Chapter warning: blood, light gore, death
Liz let's out a quiet sigh, relieved that the council have now finally moved on from squabbling over the grain distribution. But, much to her dismay, they have now move discussions onto the topic of the Kingdom's treasury, an even greater bore to her.
Thinking back, she remembers that day, when the Thin Man told her everything, but her memory of the process has always been oddly blank.
That had been the first time she had ever seen a demon. Before then, she had only ever heard of demons from the old tales her parents read to her, or from the rare traveling merchants that decided to humour her curiosity.
Even now, she has to suppress a shudder at the memory of the mad look in the Thin Man's eyes as he spoke of his grand plan.
Liz's hands curl into fists in her lap, and she is acutely aware of the weight of her wings, folded and pressed close to her back.
To perfectly merge a human with a demon, such twisted magic should not exist in this world.
Once again, as the talk of the council dulls to white noise around her, Liz finds herself drifting back into her past, to the day she was changed forever. The day she was curse with these wings.
She's not sure when she lost consciousness, or even if she really did, all Liz knows, is when she came too, she was lying on the ground. Freed from chains for the first time in so long, she'd almost forgot what it felt like to move, struggling to shift herself into a more upright position, rather than lying in a heap on the ground.
She only noticed the others still in the room when the Thin Man drops to his knees in front of her. With shaky hands reaching out, he grins wide and voice full of awe, he whispers, "Perfection."
She scrambles to shuffle back, away from the mad man, but something touches her leg, making her automatically jerk and twist to get away. But no matter where or how she moves, the thing keeps touching her, on one side, then the other, sometimes both.
Having been chained for so long, Liz quickly tires, her body not used to the sudden exertion, leaving her panting as she sits, using her hands to help keep her up.
"Light!" The Thin man demands as he shuffles on his knees after her, "Let us see her in her full glory."
The other three Masked Ones cast flames of red to light the room, while the Brutes stand still by the doorway, simply waiting their next command.
It's then, in the red light that Liz finally sees what it is that has been weighing down on her back, draped oddly down her arms and ends touching her bare legs, are large, leathery wings. From what she can see, they're a dull grey, just like that demon they had brought in before. Instantly, this makes her panic, now noticing the demon isn't to be seen, she tries to crawl away from them, but she doesn't get far, as the movement sends her right into the Thin Man's outstretched arms.
Without any kindness, he snatches her by the shoulders, pulling her forward to study her better.
"Remarkable. I've done it…. Hehe… Ahahahaha! Yes! A perfect fusion!" He laughs, his voice growing in volume and insanity the more he speaks.
Harshly, he grabs Liz by the wings, pulling them up and out to spread them, the sudden movement causing her to cry out at the painful jerks.
"Full nervous network intact, musculature realignment and ligament attachment seems to be successful. Tell me, can you move them? Can you?!"
He roughly tugs the wings froward, and instinctively Liz pulls back, freeing them from his hold, were they awkwardly fall back to her side. But that movement, little as it was, seems to be enough to send the Thin Man into an overjoyed frenzy.
"Yes yes yes! I knew it! The other subjects were all too old you see." He grins, wide and mad as he launches into an explanation of his work, "The body, it stops growing as an adult, so their bodies couldn't properly adapt to the forced changes. But a child! A body still growing, still adapting, such a body can take the pressure, it can still grow to change and adapt to the new elements. Just look at her! Look at that fearful gaze! She is still human enough to feel, to think like a person, but beast enough to be stronger, faster, better! She shall represent our next step, that the power of demons is not beyond the Order's reach after all!" He laughs, joyously raising his hands to the roof as he talks, before suddenly becoming somber as he turns to Liz, holding out a hand to her, "Come now, my dear, there is much work to be done yet. We must first make you presentable, if I am to bring you before the Grandmaster."
From then on, their treatment of her had been much different.
They bathed her, scrubbing her clean of all the filth at had built up on her over her time of imprisonment. The clothes she had been wearing ever since her capture, now little more than rags, were tossed out, replaced with fresh, clean robes baring the symbol of the Order.
And she was fed. Not the putrid bits of meat or mouldy bread they force fed her after the black liquid stuff, but real, proper food and clean water that didn't taste of decay.
And all the while she was kept under close guard, a Brute assigned to watch her every move, constantly followed wherever she went. Not that she could go far, for the first few weeks she was simply too weak to walk. But, the Thin Man was determined to strengthen her from then on.
