After accepting Xander's offer, Hinoka slipped back into the staff bedroom, past a bewildered Kristin and Britta, to gather her belongings. Despite rising early to compete in the tournament and then walking home without a moment to rest, Hinoka felt as if she had as much energy as a child. Her goal had always been to infiltrate Nohr's inner circles, but when she had left Hoshido weeks ago, she did not expect to get this close to the heart.

Hinoka folded her night chemise, the one extra outfit she acquired while staying at the inn, and tucked it into her satchel. She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles in the bed she had made up perfectly before leaving that morning. As she pulled the leather strap over her shoulder, Hinoka caught her expression in the tarnished mirror hanging on the far wall. She was smiling. This was even better than if Hinoka had planned it herself. Finally, Corrin would be in reach, but so would King Garon. The disguise was even more important now than ever.

Britta was waiting for Hinoka just outside the door. Her eyes were wide as she twisted her apron in her hands. "Helena," she said, and then paused the words probably tangling up in her mind as she thought of what would be the best thing to say in that moment.

Hinoka opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She could not take Britta into Prince Xander's service with her. She knew she would be leaving Kristin's inn eventually, but never gave it much thought, and most certainly did not expect to do so this suddenly. "Well," Hinoka finally said. "I hope everything continues to go well for you here." Immediately she wished she had said something more personal.

Britta nodded and looked down at her skirt. "I am going to miss having a friend around here," she said and then quickly lifted her head up, "But I am still extremely happy for you, this is an unbelievable fortuitous opportunity for you."

Before she realized exactly what she was doing, Hinoka had pulled Britta into a hug, and the Nohrian woman squeezed her tightly. "I promise I will find the time to come and visit you when I get the chance," Hinoka said and surprised herself by actually meaning it. Ever since she arrived, Britta had been nothing but kind and patient with her, showing her how to navigate the tunnels, teaching her how to cook food that was at least edible, and all over the course a only few weeks.

Britta rolled her eyes and then whispered in Hinoka's ears, "When you visit us, please do not bring him with you."

"Prince Xander?" Hinoka asked.

Britta shook her head, "That gray haired man," she replied. "He seems to fancy himself some sort of lady-killer."

"I promise I will leave him behind," Hinoka replied with a smile. Hopefully this other retainer would not be so flirtatious with her. If he did, he seemed like the type that would move on quickly, if Hinoka did not respond in kind towards him.

"Thank you," Britta said, sounding as relieved if Hinoka had just paid off an enormous debt for her.

"Unless," Hinoka added with a grin. "You actually want me to bring him over and you're just too embarrassed to admit it."

"Oh, stop that you," Britta rolled her eyes and gently tugged Hinoka from the room.


Xander opened the door leading out into the streets. It felt very strange to be standing on the surface in Windmire. When Hinoka had first arrived, Kristin had told her that only first-time visitors and rich idiots traveled above ground on the streets. Xander was wealthy, but Hinoka did not know him well enough to consider him an idiot. She was not certain exactly what opinion Nohrian citizens had of their crown prince, but he most certainly did not look like an easy target. If someone were walking towards him on one side of the road, she could see them crossing over to the other side to avoid having to pass him.

Although he did not look like much and fancied himself a Casanova, Hinoka had seen Laslow in action that night he arrested Hans and knew he could hold his own. If there was a group that would be safe to travel with above ground, it would be with these two. As long as they did not learn she was a Hoshidan princess.

Three horses, two brown and one black, were tied up front. Hinoka hoped they had brought three horses to begin with. Xander undid the reins on both of them, and led gestured for Hinoka to come to him. One of the brown ones had a white diamond on its forehead as it snorted from its nose. "That mare here is Gingerbread," Xander said.

Hinoka approached the horse from the side and patted her side. "Hello, lady," Hinoka said. It had been since the day she arrived, that Hinoka had the chance to be this close to a horse.

"I am assuming you never found your pegasus?" Xander asked.

The question was well meaning, but it made Hinoka's heart squeeze on itself like an overly ripe tomato. "No," Hinoka said as she shook her head. "I did not even catch a hint of someplace that might be selling stolen animals."

