To say that she was displeased with the fact her own son doubted her was an understatement. However, the old Angela had done a lot the new one could probably never undo. Bringing up her hand she stared at him. Her words were clear in his head as she began to speak something rather weird. It an odd language but yet it would serve its purpose. The translation went to the boy’s mind and the goddess seemed rather happy about it. ”In the living world of angels, their language is one that cannot be lied in. Did you know this? I promise, I did not intent for you to be anything other than friends. Whatever it is that your mother has done, I may only be pieces of her but I am not her. Mischievous I am, but never would I hurt you or do things to ultimately displease you. You have my word.” A heavily sigh left her lips. “I normally only speak that on the angel planes. A bit rusty but still it is a good language to know when someone thinks you are lying.”

Angela pet the boy’s head and smiled a bit more. He was unsure and perhaps in his youth that was a good thing. To be constantly confident could kill you in the very end. She kissed his forehead and shook her head. “Talk about anything. The sun. The moon. Clouds. Anything is better than silence.” She pet him very softly as he stepped away.

Angela moved along side of him and gave him directions to where the girl was hiding. The noises that followed were rather crass and rude as Hector began to try and get past the goddess. If she ever had an angry voice this was it.

–

Episcia was curled up on the ground under a giant calathea leaf. It was bigger than the small squire and when she was found out she pulled her legs in underneath it. She heard him coming before she heard his voice and it made her freeze as the words left his lips. Her eyes were the first thing to peak out at him from under the large leaf. She could hear the fighting between Angela and Hector. It made her flinch enough that she withdrew back into the leaf. “Okay is a relative term. It sounds like an all out war out there.”

She moved enough and pulled the leaf up so there was room for him. “Come hide with me.” It was enough of an invitation. “Father is so angry Lucian. I never thought he could or would be this displeased in me.” She thought she heard him yelling about temple maidens. Was that what he thought she wanted? To be like her mother?

She groaned a bit and pulled her legs up as she hid her face into her knees. “He is so stubborn.” It sounded like something was being thrown across the room. The smash made her visibly jump. “You don’t think he would throw something at the Mother do you?” How far would her father go? When Lucian was underneath the leaf with her, she hid practically on him now. She felt so alone with her father on a rampage. Though her tears were far to be seen, she had settled on trying to hide. 

Angela came in after a while and lifted the leaf up. “We had a sort of disagreement on how to raise the two of you together. You’ll be staying here for a while but I sent Hector on a soul search. He needs to not see you as property or your mother.” Episcia’s face was twisted in horror.

“You sent my only family away!” Now there were tears.

Angela had a deep stitched frown on her face. “I wasn’t about to let you be the one to be sent away. Before you judge you should know the whole story. He wanted you sent away to Parvpora to the branch out that way with Ash. Then in his rage he wanted your right as squire taken because he didn’t think you could handle it. Hector is a broken man Episcia. He was holding onto a thread and now I think I’ve snapped it.”

Episcia’s heart appeared to be in pieces as Angela lowered the leaf. “I’m sorry Episcia but it appeared one way or another this was happening.”

“I don’t want to be alone.” She had managed a blubber.

There was a pause as Angela began to walk away. “So don’t be. If I am a smart woman, and I do believe I am, I think there is a young man sitting next to you who also feels lonely. He might have family but he is rather detached and confused. So make the nice and be friends. Lonely hearts be damned.”

Episcia through her blood shot eyes looked over at Lucian, she had forgotten how she was curled up into him. “I don’t want to be alone.” Inside the stubborn and proud soul was a crying girl who was alone. 

Angela was displeased with the whole thing but she shot Lucian a mental note, ”I wasn’t trying to be cold. I am at a loss of words. Hector is normally such a calm man. To see him lose himself like that honestly worries me. I cannot have him around the younger children of the temple. Nor can I have Episcia leave with him when her mother made me promise to look out for her. Please make sure my promise does not get broken. I don’t think Episcia will listen to my reason right now.”

Some part of him knew that she had did it with best intentions, but it didn’t make him any less annoyed with what had just happen in a few brief hours. Or at least that was what he had assumed since he couldn’t recall how long the two had been locked up here. Time had been loss once he and Episcia had indulged in one another. His mother explained her reasoning in a language that he had no way of knowing and yet it came across as though he had heard such all his life. All he could do was look at her and feel some remorse for her part in this. “I know that. I may had thought that something was fishy, but I know you had good intentions.” Part of that was thanks to Episcia telling him that he couldn’t simply rely on just himself or his father. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow he must. Now he had to go see her before it was too late.

