“Never seen anything like it. Where did you say you got it?”

Evander didn’t take his eyes off the compass as the man turned it over again, frowning briefly, before handing it back. He slipped it back into his pocket, hearing Daniel clear his throat from where he stood back, away from the rest and still nervously glancing between them as if something horrible was about to happen. Evander wasn’t sure how he felt about the other runaway, whether he trusted him or simply hated the way he stood there feeling sorry for himself.

“I have to ask, is it actually your real name?”

“Why does it matter to you?” he grumbled, shooting a glance back at Daniel.

“Easy, boys, no need for that. Daniel, won’t you leave him alone?” Elizabeth called from where she was beside Evander.

“I was only asking-“

“Enough, all of you.”

Crossing his arms, Daniel gave out a sigh.

“I’m sorry…sir.”

The innkeeper gave a loud snort at Daniel’s comment, looking back at him with annoyance shining in his eyes. “I already told you to call me by my name. If you are going to be staying here then hearing ‘sir’ every two seconds is going to irritate me. Call me Jackson and that’s the end of it.”

“We are only staying here until he’s better,” Daniel reminded him, voice quiet.

“We?”

“Well, I-I was just thinking it was safer to travel in a pair. Safety in numbers, right?”

Evander didn’t look up, only shrugging his shoulders. He had no real intention of traveling together and knew why Silas had warned against him, especially after what happened with Aldwyn, but the offer was, in its own way, rather intriguing. Orion nudged at his foot from where he lay curled up beside him, seeming to enjoy the warmth as much as he did.

But even with the fire at his back and the friendly company, something was still bothering him. He stood, shakily at first, and limped off towards the front door without another word.

“Leaving?” Daniel asked, watching him.

“No, I will be right back. I just need air.”

Orion didn’t follow, much to his surprise and as Evander threw on his coat, wincing as he pulled it up over his shoulders, he greeted the cold outside alone. The wind had died down and the snow, while still ever present, had stopped falling once more. It was cold, much colder than the other nights, but he barely felt much of it at all.

He shuddered, looking out at the street where he’d been left to die only a few nights prior, alone and in a place he didn’t know. For a while he’d been thinking about how, if it were at all possible, how he could pay Jackson back for what he’d done but no amount of money could pay his debt back fully.

Looking down at his feet, he walked down the few steps, pausing with every one he went down, until he made it to the empty streets. His feet made soft crunches across the short distance of snow he walked across, breath pluming in white clouds just beyond his lips.

Something about the night, about the discussing with the compass, reminded him about what Silas had said before the two went their separate ways. Silas had given him advice, solid or not, but it didn’t bring him any comfort. Just a year ago, he barely spoke a word and to Evander, he was broken. He’d returned, silent and battered, but sickeningly far from the older brother he knew.

He bit his lip, reaching for the compass again and feeling, for the first time, incredibly small beneath the wide expanse of the sky above him. “Vex this, Silas.”

“It’s really cold out, you should come inside.”

Evander shook his head, closing his hand over the compass despite how cold the metal was against his bare skin.

“I’ll be inside in a moment.”

“Do you want to be alone? I can go back inside if you’d like but I can wait-“

“No, I’m coming.”

He didn’t say anything else, limping back up the steps again and moving towards the door she stood in front of. But she put a hand on his chest, stopping him from walking any further and simultaneously making him wince.

“Yes?”

She frowned. “You act like you have a secret, why?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m not acting like I have a secret nor have I. To be truthful, I’m terrified but I thought that was obvious.”

“If you say so,” she said, seeming unsatisfied with his answer. “But there is something else too, isn’t there, Aurora?”

He opened his mouth, perhaps to argue or simply correct her on his name, but he stopped himself, figuring it was better not so say anything at all. Looking down again, he shuffled his feet on the snowy steps.

“Are you sure that everything is okay?”

“Fine,” he replied simply, “if I wanted help, I’d ask.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

Elizabeth didn’t stop him when he reached for the doorknob and walked back into the warmth, hanging his coat and moving to sit in the same chair as before. He caught Daniel’s eyes, still annoyed by his presence to some degree, and was almost pleased when Daniel looked away again.

