In response to the review I got earlier: I am planning on updating An Alliance of Love soon, but I struggle with the chapter a lot. It's extremely hard to write for me... good thing is that this fic is completely finished already so I am losing no time here. But I do have a new fic project over on AO3 (might post here later) that is taking some of my time too.


Reim was overwhelming. At the same time, hadn't any country been like that? No, Mystras told himself, Reim was nothing like Kou or Balbadd. This was the place he had always wanted to visit. The moment he had gotten off the boat and Shamhat had been let out again, he found himself darting around the markets, looking at the things for sale. Only moments later he gasped at the sight of the architecture. Reim was something entirely different. Buildings were covered in marble, temples, statues and fountains filled the streets. On top of pillars, the faces of older emperors looked down on the people crossing the streets while even the streets were covered in small signs of riches.

The people walking around were covered in gold and silver and while it wasn't as obvious as Sasan, they showed their wealth in all the right ways. It wasn't strange that Reim valued their trade with Sasan so much. Its products came to their right in a place like this.

The ship had dropped him off in Napolia, which as rich as it looked would be nothing compared to the capital. Napolia wasn't the destination he had in mind. Remano was the place to be for him. After a quick shopping for an outfit more fitting to Reim, the beauty of Napolia was left behind soon enough for a trip to Remano. The landscape of Reim, much greener than Balbadd, less wet than Kou was a good way of travel. There was enough space to sleep outside and let his horse eat.

The trip from Napolia to Reim was not much longer than the trips back to the mountains, but it was relaxing. People that passed him on his travels were respectful, probably because of the fact he had been riding a horse, Mystras realized.

It was the same way the moment he entered the city and found his way downtown. Again the streets were filled with marble and everything Napolia had had. Remano was everything Napola was, but on a bigger scale and much much more. There were more temples, even more statues and without doubt more people.

As he dragged Shamhat through the narrow streets of the market, a certain stand caught his eye. Gold was shining in the light of Reim. Jewelry, no doubt.

"These are from Sasan, aren't they?" Mystras asked as he let the golden necklaces run through his fingers.

"Are you familiar with the Sasan craft? It is of the highest quality. Any girl would fall for a man who'd buy her something like this." The man frowned slightly before his face lit up, "Now that I get a better look at you, you're from there, aren't you? That lance at the side of your horse would imply you have some good status there."

Mystras scratched the back of his head, smiling awkwardly, "Well you could say I have ties to the country. Although it's not as much as it used to be."

"Well now, good sir," The old man leaned closer, rubbing his hands as he did so, "I'm sure we can get some good deals between our countries. What is that Sasan needs of us? What can we do to gain that beautiful silver of yours."

"I-" The man was creeping him out in a way, "I am not here on behalf of Sasan, I'm traveling on my own."

"Nonsense," Now the man wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "tell me, what can we do to get a favor from you."

"Like I said, I'm not speaking for Sasan." Mystras shook his head, but it didn't convince the man to go away. Instead his grip strengthened.

"Then how about a night out? Just us two, a night as men." As bad as that sounded, it didn't seem like an offer Mystras could refuse. Although the last 'night out' with Hakuren still had him scarred.

Their night out started as they went to the colosseum, where people pushed each other aside as they tried to enter. The match, so the man said, was meant to be a good one. What kind of match the man was talking about however, did not immediately come to Mystras' mind. Not until the two of them had found their seats and the crowd started to cheer. At the side of the ring, a gate opened and a child walked in, hair shining bright red in the sun. It was then that Mystras knew all too well where he was: a gladiator match. He had always heard that they were amazing to see, that sometimes the person you'd least expect, would rise to victory. Still this person was just a child. At the other side of the arena, another gate was opened, allowing a group of tigers to enter. In some way it reminded Mystras of the battle he had fought with his father, just as unfair, without any chance of the child winning against the beasts.

But then it happened. With only quick kicks and one slash of a sword, the tigers were down on the ground, dead.

"Boring!" The man next to him yelled, soon the rest of the crowd followed.

"But he won…" Mystras muttered softly, awed by response of the crowd.

"Yeah but there wasn't a show. Don't tell me you enjoy watching a guy win within one minute. You want a spectacle!"

"I don't know. It was brutal enough like this." There was nothing fun about watching a kid fight for their life or having to serve as way of entertainment. The man next to him seemed to ignore him as a smile grew on his face when the child disappeared and new people entered the arena. The night seemed to become a long one.

By the time evening fell, Mystras finally found himself freed from the crowds of the amphitheater. Being freed from the crowd did not mean he was freed from him unwanted company however. The man, clearly happy from the show he had watched, was still clinging onto him as he dragged the Sasanian teen through the streets of Remano.

"How about we take a casino after this? The girls are cute there, surely you could find someone to your tastes."

"I don't want to." He muttered under his breath.

"Oh come on. Everyone enjoys a night out with some girls. Or are you…? You know…" The man reached to Mystras' arm, wishing to grab him and drag him along. But before his hand could reach the Sasanian, it was slapped away. Black eyes, filled with irritation looked at the man.

