying to catch my breath, only for Amber to raise an eyebrow and drop her hand, causing the assailant to kick me off of her. The force sent me a few meters away, landing in the snow.

I got up, brushing the snow off myself and shivering in the cold, as I inspected the assailant tied down by Amber’s magic—similar to the spell Fredreich used to control me—while Faelar and Jaeger stood close by. Faelar’s words, which were barely audible when I lay covered in snow, became clearer as I walked toward them.

“Lianne, believe me, I no longer serve the crown!”

“AND? YOU STILL LET HIM DIE! YOU KILLED HIM!” She lashed out, almost fighting back against Amber’s spell.

“I understand your anger,” Faelar said, his voice breaking, “but these people are innocent. This man,” he pointed to me, “saved your daughter’s life!”

Their gazes all turned to me.

Slowly, I approached Lianne and knelt in the snow. From inside my coat, I drew the pendant and held it out to her.

“You’re Samira and Laira’s mother, aren’t you?”

Her breath caught. She stared at the pendant, her fury melting into disbelief.

Amber released the spell. Lianne didn’t fight back.

She reached out with trembling hands, clutching the Elvenstone to her chest as tears spilled freely down her face.

“They’re great girls,” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Samira is taking great care of her younger sister, and they even have a place of their own in Luxion now.”

She wiped away her tears, sniffing, looking at me with tear-filled eyes. “Samira…” her voice jagged and broken, “did she get into trouble?”

“She’s safe now, that’s what matters.”

Faelar sheathed his sword after retrieving it from the snow and then said he’d like to speak to Lianne in private. Respecting his wishes, the three of us headed back to our tents.

As I walked into the tent, Amber walked up to me, her pace quick and her eyes unmoving. She raised her hand, causing me to close my eyes, flinching and expecting the worst, only to realize she was wiping away the blood from the wound on my neck.

“It’s not that deep,” she said. She threw away the rag she used to wipe my blood, placing her glowing hand on the laceration. “There, that should do it,” she said curtly.

“Thank you—”

Before I could complete my sentence, her arms wrapped around me, and she buried her face into my chest.

“Why did you have to lie to me?” she whispered, “after everything we’ve been through.” Her voice started to crack as she held onto me even tighter than before, sending a sharp pain through my chest where I had been hit.

Even though I wanted to bring up the fact that she had secrets of her own that she kept from me, and how I genuinely believed no one would have trusted me, not even her, I sighed and pressed my lips against her head.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly as I grabbed onto her shoulders. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yeah,” she sobbed, her sound muffled by my suit, “you really shouldn’t be doing that.”

Both Amber and I stood like that for a few moments, in complete silence until eventually, Faelar’s voice caught our attention.

“Aizawa,” he called out from outside the tent, “Lianne wishes to speak with you and Amber.”

Both Amber and I walked out and sat by the fireplace where Lianne waited for us. Her gaze, watching the flames dance, remained unbroken, even as we sat down.

“I wanted to thank you two,” she said, her voice low, “for protecting my daughters, and for your kindness to them.” She handed me the pendant.

“You should keep it,” I said, closing her hand shut around it.

A weak smile spread across her face as she put the pendant around her neck. “Thank you.”

She stood up and walked to the place her cloak lay in the snow. “I’ll be out of your hair,” she said as she donned the wet, snow-covered cloak back on.

“Lianne, I believe you’re a part of the Elven resistance against Fredreich, are you not?” I called out to her.

She walked back, dusting the cloak off. “Yes, I am.”

“Your husband was too, am I correct?”

“He was.”

“Lianne, I believe in what your husband fought for,” I stood up and walked closer to her. “I believe the Elven people should have the right to self-determination.”

Her eyes, glimmering, looked up into my own, as if trying to assess my honesty or to find answers to questions she could not say out loud.

“I don’t know how much Faelar has told you already, but we’re putting an end to all injustice, everywhere,” I looked over at Amber, her eyes meeting my own, “and for that, we need your help.”

Faelar raised an eyebrow as he glanced toward me but then chose to look back at the snow, raising a hand to his chin, thinking and calculating.

“How many of you continue to fight?” I asked.

“Roughly a thousand,” she replied, “but we’re scattered and don’t have any central leadership.”

“Well, Lianne, gather as many troops as you can,” I said, looking now toward both Amber and Faelar. “Tell whoever possible that your dream—your husband’s dream—might come true very soon.”