Indecent Folks

While my life tore me apart, I found someone who can help me stitch every wound back. She needed me, and I needed her. We both wanted justice. Maybe life took pity on me and sent me an angel. "I didn't even ask for your name last night, forgive me," I apologized as I watched her serve breakfast in the kitchen.

She smiled and sat on her chair across the small round table. "I'm Grace."

"I'm Dani, and I'm grateful for your help."

We had our breakfast, and I assisted her to hang small sacks on her horse. She's an importer of herbal tea that she sells in Southplain's central marketplace, just a few kilometres away from here. "Are you sure you won't stay for a few more days?" she asked while I took my clothes off the clothesline in her backyard.

"I have to move places, and it's not safe for you to be with me. There are... people...looking for me."

"Does the palace know that you're back in Southplains?"

“My ex-betrothed...was working for the palace, and he hasn't said anything, so I don't think they know."

She let me use her bedroom so that I could change. While I was buttoning up my dress, I noticed something on her dressing table. It's an expensive-looking box. I don't know so much about our neighbouring kingdoms, but the gold-plated embossed oak tree on the box's lid was the official emblem of the Kingdom of Ireth.

"You're not from here." I heard Grace's voice in my head.

I walked towards the dressing table and gently reached for the box. So are you, Grace. I shot a glance at her bedroom's door before unlatching the box. A gold-chained necklace shone atop the cushion. Its pendant was round and flat and embossed with the same gold-plated oak tree.

"Someone got curious," Grace mumbled behind me, so I shut the box and turned to her.

"I'm sorry. I noticed that the box was...familiar."

She chuckled and nodded gently. "Turns out that dress looks good on you when you're not soaking wet."

I glanced at the box as I leaned against the edge of her dressing table. "Here in Peraven, only the royal family was allowed to have jewellery that has the kingdom's emblem."

She crossed her arms while she leaned sideways against the door's jamb. "Your point being?"

"If the same rule applies to the Irethians, then that makes you a royalty," I whispered.

A laugh escaped her lips as she shook her head. "I helped you once, and you already think that highly of me? Had it not crossed your mind that I might have killed a royalty and stole that from her?"

I looked at her from head to toe. "You don't look like a...murderer."

"I could say the same thing about you," she teased.

Unfortunately, her face didn't show any hint of honesty, so I can't bring myself to believe her. "Seriously, what happened? Why are you here in Peraven?" I asked.

She walked in and sat on the end of her bed as she rested her palms beside her. "I'm Princess Grace Edwards of Ireth, next in line to the throne."

I took a deep breath as I stared at her. She does have the grace of a princess. "But?"

A wry smile made its way onto her lips as she glued her eyes on the floor. "But it turns out that I have an older brother. He was 15 years older than me, but the royal family exiled him because he killed a palace servant before." I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. I guess murder stories will never leave my life. "Only my parents and some of their trusted allies knew about the reason for his exile. But they already passed away when my brother came back, so in the wake of my father's death, he forced himself inside the palace with some of his troops and claimed the throne."

"An exiled royalty shall be stripped of his right to the throne. So how did he manage to get the throne and not you?"

Tears suddenly filled her eyes as she looked at me as if begging. I sat straight and watched her carefully. "He killed my mother, and he planned on killing me too, but a loyal servant knew about his plan, so she helped me escape. Then, with the queen dead and the princess supposedly ran away, my brother ascended the throne."

A sharp pain pierced through my chest while she wiped her tears. "When did all of this happen?" I asked.

She sniffed before heaving a heavy sigh. "12 years ago. I was 14."

My shoulders dropped at her response. Many people have surely suffered more than her, but everything that happened while she's still a teenager must have wrecked her youth.

She wiped her tears and shot a look at me. "What are you thinking?" she asked, a little amused by my silence.

I stared at her while chewing on my lips. "Do you want your throne back?" I asked suggestively.

Her smile faded, and her eyes wandered on the walls. "Alfred doesn't deserve that throne, but I couldn't do anything about that. He has eyes and ears in every corner of Ireth. So I set a single foot in the kingdom; he'll find out the next hour." I stood and walked up in front of her, so she craned her neck to meet my gaze. "I will kill your brother for you."

She frowned at me. "In exchange of?"

"Protection and some wine, I guess?" I smiled.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Are you serious, Dani?"

I bowed a little so that I could look at her properly. "We can be more than just victims. You'll get your throne, and you can help me with something else."

"So it's not really protection and wine that you want?"

A smirk made its way onto my lips. "Hmm, I want retribution on top of that," I whispered.

With that being said, I planned a crime with an angel. She was intelligent and brave; she just needed a reminder that as long as she's breathing, she can win a fight.

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**

"A soil and ground leaves?" she asked while we took the items out of the wicker trunk atop the coffee table. We spent the morning buying things that we need.

"We'll make a clay mask," I raised the jar of soil. "And it has to be green," I added, showing her the jar of ground leaves with my other hand. "It's a native Peravenan tradition to wear a green face mask and a veil when mourning the passing of a loved one. You've been out of Ireth for 12 years now, so as long as you wear these, even if they stare at you during the inspection, they won't think of their lost princess immediately."

She sighed and picked up another jar. It contains a clear liquid. "And this is the..." she trailed and turned to me.