“In three days, I’ll be heading to the next town over. I won’t be gone long, a few hours at most. I need to get you two identification as my sons if you’re staying for a while. Elizabeth, while I’m gone, I want you to look after things. Right now the inn is empty aside from you two runaways. Apparently the rumor of be harboring the two of you has scared away anyone else. You two are my sons, understand?”

Evander glanced up with a nod, Daniel doing the same though it looked more like an awkward jerking of his head that Evander found nearly comical. He hadn’t thought about identification, something he carried with him in his pocket since the day he was old enough not to lose it. Every boy, when he was born, received one that his parents kept until he neared the time they would join the Dravara.

The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“You too will need to give me yours so-“

“Are you talking about getting fake ones?” Daniel blurted out.

Jackson frowned. “I am. And I’ll need yours if this is going to work-“

“I burned mine,” Evander said softly, cutting him off. “I thought it would be better if they didn’t know who I was. That was what my…that was what someone told me.”

The innkeeper stopped, leaning back in his chair and letting out a heavy sigh. “That makes things difficult for me but not impossible. Daniel, you will have to give me yours still.”

“You seem to have a knack for that,” Elizabeth added lightly.

Jackson silenced her with a jokingly stern glare.

“Anything else?” Daniel asked.

“Do you need any more than that?”

Daniel shook his head, falling silent and with him, the room did the same. Evander sat quietly for a while, still watching the flames that mirrored the sporadic twisting of his thoughts. He couldn’t think straight, couldn’t bring himself to actually consider the situation or even the possibility, as much as he denied it, that there was no chance Silas had escaped that night.

“I’m going to turn in for the night,” Elizabeth declared, standing and leaning over Jackson’s shoulder. “Goodnight.”

Evander was quiet, watching as she left before his attention moved up to Daniel, eying him carefully as the other runaway moved closer to sit down beside him. It was quiet for a moment again, broken only by the sound of her door closing softly behind her.

“Did you serve?” Evander asked, not realizing he’d said his thoughts aloud until Jackson snorted.

“Did I serve?”

He sat up quickly, stifling a cry, and clearing his throat. “You don’t need to answer. It was only a question. With the scar,” he paused to tap his own eyebrow, “I assumed you got it from service in The Rift. Correct me if I’m wrong, of course.”

Briefly, Evander worried the innkeeper was going to be mad but instead the man only chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

“First of all, you serve at the Rift. And, yes, I served. You’re correct about the scar but I doubt it came from what you think it does. It was just a fight between a friend and I-“

“Doesn’t sound like that good of a friend to me,” Daniel interjected.

“Interrupt me again and I make you sleep outside.”

Daniel blinked, looking startled, and only lowered his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“As I was saying,” Jackson continued, clearing his throat, “my friends and I smuggled out some ale from one of the officer’s quarters. Thought it would be fun to go out and get drunk off our asses and go out into the woods. We started a bit of a fight, friendly competition, but one of the bastards brought a knife, didn’t mean anything but he caught me,” he paused to brush a thumb over the scar across his eyebrow, “just over the eye. No harm done and we were caught soon after that.”

The innkeeper smiled fondly, nodding to Evander ad then looking over at Daniel.

“You look like you’re about to ask something. Go on, I won’t bite.”

“Did you see them? The beasts, I mean.”

Evander cleared his throat before Jackson could speak. “My brother mentioned them once, my father too. They never said just what they were though but just that-“

“You shouldn’t listen to a lot of the stories. But I did see them. Massive beasts, eyes blue like you wouldn’t believe and teeth as big as daggers. I found it hard to sleep knowing they were out there. We could hear them at night when we were out on patrols, moaning and howling up well until the morning. It was terrifying but there are still people who don’t think they’re out there. I don’t see how they can deny it.”

Both of the runaways were quiet while he spoke but Evander found himself watching Daniel’s expressions as they changed from intrigue to horror and finally back to something that he’d describe as his usual concerned calm. He smiled, turning to look at Jackson again only when the innkeeper got to his feet.

“It’s late. You two can start working tomorrow if you’re feeling strong enough, Aurora.”

“I’m sure I will be just fine by tomorrow,” Evander assured him, giving him a nod.

“Goodnight,” Jackson said stiffly before he disappeared down the hall.

Evander leaned back in his chair, peering over at Daniel again and nudging him with an elbow softly.

“What about you?”

