Chapter 2: A Maiden's Wistful Song

"Winia, where are we going?" Leo stumbled as he attempted to dry his wet hair while simultaneously avoiding the shrubbery and rocks obstructing his path. He wasn't having much success, however, and he knew that he would have a few bruises to nurse later. "...Winia?"

"It's not far, Leo. There is something I want to show you."

Winia was fervently searching for the markers she had left after she made her discovery earlier in the day. But finding them proved difficult: dusk had fallen faster than she had expected and Leo had been capable of much deeper sleep than she had anticipated. But then, finally, after a moment of uncertainty, she found what she was looking for. Excellent. That meant that they were almost there.

Leo trudged on valiantly behind the girl, generously treating the sudden "field exercise" as part of his knight training; the disastrous spar with the leader of the Obstinate Arrow had proven beyond all doubt that he needed all the training he could get. However, Leo didn't quite understand why they needed to be quite so far away from camp, or why they had to do it in the darkness of the night.

But before he could bring himself to ask, Winia spoke again in her calm, low voice, "We're here."

And Leo was rendered speechless; all he could do was to stare. Of course, as the son of a duke, he had never been left wanting when it came to fine, expensive things, but the scene that met him surpassed all of his father's treasures: it was simply breathtakingly beautiful. The forest stopped only a few metres from the edge of a cliff, which was overlooking a distant mountain range, a cascading waterfall, and the compact jade-green of a forest continuing infinitely in all directions. The sparkling heavens above them and the moonlight flooding the landscape with its soft glow did nothing to lessen the magnificent impression either.

"Winia, this… This is amazing! How on Earth did you find this place?" Leo could hardly contain his excitement. This place was perfect for his next marriage proposal to the beautiful, spunky girl; with the scenery like this, how could she possibly refuse him? "I can't wait to tell Miss Pacifica about it and—"

"Actually, Leo, do you think you could keep this a secret?"

Frankly, Winia's request baffled him. How could she not want to share something so spectacular? He was going to argue against it, but stopped himself. Firstly, a gentleman of his standing and background never questioned the wishes of a lady, unless the requests were bordering on the impossible or the insane and clearly, Winia's did neither. Secondly, he knew the girl well enough to know that she had her reasons to ask for his silence. He just had to be patient, and she would tell him herself.

It was during their journey together that Leo and Winia had planted the first, tentative seeds of friendship. She had initially been intimidated by his noble heritage, and he had been taken aback by her quiet and reserved demeanour. However, it didn't take long before Leo's happy and caring nature had convinced the peasant girl to look beyond his expensive armour and white horse, while Winia's genuine concern for her friends soon earned her his respect and admiration. Slowly, a strong mutual trust had started to spire between the two, and after the tragic events surrounding Pacifica's amnesia and Fulle's death, they felt closer than ever. But neither Winia nor Leo even considered anything other than friendship: Winia had eventually told Leo of her confused feelings about Chris Bailaha, while words hadn't been necessary to convey Leo's devotion to the pretty Providence Breaker.

So Leo decided to adhere to her wish and swore on his honour as a knight to-be not to tell a single soul.

Visibly relaxed by his solemn oath, Winia gracefully sat herself down on the trunk of a fallen tree, facing the beautiful landscape. Leo interpreted her actions as an invitation to join her, and casually plonked down next to her.

"I found this place when I was out looking for firewood earlier." Winia's voice ended the comfortable silence. "But you're the first person I told, Leo."

"I'm honoured, Winia. Thank you." Leo and Winia had since long ceased to use formal titles when addressing each other; calling your friend "Miss" or "Sir" had seemed plain silly after all the time they spent together.

"So why did you call me out here?" Leo finally asked the question that had been burning on the tip of his tongue ever since Winia had emptied that frightful bucket of water over his head and led him into the woods. He concealed a knowing smile when the moonlight revealed her reddening cheeks and how she started to fidget with the hem of her skirt. Oh, of course, it could only be about him. But Leo was a gentleman, and did not pressure his friend to explain herself before she was ready.

"Um, well, you see, Leo. I-I-I, um, well, er..." Winia had hoped that she wouldn't sound as stupid as she felt, but when the words tumbled out of her mouth in complete disarray, she realized that she wasn't having any success. At all.

"It's about Christopher Bailaha, isn't it." It wasn't a question, but Winia wasn't bothered by how her friend had seen through her so effortlessly. Rather, she was glad that Leo understood her well enough to know what she was trying to say. So she simply nodded, but her companion didn't say anything else. He merely waited for her to continue.

"Um, well, I just... I don't know what to do!" The young man by her side turned his head to face her, giving her his full and unwavering attention. "I mean, I never know what to do around him; I can't figure him out! Remember when we went to his home? He dismissed us without a word, but... But when he looked at me his eyes… His eyes, Leo, looked so sad. But it's Chris we're talking about! And Chris never looks sad. Or happy, or scared, or… He never looks anything! I… I just don't understand, Leo!"