"I know you only want a trade deal with Sasan. I already told you I have no ties with that country." He had to admit that hanging out with girls, having a nice night out was indeed a thing he liked to do. But not like this. The sight of the gladiator fights was still on his mind.

"You're just a liar then." The man sneered in his face, leaving Mystras confused. He hadn't been a liar, he had never said that he had connections to the knight country. "Your type of guy shouldn't be allowed to walk around this town. With all the things I've done for you, this how you repay me." Without any warning the man spit in Mystras face before walking off. Mystras was left in the streets, ignoring the looks of the people walking past him. He could hear the mutterings about him behind his back, but he ignored it. He was used to being the black sheep back home. Taking a deep breath he wiped the spit of his face before entering a different street to retrieve Shamhat. It was just the start of a great time in Reim, he reminded himself. The way this had started off was nothing. He was used to worse. This would not stop him from following his dream.

Surely Remano had more to offer than angry old men looking for a trading deal. The markets were filled with specialties, the people would talk about daily business and trade was booming. All those things were great at first, until Mystras noticed the money his running out and his rent for the small apartment being due again. He needed a job and quick. He knew enough of Reim's society to understand that the moment he'd lose his place to stay, slavery was waiting around every corner. Surely there was the option of selling Shamhat for a nice amount of money, but the thought itself broke his heart.

At night he found himself hanging around a bar at the outskirts of the city center. Depending on the day the place would either be filled with people returning from a gladiator fight or a theater play. Mystras always hoped for the latter as conversations would be of a much lighter side. Maybe the only thing that was good was the amount of cute girls walking around the place, them being customers or the girl running the place, which probably was the reason he liked this one bar the most. The owner, a woman, Aelia somewhere in her twenties, was mostly just interested in serving a drink. Still she was a good person to talk to who knew most of her customers by name.

"Anything on your mind?" She asked as she leaned over the bar.

"Yeah..." he muttered,

"Nothing a good cup of wine can solve!" Aelia smiled, turning around, filling a cup and putting it down in front of him, "Not even the emperor has wine this good." She assured him as a smile covered her entire face.

"Can good wine give me a job?" Mystras sighed.

"It could," Aelia said, filling up another cup of wine for a different customer, "you hang around here a lot and I'm actually looking for someone to help me out here. Any experience in running a bar or an inn?"

He snorted softly, "I used to run away from home to hang around an inn in the city. I picked up some things from it."

"You do know I'm doing you a favor by offering this job, right? I could hire any person walking in this building and yet I'm approaching you. Do you know what that means?"

The knight's face grew red. "You like me?" He asked, probably louder than he wanted.

"That you better not mess up." The look in her eyes turned serious for a moment before she turned back to her usual, playful self, darting around the place to help customers.

"You're starting tomorrow so you better be back here in time!" She called out to him as he finished his last drink and walked out of the bar.

Helping out with running the bar wasn't the easiest job for sure, but it was enough to keep him from losing his home or freedom. To be able to help out more, Aelia had offered him a room at the inn to stay at, a stable for Shamhat being added on top of that. He no longer seemed to be bothered by most talk about the gladiators. Girls visiting the bar loved him, wishing to get a small conversation with the special, "foreign" barman.

Life in Reim had just started to take a good turn when a certain news filled the streets. People would speak of "how tragic it must have been" and "they were glad that a thing like that didn't happen in Reim", that "it was good that a tragedy like this happened so far away". The exact news was a thing Mystras stayed away from. It was only talk from the housewives who needed a thing to talk about in the time they could be outside. However, he wasn't able to evade the news when the bar started to get more customers. Even there the people who came from the Colosseum weren't talking about the match they had seen, but instead talked about the tragedy that had apparently taken place somewhere.

"Aren't you glad we don't have a thing like that happening over here." One of the customers, a man somewhere in his thirties said as Mystras refilled his cup.

"I haven't heard the news yet." Mystras answered, as he turned back to grab a new jug of wine.

"Apparently the entire royal family of the Kou empire died." The customer then said and took a sip of his wine. "Not that I care, everyone knows they can't be up to much good there in the east."

"They… died?" Mystras murmured, "How…" It couldn't be true, not Kou…

"Not sure, but someone said the emperor got assassinated and the place burned down quickly after."

With a loud thud the jug fell down to the ground, wine spilling over the floor. But that was not what bothered Mystras. They were gone. Hakuyuu, Hakuren… perhaps even Hakuei and Hakuryuu. They had been his dearest friends, who had helped him out when he needed. And now, they were gone.

"Mystras" he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw the concerned look on Aelia's face. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "I'm just…"

"You don't have to say it, you look terrible." Aelia said quickly, "take the rest of the night off, it's not busy, I can deal with it on my own."

Mystras looked down at the ground where the puddle of wine had started to spread across the floor. "I'm sorry about that…" He murmured, not even sure if she could hear it.

She only gave him a pat on the back . "I know, now get some rest."

He nodded and slowly walked to the back of the bar. Behind him he could hear the customer ask what had happened and Aelia's soft voice telling him all was fine.