"Yes," I replied. We put layers of fabric in the wicker trunks so the jars won't break once we travel. Once done, we headed to the kitchen and prepared food, fruits, and water stock. "What is it?" I asked when I caught her throwing glances at me while loaded jars of sliced fruit in the trunk.

"We're leaving first thing tomorrow, and you still haven't visited your betrothed's grave," she whispered.

My chest twinged at the thought of having to stand and look at the ground where they buried Julian. A lump formed in my throat while I poured a pail of water into a barrel. "There are some things about me that I need you to know," I said, changing the topic.

I stretched my neck and leaned against the sink to face her. She rested her hand on the edge of the wicker trunk while looking at me intently. "Did you realize now that you've been keeping a lot from me since you came here?" she teased. "I'm sorry. It's just-there's a lot that happened in the past month. I spent three weeks in this certain village, and I lost Julian, his name is Julian. I lost him the next day that I met him again. This is going to be a long sad story. Are you ready?" I asked.

She smiled at me and pulled the chair beside her. "Come and tell me, I could only help you as much you need if I know your reasons behind all of this. Let me understand you, Dani."

We settled on the table as I crossed my arms and stared at the trunk before I told her the important stories in my life. Once again, I trusted someone with my secrets. Of course, nothing good came out of it when it comes to the Sunkens, but for some reason, I believe that my story was worth telling.

She was silent the whole time and a few minutes after I finished talking. Shock and sadness filled her eyes first, but she eventually began asking questions about myself and everything that has happened.

"Do you think they're still looking for you?" she asked. "Rougan and Sawyer?"

I sighed and gently shook my head. "They have connections in every region, even here in Southplains. So if they want to find me, they should have by now," I mumbled.

"But Ireth is east of Westplains, so we have to travel past Dunfield to cross the mountain border. Do you think you being a kingmage would stop them from hurting you?"

I took a deep breath as I smiled at her. "Overthinking won't get us anywhere. We should go finish packing up instead." I said, caressing her arm so she won't worry too much.

I stood to carry the barrel out in the front yard where the wagon was parked. She began preparing food when it's almost evening, but I picked up a lamp and a box of matches before heading to the kitchen. "I'll visit Julian's grave," I told her. Her eyes landed on me while she gave me a small smile. "You really should," she mumbled.

I smiled at her and headed outside, just carrying the lamp in my hand while my sword hung underneath my wool coat. Silence filled the streets while the villagers have begun lighting the sconces outside their house. The only noise I could hear was the friction of my boots against the ground as I walked.

After half an hour, my eyes warmed when I walked past a fence and began looking for Julian's and the guys' graves. I took a deep breath as my knees trembled, but I kept walking and stopped in front of the tombstone where they carved Julian's name in thin letters.

JULIAN HALL

ROYAL HUNTSMAN

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I fell to my knees. The setting sun shone on the tombstone, and it pained me so much to look at it. I wish I could dig my heart out to stop this pain and ease my guilt because to lose him twice was like dying for a second time. I trusted our lives to a couple of vampires only to find out that my betrothed will never see another sunrise again. My head throbbed with all the crying as I swore to my life that I will avenge him soon.

I took a long deep breath when the sun has finally set and lit a matchstick to ignite the lamp. I caught a faint noise of footsteps, so I turned behind me and found two uniformed guards strolling outside the fence. They were about to look my way, so I faced the tombstone.

"Officers!" I trembled when I heard Rougan's voice. My chest pounded as I held onto my sword, not moving an inch. "There's a little commotion by that street," he said.

"Alright, go tell that lady over there to go home. The culprit on the multiple murder last week was still on the loose. It's not good to be out past sunset. And you should go home too."

"Yes, Officer," he replied. I stood without facing Rougan's direction, still gripping onto my sword while holding the lamp with my other hand. I heard him walking towards me, so I turned and glanced at the guards over this shoulder. When I looked at Rougan, I caught him staring at my sword. "Where's Paige?" I asked.

He shot a look at me and fiddled with his fingers. His gloved hands were relaxed, but it doesn't mean that he won't attack me anytime. "Back to Dunfield."

"Living her best life, I guess?"

"I asked her, Dani. She doesn't know what you're talking about-"

"Do you think I care about what you believe or not? If you want to consider her lies, do go on. I won't stop you. The only person who matters to me was already dead."

"I want to believe you, Dani. But even if I'm the leader of the clan, we follow a strict set of rules. I can't just banish her or kill her."

"Let me ask you this one time. Do you know that this was her plan?"

He gently shook his head. "I don't even know how everything came to this."

I stared at his face faintly illuminated by the lamp I held. He used to look comforting in my eyes, but the sight of him only reminded me of Julian's death. So finally, I got to confirm that I've already lost my trust in him, and he had lost my loyalty.

"We will cross the border to go to Ireth tomorrow. I want a path free of Sunkens, and if I ever see one, that lightning strike before will be followed by a hundred more."

"The dome was gone," he mumbled. "On the night that Julian died. I could never imagine how hard this was for you, so I'm truly sorry."

A smirk made its way onto my lips as I looked at him with contempt. "You're not sorry, at least not yet. But you will be."

He took a deep breath as he gave me an apologetic look, something I haven't seen in a while. "You have another plan, do you?" he asked.

I walked towards him, stopping just a few inches away. "Until I make sure that Paige dies, I will never run out of plans."