That, would prove to be his fatal mistake.
Eight months after having gained these wings, and finally, Liz new herself to be strong enough to try to escape.
She had bided her time, knowing that there was no point in running when she could barely even walk. So she waited. She ate, she trained, she built herself back from the ground up. The Thin Man thought of her as his pet, and she played to that. She followed his orders, trained to fight, to use her wings just like he told her. It was by no means a walk in the park, but she had to be patient.
It was agony, acting as if everything they had done to her was fine, as if she liked then now, it was even harder not to run when she found the way out some months back.
But today was the day, she was going to be free, truly free.
She fingers the dagger hidden in the folds of her robes as she follows Thin Man up to the surface. He says today's the day, he's going to take her to be presented to the Grandmaster. It'll be the first time she's been outside in two years. She had asked the Thin Man how long he'd had her for, and he'd been all too happy to tell her everything. About his plans, about the Noceum Order which he follows, about how he made her into what she is now, all of it. And with each new piece of information he shares, Liz's anger only grows more fierce.
She's gone past the point of hatred, she's on a whole new plain of rage.
The sun is bright and hurts her eyes terribly, but she forces herself to push past the pain in order to see. Something she's learned how to do with ease from her time here.
A small caravan is waiting for them, with the other Masked Ones and Brutes all piled on, ready to leave.
It's now or never…
Quick as a flash, Liz pulls out the dagger, and charges. She thrusts it forward, aiming for the Thin Man's back and…
She slices through thin air.
Blinking in surprise, she suddenly finds her arms grabbed as the Thin Man stands behind her, grinning down condescendingly, he tuts.
"Tsk, tsk, do you really think me so foolish as to believe for one second that you were actually obedient? You may be my greatest creation yet, but your no different than them." He nods to the Brutes, one of them climbing down out of the cart, as he pulls her arm back and up behind her, twisting her wrist and forcing her to drop the dagger. "All dogs must learn to obey their master, and all horses must be broken before they can be ridden. But I've grown to like your spirit, so I'll let you be. For now." He huffs, shoving Liz into the Brute and ordering, "Lock her up, we can't risk our dear present getting loose now."
She's thrown into a caged cart, the very same one, she realises, as the one she was tossed into when they took her from her village. But unlike that time, they don't cover the cage, leaving her to bake in the desert sun as they travel.
From the stars she can tell their heading north, but even without them, she already knows where they're going.
To the Capital of Talmeré, to see the Grandmaster of the Noceum Order himself, King Momarîs.
It's by pure chance, a complete coincidence that couldn't possibly be planned for, that Liz finds her second chance for escape.
It's late at night, when they stop, the halt in movement causing Liz to stir from her restless sleep in the dry hay and cloth scraps that can hardly be called a bed. They're in the middle of nowhere, no change there, the Thin Man has purposely chosen a route to avoid encountering other people as much as possible.
So it is perhaps simply bad luck of the Thin Man, that at that particular spot, on that very night, they found themselves parked right in the way of the Army of Daská, who happened to be marching on the border of Krineln.
What was to follow can only be described as carnage.
Given the Masked Ones and Brutes shady appearances, not to mention showing up right in the path of the marching army, in a place where no ordinary people would go, it's not hard to see how the Daská army identified them as enemy spies. As for the Thin Man, he could not risk his little experiments, or the Order being found out, so the only thing to do; get rid of the army.
Seven Brutes and four Masked Ones against a secret army of six thousand troops, you'd think it'd be an unfair fight, but then you'd be wrong.
Liz watched from between the bars of her cage, as the Brutes slaughtered hundreds with ease, and the Masked Ones used such dark and twisted magic to kill, it should have terrified her, but she had long since lost her sense of fear of them, because she knew exactly what these men could do.
Daská was losing, and they knew it. It took dozens of men to bring down a single Brute, and they couldn't even touch the Masked Ones.
Liz sighed, thinking that she's doom to be the play thing of these men for the rest of her life, that is, until through all the chaos, a single Daskán soldier snuck up to her cage.
"I do not know who or what you are child, but if you are caged by them, then you cannot be with them, please, use your wings, if you can, and fly South, warn Daská of our enemy. They must be prepared for this terror!" The soldier whispers hurriedly, using his short sword to snap the lock on her cage, freeing her.
