Despite the fact that she was certain she had worked for the worst bunch of thieves, brigands, incompetent nobles, and pirates that Rigel had to offer, Sonya was the least sorry to see Grieth go. Word had gotten out through the citadel that a small band of mercenaries and mages— guarding a priestess, of all people— had broken through one of the desert chokepoints guarded by Deen, a swordsman that served as Grieth's other senior lieutenant.

In the days that had passed since, the self-appointed bandit king himself had flown into a panic, and one that she observed ruefully while nursing a good glass of wine in an alcove with several other bemused lieutenants that were on the outs with him, as well.

"I'm pretty sure that if you gave me a week, several tomes, and a few lapsed Duma Faithful, I'd have taken over half the territory it took him all this time to take. Don't attribute this to me. But I'm sure I could do it, because he's honestly—"

Despite the fact that her words were slurring from the wine, Sonya was wise enough to recognize when the man that still paid them coins walked into the room. She set down her glass and leaned just enough against the back of the seat to feign being put together just the right amount.

"Listen up!" barked the brigand. "I have received word that the priestess and her loathsome sellswords approach the Citadel. We will defend this tower, or fall together. Now, commanders— I have your orders here."

Sonya had heard what she needed to hear, and knew what it was that she was meant to do, given the state of where things were heading. She raised her hand with a casual wave. "I have a suggestion for a posting, if you're looking to protect the valuables of the stronghold…"

"So, how long did you say you were taken prisoner for, dear?"

"I don't know, honestly….I'm kind of scared at the beginning, but I think it'll be okay, right?" The pink-haired teenager leaned over the wooden crate that had served as a seat for her. Beside her was a tall, snow-colored pegasus that was tied to the walls in a hay-lined section of the dungeon. Pegasi were finicky creatures by nature, and, though rare and sellable for a price, tended to throw tantrums and escape easily if kept too far from their bonded riders. This was something she learned by direct experience specifically out of a botched order that Grieth had issued when the horse had simply bolted and flown off.

Sonya decided that since she had the good fortune for drawing the lot of not fighting the priestess Grieth was likely to die to, she would take another opportunity to speak kindly. "Well, if he hasn't killed you by now, it's probably not in the cards."

"Right!" beamed Est, eagerly biting into the apple that Sonya had slipped her. "Kidnapping has a consistent logic to it. I've been taken prisoner a few times already. At this point, it's almost like an adventure!" Her voice wavered slightly as both women looked up, hearing loud bangs and the clash of battle above.

Sonya disagreed. Vehemently. In the unlikely event she was ever taken prisoner, she would look for the nearest sharp instrument and hack her tongue out before considering it an adventure. But it was in poor taste, she thought, to salt the wounds of someone that was already in prison and looked to have the general emotional strength that came with being a scrap of a pegasus knight that looked barely out of her first flying lessons.

They stayed that way for the next few hours uneventfully, Sonya paging nonchalontly through a book of Rigelian manor architecture and Est staring up at the continued rattling sounds of weapons and spellwork.

"How do you get anything done with…um…" The girl's voice trailed off.

"Oh, this is always how things are for mercenaries. I'd be out there, too, if I hadn't volunteered to guard Grieth's valuables." Sonya explained, not mentioning that she had combed it over for things to hawk before she had truly settled in for guard duty. Despite the many personnel issues that had plagued the man, he knew how to appraise the small cache of fine jewelery that was now safely in her possession.

A loud crack that shook the foundations of the citadel, causing tiles to fall to the floor of the dungeon and the floors to shake. It was either an extremely powerful spell or the a devastating blow from a weapon.

"I should probably check in on that." Sonya's eyes narrowed as she scooped up the nearest spellbook she could get her hands on. "Are you going to be fine here?"

"I've been fine here," Est replied, kicking at a bit of rubble and reminding her once again of the knight's young age. "Um, but if you see two other pegasus knights, Miss Sonya— blue-or-green-looking ones, could you let me know?" Her face brightened. "They're my sisters." She added.

Sonya was about to quip back with a remark about retrieving Est a second pony while she was at it. But the girl's comment about sisters had stilled that ramark, and any others like it. Meeting the girl's gaze, she nodded. "I'll tell them where to find you for sure." The earnestness that strangers were drawing out of her was having her form habits she hadn't had since the priory.

The sight at the top of the stairway out of the dungeon revealed a series of corridors in chaos, still rife with the sounds of battle. What she could see was left of Grieth's citadel was in ruins, and as Sonya reached the entrance hall to the castle, which was swarming a small band of soldiers, she recognized a face among those who were laying waste to the bandit king's hold.

