Disclaimer: I do not own the Fable universe. Characters you do not recognize were created by me for the purposes of this story – they are mine. Rated M for a reason, dear readers, do not continue if adult topics (sex, violence, etc) could upset you.

I will try to update as much as possible, but I am moving soon which means the computer needs to be packed up (which I am not pleased about!). Thanks for understanding and sorry in advance if updates take me a while, they may become few and far between towards the end of the month. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! - Fallon.

Chapter Twelve

Page, Maya and the freed rebels left Reaver`s manor and breathed in the fresh, untainted air. They had spent far too much time in there for their liking and were eager to put some distance between it and them.

Maya wondered if the manor was ever...unsullied. It was a beautiful building, arguably the finest in Millfields, but she doubted anyone would ever want to live in it after Reaver left - that was, if he ever did. He was a lot like a rash, hard to get rid of and a pain while you had it.

"All citizens head to the castle to hear the King's message!" A deep, commanding voice boomed.

Maya spotted the crier down the hill and, beyond him, noticed villagers heading down the road to Bowerstone. "I wonder what that's about?"

Page stood beside her, "Can't be good, Princess. You had been go there and see what's going on. I go with you, but there is a reason we stay underground."

She turned back to the woman and nodded, knowing how her situation was, "I will, but there is somewhere I have to go first..."

Page gave her a puzzled look, "Running after that wolf, Princess?"

"No," Maya said quickly, "just going where I expect he'll be." She was just as curious as he was about the wound she had inflicted on him.

Page chuckled, "You're breaking Ben's heart, it's rather amusing to watch."

"What do you mean?"

Kidd and the others nodded to Page and hurried to make their leave. She shrugged, "I've seen him sniffing around you..."

"Sniffing?" How could Maya have missed that?

"Like a dog," Page clarified, "and I assure you Maya, he is one, so be careful."

It was Maya`s turn to laugh, "Ben is a good soldier, a decent man, I'm sure another will catch his gaze soon enough." Ben's wandering eye was well known, and though she did not think less of him for it, she had no plans to fall victim to his charms.

"More than likely," Page whole heartedly agreed, "well, you head off, Princess, I will meet up with Walter and go over our plans. We should have some things dealt with by the time you return."

Maya fingered the guild seal in her pocket, knowing she had to change before more people saw her so...exposed. "Thank you Page, I feel much better about all of this having you on my side...I would certainly not want to have you as my enemy!" She laughed.

Page smirked, "It will be Logan`s undoing, I swear it."

Back in her comfortable, covering practical clothes, Maya strolled through the woods of Silverpines. Having the balverines as her allies, she did not fear them attacking - which surprised her, given her overall opinion of them.

Maya sighed, not sure what to think anymore.

Von was a pain, and often rather rude, but she did miss having him around...as much as it hurt to admit. Their time together had lessened her hate, and honestly, she felt much better for it. Carrying around that much hate had been exhausting, she hadn't realized how much until it began chipping away. Her step felt a little lighter, she felt lighter.

And she supposed she owed that to the frustrating, snappy, extremely irritating, handsome...exotic...

She cursed herself inwardly and tried to think of something else.

Her brother's upcoming address to the people, yes. She wondered what he could possibly have to announce, he did not often address the people in person, and that step out of character was rather disconcerting.

"Hello, Princess!"

Maya looked up and saw a little girl blocking her path on the trail, "Good to see you again, Shiloh." She did not take a step further, still wary of the strange balverine child.

Shiloh rocked on her heels, "I saw the boo-boo you gave my uncle..."

Maya noticed the look in her eyes and decided to ask what she suspected Shiloh had the answer to, "Do you know what I did to him?"

"You hit him," She said, her eyes still holding their mischievous sparkle.

"I know," she said with a sigh, "but what about the scar? I didn't set out to do that to him."

Shiloh smirked, "What makes you think I'd know, Princess?"

Her dodging was tiresome, "You know exactly why I do." She glared at the child, well aware Shiloh possessed the cunning of someone over thrice her age.

"Well..." Shiloh drew it out, savouring every victorious moment, "maybe I do..."

"Then tell me." Her tone was firm, as it should be when talking to a stubborn child.

But Shiloh was a woman in a child's body. She smiled and waved her finger at Maya, "What are you gonna do for me, Princess?"

Maya, tired of playing games, pushed past the child and continued down the road, "If you don't know just say so, Shiloh!"

Shiloh hurried after her, her hair bouncing playfully as she continued her toying, "Oh, I know, Princess!"