For a moment, Liz just sits there, staring. Freedom. It's her's. She doesn't know what to say or do, before she suddenly scrambles for the door. But just before she climbs out, she sees the Thin Man amongst the battle, and in an instant, her blinding hatred for him fills her. Like a switch has been flipped, she spreads her wings wide and leaps into the air, but she's not in control of herself.
Liz blinks at the scroll being held out to her, before taking it and boredly reading over it. Another list of expenditures, costs of construction, rebuilding infrastructures, taxes… She can't find anything wrong with it, so she takes up her quill, signing her name along the bottom and approving the document.
She doesn't remember much of the battle after that, only coming back to her senses with the sun rising over the sea of bodies, and she, covered in blood, was kneeling, her hand still on a dagger driven into the Thin Man's throat. The other Masked Ones were nowhere to be seen, but all the Brutes except one were dead, the last one having no doubt disappeared with the Masked Ones.
The few soldiers that survived must have retreated back to Daská's capital.
Now free, her captor dead by her hand, she hadn't known what to do, but somehow, she made it back to her village, or rather what had been her village. All that was left of there was the burnt, hollowed out shells of destroyed homes and overgrown fields from lack of tending.
Homeless and directionless with nothing to her name, Liz cried. The first real cry of loss and despair, for everything that had happened to her, in two long years.
She wanted to know why her? Why her village, her home, her family? They took everything from her. Not just her family and home, but also her innocence. She was no longer simply a child, ignorant of the world around her. She was forced to grow up, far faster than any nine year old should have.
But she wouldn't let this defeat her, she had to live, to find meaning for all of this, other wise what's the point of her having survived this long?
So she picked herself up, scavenged watch she could from the ruins of her village, and wandered.
She wandered for two whole years, scavenging off the scraps of towns and back streets of cities. She learned early on that no one wanted anything to do with her, her wings scared most off, and others who saw her would throw rocks or call the guards, so she was alone.
Until that fateful day, she met him.
The loud, drunken laughter spilling out of the tavern is like a sign, lighting up the knight sky; free food. That is, if she's careful.
Sneaking unseen down back streets, and through dirty alleys is as easy as flying to Elizabeta. The tricky part is getting the scraps tossed into the dump boxes without being noticed.
With a grumbling stomach, she bides her time, watching and waiting from the shadows of a building across the small backstreet.
When a barmaid throws open the door, arms full of plates piled with scraps, Liz knows this is her chance. Silent as the night, she creeps closer, watching as the woman scrapes the plates off into the half rotten crate by the door. Once done, the woman heads back in, closing the door after her, and Liz makes her move.
Dashing across the street, she heads straight for the box, wasting no time in digging through the waste, before grinning wide at her find. People throw out so much, it'd make her angry if it didn't mean she's guaranteed to find something good.
Three apples with little more than a single bite out of them, and even better, half a roast Scocreox! Barely even touched too.
But a sound from behind her causes Liz to freeze in her search, snapping her head around to see. Has someone spotted her? Or is it some stray dog also looking for a free meal? Will she need to run, or can she get away with her haul before they get too close?
She expects to see a drunk, or maybe a guard or dog or even a couple of teens breaking curfew. She doesn't expect to see a small, scruffy boy, frozen in the alleyway, staring at her. He's terribly dirty, and his clothes, though probably quite nice once, are ripped and torn, hanging loose from him as he remains still, transfixed by the sight of Liz.
Frowning, Liz tightens her hold on her haul, taking a half step back from the box to turn and better face the boy.
"What?" She whisper barks, "Gonna call the guards on me, huh?"
The boy says nothing, only continuing to stare, his eyes clearly following Liz's wings.
"It's rude to stare you know." She huffs, feeling self conscious of the way the boy is looking at her wings. "What! What'd you want?"
The boy still seems incapable of forming words, but the loud grumble from his stomach answers for him.
Before Liz can think to tell him to go find his own food, the bar door opens behind her, and the barmaid comes back out. Looking over her shoulder, Liz hurriedly eyes the woman, who thankfully hasn't seen them yet, too busy shouting back into the bar to have looked.
Without a moment to spare, Liz runs, dropping an apple in the process, she shifts her haul to one arm and with her free hand, grabs the boy's wrist, tugging him after her, back down into the shadows of the alley.
By the time the woman turns, all she sees is an apple that mysteriously missed the box.
Only once the woman goes back inside, does Liz sigh in relief, before turning her attention to the boy.
"Way to go dummy, you nearly got us caught!"