"I am sorry," Xander said. From his tone, Hinoka could tell he really meant it. "Gingerbread, is very gentle, she can get along with any rider."

Hinoka smiled carefully, "Thank you," she said. She glanced up at the sky. The moon was full, a perfect silver sphere in the sky attended by the twinkling stars. Hinoka stifled a yawn, it was late, and her day of fighting again and again was getting to her. She would not mind going back to the castle to sleep.

However, once they started riding, the first thing Hinoka noticed was that they were going uphill and away from the center of the city, away from Krakenburg. She was curious and wished to ask why they were heading in the opposite direction, but did not want to get fired less than a quarter of an hour after getting this position.

"We should ride for about an hour after leaving the city," Xander said once they had been riding for just under a half hour, saving Hinoka the trouble of asking. "I know there is no way we can get to the town in one night, but I do wish to cover as much ground as we can before retiring for the night."

Laslow moved his horse closer to Hinoka, "We received a message from Othello through a raven this afternoon," he explained in a low voice, as if there were anyone out on the streets of Windmire at risk of overhearing. "He had been assisting a town where some faceless broke loose from their handlers and have been terroizing the populace on and off ever sense."

"Who's Othello?" Hinoka asked noticing that Laslow had said the name as if he was incredibly familiar with the man. Was he Xander's retainer who's position he had just filled with her? Was it even the standard for each Nohrian royal to have two retainers each like it was in Hoshido?

"Oh, I am sorry," Laslow replied. "He is one of Garon's retainers, one of the experts with faceless and the undead. I think he was one of the first ones to figure out how to reanimate them."

Hinoka nodded, struggling to mask her disgust, "I see," she replied.

This was exactly why Hinoka hated faceless. Nohr, so determined to break Hoshido, they did not care if their own people were caught in the crossfire. Except, a retainer of the king was current at the town, and Prince Xander was on his way to do something about the runaway faceless. Wouldn't that mean at leat two powerful Nohrian men cared more for the people of Nohr than Hinoka imagined they would? No, it was probably because the town produced supplied needed for the kingdom. This mission was more pragmatic than altruistic. At least that is what she told herself.


They road on until they were deep into the woods; the walls of Windmire far behind them. They came upon a spot that was both several paces from the road to the left of them and several paces from the stream to their right, and set up camp there. The air was frosty, and smelled of snow. As Laslow and Xander got to work starting a fire, Hinoka was tasked to gather more fuel.

Not long after, Hinoka returned from the thicket with an armful of wood. As the carpet of dried grass and leaves cracking beneath Hinoka's feet, she paused and looked upwards. Through the bare branches, Hinoka noted the stars, beautiful white diamonds resting against a black velvet pillow.

She walked back to the clearing and poured her load in to the existing fire and sat down. Hinoka poked the logs in the fire with a green stick. The fire seemed almost cheerful as it danced about the logs.

"You look very pensive."

Hinoka continued to poke at the fire deciding it was not worth her time to respond to Laslow who had come up to stand behind her.

After standing behind her for several silent moments, Laslow walked from side of the fire that was opposite to Hinoka and sat down beside her. Hinoka scooted a few inches from him and to her relief Laslow did not scoot closer to her. He simply removed his gloves and hovered his hands over the fire. Hinoka pulled her poker from the fire and rested it on the ground below her legs. After several moments she realized, Laslow was looking at her.

"Xander thinks we will arrive at the town, they day after tomorrow," he said.

Hinoka nodded, "That is good."

"Have you fought faceless before."

"Yes," Hinoka replied thinking if she did not say anything, Laslow would continue his efforts to start a conversation whether she answered his questions or not. "I was hired to take care of them many times as a mercenary."

"Me too," Laslow said.

For the first time that night, Hinoka turned her head to look at Laslow. He was now staring into the fire, his face melancholy. "You were once a mercenary as well?" Hinoka asked realizing Laslow did not mention a family or a hometown during their time on the road. He seemed much more interested in speaking of his string of failed romantic exploits. Was there more to him?

