Allen stumbled a little as a rounded gray pebble almost tripped the boy as it lay there in the wet sand, waiting to be carried away by the highly tide once the hours passed. The newly-turned six year old caught himself with his other foot, holding on to the twigs piled up in his arms to keep them from falling. Riliane looked up from her pile of sand, and laughed at how many twigs he had found, them stacked up to the point where he could barely see over them. Allen smiled back, joyed that he could make her smile without him trying. He dumped the twigs next to the mound the two were calling a sand castle, and dusted off his pants and shirt from anything left over by them.

"You didn't have to get so many of them, Len!" Riliane scolded, but the expression on her face and the way her eyes had lit up said otherwise. Allen had outgrown calling people by a nickname, but Riliane still a clung to her habit. To her, he was forever "Len" and no one else could tell her otherwise. Although strangely, she had abandoned her own nickname, probably because she had stopped being called it. Sitting down next to her, he stuck a twig at the very top of the mound making some sand tumble to the sides because of the new object. He poked at it and stated,

"That's the flag. The other sticks are to make a wall so no one can enter our castle without our permission." Riliane smiled.

"Yeah! And if we catch them we'll feed them to crocodiles, we will!"

"Crocodiles are scary." Allen said, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Are not!"

"Are too!" They comically glared at each other from opposite sides of the sand castle, then fell to the ground and laughed before resuming work on the twig wall. Allen finished first and helped Riliane out with her side, eventually finishing that as well. She jumped up the second the final twig was in place, picking up her thin dress and running over to the spot where sand met sea, her bare feet turning pink from the cold of the water.

"See, look at our castle everyone! You're not allowed, never ever!" She turned to Allen who was walking over to join her at the moment. "It's for me and Len only." He smiled too, and reached into his pocket to pull out two glass jars with tiny pieces of paper in them, held shut with a piece of cork wood.

"I stole these from the kitchen." He said grinning, and held out a bottle to her. "Wanna make a wish? I brought a pencil." Wish making was a local custom amoung the townspeople, and the two had learned it during their trips to the market. You wrote down a wish on a piece of paper and let it float into the sea inside a glass bottle. Then, they say, your wish will come true. Riliane shook her head at his offer.

"That's a game for the peasants." She said, stomping her foot slightly, making the salt water beneath it jump. Allen looked sad, making her feel guilty. "But.. Ill help you make a wish?" He smiled at this, pulling the paper from the bottle and getting out a pencil.

"You don't need to help me, I already know what my wish is." His calm voice cheerfully boasted, and Riliane pouted again, she was actually excited to help.

"Well what was your wish then?" She said, keeping her eyes at the water instead of looking at him as punishment. But he was looking at the sea too, having already written down what he wanted on the paper by this time.

"I wish that Riliane will be happy for ever and ever." He recited, grinning lovingly now out at the horizon as he clutched the tiny little bottle. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she couldn't think of anything to say. Allen continued on. "If that becomes true, then I'll be happy." He rolled up the paper and put it in the bottle, sealing it tight with the cork wood.

"Then stay with me." Riliane finally said, and Allen turned to her with a puzzeled look. She gently smiled at him, and clasped her hands together behind her skirt. "Stay with me forever so your wish will come true, because I'm the very happiest when I'm with Len." He stared at her shocked, and felt a blush creep up over his cheeks. Then he grinned, a genuine grin, and stepped closer to Riliane before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"Then I will, forever and ever." He let the bottle drop into the water, and the gentle current started to slowly pull the little thing into the ocean. She hugged him back, both of them now with smiles shining with energy. Suddenly a wave crashed at their feet, soaking the bottom of Allen's pants and Riliane's dress. They both yelped at the sudden cold that broke the embrace, and they both scurried back to the dry sand with Allen laughing the whole way.

"Why are you laughing, Ma's gonna behead both of us!" She scolded, and Allen clutched his stomach and leaned over with laughter consuming him.

"I don't know" He said between laughs, and Riliane crossed her arms and waited for him to calm down.

"You're a pain." She said, and he opened his mouth to say something back but stopped before any noise could come out when he saw something behind her. Riliane turned around to see what he was looking at, and gasped while jumping behind him. A man in a dark cloak was standing about 40 yards away from them, his hood shading the top of his face so only his chin was visible. Allen put up a protective hand of Riliane when he started walking towards them.

"Who are you?" She shouted, her voice shaking as he came closer. He tensed up and pushed his sister further away from the man, eventually wrapping both arms around her and turning so his back completely protected her, him glancing over his shoulder. He was terrified of him, now just a few feet away from them. But Riliane was more important, he would protect her. He must protect her.

"Get away from us! I'll call the guards o-" He choked on his words and his eyes widened, the color drained from his face. He could see a glint of metal now, the object secured in the man's hand. Knife. "RUN!" He screamed at her, pushing the girl forwards to get a running start. She stumbled and tried to turn around, but tripped on her dress. Allen back up and dragged her into his arms, running as fast as he humanly could. Riliane screamed, tears waterfalling down her face. Allen tripped, dropping her and himself to the ground. He turned around, to see they had barely moved two yards away and the assassin was right infront of them. Thinking fast, Allen grabbed the crying Riliane's dress and pulled with all his might, the soaked fabric tearing away from the now ruined gown. She looked at him with terrified and confused eyes, but he shoved her forward and screamed for her to go. She obeyed, and tore across the beach into the mansion, screaming at the top of her lungs for help. Allen returned his focus to the man, who had raised his arms both clutching the knife,and then it plunged it downwards, and Allen screamed.