Maya did not slow down, "Then speak, Shiloh."

Shiloh pouted and grabbed a hold of Maya`s skirt, stopping her, "I am not a child!"

"You certainly look like one..."

"I know things!" Shiloh sneered, her pretty face going ugly. "Things you would want to know, but don't!"

Maya knelt down to Shiloh's level, "Then speak, oh annoying one."

"Hmm, slightly better I suppose..." Shiloh shrugged, "fine, what do you want to know?"

Maya watched the child's eyes closely, "What did I do to Von?"

Von crouched on the hill above Seraphina`s grave. He did not dare get closer, seeing the inscription on the headstone only brought back emotions he did not desire to feel.

He rubbed his cheek, the pulsing of the scar somewhat bearable but still quite frustrating.

Shiloh had watched him for a while from the trees. He did not speak to her, and she said nothing to him, but he knew she was there as a warning, just as she had been in Industrial. Still, his brother did not trust him, not even in Silverpines! But if Shiloh had been following him, she knew he had parted ways with Maya, and that meant Ezra knew...

Though they were bound by blood, Ezra had never truly trusted or loved him...then again, Ezra trusted and loved no one.

He had...liked his previous mate, the one that had bore him Shiloh, but Von knew Vienna meant little to him. The speech he had given Maya when they had first met was a blatant lie, all in the Family knew it - even poor Vienna.

A mated pair was supposed to be an eternal, deep bond of love...but to Ezra it was only a means to an end. Anything to get the son he so deeply desired. But why he strived so hard for a son was beyond Von, Shiloh was everything Ezra would want in an heir. She was loyal to a fault, conniving, vicious...and she was alive.

Von`s heart sunk, his own child was not so lucky.

He heard a twig snap behind him, and he opened his eyes, "What are you doing here?"

Maya stepped out of the trees and approached him, "I just went for a walk and found myself here." She looked down at the cemetery, "Why are you here?"

Von snorted, "Wouldn't you like to know..."

She sat down beside him, "Well, maybe I do."

"I doubt that." He said harshly.

She sighed and pulled at the grass between them, making a little pile with the strands she freed from the soil, "Try me."

Von actually found himself contemplating it, "You wouldn't understand, you hate me, remember?"

"Hate," she said carefully, "is a strong word..."

Curious, he cocked an eyebrow, "So I've moved from hated to what, strongly disliked?"

Maya chuckled and shot him a playful sideways glance, "Maybe a little higher than that...but you're so not my friend."

He felt a smirk trying to creep onto his lips, "Well, thank Avo for that."

Maya slapped the ground on either side of her, "Well, now that we've established that, how about you start talking?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand, Princess." He was hesitant to tell her anything, less she use it against him and decide to revert back to actively hating him. "You are asking me to reopen festering wounds..."

She thought for a moment, "Are you afraid?"

He turned to her, seemingly disgusted by the suggestion.

She held up her hands in defence, "Calm down, Von, it's just that you don't have to be...if you are, that is."

Von looked away from her, unable to bare the full weight of her gaze. She had never been so civil, so...friendly, and he hoped it was genuine. He hoped they were making progress.

"Hmm," Von pondered, "a question for a question?"

Maya recalled their earlier game, the one they had played in Industrial, "Fine."

He nodded, "Then ask your question."

Maya leaned back, propping herself up on the heels of her hands, "Why are you here?"

"To pay my respects to my family." He answered in a matter-of-fact manner, "They died about a year ago."

She saw a flicker of true emotion in his eyes, "Who were they to you?"

He smirked, but the emotion remained in his eyes, "That is another question, Princess."

"No," she said proudly, "only a continuation of the original. You're the one being too general, it's your own fault."

He was silent, but Maya said nothing, determined to wait until he gave in. She could be patient when the need arose.

Von exhaled heavily and looked down at the cemetery, "My lover and my son..."

His answer took her off guard, "W-What?" She would never have guessed he had had a son! And a lover?

"I met her shortly after...shortly after she married her husband. She wasn't happy, told me the marriage had been arranged by their parents." He rubbed his temples, "We...got close, too close, and she would sneak out of the village nearly every night to be with me."

She pulled her legs into her chest, "Did you tell her..."

He knew what she wanted to know, "That I am a balverine? No, I didn't. She thought I was a travelling merchant, and I was too weak to correct her. When...when she stopped her monthly bleeding, she told me the child was mine. She was happy, and so was I, but when the babe was born..."