Laslow shook his head, "No," he said. "I was fighting but it was to survive."

Despite the fire blazing in front of her, Hinoka felt a chill. She was not certain how to respond to this remark. I was Fighting to Survive. Did this mean that Laslow fought because he needed some way to pay for basic needs? Wasn't this the how all mercenaries made their livelihoods? However, if that was the case whey did Laslow look so stone-faced, no different from any of the statues they had passed by on their walk through the city.

"Are things in Nohr that bad?" Hinoka asked, and regretted saying the woods even before Laslow turned to look at her with the most baffled expression. Of course, she had to be so blunt and let the first thing that came to her mind slip out.

Laslow was quick to change his expression to his smile. He did look much more approachable when he smiled naturally instead of what he likely thought was a cool smirk that would impress the ladies. "I did not grow up here," Laslow answered.

So, Prince Xander's other retainer was a foreign mercenary as well? It did explain why he was so comfortable with hiring Hinoka so quickly. "Then where are you from?" Hinoka asked.

Laslow shook his head and shrugged. "Somewhere else that I don't think anyone can ever return to," he said with the kind of finality that he would not be providing anymore details. Laslow leaned further back and slid his fingers through his hair.

Laslow could keep his secrets. Perhaps he would respect Hinoka's privacy, and reduce her chances of ever being found out as an infiltrator, if she respected his. However, with the little Laslow did tell her, he almost told her everything of importance. Hoshido seemed so far away now as she sat deep in the woods of Nohr. However, she would be returning home with her sister. She could not imagine she as an individual never being able to return to her home, much less it being so inhospitable that no one could live there.

Hinoka swallowed, "I am so sorry," she said.

Laslow started and sat up as he turned to look at her. "Helena?" He seemed more surprised by this than any of her blunt questions. However, he soon leaned back and relaxed again. "Thank you."


Xander's prediction that they would arrive at the town the town within two days turned out to be true.

Laslow had finally stopped asking about Britta around their first day out in the woods. Hinoka was glad for it, but she had a hunch once they reached the village Xander's mission was, Laslow would find a new woman to pine after during their short time there. The forest road seemed to slowly rise up and up, until about an hour after the sun reached its highest peak, the road emptied into a clearing at the bottom of a hill. The road twisted around the side of the hill until it reached the top where several houses were grouped together. This was a much smaller town than Hinoka had been expecting. The area around it looked as if it had once been farmed.

By this point in the year, the harvest would have long been over. Now all that remained in the fields were a handful of discarded shafts from the wheat. Either the townspeople were particularly meticulous in clearing up after harvesting, or the crop yield had not been very good that season. Hopefully it would be enough to get the town through the winter.

The horses slowed their pace as they climbed up the hill. Hinoka expected to pass someone coming down the hill, but she did not see a single soul until they reached the top of and passed the first few houses. Hinoka thought of the stories Britta had told her about the town she grew up in. Was it similar to this place? Perhaps Britta's home had a few more apple trees and a handful more people out and about.

The streets were paved with packed dirt dotted with a few muddy puddles here and there. The place felt as empty as Windmire, like a more rural reflection of the capitol. However, Hinoka doubted that there were any underground markets beneath the town. Then again, who knew what lied within the hill?

The path widened the deeper they got into town, until they reached a large circle with a well at the center. A young freckled faced girl, her orange hair tied back into two braids, was in the middle of drawing water from the well. A squeal slipped from her throat when she spotted Hinoka and company coming. Hinoka was not certain if the girl was surprised because visitors were simply uncommon, or if visitors were common, just not ones who looked like Prince Xander.

The girl seemed to quickly recover her composure as she placed her water jar on the edge of the well and smoothed down her skirt. She took a few steps towards the newcomers and then hesitated, unsure perhaps of what she should do. Xander was the first to dismount from his horse and Hinoka and Laslow followed. Hinoka held the reins of Gingerbread who snorted and stamped her hoof probably relieved to no longer be carrying Hinoka's weight after such a long ride. Hinoka smiled, noting to herself that she should get the horse a treat like an apple or perhaps a even lump of sugar when she had the next opportunity to.

