Woo! 10th chapter! Lookit me go!

Sorry this one took so long to get up. I had stuff to do.

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Niira wandered the silent streets of Bale, feeling the cool night air settle over her. The spring air was damp, clinging to the exposed skin of her face and arms. She enjoyed it; it was a feeling she hadn't experienced for many years. The Northlands were, for the most part, much drier than Endiness, even in the forested areas. The humidity soothed her, and she walked slowly, hoping it would calm her after the day's events. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't really care either. As long as she didn't end up back at Indels, or accidentally run into her father or Coen. She wasn't sure she could handle seeing them again.

But that's what I wanted, wasn't it? To see them again, to be with them, back home, away from my life in the Northlands.

Then again, my life will always follow me. Alakyl followed me. And this... She hooked her thumb in the waist of her pants, where it touched a small chain that was attached to a loop hidden on the inside of the band. She knew all too well the object that hung from the short chain. It had haunted her ever since she had arrived in the north and yet, it was not something she could escape. She wasn't sure she would want to escape it, even if she could.

Well, if I couldn't be a knight here... She thought of her father again; her throat tightened in response. I'm such an idiot. I probably hurt him more today than he ever suffered after my mother died...or when I 'died.' I come back and say stupid things and then run away. Why am I being so stupid?

"Fssss..."

The low hiss startled her out of her thoughts. Looking up, she realized she had wandered into the town square; it was dark and empty, and the only sound came from the soft play of the water in the fountain that occupied the center of the area. And the hiss had come from the direction of the fountain. Squinting at it, Niira was able to make out the shape of a man sitting on its edge. He was difficult to see in the moonlight, as he wore no shirt and his dark skin allowed him to disappear into the night. Huh? He's not from around here. Not from Tiberoa either, they skin isn't that dark...

"You always were one to stir up trouble," the man said with a light Northland accent. Though he spoke in a low voice, the sound carried in the still night air.

A Northlander? Who? Niira didn't reply as she tried to sort things out in her mind. He's familiar somehow.

He stood then, stretching briefly, and turned to face her. She could make out more details now, like the scars that criss-crossed his body. Not battle scars, but rather, appearing as if they had been made on purpose, some sadistic form of body decoration. "I was beginning to wonder how long it would take for you to play the troublemaker again. More correctly, how long it would be before I'd have to clean up the mess for you."

Niira blinked. Who is this man? The only people she knew of in either Endiness or the Northlands who would purposely scar their bodies were the hyaeniforms, the mountain people of the North. She had only seen a few before, some guardsmen who worked under her uncle, and...

She remembered him then. The man who had served as her mother's bodyguard when she traveled to Endiness, a surly hyaeniform who preferred to live and work by himself. He had stayed in Bale to watch over Niira after her mother's death. Has he stayed here all these years I've been away? Did he have nowhere to go, or was he just being patient? "...Marach?" In the Northland language, Bead Pouncer--a reference to the scarred patterns on his body, and the trinkets he loved to wear in his hair.

He grinned, his teeth glistening white in the moonlight. "Took you long enough to remember. Did I not leave a big enough impression on you or something? I could certainly fix that..."

"It's just...been a long day." Niira sighed softly. Understatement of the year.

"So I've heard."

"You've heard about it?"

"I saw you walk into the city with the Third Knighthood. I know that Lavitz is back as well. And now you're wandering around looking as miserable as a house cat thrown out in the rain. I made some assumptions."

I feel like a house cat in the rain.

"Well?"

"Sorry. Just have a lot on my mind."

"Hmm." Marach had never been one to go into matters of emotion and family. He was notorious for his lack of understanding in those subjects. "Wandering around for no purpose never did anyone any good."

"Then what were you doing out here?"

"I was sitting. Not wandering."

"Oh." Mr. Literalist strikes again. Hasn't changed a bit. "Well, what do you suggest I do instead?"

"Go find a place to sleep like any other normal human would be doing at this hour."

"Uh-huh." Not like I have a place to stay, now...

As if reading her mind, Bead Pouncer pointed behind him, across the square. "Your grandmother's never turned anyone away. Better to stay with her than outdoors." Marach himself spent most of his nights sleeping in the forests west of Bale.

"It's not like I haven't slept outside before."

"Don't talk back at me. You may be older now, but I am still your guardian. Now go."

Her eyes going wide with surprise, Niira found herself mumbling a "yes, sir" before scurrying off.