Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own the Fable universe. Characters you do not recognize were created by me for the purposes of this story. Rated M for a reason. The region of Silverpines has been changed, so expect to read some things in this story that are not in the game. Warning: this story will be rather dark at times, you have been warned.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far – they certainly spur me on! - Fallon.

Chapter Seven

"So," Ezra began, "what is your next move?"

Walter leaned forward in his seat, "Bowerstone Industrial no doubt, to speak with the leader of the resistance there." He had gone over the agreement Maya had made with the Family; her promises to demolish the arena and prohibit the killing of balverines in Silverpines, and agreed that they were fair terms. His only hesitation was Maya`s willingness to following through with them, but he supposed that could wait until another day.

Ezra sipped his wine lazily, "A smart move indeed. And do you suspect Page will accept your offer?"

"You know her?" Walter asked.

"I have heard of her," Ezra swirled his wine, "but have not had the pleasure of meeting her."

"Hmm, she is a handful, but she would be a great help."

Ezra nodded and considered his next words carefully, "I have to insist an envoy accompany you and the Princess for the remainder of your quest."

Walter arched an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"The Princess has become my Family's investment, and I insist on protecting my investments, Sir Walter." Ezra slugged back the last of his wine.

Walter didn't see a way out, and he didn't see the harm in accepting another guardian for Maya, "Of course."

A servant refilled Ezra`s glass without an order having to be uttered, "And my choice of guardian, of course."

Walter nodded, "I would expect it no other way, you are in charge of things here, aren't you?"

Ezra smirked wickedly, "Yes, I am."

Von stood awkwardly in the shadows of the Silverpines graveyard.

At his feet were the graves of the family that had been taken from him so cruelly.

He placed a large bundle of red roses atop the grave, "I'm sorry, Seraphina..."

For the infant, Von left a worn stuffed teddy bear, "I have to go away for awhile...I'll come back though, I promise, my sweet son."

Von produced a blade from his coat and pressed it to his wrist. With a hiss, he dragged it across his flesh, allowing the blood to roll down his wrist and fall on the soil. He watched the dark liquid gather and fall, mesmerized by its movement. It was the least he could sacrifice for them, until he was ready to make the ultimate one, of course.

He produced a handkerchief, cleaned the blade, and then applied pressure to his wound.

"I failed you once," Von muttered, "but it was enough..."

Tears were threatening to fall, and Von couldn't deal with that at the moment. "Gods, Seraphina..." His lip trembled ever so slightly, "I miss you so much."

He stared at the grave for a while, before turning around and walking back to the manor.

Maya finished tending to her pistol and after speaking with Shiloh, was ready to finally leave the region. Hale was curled in front of the fire place, seemingly content with the idea of staying. She shot him a glare and he slowly stood, as if her request was outlandish.

Walter strolled into the room - with Von following close behind.

Maya looked over Walter`s shoulder and soured, "What is he doing here?"

"Good to see you too," Von muttered under his breath.

"Ezra insists he come with us, he wants to make sure you live long enough to make good on your promises." Walter said with a sigh, not really wanting to deal with her foolish protests but sensing he would have too.

Maya bit her lip, pushed past them, and hurried up the grand stair case.

She found a room guarded by two men and suspected Ezra was inside. Maya touched her pistol and defiantly walked past them into the room.

"Ezra -"

He looked up at her and stopped his attack on the training dummy. "Can I help you with something, Princess?"

She tried to ignore the fact he was shirtless, tried to ignore the gleam of sweat on his toned back - but it was damn difficult. She swallowed hard and hurried to recover, "Why are you sending him with me?"

"I assume you are talking about my brother." He said, brushing the sweat off his neck with a towel.

"Yes!" She glared at him, "why would you send him?"

Ezra shrugged, "You survived Reaver`s manor together, are you telling me there is no civility between the two of you?"

Maya scowled, but knew that he did have a point, "Not enough to deal with him on a daily basis!"

Ezra smiled, and Maya swore he puffed out his chest. "Ahh, you are so refreshing, my dear. So many people think about what they say around me, but you are so very bold." His eyes ran up and down her body.

Maya was repulsed, he was actually trying to seduce her!

She took a step back without meaning to and Ezra chuckled. "Oh, my dear...I would go with you myself if my duties here weren't so demanding."

She had heard enough, clearly the Alpha wasn't going to be helpful. She turned to leave, and walked right into Von.

"Is there a problem with the arrangements, brother?" He asked, completely disregarding Maya`s presence.

Ezra kept his eyes on Maya, "No, everything is as it was planned, do your duty Von."

Von grabbed Maya`s wrist and pulled her out of the room, ignoring her insults. He led her down the stairs and past Walter and Hale, who quickly followed after them.

When they were far enough from the house, Von spun around and got in her face. "What were you thinking!"

Her eyes opened wide, "Excuse me?"

"After what I told you..." he gave her a knowing look, "you would give him the opportunity to attempt courting with you?"

Walter asked them what was going on, but was ignored.

Maya wrestled her wrist free, "You touch me again and I will kill you!"

Von growled and threw his hands up in the air, "I give up! You are too thick-headed for your own good." He walked ahead of the group.

Maya frowned and hurried after him, "You know what your problem is?"

Von kept his eyes forward, "Oh, do tell!"

"You've got a stick so far up your ass -"

He rolled his eyes, "You know me so well..."

"No!" She said firmly, "I mean, there is something bothering you that you're too much of a pansy to deal with! You tell yourself you want to, but letting it smoulder is easier, isn't it!"

Von cringed and hoped she didn't notice, "You are bothering me."

She shook her head, "Not as much as something else, I can tell."