"Good afternoon, miss," Xander said in a very polite tone.

The girl curtsied low despite not knowing exactly what company she was in. "H-hello, traveler," she said stuttering much like the way Sakura did. The girl's face cringed at her greeting. Hinoka could emphasize with her discomfort recalling her own rather slow conversation when she took forever and a day to answer Xander's simple question.

Xander continued very calmly, "I am Prince Xander, and my retainers and I are here to respond to a call for aid from a mage, Othello,"

The girl's hands flew to her mouth, "The crowned prince," she said in a lower voice most likely not meaning for Hinoka or the others to hear her. "Well you can't be speaking to lowly me," she spat out tripping over her words. "You should speak to someone who knows more what's going on, the mayor's house is just this way, you can follow me," the girl spun on her heels and hurried down the square.

Xander looked back to his two servants. His expression was blank. "I suppose it would be best to see if the mayor could direct us to Othello," he said.

The girl stopped at a brick house just at the edge of the town's square. At least they did not need to follow her very far. Brown ivy clung to the side of the front gate which appeared to be rusted all the way through. If Hinoka had not seen this girl moving and walking about she would have thought the place abandoned. The outside of the house was once grand, but had fallen into disrepair. As if whoever lived inside no longer felt it was worth the effort to care and keep house. Perhaps they no longer had the strength too.

"The mayor lives here," the girl said tilting her head towards the gate. "Um," her eyes looked to the royal visitor and company. "I saw a few well-dressed mages arrive a few days ago, just before the fa-" she became silent for several moments before finally adding in a low voice. "And they did stay here, but I have never actually been to the mayor's house before so I would not know how to get his attention, I supposed his butler, is watching the door."

Her eyes looked down at her feet as the girl's cheeks turned a bright red color. The poor thing must have been absolutely embarrassed. Hinoka figured it was not a common occurrence for the future king of your country to come inquiring if you have seen a retainer to the current king around recently. Hinoka tired to imagine how she would feel, if she were a Hoshidan farm girl, and one day Ryoma with Saizo and Kagero in tow arrived and asked her if she had seen Orochi.

"You have been more than a help to us, miss," Xander said. "I believe we can make the rest of the way on our own from here."

The girl's face relaxed ever so slightly as she curtsied deeply again, holding the sides of her thin and patched skirt as if it were the grandest of ball gowns, "Thank you, your highness," she said before quickly scurrying back to the well.

"Helena," Xander said once the girl was out of earshot. "Could you announce our arrival while Laslow and I watch the horses?"

Silently, Hinoka passed gingerbread's reins to Laslow and made her way up the front walkway to the house. To her surprise she saw that the purple door's paint was peeling, but the bronze, wyvern shaped knocking bolted to the front was freshly polished. She caught her warped reflection in the metal as she reached for the handle and struck the knocker a few times. She paused and listed to see if she could hear anyone coming from the other side of the door. Sure enough footsteps slowly grew louder from inside.

Hinoka stepped took a few scurrying steps back as the door swung outward. A wiry, middle aged woman standing on the other side looked over Hinoka. "Who might you be, miss," she said as if Hinoka were a horse standing on its hind legs attempting to sell her hats."

"I am a retainer of Prince Xander, ma'am," Hinoka replied realizing she better get used to referring to herself as such until it was time for her to leave Nohr with both Corrin and Haru. How was the servant of a crowned prince supposed to act? Her mind went to Saizo, what would her say? On second thought, perhaps it would not best to emulate Saizo, especially if she wanted to at the very least come across as polite. What would Kagero do if she were in Hinoka's position? Be direct to the point, but not as abrasive as her counterpart. "We received a call for aid from Othello, who I believe has been assisting your town for a good while."

The housekeeper's eyes widened with shock, but she maintained her composure far better than the young girl at the well had. She looked past Hinoka's shoulder to where Xander, and Laslow waited with the horses. "I was not expecting such distinguished guest to come to our little spot on this hill," she said before quickly shaking her head. "We do not have much in the way of household staff here, but do have your liege come in and I will send a groom out to tend to your horses and alert the mayor of your lord's arrival."


