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, faves and alerts so far – they certainly spur me on! - Fallon.

Chapter Eight

Bowerstone Industrial was like nothing Maya had ever seen. Whores on every corner, beggars on every street, and warehouses filled with working children. She found herself staring at them, and quickly turned away for fear they would take offense.

"Not what you expected, Princess?"

She looked back to Von and glared, but said nothing.

Von growled at her as Walter led them over a muck-covered bridge. Hale seemed to be the only one who noticed, and turned back, offering the balverine a blank stare.

Maya hurried ahead to the stall closest them and chatted with the vendor. Von waited with Walter and Hale, trying to look anywhere other than at Maya.

Across the canal that split the region, he spotted a familiar little girl with golden curls. She was sitting on a crate with her legs crossed under her frilly, stark white dress. Despite her startling appearance, no one who passed seemed to notice her.

Shiloh.

So Ezra didn't trust him, he calmly concluded, and sent his precious daughter to check up on how things were going. Von figured Ezra would be keeping an eye on him, but didn't think he would use his own daughter to get the job done.

"See something you like, wolf-boy?"

He blinked, and Shiloh was gone.

Von turned back and saw Maya standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. "If you need to run off after some tart then do it when we aren't in the middle of something!"

"Why chase after a "tart" when the wandering royal whore of Albion stands before me?" He asked in a low voice so only she could hear.

Maya clenched her fingers until it hurt, but didn't throw a punch. "If I was a whore, which I assure you I am not, I would not touch your furry hide if my life depended on it!"

"Oh that's right," he said cruelly, too unnerved by Shiloh's appearance to care if what he said hurt her, "how could I forget my infection?" He laughed, "Get off your high horse, Princess, before someone pulls you down."

She narrowed her eyes, aware that Walter was nearby, "If that's a threat you'd better keep it to yourself."

He pushed past her, too angry to even bother responding. Maya stormed into the crowd to get away from him, though Hale sprinted after her so Walter wasn't too worried.

Walter shook his head when Von approached him.

"What?" Von challenged.

"You're going to have to learn to get along with her," he offered, "or you'll both be miserable until she takes the throne."

Von cringed at the very idea, which he had forgotten until now, "Albion will be in a sorer state when she takes the crown."

"I know she's..." He searched for the right word.

"A pompous, confrontational brat?" He offered.

Walter sighed and nodded, "But she's got reason for it. A lot has changed for her over the past two months and more is sure to come, the people around her have to understand that."

"Oh please, she's been down-graded from a plush bed to a rented cot!"

Walter knew he had to tread carefully, "There's more to it then that but...given her current hatred of you, it would be unwise of me to fill you in."

Von gave him a curious look, "Spill it, old man."

Walter`s eyebrows twitched, "Well, if you put it that way..." He turned and walked off, leaving Von alone on the semi-crowded street.

With nothing better to do, or so he told himself, he started down the street in the direction Maya had stormed off in.

The people he passed were covered in filth and had shifty, tired eyes. He kept his hand on his concealed sword but knew at the same time he couldn't blame them if they tried to swipe something from him, the people literally had nothing.

A small boy passed him, bumping into him with all the force of a gentle breeze. Von felt the boy grab the small bundle of coins he kept in his pocket, but didn't chase after him. He had seen the boy's sunken eyes and bloated stomach and knew he needed them more than he ever could.

Thinking back, he remembered having fifty coins in the purse and smiled, knowing it would greatly help the starving youth.

Von pushed past the gaggle of people until he reached the end of the dock, and found Maya sitting on its edge. She was looking out at the sea, and didn't appear to notice him as he approached her.

Hale looked up from his spot beside his mistress, but kept quiet.

Von sat down beside her without saying a word and smiled when she jumped in her seat.

"What are you doing here, wolf-boy?" She asked, obviously extremely angry.

He shrugged, "Walter brushed me off, thought I would come bother you instead." He smiled.

"Well I don't want you here." She snapped, looking away from him.

He rolled his eyes, amazed by her continuing desire to fight him, "Don't you tire of this?"

"Of what?"

"Bickering." He clarified.

She moved further away from him, scooting down the ledge.

"Is this really all because of my heritage? I can hardly help that, you know." He tried to lessen the sharpness in his tone, truly tired of arguing with the stubborn woman.

Maya shook her head slowly, "Back off." She warned.

"Why?" He questioned, "I can't help who I am, all I ask is why you hate me so much for it."

She sighed and abruptly stood, "I just do, alright, deal with it."

He stood, not about to back off when he sensed she was close to giving in, "I may be a balverine, but I am still a citizen of Albion, have you forgotten that?"

Hale remained curled up near the ledge, not alarmed in the slightest by their raised voices.

"I...I never thought of it like that." She admitted quietly.

"Then tell me..." He asked, exhausted with the dance they were playing. All he wanted was answers, was it so hard for her to give him that?

There was a moment of silence between the two as Maya thought. The only sound near the secluded end of the dock was the mumble of people far away, and the soft snoring of Hale.

"As soon as you tell me what happened to your wrist." She countered, a proud smile on her lips.

Von touched his bandaged wrist and frowned, "Of all the things you could ask me..."

"We'll start there," Maya smirked, "anything else you want to know is going to cost you."

"If I answer your question, you will answer mine?" He wasn't sure if he could trust her, her smirk was too devious, too...distracting.

But she nodded, "Of course."

"Do you swear?" He asked, taking their little game very seriously, "a question for a question? On your life?"