They walked in silence for a while, Maya waiting for Von to speak and Walter too afraid to. Maya noticed something tied around Von`s wrist peaking out under the sleeve of his coat. She stepped forward and reached for it, "What's that -"

Von ripped his arm from her grasp, "None of your business."

"Wolf-boy!" She growled in frustration as she hurried to catch up to him, "Speak!"

"I'm not a dog, Princess. No matter what you may think."

"Obviously," she said with a laugh, "dogs would listen more. What happened to your wrist?"

He pulled his sleeve down more and ignored her.

"I'm trying to be nice, you idiot!" She insisted.

"Well, you're not doing a good job."

"Oh give me a break! Since when did you become so sensitive?" She put her hands on her hips.

She chased after him, a dozen fresh taunts ready to spew from her lips.

Walter looked down to Hale and frowned, it was going to be a long day.

It was decided they would enter Industrial through Mourningwood. Maya had wanted to simply head there from Millfields, but Walter reminded her that that meant walking past dozens of guards all heavily and all knowing exactly what she looked like.

They stopped by the Fort first to restock on supplies and let Major Swift know what was going on.

Walter grabbed Maya`s arm, "I'll fill in Swift on what's happened, you keep an eye on our friend over there, eh?"

Maya nodded and glanced over to Von, who was leaning against the wall and staring at the ground. His grey coat reached his knees and was decorated with black and silver piping and buttons. He wore dark trousers and worn leather boots that went mid-calf. His coat was open, revealing an oversized cream skirt and belts that ran across his chest that held various daggers. He was an imposing sight, and a strange one - she knew he was attracting a considerable amount of attention from the soldiers.

She approached him and leaned on the wall beside him, "Your getting some looks, wolf-boy."

He kept his eyes on the ground, "They do not know what I am, but they are trying to guess." He nodded to his right, "The boy there with the glasses thinks I am an Auroran mercenary." He tried to hide his amused smile. "Fool."

Maya snorted, "What, can you read their minds?"

Von shook his head, "No, their body language...and I can hear them talking."

Maya looked over to the boy he identified, "He's on the other side of the courtyard..."

He tapped his ear with a single finger, "I'm a good listener."

That unnerved her but she tried to hide it. What had he heard her say? What had his family members heard? "Must come in handy."

He shrugged, "Sometimes you hear things you'd rather not."

She could only imagine, "Must be hard..."

He looked at her, his white-blue eyes glowing, "Was that sympathy I detected, Princess?"

"Yes," she said honestly, "I wouldn't want it..."

Von eyed her strangely before pointing out a soldier, "He is telling the others about his mother. She died three days ago and he can't get leave to attend her funeral." He pointed out another, "He just got a letter from his fiance, she refuses to wait for him any longer and has run off with the blacksmith."

Maya looked long and hard at the boys Von pointed out, making a mental note to say a kind word to them and, perhaps, speak to the Major about them.

"He," Von gestured to another, "is telling the others about a strange rash that appeared on his manhood after a visit to Bowerstone Industrial -"

She raised her hands quickly, "I get it."

Von laughed and went back to staring at the ground.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, "When people stare at you in Industrial?"

"Hmm," he stood up straight, "I'll deal with that when it happens, we're going to have other things to deal with in a minute."

She looked around them, "What?"

She heard them before she spotted them, a group of soldiers led by the boy with the glasses was marching toward them.

"Oi, who's that?" The boy with the glasses demanded, pointing accusingly at Von.

"Yeah!" Another chimed in, clenching his rifle, "why's he here?"

Maya glanced back to Von, "He is from another group who will be helping us."

The boy with the glasses looked to her, "What's with him, Princess?" He glared back to Von, "He some messed up gypsy?"

Von shuddered but remained silent.

"Stand down, now." She ordered as calmly as she could, not liking the stupid look in his eyes.

"You've not my commanding officer!" He spat, "You're just some wandering royal whore!"

In the blink of an eye, Von had the boy pressed up against the wall by the collar of his shirt, his feet dangling off the ground. The other men bolted, some screaming for Swift and others praying to Avo.

"Oi, lemme down!" The boy demanded, spitting on Von as he spoke.

Von`s eyes narrowed but he said nothing.

The boy became uneasy, apparently unnerved by the look Von was giving him. "P-Please...meant no harm, mister!"

His grip tightened on the boy, and Maya placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, "Easy, he's not worth it."

Von shot her a look, but she held her ground and he reluctantly let the boy go.

When the youth was gone, Von turned to her, "You wanted me to let him get away with that?"

"It's not that, I need these men to follow me, Von, and they can't do that if you make them wet themselves." She kept her tone even, "If you step in every time they call me a bad name you'll get tired...and I won't earn their respect."

His expression didn't change, "So you want me to do nothing? Ezra sent me here -"

"To make sure I don't get myself killed," she interjected, "words don't kill. And I'm a hero, Von, I can take care of myself." She meant it to be lighthearted but she knew as soon as she said it that Von didn't take it as such.

He chuckled angrily, "So Albion`s darling Princess doesn't need anyone?"

She wanted to smack him for being so bloody stupid, but she decided against it. "Von..."

His expression changed, surprised to hear her say his name. He was about to speak, but Walter returned with Major Swift and he was unable to.

Von heard Maya sigh as Walter began talking to her. She had brushed her hair over her shoulder, and it caught the light of the setting sun. It was repulsive, he reminded himself, far too light and too silvery.

Nothing like Seraphina`s had been. Her`s had been as rich as mahogany and a mass of thick curls. Maya`s had only a slight wave to it, nothing that he could get his fingers into.

Still, he kept watching her even as the Major tried to introduced himself.