“I think I’ll go too,” he replied, standing slowly. “Have a good night.”

A nod in return was the only reply he got before Daniel picked his way through the tables and down the hall where Jackson had gone. Evander was alone again and, even if he hadn’t said it, it was what he had wanted. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the compass and setting it down on the table beside him but it didn’t come alone that time. With it came a scrap of paper, folded and creased more than when he’d first opened it, and another that was nearly crumpled into a ball.

Evander,

I’m sorry. If you’re reading this then you found it in my bag and if I’m not with you to explain why it’s there, I’m gone. Please, find somewhere safe if you can. Don’t come after me and don’t endanger yourself. I don’t care where you are as long as you’re safe and not where they can get you. If they catch you, please, do what they say. It doesn’t mean you’ve given up. I’ll see you soon, if I can.

Best of luck,
Silas

Evander swallowed when he looked up from the letter in his quivering hands, words that scarcely took up more than a third of the page. He’d cried, even if he wouldn’t admit it, when he first found the letter, folded with uneven edges in his brother’s saddle bag. The writing was small, quick and messy to a point where Evander doubted anyone else would be able to make out what it said. Evander didn’t know when it had been given to him or if Silas had written it long ago and simply waited, as morbid as it sounded in his head, for the right time.

The words were already stuck in his head, firmly rooted in place after he’d read it more than a dozen times since he’d found it. He knew what Silas meant and the thought had him choking back what he refused to believe was a sob. It hurt, like a knife to the heart, every word stung like the ice he’d been left to die in and part of him, however small, considered that he should have.

Evander rose slowly from where he’d been sitting, limping towards the fire in the hearth and hearing Orion whine behind him. He stopped, bracing one hand against the banister and letting out a heavy sigh.

“What else am I supposed to do with it?”

The hound lowered his head back down again, whining again and plopping heavily over onto his side. There wasn’t anything else he could do and though he’d lied about where his identification had been, it was clutched in his shaking first with Silas’ last letter.

He looked down at them both, unfolding the second document and sneering down at the words that marked who he was, who he didn’t want to be, and, most damningly, that he hadn’t served. Swallowing harshly, he stood up fully again before crushing the paper in his hand, pitching it into the fireplace and watching as the flames devoured it hungrily.

“Vex it all, Silas.”

Closing his eyes, he tried steadying himself enough to look down at the letter without fear of breaking down completely. His looked down, watching as the letter unfolded like a pedals of a daylily until he was scanning over the words again.

See you soon, if I can.
He wasn’t sure why the second bit, ’if I can’, hurt so badly.

His hand closed and the letter shriveled, joining the first document in the flames a moment later. It didn’t seem to catch right away and for a torturing second, the letter seemed untouched. He considered reaching for it, plucking it out of the flames that licked at the edges and had since burned the only other trace of his name away. But he blinked and just as quickly, it was engulfed.

Swallowing, he turned back towards Orion, finding the dog had come to stand with tail wagging slowly, just as always, right behind him.

“What was it?”

Jumping at the sound of a voice, he looked up quickly to see Elizabeth, wrapped in a nightgown, standing at the back of the room. She looked tired, even if he’d only seen her a short while ago but he knew it was likely only due to the shadows that danced across her face.

“What do you mean?”

“What did you burn?” she asked.

Evander frowned, shaking his head and limping across the room, walking by her silently and moving to his door. “It wasn’t anything important to you.”

“Was it important to you?”

He paused, hand pausing half way through the turn of his doorknob, and only swallowed a lump forming in his throat.

“No.”

Hoarse, that’s the way his voice sounded, weak and almost like he was having to force out the single choked syllable out into the air. It hung there, definitively, the only ultimatum he was trying to convince himself to believe, until finally she sent it drifting away.

“You don’t have to lie. No one is going to hurt you here,” she assured him, “you’re safe.”

He couldn’t bring himself to believe that.

“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

The door closed behind him before she could answer, shutting out any chance at being convinced of a lie. He curled up, pulling the blanket up over his shoulders and shivering despite the fact he still wasn’t cold.

There was no chance that life as he knew it was going to return to normal, not even a single shred of hope that he failed to find. Even that, despite how bleak it felt, was an understatement. And if things weren’t going back to normal, he was no longer Evander.

He had to be someone else entirely.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7