Flame…

  Screams…

  Rex.

  Those were the images that were running through Dame Lia’s mind. “I’m sorry young masters. Please give me some time … to think.” In front of her stand Kylan and his elder brother, Herman Adria Hazen, the first son of Count Halmar and his successor.

  “Please give it some thought, Dame Lia. You are one of the strongest knights in our estate, equalling even our knight commander. Also, you’re a former Imperial knight just like Rex. We’ll need your help to take him down.”

  Rex. Every time that name was mentioned, every time that man’s face flashed through her mind, Dame Lia could not help but tremble, to feel weak and helpless.

  “Master Herman. You think too highly of me. I’m an Imperial knight in name only. The true powerhouses of the Imperial knights came from the old guards, not us, the young knights. We’re basically glorified squires.”

  There was no official squirehood for Imperial Knights. They had pages to help them wore their armor and maintain their gears and mounts, but no young squires to train the way of knighthood. Imperial knights were gathering of the best of the best Azalia had to offer, they had no need for squires. Of course in reality, the old and experienced members of the Imperial knights treated the younger members as squires. That was one of the catalyst why many of the young Imperial knights broke their supposed neutrality in the War of the Empress and sided with Imperial Prince, Tiberio Davi Zarsuss Azali. They all wanted to make a name for themselves, to prove that they were worthy of being Imperial knights, not just some glorified squires.

  “Dame Lia, you’re putting yourself down. Besides, Rex was also a young Imperial knight just like you. You two are equal, and with your help, we’ll have the number advantage against him.” Reasoned Herman, he really wanted Dame Lia to join the taskforce against Rex.

  “I… Please give me some time, young master.” However, Dame Lia still doubted that she had what it took to fight Rex.

  Herman sighed. Dame Lia could be stubborn. And it was not like they did not know where she was coming from. She was quite forthcoming when they recruited her. Rex was a source of trauma for her. She panicked like hell when she found out that Rex created a gang in Hazen, now, the idea of having to fight him must be a difficult one for her.

  “How about Carven. Can you at least join us in clearing the sewers and killing him?” Herman knew asking her to fight Rex might be a lost cause, so his real goal was to get her to join the fight against Carven instead.

  Dame Lia was hesitant. Fighting Carven meant there was a possibility that Rex would be there, however she did not have it in her to reject her lord twice. “Yes, Young master. I’ll join you when it comes time to fight Carven.”

  “Thank you, Dame Lia. We feel safer when we have you on our side.” Herman gave Dame Lia his thanks and left her on her own device. Kylan bowed apologetically to her before he followed his elder brother. They had other business to attend to.

  Dame Lia sighed. She could only think about her master face, Lady Beaugard’s. She contemplates the situation. The peace that the city of Hazen enjoyed was coming to an end. A storm was brewing. Scared as she was, she had to resolve herself sooner and later. She had to fight and get rid of the gangs of Hazen that were getting more and more unruly. Especially that monster, Rex.

  All for the sake of her master's safety.

  ***********

  The clouds in the sky were as grey as an old man’s beard. Rain drops had leaked little by little, soon, the clouds would not be able to hold back any more and burst.

  Sister Marie and the other nuns were hurrying, rescuing the still dry laundry from the oncoming rain. They ran back and forth, basket in hands, not worrying about folding the clothes properly when putting them in the basket.

  BlAAAR

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  They made it in time, they had rescued all their laundry before the rainfall hit them and undo all their hard work. Sister Marie sat down on a bench, resting her old weary bones. She had pushed them to the limits trying to save some clothes. Now, the rainfall that they feared had become a peaceful melody that could bring her old soul to slumber.

  But slumber she would not. For she spied with her eyes a small figure approaching her. One of the youngest kids, Georgina Pamsey, came to her side, carrying her beloved doll in her hand.

  “Sister Marie. When will Sister Bea come and play again?” Georgina asked her. The little kid was quite fond of Lady Beaugard. Lady Beaugard had given her her favorite doll and played house with her often, something that a lot of the older kids refused to do. Georgina was the only girl that was under six years old. The other girls were older, old enough to consider themselves mature and started to prefer adults’ hobbies, like reading and helping the other nuns with their duties — unlike the boys who still prefer climbing trees and hurting themselves and each other. This had resulted in Georgina becoming a bit neglected when it came to play time, as the other girls considered playing house with Georgina as too childish.