"…Sorry…" The boy mumbles, looking down and shifting his weight from foot to foot. The apology is the first word the boy has said to her.
It's a start, better than being stared at, so Liz decides to build on it.
"What're you doing out here anyway? Don't you have parents?"
The boy's head snaps up, with wide eyes, before slowly dropping again as he shakes his head.
"No… dead…" He mumbles.
Sighing, Liz tells him, "That's okay, mine are too. Here," She picks up one of the remaining apples, holding it out to him, "what's your name?"
Slowly, the boy takes the apple, sniffing it carefully before he mumbles behind it too quietly for Liz to hear.
"Eh? Speak up."
"Antonio… my names… Antonio Fernández Carriedo."
Liz raises an eyebrow at him as she takes a bite out of the last apple, "That's a fancy name."
Antonio shifts awkwardly as he nibbles on his apple, not sure what to say to that, but Liz just shrugs.
"Well anyway, it was nice meeting you. Bye." She waves and turns to leave, but stops when a hand grabs her arm.
"Wait!" Antonio cries, then meekly asks, "Can… can I… come with you?"
Liz isn't sure what compels her to take an interest in this boy, after all, she's seen plenty of other kid beggars just like him. Maybe it's the fact he hasn't run screaming at the sight of her like all the others, or maybe it's because he's the first person to talk to her beyond shouts of calling her demon spawn, or maybe it's because this is the first time anyone has reached out to her, not with the intent to harm, but to ask for kindness.
"You don't even know my name." Why she thinks this is the reason the boy shouldn't be interested in her, she doesn't know, maybe because that's what normal people would say.
"I know." He says, then grins, it's small and sheepish, but from it Liz catches a glimpse of a much livelier boy hidden under uncertainty.
"Aren't you scared of me?"
"A little," he admits, and Liz wonders why she expected anything else, before Antonio adds, "But that doesn't mean we can't be friends right?"
Shaking her head, Liz gives in, the boy's simply to baffling for her to figure out.
"Alright Antonio, in that case, I'm Elizabeta Héderváry."
A knock on the door pulls Liz back to the present once more.
"Enter." She calls, watching as the door is opened by a middle aged man dressed in semi-finery.
"M'lady, council men, the emissaries of Meshar have arrived."
"Good, the council is dismissed for today." She smiles, rising to follow the man out.
As she walks, she straightens down her tunic, adjusting her breastplate and hair as she stretches her wings, happy to be up and moving about again.
It doesn't take long to get to her destination, where she stands waiting upon the steps of the buildings entrance, the entrance to the Palace of Kings.
She smiles as she watches them arrive, and clearly riding up front, is Antonio.
"I see you finally got this old place fixed up." Is the first thing he says to her as he dismounts.
He looks quite different since they last saw each other. For starters his hair has been cut, the previously long curls now short and brighter, making him look younger. Then, there's the robes of white and gold, with a touch of green here and there. They've clearly been tailored to fit him perfectly, and those new boots shine with the sun. But the most noticeable difference is the crown, not like the one he wore when they parted ways, but a much grander one. It's by far the oldest thing on him, and the way it's three green gemstone shine tell Liz it's recently been cleaned.
"Did you ever doubt I would?" She smirks, "You've been officially crowned King now, and I'm something like a Queen here, so where better to hold talks of our alliance, than the very place the Kingdom's of Old once met?"
The Palace of Kings. An ancient building said to be from the Days of Beginning, sits on the very spot the Borderlines of North and South Daská meet with The Western Desert. It had been in ruins long before the 'Fall of the South', having fallen into disuse because of it's remote location.
Given it's powerful symbolism, Elizabeta had spent much of her time since leaving Meshar overseeing it's repair.
And now, though nowhere near completely restored, it is never the less again ready to fulfil it's ancient purpose.
Toni laughs as he follows her in, "I've never known you to be one for traditions."
"No," Liz agrees, "but perhaps now is the time to change that."
Suddenly Toni stops her by the arm, turning to face Liz, he gives her a serious look, "What's wrong?"
She sighs, trust Toni to notice when something is up with her.
"Nothing much, I've…" she pauses for a moment, looking off into the distance, before starting to walk again, "I've just been thinking, about the past, is all."
"Oh." It's not a sound of shock, simply a noise of understanding. Antonio knows enough not to say anything further.
They walk in silence for a while, before the pair reach the room for the talks to take place, the council having cleared out and servants reset the room for this next meeting.