Except nothing was fine. In his room, Mystras was unable to find peace. A part of him wished that he wouldn't have known, that no one in Reim would be interested in foreign politics and they would have stayed silent. That he would be stuck in the illusion that the royal family was alive and that as long as he wouldn't go back to Kou, he wouldn't realize they were long gone. A reality like that would have been possible if he had been in Sasan where news of the outside world would never reach a person. But this wasn't Sasan. Instead Reim was the place he had always wanted to be at, and he didn't regret it, but the memories of Kou came back with ever second. It didn't feel right that those princes had to die. They were strong warriors, better than he could ever be ad they had a country to rule and people that supported them. Mystras on the other hand had nothing. No people that supported him, no country to go back to. Reim was too different in that part. Sure he loved working and living there and the stories from earlier hadn't let him down, but this was not a secluded mountain country. This was an empire, where the number of people living in Remano could easily be more than all of Sasan. Here he was a nobody, just an innkeeper, a man with no background. He owned a horse, that much was true, but without any legal citizenship, that didn't matter.

A part of him wondered if he even had a reason to mourn, if he had been close enough to them to be able to feel like this. Death, to both sides, had always been a joke. For Mystras it was being almost killed by his own father, for Hakuren and Hakuyuu it had been the war. Now that joke had become too serious. It hadn't even been the war that killed them, no according to the rumors it had been the aftermath of war. A country that didn't agree with what had happened and killed the royal family to show it. He had only been a friend for a year. Perhaps he was better of putting the princes out of his mind.

The problem was still that that part was impossible to do. It kept bugging him, but then again there was no reason to have everything fall into place in one evening. He could just stare at the sky, feeling the city keep on living. It would move forward, striving for a better future and perhaps that was the only thought Mystras needed at that moment. Not everything was to end in that moment. He still had to go on. He had gained his freedom and this was not the way he would let it be taken again.

It wasn't until much later that he finally decided to go back to the bar. The customers were long gone by the time he came back inside. Aelia was left to cleaning the place. At the sound of the door connecting the inn and the bar closing, she looked up and gave a small smile.

"Are you feeling better now?" She asked, her voice soft as always.

Mystras shrugged his shoulders, not sure how to answer her.

"Some girls missed you, I told them you weren't feeling well and that I took over your shift." She continued, putting away the rag with which she had been cleaning the tables.

"Thanks Aelia." Mystras muttered, leaning against the bar.

"You look exhausted, why don't you go to your room and rest."

"I can help clean if you need," he offered, "it's the least I can do."

"Not needed, I'm almost done." She said.

Mystras knew there wasn't much he could do for her and that the only way to please her was to go to his bed and rest for the next morning. It still felt wrong. There would be a tomorrow for him while others never got it again.

The feeling that something was wrong stayed with him for longer than he expected. It could come up while serving drinks, cleaning the place or when he took care of Shamhat. He wasn't meant to stay here. Reim was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but he couldn't stay at this inn or in Remano any longer. It took some time to figure out what it was that he was fearing, only to come to a simple conclusion. He was afraid to lose those he had gotten close to again. He didn't feel like a strong knight anymore, not after working in an inn for almost three years. The family he had had for all his childhood was gone, the friends he made after that were no longer alive… it could only be a matter of time before the war with Parthevia would come back and even Remano could fall… and with that his friends. The rumor of the destruction of the young country of Sindria had not gone unheard. An entire country, lost in one battle. The few that had survived seemed to have disappeared from the world. He could have been one of them, Mystras realized. He could have been one of the people that died if he had run to Sinbad's side when he was free. He could have been one of the survivors, scarred for life by the sight of death and despair.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Aelia asked him on the umpteenth time he was lost in thought after closing the bar. "You seem bothered lately, I miss seeing the smile on your face like you had when you just came here. It looks like Reim has been dragging you down more than it gives you joy."

Mystras laughed softly before nodding in agreement, "I always thought Reim was where I was supposed to stay, but it isn't. I can't see myself staying at one spot forever."

"Then where do you want to go?" The woman asked, tilting her head.

"Wherever I end up." Mystras shrugged as he put away a cleaning cloth. "I'm thinking about leaving tonight."

"At least let me give you some food for the journey. You have helped me and the inn very well, it will take some time to find someone who can do such a job."

"Thank you, Aelia, but I'll be fine on my own." Mystras said, smiling softly as he slowly walked in the direction of the stables to prepare Shamhat for a new journey. "Maybe I'll come back another day, but right now I just need to travel again, having no destination in mind."

She nodded, "I understand. If you ever need a place to stay in Remano again or if you want a job again, you can always knock on my door. I'll pray at the Sacerdos Maxima's temple tomorrow for your safe journey."

"You're too kind, Aelia. Meanwhile I have no way of repaying you for all you did for me. But this will be our goodbye" Mystras said, smiling softly at her.

"You kept me company for all these years, that was enough for me." Aelia replied. The same night she would have to watch him leave him into the dark of the Reiman night.