While he was pointed in the right direction as to where she was, Lucian hadn’t expected to find her underneath a giant leaf of one of the plants there. As he watched and waited for her to be more at ease with his presence, he too could overhear their parents. It looked like they were found out after all. He looked towards the direction of the yelling then back at Episcia. “Well, I suppose he found out then” He didn’t really know what to say, how to deal with a situation like this. He had never found himself in this before, and from the sounds of it neither did she but when she offered for him to come join her beneath the leaf, the rosenite went on ahead without second questioning it. “He shouldn’t. It is just as much my fault as it is yours, if not more. I’m the one that…:” His words trailed off a little but he managed to finish his thought as he glanced into her eyes. Then shied away. “I’m the one that kissed you. If he should be mad about your innocence lost, then it should be directed at me, not you.” It seemed to make perfect sense in his head, but it didn’t seem to draw much comfort. He felt her reeling onto him for comfort and being so close to her reminded him of what happened between them last time. His arms went around her loosely but firm enough to offer her support. “I hope not. It could have been either one of them though. Mother sounds just as upset as he does.”

He wanted to take her away from here, away from the brewing storm but his mother’s arrival assured them that the worse was over. Or was it?

Looking on with wide eyes, he stared at his mother and then back to Episcia who was bursting with tears towards the news. He figured it was for the best until her father could learn to be proper with her but she didn’t see it that way. That side of her father was all that she really knew of him. Liked it or not, he had to recognize that she would miss him regardless of how he treated her and he pitied her for that.

He couldn’t remove his grip on her, the elf was breaking down from the strong and independent young woman he had met to a lonely and sad one. His mother tried her best to calm her, but to no avail. Lucian brought her closer to him, deepening the hug as she cried. “You won’t be alone here.” He stroked her head and then turned to his mother and nodded. He had to look out for her now and make this all right. “You will not be alone, I promise you that.”

It was something of a fairy tale really. How the villain all along was the person you had been closest to. Her world was slowly crumbling like that of dried cracked earth in the wind. Her dreams were slowly but steadily being met with fire in the back of her mind. How much could she handle? The reality was slowly killing her. Her only family was turning into a madman at the realization that he could not control his daughter’s life. What once had been seen as a darling effort to protect Episcia was slowly turning into a desperate attempt to keep her locked up. It was hard for the young girl to come to terms with something so vile. The temple was one where free spirit was so readily found and yet how had she been so blind? Was it because she trusted her father not to hurt her? This was maddening and as she curled up into Lucian’s arms her mind began to point out the hindsight of it all.

Sad eyes peeked up at Lucian and a mere whimper of a proud voice came forth, “It takes two.” Finally, after her silent stint, she was able to voice her opinion fully through the tears of emotion. It’s true that it took two for the action that she was so heavily under fire for. The Mother had taken it with grace, obviously, and her father? He had realized the gripping control he had groomed over the years was only a facade. Her mind raced as she pulled herself closer into the boy who was holding her so sternly, so protectively.

As the Mother walked away Espicia looked up at Lucian and nodded at him. She trusted him, for some reason the boy she just met was getting all of the trust that had poured out of the gaping wound her father had left. 

–

A week went past and rarely had Lucian left her by herself. She laid curled up in him on the bed. She spent time in his room the most. She hadn’t had the heart all this time to step into her own. She had been offering more changes of clothes than she had ever been used to. In her time of need, the temple had come together to help her. He was her biggest supporter and through her tears, he had always tried to make her feel better.

Her tired mind was suddenly wide awake. “Lucian, I think… maybe I am coming to terms with what my mind has been fighting.” She put her head into the nook that she had found between his shoulder and neck. She wasn’t sure what all she wanted from him but she knew that it comforted her being around him. “I’ll be able to come to terms with it at some point but my mind knows what my heart is fighting.” She had cried so much her eyes looked permanently bloodshot. “What would you do in my situation?” She could have sworn she asked that a dozen times but she needed to hear it.