The mayor seemed to perfectly embody the town he was in charge of. He was tall, but incredibly thin and gaunt, but the faded purple jacket of his suit seemed slightly too large as if he filled it well in his younger days, but had begun to fade away since. His grey hair still had a few flecks of dark green in it, and his long nose was topped with thin metal glasses.

His grimaced as he rose from his seat, and stepped away from his desk to approach Xander. "You do me a great honor, by coming, Lord Xander," he said bowing deeply.

Xander's expression did not change from his regular seriousness as he gestured for the man to stand up straight which he did. "Othello sent a message and asked for assistance," Xander explained. "Is he, here?"

The mayor's gaunt face fell even further. "Unfortunately, no," he said so soft Hinoka almost did not catch his words. As if speaking quietly would make it so it wasn't so. "He and the few other handlers were able to keep the faceless away from the village, but they were all," he paused as her tried to think of what would be the most tactful word to use. "Killed," he finally finished.

Hinoka's her stomach dropped to the floor. Laslow shook his beside her. Xander breathed in deeply, "How long ago?"

The mayor licked his thin lips, "I believe it was two nights ago." Hinoka realized that would have been the day, Xander had received the message that Othello needed his help.

"Did they at least eliminate the faceless?"

The mayor shook his head. "I am afraid not." He stepped past the trio and made his way to the door. "If you could come with me, I can show you what we have done for the mages."

The tension in the room could be sliced with a knife. Laslow had said that this Othello character was the leading expert on the undead and the like. If even he could not completely control the faceless, then these ones would have to be as feral as they come.

The trio followed the mayor from his office to a small sitting room. The gray curtains at the far wall appeared to be laundered, and the fireplace's mantle and circular card table were both polished dark brown wood. Hinoka's eyes were focussed on the three ceramic urns resting on said table.

"We cremated what was left of the mages," the mayor explained as he apporached the table. "Although sometimes it was difficult to figure out which arm and leg belonged to whom."

Xander's amber eyes scanned the urns, "could you tell me which one is Othello?"

The mayor nodded and rested his hand on a white and blue china urn. The urn was large, but Hinoka figured it contained the remains of what was once a large human. "It was difficult to tell, but this one had a ring on its finger with the seal of the king.

Xander was excellent at his stoicism, but Hinoka thought for a moment, she saw his lip twitch downward. Laslow had said that Othello had been one of Garon's retainers. Perhaps if the man had been in the king's service for years, Xander could have been close to him. However, if Othello had also been in the King's service for that length of time, he also could have been complicit in her father's murder.

"We will have to bring them back to Windmire and notify their families," Xander said.

The mayor nodded in agreement. "They do need the closure."

Xander turned his gaze away from the urns and back to the mayor. "And you said the faceless are still out and about."

"I'm afraid so." He turned his head to look at the inn. "The faceless tore this place to shreds a few nights ago." He sighed. "But, there are a few spare rooms here and you and your entourage can reside for the night. It is probably too humble then what you are used to but it is a roof over your head." Hinoka felt "entourage" was too grand of a word to describe her and Laslow.

"I very much appreciate your hospitality," Xander replied. "But, that will not be necessary."

This answered surprised the mayor, "You mean to head back to the capitol tonight?"

Xander shook his head. "If the faceless only come out at night, I mean to wait for them."

This surprised the mayor even further as his complexion turned an even more ashier shade. "Those faceless ripped the mages to pieces, and there was a few more of them than you small party," he sputtered. "Don't you think it would be wise to call for back up first?" Hinoka could not blame this poor man for his concern, but if she thought about it, Othello had asked for Xander's aid. They were the backup.

"I am certain that should not be necessary as well," Xander said. "And it would likely be a disservice to your town to wait until they arrived." Hinoka doubted Nohr would spend any resources on such a small area. "It seems prudent to resolve this as soon as possible."

The mayor bowed low again so low that Hinoka feared the man might topple over. "I will not argue with you, my prince," he replied.