"I was thinking about the day I met you." Liz says, surprising Toni.
"You were?"
"Mmh, You were so skinny and meek, ahh, whatever happened to that shy little boy?" She smirks, eyeing him out of the corner of her eye.
Grinning Antonio laughs, "He met you."
Liz shakes her head, returning to her seat to wait for the rest of the dignitaries to file in. Antonio fills the time with mindless chatter of his home and how Meshar is improving, but Liz's mind is wondering off elsewhere once again.
Liz and Antonio were together for a long time after that day. They became as thick as thieves, mostly because for a long time they were. They moved up from stealing scraps to stealing from market stalls and pickpocketing. They created a process, Liz's wings were always good for causing a distraction, while Toni would slip in and grab whatever he could get his hands on, the guards never new a thing, too busy trying to chase the demon girl.
But all good things come to an end.
They had caused such a ruckus over they years that Liz and Toni became something of an urban legend, the demon girl who brought loss of fortune to all those who witnessed her. It was really just a matter of time before they were caught.
But, rather than be made an example of or put to death for their crimes, the garrison Master who caught them saw potential in the pair of miscreants. So they were given an offer, join the Daská Free Army, or be publicly flogged. Not much of a decision needed, they signed up.
However, their days of peace were soon to come to an end. The rippling after effects of Elizabeta's escape from the Thin Man ran deep, deeper than she could possibly have imagined.
The loss of nearly six thousand men at the border to Krineln twelve years ago could never fully be explained. And now, sons and daughters who had lost their parents on that day were old enough to fight, and they wanted answers. But when none of the Three Houses of Krineln could provide one, the coming War was inevitable.
First, it was just Daská's northern half that marched on Krineln, but soon after they began their siege, a devision between the Clans of the South and North of Daská started to form, and with their internal strife, Meshar, now under the tyrannical rule of a foreigner from the Qonia Empire, launched an attack.
The fighting became an all out struggle for control across all of the Southern Known Territories, even the deserts to the East and West were affected.
Daská was torn apart from the inside, the Houses of Krineln were in disarray, and Meshar was but a mere shadow of the great peaceful Kingdom it once was.
But the worst was yet to come. For it was then, in the mist of the third year of all this madness, that marching from the North, Talmeré attacked. An army of three hundred thousand men and women descended upon Krineln, with but one goal in mind; domination.
Elizabeta had been their that day, the day that would come to be known as the Fall of the South.
"Elizabeta!"
Turning at hearing her name being called, Liz saluted to the hurriedly approaching patrolman.
"What is it?" At this point it could be just about anything, but he's smiling so it must be good news, for once.
"Did you hear? The Third and Second Houses have surrendered!"
"Seriously?" Liz gapes, shocked by the news.
After three full years of hitting Krineln with everything they have, she didn't think the Houses were ever going to give in.
"Yeah! I just heard it from the Commander himself!"
Liz sighs, letting her whole body and wings sag with relief, this is by far the best news she's hand in months. But now, all that's left is the First House of Krineln, and by far the oldest. If anyone is going to hold out to the very end, it'll be them. No way they'll surrender.
She's heard the First House has always been stubborn, and, since she's the only one here who knows their in the right about all this, she knows for a fact they won't ever give in. Sometimes she wishes she'd done more to convince the High Command of Krineln's innocence, she was there that day after all. But deep down she knows no one would have listened to her, no matter how hard she tried. So for now this is all she can do, she'll fight, and try to spare as many Krinelnians as possible, it's the least she can do.
At night fall she joins the others in celebrating the surrender, because it'd be weird if she didn't, plus she is glad that at least two of the Houses have decided to stop fighting. It's while she's wondering how Antonio is doing on his deployment, when the signal fires are lit.
"An attack?!" One of the men shouts alarmed at the sight, and the call goes out, spreading like wildfire as everyone gathers to arms.
"How? I thought the Second House had surrendered?!"
"Those lying bastards! Trying to get us while we're down!"
"No look! Those colours, those aren't Krineln's!"
"What? Impossible!"
"Then who?"
"It can't be!"
"How did we not notice them crossing over?!"
"Everyone, to your posts! Prepare for contact!"
Liz ran to the top of the fort, near throwing herself at the battlements to get a look at who's attacking. Her eyes widening at the sight, hundreds upon hundreds of men marching under the banner of the Kingdom of Talmeré. She remembers, it was fifteen years ago, the Thin Man told her, Talmeré's King, is the Grandmaster of the Noceum Order, the ones responsible for destroying not just her life, but Antonio's too.