Lucian could have no idea of knowing how Episcia must have felt to learn all that about her father. He was naive and there was plenty of this world that he did not know about because of his upbringing, but he was aware of his inexperiences. Still, it just didn’t feel right; a parent was suppose to protect and nurture their child, not try to control them. Not to abuse them and see and speak to them with disdain because of an unfortunate circumstance. Perhaps he was crazy in that way of thinking and compared it with his own experiences; his mother wouldn’t hurt anyone unless they were to do harm to her or her family and his father even at his worse hadn’t harmed a single hair on his or Nerezza’s heads. Hell, the worse he had done was raise his voice to them when they were younger, and that was because they were venturing too far out from the house one day and towards the dangerous swamp. The only words she managed to muster out made him pull away a bit only to look at her. She had been right, both were equally at fault though he hadn’t wanted her punished for it while he practically got away with it. It hadn’t been the least bit fair in his eyes.

“I know, I know”, he spoke in agreement before nuzzling her head. For now it looked up like it was up to him to make sure that she was safe here, especially emotionally after the turmoil she was just thrown into.

For a solid week, he had been her guardian of sorts- forbidding most of his studies and even his swords training as he overwatched her. Episcia made this especially easy as she had kept around him even in his chambers. Nothing like their first meeting ever occurred, but such thoughts were nowhere on his mind as he would often share his bed with her. Nothing but innocent thoughts came to mind as day by day he would try and make sure that she was taken care of. Everyone there seemed to have been doing their part to make sure that she was okay, but it seemed like she depended on him the most. In a way, he couldn’t really be too surprised since they were probably closest with each other out of all the people here.

He had been drifting off to sleep, something he hadn’t been getting much of honestly when he heard her voice pipe up. Lazily, eyes of emerald managed to open just enough to peek towards her direction as she laid on him. It had been a rough time for Episcia, and after much time mourning the loss of the man she called father, he had hoped that she would find a way to overcome this. Slowly but surely he was positive that the proud girl would in time. “I’d probably try and move on with my life. If my father had been like yours, I would pray for him to find some sort of salvation in his shattered heart, but I’d have to look out for me first and utmost. Lucian laid his head on top of hers like he had been done over and over, forming a habit out of it as of recent. Despite the fight for sleep, he was very much awake now.

“Maybe one day he will and see the error of his ways, it is possible. But until then, I would pick up the pieces and carry on. You do not have to follow him anymore and fear him planning your future. That right only belongs to you, not him.” He let out a slight chuckle as he tried to lighten the situation, "And besides, I have to have someone to best in training, if you still want to be knighted that is."   

He was always so knowledgeable when he spoke. Episcia’s eyes were glued to his lips as he spoke and she nodded as the words entered her head. “I suppose that is something I should look into doing. You are right Lucian.” Episcia cuddled into Lucian more and gave a sad smile. “I have to do things for myself.” 

There was a light smile on her face as she nodded. “Of course I want to be knighted. What was the purpose of pissing you off if I could be.” She gently tickled at his sides as she rested her head. “Can I have you meet someone? I have been very neglectful to him.” Climbing from the bed she pulled him with her. “Come on, I’ll let you sleep afterward.” She hadn’t been blind to how tired Lucian had been.

She pulled him around the temple until they reached what appeared to be a rather big room where large creatures were stored. There were a number of mythical beasts there but Episcia took him to a rather large stall near the back. “I told you I had a friend.” She opened the door and the dragon stuck his head out.

“Where on earth have you been? There was commotion that you were in trouble.” The dragon spoke as he nudged his head at Episcia. She smiled sadly as she held his large head in her hands the best she could. “Did you bring me a snack?” The dragon looked about. He was large and white much like her nickname. His scales were much like molded snow. 

“Kori,” she said with a laugh as she tried to keep his attention. “This is my friend Lucian.” The dragon lifted himself up and started to come out of the stall. He bent down and looked at Lucian as if examining him completely.

“He is rather skinny for a snack Episcia.” Epi rolled her eyes as she went and grabbed a whole cow from a cool compartment. She pulled it all the way over. “It’s not warm.” The dragon tilted his head.

“You are spoiled rotten. What have they been feeding you? You look like you’ve put on weight.” The dragon clearly made a face at the squire.

“Well forgive me for being indulgent.” 

Episcia made a face. “You’ve been telling the stablehands that someone has forgotten to feed you! Haven’t you? You ate every hour that you could. You are a glutton!” She winked at Lucian. “You should be ashamed of yourself Kori. What if you can’t fly now?”

Spreading his wings a bit Kori looked from one side to the other. “I can fly, it’s just a little extra weight.” He went back into his stall and laid back down. “Since when are you the social type.” The dragon put his head on the gate so he could stare at Lucian. “With the opposite sex no less.” Episcia blushed and looked at Lucian.