A year or two had passed since they had last crossed paths, and somewhere along the way Zeke had acquired repairs to his jacket of black and gold, a lance of fine Rigelian steel, and a battle steed upon which he was charging at her former, soon-to-be-in-the-grave compatriots. As he cut down pirates that she mercifully was glad she didn't know all that well, Sonya felt glad that she had stuck to her guns of never making friends with those that she took jobs with. Children— like little Est— she could feign politeness with for a while, but save her and Zeke, she had proudly never let anyone else get so close.

She had almost convinced herself that the three days spent by his side were something of an illusion. Naturally, the man himself was there to break that particular spell.

Zeke whirled around to face her as an enemy soldier crumpled to the floor, his horse stamping its feet to punctuate its foe's end. From his determined gaze to the confident, shining sweep of the lance, he now looked every part like a warrior god-like statue that she had idly compared him to on the seashore years ago. There was a terrifying beauty about Zeke when he fought, and it especially rang true when he was cutting down his foes atop a warhorse. His was a captivating presence even if she knew she was a paper-thin distance and a smart-thinking spell from bleeding out on the tiles.

"This may be an opportune time to use my favor," she managed, silently thanking hours of meditation that she found boring at the time for allowing her to build a sense of composure. "I suppose you're here fighting with that priestess?"

"Crown Princess Anthiese of Zofia," Zeke corrected. "She had been looking to liberate the citadel from Grieth." Though she had seen his expression falter initially, it settled as quickly as molten steel into a forge's mold, sharp and unrelenting. He had spared her in that instant, but would reserve his judgment on where they stood in the long run. It was just as well that he did. She couldn't tolerate sentimental fools.

"I have no orders to kill. And from what I garner, Grieth isn't in a position to keep buying my loyalty." In one swift and smooth motion, she flipped her long violet tresses back, a move that was half meant to unnerve others and half to instill confidence within herself. "Do you suppose that Princess Anthiese is the new master of Grieth's Pirates?"

"No," a voice answered behind him.

The girl wasn't what Sonya had expected at all, bearing no resemblance to the gaunt and wine-soaked wretch that the king of Zofia had rumored to have been in his last days. Dressed in the garb of a priestess that wielded spell and blade alike, she emerged from behind Zeke, drawing herself up using the sheath of a sword of gold and steel for balance. Her arm had been cut by an axe-head, and her breath slightly ragged.

"This citadel will serve no pirate-master any longer. My purpose here…was to free the prisoners he took."

"Right, Prisoners." Sonya cleared her throat. "If you have two sisters among you searching for a third—" She looked away, still unused to giving information freely. "Grieth had her locked in the cellar. She told me to pass this...insight on." With a small grimace but glad that she had a hand in reuniting three sisters, she looked back up. A sincere, relieved smile broke out onto the girl's face that took away from the regal demeanor that her ornate diadem— which sat slightly askew over her bright red hair— was meant to convey.

"Let's fetch them and lead them to her!" Still wincing as she clutched her injured arm, she set off elsewhere into the castle. "Please find me Catria and Palla at once," she called to a boy with a shock of white hair and a pink-haired girl in pigtails— both magical users as well, if Sonya's intuitions were correct.

"What's happening at once is that Genny is going to look at your arm," the pigtailed girl's voice came out something of a snarl. "Celica, what are we going to do if you get injured?!"

In silence, Sonya watched them fuss over the leader of their odd little band, who laughed and appeared much younger than the authoritarive air she had taken when discussing what would become of the stronghold. Which had left her, alone again with him.

It was silly, how she had fussed. At the end of the day, there were ways keep her secrets to herself, if the way that he insisted on honor and knightly pride were indeed true down to the last word. And Sonya was, if nothing else, made to know precisely how people fought both on and off the battlefield.

"Were you searching for a princess to serve?" Sonya asked. He seemed happier in the time that had passed— more certain and sure of himself. She wondered if his memories had come back. Perhaps knights gravitated to noble causes like that. In another life, he might have sought out the king himself to ask for a post.

Celica would be a fine queen of the kingdom she sought to rule one day. That much Zeke could tell. But on his mind was a different woman— one who fascinated him with the little regard that she had for proproiety, but fought with a moral core as strong as anyone's. He was certain of it, no matter how much she protested about how mercenaries conducted themsleves.

"No," Zeke's anwer was simple as he dismounted from the horse and handed off his lance. "I was hoping to find you once more."

He had meant for the words to unnerve her, but something in her usually alert gaze softened into something unknowable. The years that had passed fell away, and Zeke wanted more than anything than to have spent it learning about the land with her. But it did no good unecessarily project. The choice was hers.

"It's nice to see you again." It had happened in the blink of an eye, how she pulled him closer and touched her lips to his cheek, the slight kiss brushing across him like the first sparks of a fire. As Zeke watched Sonya walk away with the satisfaction of a lioness. "I guess the gods have a strange sense of humor at work after all, don't they?"