Maya noticed he was tearing up at the mention of his son and she was shocked at how human he looked.

"She knew something was wrong with him...told me his eyes weren't right and that he wasn't sleeping. I...I heard him crying every night," He sighed heavily and looked away from her, "She was going to take him to the doctor, but I knew...I knew it was being inside the village that was hurting him..."

"What do you mean?"

Von pointed out the torches at the entrance to the village just beyond the cemetery, "They keep us out, and my son was stuck inside them."

She could not imagine what that must have been like for him - hearing his son cry out in pain and being unable to get to him. "Did you ever meet him?"

His expression was stoney but unshed tears still clouded his eyes, "Once..."

Seraphina slipped out of the village and through the cemetery to their meeting place. To others who passed it, it was nothing special, just another patch of clover under a tree. But, for them, it was special, as it was where they had first made love.

She stopped, the bundle clutched to her chest, and scanned the woods. He always saw her before she saw him, and she suspected it would be the same tonight. He had strange eyes, but they worked very well.

"Serah..."

She spun around, saw him step out of the woods, and hurried to him, eager to introduce father to son.

"Von!" She exclaimed happily as he embraced her, careful of the bundle between them, "I've missed you!"

He pressed his lips to her ear, "And I you..."

She pulled back and held out the baby, "I came as soon as I could, he hasn't let me out of his sight since Nathaniel was born."

Von cringed at the mention of her husband, the lucky bastard who laid with her every night and woke up to her every morning, "Can I hold him?"

Seraphina nodded and passed her bundled son to his father - his real father. She watched them with a proud smile on her face.

His son was small, smaller than a pure-blooded balverine infant, and incredibly restless. He squirmed and fought against the blanket, and Von feared that the torches were to blame. When she had told him she was pregnant, that was his fear, more than anything else. He did not want his son to be in pain.

Von smiled, wanting to hide his fears from the woman he loved, the woman that had been his first...and yet did not know of his true heritage. He kissed his son's forehead and rubbed a finger over his chubby cheek, "He is perfect..."

"He cries a lot," Seraphina said as she brushed the boy's wispy hair, "and it's always so hard to soothe him...honestly I think he just tires himself out from crying so much." She chuckled lightly.

Von swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. So many times he had wanted to tell her the truth, and now that they had a son he knew he had to...but the conflict made his heart ache. He could not bare her rejection. The beatings his brother dealt out, the fights between the other males, nothing else compared to the pain he would feel if she pushed him out of her life, out of Nathaniel's.

He hadn't been able to be there for his birth, but Von would kill himself before he missed out on the rest.

He felt his chin tremble and bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, "I...I'm sure he just wants his father..."

Seraphina leaned up and kissed his cheek, "And I want you too..."

Von smiled despite his pain and kissed her back, "I love you, Serah, you know that right?"

She chuckled, "Of course I do!"

"And you love me?" Von needed to hear it.

She nodded and took Nathaniel from his arms, "I do, lover, but I need to get back now before Fredrick suspects something." She turned to leave.

Von`s heart twisted in his chest, "When will I see you both again?"

Again, she nodded, "I'm not sure when, but I promise it will be as soon as I can manage."

She walked down the hill, back to the village, and didn't even look back once.

"I...I don't want to talk about this anymore..." He said, knowing it was a half-truth. He wanted to tell her, to get it off his chest, but the story didn't end well and just the idea of telling it nearly broke him. "My turn to ask."

He had ended rather abruptly, and she sensed there was more he wanted to say, but she didn't want to push. He had revealed a great deal after all, and she figured it would be unwise to try her luck. She nodded, "Ask away."

He turned to her, his eyes still hazy, "Do you know yet what you did to me?"

Maya sighed, remembering Shiloh's words, "I...I have an idea, yes."

"Can you tell me?" He asked hopefully, "Even if it's only a guess...I just need to know."

She rubbed her arms, the air had become chilly, "Shiloh crossed my path tonight, just before I met you here...she -"

"Anything she says should not be trusted," Von interrupted, his tone rather soft, "she doesn't think highly of me."

"Well, I think what she had to say had some merit." Maya stared out at the cemetery, "She seemed to think that, when I hit you, some of my will passed into you."

"Your will?" It didn't sound good to him, perhaps it was a spell?

Maya held out her hand and called a ball of lightning into her palm, "The power to use magic, to summon the memory of the spells from my blood...she seems to think a sliver of that power went into you."

The lightning was mesmerizing, and he forced himself to look beyond that to her eyes, "Why?"