“It’s not like that,” she panicked for a moment.

“Sure, the next thing you know I’ll have little cretins pulling at my wings.” The dragon was pushing her buttons.

Choking down on what he was saying she panicked more. “Kori is only a few years old. I got his egg from a merchant in Parvpora. His attitude is something else… isn’t it?”

Lucian, through sleepy eyes could see that little by little Episcia was coming to from her depression spell. There was likely still more work to be done before she would be like her former self, if such a thing was possible anymore. But at least she was taking baby steps. “Yeah, sure. Next time I’ll give you a fair fight and tie one hand behind my back”, he spoke with a yawn before it was stifled by some soft laughs at her tickling. Sitting back up, he wasn’t really given a choice as to go see whoever she had in mind of seeing. Literally he was being dragged from his bed and room, all the while he was trying to figure out who she had in mind. “Sleep sounds good.” Another yawn slipped out as he kept up with her as they venture out of the temple. When they got to the room, he recognized it as a stable like area where his mother and others kept different animals, primary pets and mounts.

“You have a pet around here?” He was expecting something like a wolf or jungle cat; Episcia didn’t seem like the sort to keep a mere dog or cat. A small chuckle rumbled from him as they kept going until she got to the door. The smile fell from his face and his mouth fell open at the sight of the dragon. “You didn’t tell me this though…” Before now, he only knew of the existence of dragons from the tall tales his parents would tell him and Nerezza about, but to actually see one before his very eyes made him gulp hard. The feeling grew as he came out and exposed more of himself. “Uh…uh…hi there…” Lucian recovered enough just as he was being called a snack by her dragon and could easily see his temperament had came from her.

Lucian was trying to think of where in the world she had found such a creature, and more so how she was able to tame it. From what he had heard, doing so wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. “A bit mouthy, but considering his owner, I can’t be too surprised really”, he snickered, though he was sure that she would get him back somehow. Kori was by now picking on her by commenting on her newest friendship. It was a good thing that he had no idea of how they become friends in the first place. Now that was a story he would want to avoid.

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen”, he spoke with crossed arms against his chest. “Neither one of us has time for that, not if we are both becoming knights in the future.” He was amazed that such a creature would get so big in only a few years. “I thought obtaining dragon eggs like that were illegal. Especially if they wanted to avoid the wrath of mother dragons throughout the realm.” 

“I didn’t tell you because it was a surprise.” She enjoyed the smile slipping from his face. She laughed when he said Kori was just as mouthy as she was. “You can get quite mouthy yourself Luc.” She slapped his back hard.

Kori scoffed a bit and blew a puff of hard air at Lucian. “People have become knights with much more on their plates. We talk to a lot of knights don’t we?” Kori put his head near Episcia who was now rubbing his scales contently.

“Oh we do, but it did take them years to get to where we are now. We need to become knights before we even think about those things my dear Kori. That’s our entire purpose of being right now.” When Lucian asked about his egg suddenly Episcia got quiet. “It is normally. Under normal circumstances, the only dragon eggs on the market are those who are orphaned. Dragon eggs need to hatch under the right conditions. I went to Itjivut and sat in the snow for days to get Kori to hatch. I was quite sick for a while after that but Kori grew fast. It might be due to the magic in this place.” She continued to pet his scales.

“I heard that his egg was part of a set at one point. It had been on mantles and used as décor for hundreds of years before I got my hands on it. I asked your mother about how I could hatch it and it wasn’t until I went to the ice lands and actually attempted to mother it that it did. Kori is a unique special ice dragon I think. We can take him out to stretch his wings some time when you are more awake. I’m sure you would love the way the wind fills when you are flying so high.”

She came up behind Lucian and ran her hands through his hair much like how the wind would. “It feels good.” She just wanted him to meet her only other friend. “Kori is a good companion. I just thought you would like him too. He is rough around the edges but a very good friend.” The dragon nipped at Episcia lightly and she hugged him in return. “Get some sleep. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“I was more worried about why my little one hadn’t visited me.” Kori made Episcia blush.

“You are the little one. I mothered you.”

“Size wise… you are the little one, Little One.” He nipped at her clothing before going back into his stable. She locked the door and smiled at Lucian. “See?” She took him back to his room and fell onto the bed. “We can sleep now… we can ride the dragon tomorrow if you want?”