Leo didn't reveal his surprise at his normally shy friend's unexpected outburst; Winia had never expressed herself quite this forcefully before. In fact, he hadn't believed that the gentle girl even was capable of forcefulness in the first place. But then again, before tonight he wouldn't have believed that Winia would be capable of pouring a bucket of water on him, either.

The young noble didn't fully understand the complex workings of the female psyche, but he did recognize confusion when he saw it. It was a feeling that he was very familiar with himself, and because he could understand how she felt, he saw a cause of real concern.

"Winia, I'm only asking because I've seen it happen before, but you don't suppose that you care for him because you feel that you owe him your life?"

Indeed, Leo had seen it before, and the tragedy of unrequited love had imprinted itself in his memories. The knight in question had behaved amicably, but the lady's feelings were crushed under his polite indifference nonetheless. Leo thought that he recognized the same polite indifference in Christopher Bailaha, and he was determined do all in his power to prevent a similar fate for Winia.

"The thought has crossed my mind, but… No, I don't think so. I want to understand him, Leo, understand what he's thinking, what he's feeling, who he is. I don't know why, I can't explain it, I just..."

Winia stared at the ground by her feet, careful to avoid eye-contact with Leo for the fear that his eyes would tell her that she was being silly. Well, she knew that she was silly, since she was convinced that Chris didn't actually harbour any similar feelings for her. But seeing it in Leo, her thoughts and fears would suddenly become reality, and then she would be forced to accept it.

But she needn't have worried, because a softer tone had crept into Leo's voice.

"That's exactly how I feel about Miss Pacifica. It is my highest wish is to share all of her innermost thoughts. I haven't had much chance to talk to her about these things yet – somehow, something always seems to get in the way – but I'm certain that I'll succeed eventually!"

"I'm sure you will, Leo."

Winia finally raised her bowed head, and looked at her friend with eyes full of genuine fondness. The young man at her side was truly infatuated with Pacifica, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling at his puppyish eagerness. This was the Leo that she treasured: his unwavering optimism, undying enthusiasm, genuine concern for his friends and fierce sense of loyalty. He would make a fine knight one day. "I'm glad that you know what you want. I certainly don't."

"But Winia, didn't you just say that you want the same thing with the Baron as I want with Miss Pacifica?" Leo was getting a little bit confused. Because that was what she had said only moments ago, wasn't it? Or had he misunderstood her completely? No, he was certain that—

"I do. But I don't think that he'd let me. You know how he is... Besides, he doesn't seem interested in me at all. We've hardly even spoken to each other." A downcast Winia sighed as she thought about her numerous, awkward attempts to strike up an actual conversation with him. But they had all been failures – spectacular failures – and only driven her further into frustration. "Still, that night in the Glass Canyon, he was so different, and… And I just wish he would open up to me again."

"Well, maybe you need to give him some time." Leo had heard the story of the Glass Canyon more times than he could remember, but in his heart, he wondered if it really had been Bailaha that she was talking about. Leo couldn't imagine how the expressionless young man could possibly have captured Winia's heart, but if Winia was happy, he was happy. But at the moment, she wasn't, so Leo was determined to do his very best to give her all the support that he could. "Remember that he has only recently lost a lot of things from his past: his country, his beliefs, even his name. He signed his own death warrant when he saved Miss Pacifica, and everything he knows has been taken away from him. It must be very difficult for him, even if he doesn't show it. Besides, you said that he'd been raised in the military, right? So he's probably not like you and me to begin with. Perhaps he needs to discover that he has, you know, feelings."

Now it was Winia's turn to be rendered speechless; Leo had really surprised her this time. He sounded so mature and so adult, traits that were directly at odds with all of her other experiences of him. Who was this calm, thoughtful person sitting next to her and where was Leo?

But Winia was quickly reassured that Leo still was Leo when he added, with equal seriousness, "Or maybe the Baron has just been hit too many times over the head. Battle can do all kinds of things to people, you know."

"That's probably true, Leo," she replied with a sad smile. "Oh, I just wish I could find a way to get closer to him."

Leo glanced over at Winia, who looked so utterly dejected that he pulled her closer to him and placed an arm around her thin shoulders. The simple act of friendship conveyed his honest sympathy, understanding and how much he wanted to help her. Winia was grateful for the friendly gesture. She had never had any real friends before the Casulls suddenly had appeared in her life, but she felt closer to Leo than anyone other than Pacifica. It was reassuring to know that he genuinely cared about her happiness and that he understood her feelings.

The two friends remained huddled close together, gazing out over the serene, moonlit landscape, each deep in thought. Leo and Winia pondered the respective mystery that was Pacifica Casull and Christopher Bailaha, but without much success. It seemed that they would remain a pair of unsolved riddles, at least for the time being.

Winia and Leo were both so deep in their own worlds that neither sensed the presence of a third being on the cliff, nor did they see the brief flash of eyes in the darkness behind them.