Maya closed her hand and the lightning went away, "She didn't say, but I think it was because I was angry. What you said...it made me lose my focus, I think, and the will was allowed more control then I usually give it." She sighed, "It's still only a theory."

The scar pulsed ever so slightly, "So we will never know the whole truth of it?"

Maya shrugged, "There is one other I intend to speak to...one who would know." Theresa, she thought to herself, if anyone knew what had happened it would be her. But Maya did not know when she would see her next, the seer was always in control of their meetings.

Von nodded, trusting that she wanted to find out just as much as he did, "Alright."

She eyed him, "Just alright?"

"Yes," he admitted, "I am putting my faith in you to speak to this person. Until then, I will just have to deal with it." It wasn't like he had many options.

"Well...thank you. For not being mad." She was still surprised he had accepted her answer as it didn't really clear up much for them.

He nodded, "I do have another question."

Maya smirked, "It was one for one -"

"Call it a continuation of the first," he smirked, "besides, I told you a lot, so you still owe me."

Maya nodded. He had told her a lot, not all of it, she was sure, but a lot. "I suppose I can answer another."

Von watched her, "What I said to you...in the resistance headquarters..."

She remembered what he had said, nothing could make her forget, "Yes..."

"I said any man who would take you as his mate -"

"I know what you said," she muttered with a heavy heart, "is there a question coming up?"

He nodded, "Who is your mate?"

"Excuse me?" That was not the exact wording she was expecting.

"You took offence," he explained, "I can only assume that means you have a mate waiting for you somewhere..."

Elliot...

"The one I...I love, is dead." She fiddled with her hands, too uncomfortable to meet his gaze. Von had explained his story, she supposed she owed him the same, "Logan made me choose..."

He noticed her chin quiver, "Choose what?"

"Who lived...and who died," she rubbed a tear from her cheek, "Logan was going to put protestors to death, Elliot and I intervened and...and my brother offered me a way to save them." It had been so long since she had really thought about her final day at the castle, about the loss of Elliot, and it brought her smothered emotions rushing to the surface.

Von resisted the urge to touch her hand, "And the price was your Elliot?"

She nodded, her tears having reached her lips, "He had him killed in the garden outside my room...so I could hear it. The protestors went home to their families," she choked on a sob, "and I lost mine..." Maya covered her lips with her hand and wept. Not only had she lost Elliot that day, but she had lost Logan.

Von watched her shoulders shake and waited for her to finish, strangely not uncomfortable being beside her when she was in such a state. Her barriers were down, and for once he felt like he was sitting beside a normal woman.

Her eyes were hard to look away from, her tears made them shine like polished coal and he wondered, albeit shamefully, what it would take to see a spark of desire smoulder upon them.

Once her tears began to lessen, he offered her his hand, "A truce then, Princess?"

She looked at his extended hand and then to his eyes, "W-What?"

"After what we've said here, I think it is fair to say we're both tired of playing games," his hand remained outstretched, "no more pointless bickering."

Maya saw the wisdom in that and, after everything he had told her, he seemed like less of a jerk...almost bearable actually. She accepted his hand and shook firmly, "Don't expect me to be a push over though, I'm still going to speak my mind."

He rolled his eyes, "I know, I asked for a truce not a miracle after all."

If Von had been focusing on more than the Princess, he would have known his brother was watching from the trees behind them. He stood on a low branch, his arms crossed and his expression one of frustration.

He had known about Von`s secret family of course, had known the moment his brother had mated with a woman he hadn't been bonded to, and though it had angered him, at least Von had only harmed himself. Ezra held his head high, he would not sink as low as his brother had, he would not bed a human woman - even one as fine as she.

He smirked, eyeing Maya lecherously. Vienna was trying his patience and he felt the urge to soon move on. The Princess was an ideal candidate, headstrong and lovely, the sort of mate he deserved.

Ezra knew the look in his brother's eyes and could smell the desire radiating off of him - he was falling for the Princess!

The very idea made him laugh, for surely Von did not deserve a young woman as high in breeding as Maya? Surely the Alpha deserved such a woman!

She possessed enormous potential, and Ezra would turn her, whether she liked it or not. He had tasted her blood after all, and knew of the possibilites should she be made his. He recalled the moment he had tasted her with a smug smirk. Her blood had been strong but sweet like honey, and he wondered what other sweet things she had to offer.

Only after she was one of them would he take her.

And take her he would, be it by hurried courting, copious amounts of ale or by brute force.

For surely a hero could give him sons...