My search for my father was a lot harder than I was expecting and it ended in failure... I couldn't save him but I don't have time to morn his death. I need to keep moving and stop Nergal and save the world. I'll admit if I was alone I might not be able to make it through this. Everyone is helping me through this and I'm really grateful.

Tina has been a great comfort for me. She so kind, so helpful, so brilliant, I'll never be able to repay her back. Just being around her and being able to see her brings me great comfort. I was clueless to the reasons why until Marcus pointed out. I've fallen for my tactician. I'm unaware if she has any feelings for me and she has enough stuff to worry about so for now I shall keep my feelings to myself.

I'm in a small clearing next to the camp practicing my swordsmanship to clear my head. As I practice my thrust I can hear the rustling of armor and a grunt from the very source. I stop and turn to face my friend. He looks a bit annoyed. I wonder what happened this time. Did Tina beat him at another game of chess? He should know that he doesn't stand a chance when it comes to a game of strategy when his opponent is a tactician.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I sheath my rapier. He grumbles and I chuckle. "Did you lose to Tina again?"

"No!" he roars and I chuckle some more.

"What is it then?"

"Lets spar!" He takes his ax out and waits for me to do the same. What is bothering him?

A few minutes later our little match is over and I'm the victor. Hector isn't being himself. His actions were so predictable. I sheath my sword again and look at him. He's grumbling to himself again as he puts his ax away. He's really annoyed.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?" He folds his arms over his chest and looks at me. The look in his eyes tells me I'm the source but what did I do?

"Remember about those dreams I told you about?" he finally ask after awhile.

"Ah yes, the one where you have a great mustache?" I say in attempt to make a joke but it fails with a glare from him so I clear my throat. "What about it?"

"I saw more last night." I raise an eyebrow at him to show my curiosity so he continues. "This time I saw the boy running to his mother…with my daughter." He adds the last part with a grunt.

"Mother? My wife? Who is it?" I can't hide my curiosity. He's looking at the ground grumbling and he kicks a rock. Whoever it is he doesn't approve. Why not? He mumbles the name and I can't hear. "Who?" He mumbles the name again. "Hector!"

He sighs and looks at me. "It was Tina."

"Tina?" I echoed my surprise and a bit of joy. He gives me a glare that causes me to flinch. "What's wrong with Tina?" He says nothing and looks away. "She's smart and kind." My list could go on forever but I decided to just stop there.

"She's..." He took a deep breath. "She's a vagabond. She has no place in nobility."

My gaze flies pass him and I can't believe it. I'm speechless and my eyes our apologetic. Confused Hector follows my gaze and his jaw drops. Standing a bit away from us is the very woman we were just talking about. Her face is devoid of emotion. She bows to us and leaves. Hector curses under his breath.

"HECTOR!" I yell out in anger and he curses some more. "Do you have a problem with her?"

"No! I just said that to deter you..." He sighs and faces me. His eyes are full of guilt. "She's a really good friend. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Like I said before she a vagabond. If you married her, the other nobles wouldn't accept her and she would always be left out...It wouldn't matter if she were the hero that led us to victory. I just didn't want that for her..."

He's right. I never really thought about that...but still! "She's strong, you know." He smirks and nods. "She'll be able to handle them."

"You're probably right. I should go apologize."

"No, I shall go. After all she is my future wife." He shrugs his shoulders and walks off. Now where could she have gone?"

It wasn't really hard to find her. She was just sitting in her tent reading a book. She let me in but hasn't said much and has been staring at her closed book. Her face is devoid of emotion a weird habit of hers. When she's happy or mad she'll visibly show it but when she's hurt she shows nothing. It lets me know that something is wrong but I just wish she would show it. It's not good to keep things in.

"Tina," I call softly and she looks at me with her empty eyes and I really don't like them. "Hector didn't mean it." She raises an eyebrow but her face doesn't reflect her curiosity, if she's curious. "You might not believe me but he said it to protect you."

"You're right. I don't," she answers in a flat voice. "I'm sorry if I had offended the both of you. I shall remember my place."

"You didn't offend us and I told you before that we are equals fighting for the same cause."

"And I told you that is a nice belief but impossibility."

"How about making it a possibility?" Her face is now full of curiosity so I continue. "You can become my equal if you become my wife?" Her face is a deep crimson and she looks away from. She hates blushing in front of people. "What do you say?"

"I say that's mean Milord to mess with someone's feelings."

"I'm serious." Her face is redder but there is a small smile.

"I say you are too kind."

"Is that a yes?" She nods yes and she tackles me into a hug and I just chuckle.