She had thrown herself into battle that night, driven by the belief that all of Talmeré was toxic, and the advancing army was proof of that, at least, it was to her back then. Until that is, she met Gilbert Beilschmidt.
With the attack of Talmeré, the forces of Daská and Krineln came to a sudden and remarkable ceasefire, instead banding together to fight back against the invaders. The enemy of my enemy is my friend as they say, and that was very true that night. The Talmeriens clearly weren't expecting this either.
With the combined forces, Talmeré's army was forced to a stand still, and it would have been routed completely, if it wasn't for him.
Liz flew silently through the night sky, holding the satchel entrusted to her close. It had taken months for this plan to be made, and now, it was all up to her. Only she could do this, only she could bypass the enemy, cross over the sand pits, and get behind their main forces. It was up to her, to ensure both Daská's and Krineln's victory, together.
If she does this, then maybe, just maybe, the fighting can finally stop between them all and they can start to work towards peace again. She knows it's a long shot, but she has to hope, that's why she agreed to this mission.
Her task is simple, get behind the Talmeré army, to the star white sands of Krineln's holy ground, in the heart of the sand pits, and plant the satchel.
There shouldn't have been anyone there, no one should have known…
So then how..?
When she reaches the white sands, she finds a small army of around three hundred waiting for her.
With crossbows train to the sky, they shot her down, like they knew she was coming…
She lands heavily in the coarse sand with bleeding wings riddled with bolts, and is immediately grabbed, the satchel torn from her hands.
A bulky man rifles through it, easily finding the charm stones inside.
"Well done Beilschmidt. I don't know where you got your intel, but it seems you've won us the war, and without any major losses, just like you'd promised." The man grins down at her, "And found us a rather interesting prize too." He then turns to a silvery haired man with skin so pale he might as well be a ghost, and blood red eyes. "Here Beilschmidt, you seem to know how these are used."
Handing the satchel full of charm stones over to the red eyed man, the bulky one grins, "My men are all in position, so you better be right about this, or it'll be your head that rolls." He warns, before waving a hand forward, "Win us the war."
Stepping past the large man, Beilschmidt gives Liz a passing glance, and she hates how he almost seems to say he's sorry in that one look.
One by one, the red eyed man drives each of the charm stones into the sand, in a pattern nothing like Liz has ever seen done before.
"That's it?" The big man asks, raising an eyebrow at the stone.
"Not yet…" Red eyes says.
Standing back, with a flourish of his hand, red eyes start to glow, and with them the charm stones begin to resonate. The stones 'sing', each emitting a high pitched note that combines together to create the 'song', and the sound is just as relaxing as Liz was told it'd be.
Once again, red eyes looks to Liz, and it's almost like he's saying 'forgive me'. A moment later, there's a stinging, searing pain shooting through Elizabeta's stomach, and red eyes is far too close. Then, looking down, it all clicks as she sees red oozing out of her belly; red eyes stabbed her.
Pulling the knife free, her blood spills on the charm stones, and with it, the 'song' changes, becoming a violent screeching that shakes the very sand beneath her.
"Now, it's done."
Authors notes: And that's it for the flashbacks, next time we'll be back with the boys and wolves. Bit of an odd place to leave it I know, buuut, we all know Liz lives so it's all good.
So, because it doesn't really come up, here's some clarification on ages from all this: Liz is 7 when she is taken from her village and spends two years being experimented on by the Order and raised to be 'presentable'. She's 9 by the time she is freed and kills the Thin Man. She then meets Antonio when she is 11, Toni at this point is 8, having spent a year on the run from the Blood Viper after his family is killed, (and two years after the flashback of his from chapter 29). They live together on the streets for around seven years, being 18 and 16 respectively by the time they are caught and join the Daská army. And by the end here Liz is 24, having spent three years on the battlefields of Krineln, when she meets Gil for the first time… and he stabs her… incidentally, Gil is 19 here and not yet a Commander, this being the war that earns him that promotion. This last scene also takes place 10 years before the present, in which Liz is 34, Antonio is 32, Gilbert is 29, and even though they don't show up here, our twins are still 19, only a few months having passed since the start of the story. As for Arthur, well, you'll have to wait for that one…
R & R people.
Until next time, stay awesome!