Pale Flower

The orphanage was a rickety place, a humble home in northern Araphen. When the wind howled, as it did tonight, it would whistle through the cracks beneath the windows and upset the thatch upon the roof, but those were small matters, easily fixed. Money was scarce, what with all the tiny mouths he had to feed, but they made do with the small vegetable garden, the chickens in their coop, and the two cows who'd wandered to his home all those years ago. Still, Lucius was happy, or as happy as he could be.

The warm light of his staff was enough to dispel the chill of the night, and the soft snores of the children in their beds were a soothing melody to his ears. There were six of them in total, orphans of the last war, and he'd taken them in for no other reason than that he could. It was Elimine's will to help those in need, after all, but even had he not been a man of the cloth, he would have done it anyway.

Sighing, he turned back to his book. It had been years since he'd given through to the last conflict to tear across Elibe, though calling it a war would be a misnomer, to be sure. There had been no great armies and grand battles, for it had been just their small band against the Black Fang and Nergal's morphs.

The friendships he'd forged during the conflict had been binding, and as he thought of the children above, he was grateful for them. Both Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood had promised that his children would have places in their courts, or else as squires to their knights should they so desire, and his eldest, Mel, now a woman in her own right, had already left for Etruria to take up service with House Reglay.

Priscilla still visited from time to time, but of Raven there was no word. He shook his head. That was a memory for another time… Thinking of him was painful, more so the consider the way they had left things after the war.

Lucius started at the knock on his door, and instantly he was on his feet, staff in hand. Grasping his tome, he slowly walked across the room, the words of a spell on the tip of his tongue. The war had left scars upon all of them, and his instincts were still sharp.

Opening the door, just a crack, he peered out into the night, and he let out a gasp of surprise. He hadn't seen her in years, and even though she was no longer the young girl with a formidable grasp of magic who'd fought on the front lines of the war, he would recognise her anywhere.

"Nino," he said, opening the door and ushering her in. There were two children tugging at her cloak, their hair as green as their mother's, and he smiled. If anyone deserved happiness and a family, it was the young woman standing in his home, and he was pleased she had found it.

"Father Lucius," she said, inclining her head in a polite nod. "I am sorry to disturb you so late, but I didn't know who else I could turn to."

He pursed his lips, frowning as he studied her. She had grown out her hair, wearing it in a high ponytail, and the face had grown much slimmer. She was taller, leaner, and… scarred, more scarred than she had been during the last days of the war, in fact. And, her eyes were red, as though she'd been crying.

Thinking quickly, he looked down at her boys, both appearing half-asleep as they clung to her. Kneeling, he looked at them, and winced when he saw their eyes. Cold, too cold for boys so young, and there was a glint in them, one that sent a shiver down his spine. Jaffar, he thought… they had their father's eyes.

"I am Father Lucius," he said kindly. "There are biscuits in the kitchen, and I'm sure the two of you are quite hungry." Ushering them away from their mother and noting her watchful, wary eye, he led them to the kitchen table and served them the jar of biscuits he'd made with Chad that morning.

Satisfied they were busy, he turned to Nino with a frown before following her to the front room. She was tense, so tense, and there was something about the way she kept glancing out the window had his nerves on edge.

"What has happened, Nino?" he asked.

"I cannot stay long, and the entire story is one that is far too long to tell. Suffice to say that the sins of our pasts have a habit of finding us in the end, and there are those in Elibe who have not forgotten that Jaffar and I were once agents of the Black Fang."

"That was a long time, Nino," he said, not liking what he was hearing. "You are no longer the girl you once were, and I do imagine that fatherhood would have mellowed Jaffar to some extent."

"Maybe, but we have been on the run for weeks now, and I can no longer guarantee my sons' safety. There is quite bounty of my husband's head, Lucius, and a larger one on mine."

"No bounty hunter can trouble you should you seek sanctuary in Pherae or Ostia, and neither Lord Eliwood or Lord Hector would turn you away after all that we have been through together."

Nino shook her head before looking at him, her eyes haunted, her voice shaking. Tears sparkled on her cheeks in the dim light of his staff, and then her expression changed, fading to the expressionless mask she had no doubt acquired during her early training for the Black Fang.

"Forgive my bluntness, Father Lucius, but you were raised and trained among priests. Jaffar and I are assassins who once broke into the royal quarters of the crown prince of Bern without raising a single alarm, which is were we all first met, do you remember? No castle, no walls, no lord's protection can keep my family safe now."

She shuddered before rising to her feet, and she took a deep breath.

"Jaffar left to find fresh horses, and he'll be meeting me at the crossroads. We will be riding for Ilia tonight, and we both hope to lose our pursuers in the mountains." The manner in which she said "lose" was enough for Lucius to realize what she intended for those who came after her, and he had to force himself not to frown.

"Even if we are successful, there will be more who come after them, and even Jaffar and I cannot elude them forever. I… I am leaving my sons in your care, Father Lucius, with the knowledge that you will care for them as if they were your own."

He rose up, a word of protest on his tongue. There were other options, other places she could seek solace in, and there were friends the both of them could call on for aid. However, Nino had already spun around, her cloak billowing behind her as she walked out the door.

Lucius went after her, of course, but by the time he reached the door she had already mounted a horse and taken off into the night. He sighed, his eyes feeling wet as she rode off, a pale flower in the darkness.

Fin