She touched her chest and Von couldn't help but stare at her hand, at where it was placed, "I swear it on my life."

As convinced as he was ever going to get, Von hiked up his sleeve and showed her his bandaged wrist. Maya could see a long line of blood had soaked through the bandages, "Gods, what happened?" She reflexively reached out, but drew back her hands as soon as her finger tips touched his skin.

"I offered my blood to the grave of a loved one," he explained, "it's a way of telling the dead that you are sorry, and that...that you are pained by their absence."

"Who's grave was it?"

Von shook his head, "You already owe me, why do you hate balverines?"

Maya sighed and stared past Von to the sea.

Maya stood in the middle of the road, the carriage in flames behind her. In front of her, just down the road, the massive balverine loomed over her mother. It's fur was white, but large splotches of blood matted it into clumps. Its claws were the colour of rust from those he had already killed - those that laid around the young Princess.

The beast snarled as drool oozed from his retracted lips. It didn't seem bothered by Maya`s presence, it fact, it seemed to appreciate the audience.

Maya`s feet were rooted in place. She was six, and her blonde hair and little ivory dress were sullied with dirt and blood - though none of it was her's. Her pale skin, so alike her mother's, was a mess of cuts and bruises. Her small toes sunk into the bloody dirt, her shoes long lost in the chaos of the attack.

The Queen of Albion lay in a heap on the dirt road, her silk dress billowing out around her and her light brown hair falling out of its pins and cascading down her back. Her eyes were wide, full of panic for her child.

She reached out for Maya, and the child noticed the wet, dripping blood on her finger tips. "Run, Amaythea! Run!"

Maya took a step forward, grabbed a stone from the road, and threw it at the balverine. It landed at the creature's feet and bounced, hitting its foot.

"Amaythea!" Her mother pleaded, seemingly unaware of the risk to herself, "By Avo, run child!"

Maya felt her bladder release and warm urine trail down the inside of her legs. "Mama..." She whispered.

Anger filled her small body and, when the creature dug its claws into the Queen, she felt a surge of energy jolt down her arms. Her mother's screams filled her head and the smell of burning wood and bodies filled her nose. A small bolt of lightning jumped between her fingers and settled in her palm. Faint blue swirls waxed and waned on her skin, though she was oblivious to them - all she knew, all she felt was her mother's screams.

The energy in her hand pleaded for release and she raised her hand. Without needing to think, the lightning shot from her hand in a massive blast that bent the trees back and smacked into the balverine as it feasted.

The creature snarled as it fought to remain standing, but Amaythea`s hate was stronger than its will to live.

The lightning ripped its flesh from the bone, and soon enough only a empty husk was left in its place. It fell to the ground with a thud and Maya hurried to her mother.

The Queen of Albion lay on her back, her arms spread away from her and her hair forming a halo around her head. She was an angel...

But then Maya looked to her mother's stomach, and she sobbed.

Her hand burnt, and now completely alone in the forest, the child named Amaythea curled up next to her mother and waited to join her. Time passed slowly, and she had no idea how long she had been there when she finally heard something over the crackle of the fire.

"Amaythea!" A voice echoed through her mind.

She perked up and quickly spun around in the dirt, careful not to leave her mother's side.

"Amaythea! Keraina!"

Maya sobbed as her father sprinted toward her, a dozen armed men behind him.

As he neared her, she reached her arms out to him, her burnt hand making it look like she was wearing a glove.

King Sparrow grabbed her, pulling her away from his wife's dead body with such force it make her dizzy. He squeezed her to him, desperate to feel her warmth and to know she was alive. "Amaythea...Maya...my sweet girl." He mutter into her hair.

"Dada!" She squeaked before burying her face in his neck and wailing.

Sir Walter ran up to them and gasped.

Sparrow turned to him with tears in his dark eyes, "Take her for me, Walter...I need to..."

Walter nodded, accepting the sobbing child and wanting nothing more than to weep with her.

His daughter's cries still rebounding around him, Sparrow fell to his knees and tentatively touched his beloved. He gasped when he found her skin was still warm. Consumed by pain, he touched his forehead to her's and allowed himself to fall to pieces.

Von stared at her, at a complete loss as to what to say.

Maya brushed away the tears that had fallen and tried to brush it off, "It was a long time ago."

"I-I don't know what to say..." It was the truth, her story had left him dumbfounded and, dare he admit it, ashamed.

She shrugged but he could tell recalling what happened had jarred something loose, "There is nothing to say. My mother was killed in front of me by one of your kind. Hate came naturally from it."

Von went through what she had told him, confused by something, "We never attack large groups or caravans, well only when..."

"When what?" She wanted the conversation to end but couldn't help her curiosity.

"Well, something like that would only happen if the balverine was in the middle of courting. Males usually do something big to um...seal the deal with a prospective mate."

The idea made her eyes water, "So...my mother was killed, along with a dozen other people...just so one male could show off to his mate?"

Von felt extremely uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. "N-Not necessarily, I mean..."

But the damage was done.

Maya choked on a sob, pressed the back of her hand to her lips and turned away from him. Von noticed her shoulders rise and fall quickly as she wept silently.

Conflicted, Von lightly touched her shoulder, hoping it wouldn't repulse her.

His hand wasn't there long though, as Maya sprinted away from him, away from his touch.

Von stood there, watching her until she was swallowed up by the crowd. He hoped she would find her way to Walter, and if she didn't, that she didn't do anything reckless on her own.

Hale soon followed Maya, leaving Von alone on the dock.