That night, the moon was barely a thin fingernail in the sky. Although, Hinoka and her company were not waiting in total darkness. There were still stars of course, it being a clear night, but even they seemed duller than usual. It brought to mind one of Azura's many ghost stories she would tell Sakura when the youngest sister had trouble sleeping.

Hinoka shifted her place on the mossy rock she crouched upon and told herself it was just her imagination. However, some additional light would be comforting to have, but Xander did not want them to burn any lanterns. Even though their purpose there was to hunt the faceless, they did not wish for the unnatural creatures to be drawn to them. The goal was to watch for the faceless then ambush them, not the other way around.

The wind blew past them, teasing up the smaller strands of Hinoka's hair, that she could not get to stay in her short braid, and shaking the dry-stubborn leaves that had still refused to fall from the gnarled and twisted branches above her.

They had staked out in a swampy area, downhill from the town. Because the town's sewage drained into it, Hinoka expected the smell to be putrid.

Which it absolutely was.

The entire area wafted with a sulfuric scent that was also very earthy as if she were digging up thousands of buried rotten eggs. However, this was not any worse than the other swamps she had the displeasure of traversing. At least the fall weather caused the mosquitoes and other common unwanted insects to disappear. Hinoka smiled at her own skewed priorities. Yes there were no black flies around, but there were faceless.

This swamp, may not have always been one. The stone Hinoka sat upon, was shaped like an oversized headstone that had sunk into the earth. Several other such stones were scattered throughout the swamp, all with different levels of moss and vine coverage. Were these grave markers? Hinoka felt that even Nohrians would not allow the resting place of their ancestors to become so overgrown and unkempt, much less empty their sewers into it. Then again, their capitol city was so plagued with crime that the streets were as abandoned as the ruins of a civilization that had been dead for a millennium.

Hinoka looked over to the hill behind her. It stretched slowly upwards into the night. If she squinted hard, she could make out the vague rectangular shapes of the houses on the horizon. It would be far easier to see after dark if there had been candles burning in the windows. However, fear that the smallest source of light would draw the faceless back to them, prevented that.

Hinoka swallowed hard and turned her head forward again, before looking at the moss of the stone beside her. No one had said a word when they began their hike down the hill at sunset, and no one had said a word since they arrived, not even Laslow who sat on the other end of the large stone. Credit where it was due, Laslow could be very professional when he needed to.

Xander chose to stand even when Hinoka had offered him a place on the stone. It was huge and there was more than enough space for the three of them to sit with plenty of elbow room. However, Xander stayed firmly planted where her was, just in front of the two of them. Even now when it must have been nearing midnight, he did not leave his post like the marble statue of a guardian spirit.

Xander, stood even straighter than Hinoka thought possible. His hand rested on the handle of his sword. His expression was pensive, but that seemed to be usual for him. As Hinoka stared, she realized the wind was no longer teasing her hair, or blowing at all for that matter.

Slowly, she got to her feet and tightly gripped her lance in both hands. Laslow now stood next to her as well, although he had not yet drawn his sword, probably concerned that the sound would alert anything that was potentially lurking nearby. The two retainers looked to one another, as Xander took a few cautious steps forward. Hinoka and Laslow followed. Xander froze, and slowly turned back around to the mossy boulder.

His lips and jaw did not change from his usual expression, but as his yellow eyes grew slightly wider. Hinoka felt her blood cool as she turned to look behind herself. The ground around the stone was glowing bluish white. If it was not supposed to be doing that, the icy light could have been beautiful. However, this was quickly marred by four dark grey misshapen lumps that seemed to rise up from the glowing earth as easily as a whale comes up for air in the sea.

The creatures finally stopped growing when they were several heads taller than Xander. So this was where the faceless had been hiding? The wrist of each faceless was wider than Hinoka's torso. The creatures wore rusted bands with broken chain links hanging off. These looked to be made of steel, but even then the faceless managed to break them and kill their handlers.

Did the faceless notice them standing there? Hinoka told herself not to be frightened. This was not her first time fighting them. She recalled the frightening encounter with the faceless the day she had entered Nohr's boarders. There were more faceless in front of her than back then, but this time, she was not alone