  “I’m sorry, Georgina. Lady Bea is busy, she won’t be able to come here for a while.” Sister Marie gave Georgina a vague answer. In truth, she knew that Lady Beaugard would not be allowed to go into the city until the gang war that was currently happening got resolved. For once, sister Marie had to agree with the Lady’s overprotective parents.

  Georgina was disappointed when she heard her favorite big sister would not be able to come and play with her, she was even holding back her tears. Seeing the little kid on the verge of tears, Sister Marie came up with a solution. “Georgina, how about playing with me today instead?”

  Georgina’s face brightened up, she finally got a playmate. However, “aren’t you busy sister Marie?” Georgina was right, Marie was actually busy. But those were things that could be put on hold, or better still — delegated to the younger nuns. Sister Marie felt a little bit bad for the younger nuns, but someone had to play with poor Georgina, and that someone would be her.

  Tap Tap Tap

  Spoke of the devil, one of the younger nuns was running towards them. “Sister Marie, Sister Marie!” She was running while lifting her nun robes, breathing heavily, a sign of lack of exercise.

  “Sister Jane. Slow down. What’s the matter?” Sister Jane stopped to caught her breath. She really needed to exercise more, even an old bone like sister Marie had better cardio than her. “There’s … there’s two girls in the front door.”

  “Two girls? In this rain? Who are they?”

  “One of them … I think it’s the street urchin that came a few days ago. The other one is a smaller street urchin.” explained Sister Jane. She did not remember Eda’s name. Sister Marie did remember though, and she remembered that Lady Beaugard had specifically asked her to took care of her if they ever show up again.

  “Alright, let me see them. They’re already inside right?” Sister Jane nodded. She had to let the two girls in due to the heavy downpour. Sister Marie was about to head to the main hall, when she remembered Georgina. The little girl was pouting, she just lost her playmate to an urgent matter and there was nothing she could do about it. “Georgina, come with me.” Sister Marie did not forget about her though, she offered her hand to Georgina.

  Georgina was excited that she was not forgotten. If the urgent matter was solved, they might even had time to play. She accepted sister Marie’s hand, and they both, together with the exhausted sister Jane went to meet the two street urchins.

  *******

  Rain …

  Cursed rain …

  Water falling down so hard it would hurt your body, inside and out. Many people had ceased their activities and were looking for cover from the dastardly rain. Bobby and Roger were one of those people, taking cover on a nearby building’s overhang, providing little cover for them.

  The two of them were day laborers, the only protection from rain they could afford was the small space under the building’s overhang. They did not have enough Azul coins to afford visiting an establishment to took cover.

  The both of them sighed. First, the situation in the city had gotten tense due to the gang war between Lorca and Rex, scaring merchants and thus reducing the amount of work they got. Now, there was heavy rain, cutting their day short and their pay short too. Truely, things had been bad lately for the two men.

  The two men sighed in sync.

  “Roger, my man.” Asked Bobby. “Got any smokes?” He was hoping Roger had some smokes to help them pass the time.

  “Bobby, my man.” Replied Roger. “What makes you think I have the money to afford smokes?” The two of them were broke. So they sighed again in sync. Could the day get any worse?

  From a distance, a small boy, covering his head from the rain, ran towards them. Bobby scooted over closer to Roger, giving space to the boy to take cover. The boy went underneath the overhang, shaking his body from the rain drops that assaulted him. “Horrible rain, huh.” Surprisingly, the boy made some small talk with the two adults.

  “Yeah, horrible.”

  “A nightmare.”

  Truly a conversation between men. Short and simple, to the point. Now the three of them were standing there in awkward silence, filled with the noise of loud downpour.

  “What’s your name, Misters? My name is Grigori.” The boy introduced himself, trying to break the silence.

  “Bobby.”

  “Roger”

  Answered the two men. Truly manly men. No words wasted.

  …

  The silence crept back in.

  “Well, Mister Bobby, Mister Roger. I like to thank you for your hard work.” The Boy offered his hand for a handshake. Bobby and Robert awkwardly accepted it, not quite sure what was happening.

  “Good bye, Misters. See you never.” The boy waved at them, sprinting at the rain.

  What a bizarre sight, why would the kid run back into the rain?

  …

  Something felt off. Felt lighter. Felt … gone

  Both men checked their hips, both their hips felt like missing something.

  Their coin purses were gone.

  “PICKPOCKET!!!” The two of them realized at the same time that they were just robbed.

  What a great day. First it was raining cats and dogs. Now they had to chase a pickpocket in the middle of a downpour, trying to save what meager money they owned.

  Could the day get any worse?