For A Lifetime

To Caluca

"My Lady,..Lin, please get down from there. It's too dangerous!" Min exclaimed.

"Min, your concern is commendable, however, it seems like Her Lady knows how to ride a horse just by looking at her stance. She'll be fine" David emphasized. "We'll stay behind her"

As they strode along the road, Elam, the group's archer approached Alina.

"Hey Sis"

The greeting came as a surprise to Alina, but it made her happy.

"Hey, Elam, right?"

"You remember!"

"How would I forget the youngest of the group?"

"Sis"

"Yes?"

"Can I call you that? Would I not be imprisoned if someone heard me calling that?"

"Imprisoned?" Alina laughs. "Who told you that?"

"The grown ups did. They said I should call you My Lady. But I didn't want to"

"Why don't you want to?"

"The truth is, I was also a noble of birth. A half noble"

"Hmm"

"My mother was an orphan and was selling accessories on the market, and a noble saw him. My "father" forced her to be his mistress. She had no choice. My mother and I grew up in the attic of the mansion. The maid would just leave our meals on our door. And we weren't allowed to go out. But, I was happy with my mother. She taught me a lot."

"What happened?"

"My Mother got sick. And father wouldn't even visit her. The doctor said she was dying and the medicines were not working anymore. However, there was one medicine that could at least make her feel better. But it was so expensive. So, I convinced the maid to let me see my father. But she brought me to the "Lady of the House". It was my first time seeing her. She was so beautiful, her skin was glowing, her hair was shiny. She was so treated differently from my mother. Both were women, but somehow, the disparity was great."

"She looked kind. I thought to myself that time that she would just probably give me some money, but I was so wrong. When she asked what I wanted, I told her directly that I wanted to buy the medicine for my mother. Could you guess what she told me?"

"How did she respond?"

"Let her die. That's one less useless rat to feed."

"That's what she said?" Alina couldn't believe it.

"Yes, and she said it with no hesitation. Her eyes were like the devil himself. No conscience".

"What happened to your Mother?"

"That night, she died. And I was the only one who mourned for her. My ugly, fat father didn't also care."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Elam"

"You know, days after my Mother's death, I was told to move into a room. A bigger one. I don't know why they did that, but they also brought me many books- educational ones. So every night I would be given a homework and in the morning, a maid would get it. That cycle went on, until one day, I found out the truth."

Alina just kept on listening intently.

" I had a brother. A full noble. And he was just a year older than me. And it turned out, he wasn't as smart as I was. And all the homeworks I've been doing were his. He was the one getting all the acknowledgements. And that really angered me."

"I didn't feel like a family member. I was treated like a nobody. And I hated it whenever the maids would praise my step mother. They say she's so kind, so caring. How could they deceive themselves? They could see how I was treated! i was forced to eat their leftovers! I was treated no more than like a dog. So I left and the crew found me. I trained myself in archery so that I could be useful for my group. And I've been enjoying my life since then"

"I'm glad you were able to overcome it. I understand why you don't like calling me "My Lady". However, not all noble ladies are like that."

"I know, I can see that from you."

"Let me tell you a secret."

Elam leans closer to Alina.

"You're the first one to call me Sis. And I like the sound of it. I feel like having a younger brother" Alina smiles.

"Thank you, Sis."

While the two were conversing, they noticed that the skies were turning grey.

Rose, who was on the front most, signalled the carriage to stop for a while.

The group had to make a tent in the forest as they were still far from the next town. The rain poured down heavily just in time they finished setting up.

Alina stayed in the carriage. From inside, she could see her some of her companions, Hash and Wren, dancing in the rain. Alina decided to have them as her subjects in her sketch. She was watching them when suddenly she noticed from behind the tent some black dressed men with swords hiding behind the trees. Just before she could get down on the carriage and alert the group, she saw a man's neck slashed off. It was Navish! He started slashing them off without making any noise. His movements were so precise. Alina was astounded by what she witnessed.

"Stop!" Alina shouted to Navish. He was having a killing spree. This caught the attention of the others.

They all positioned themselves and ready to fight. Min and Rin came to protect Alina. However, Alina stepped forward and told Navish to stop, because of this, they got surrounded by the black dress men.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Alina asks them

The men laughed.

"You're probably the only person who asks their killer's name" they all laughed louder.

"You don't have to kill us" Alina stood up.

The men laughed at her again.

This time, David grabs Alina by her wrist.

"Stop this act at once! You won't survive being a saint in this world, My Lady. If you keep on acting like that, you'll put all of us in danger."

"Take her back to the carriage" David signaled to Min and Rin.

"Yes, that's right. Listen to your lover, Princess"

The men mockingly said. Alina did not look back at their direction and she eyed Rin to sheath her sword.

"Now, shall we finish this quickly?" Roger, the leader of the Panther boasted.

While he was spinning his spear, a strong s***h of sword hanged upon his neck. Seeing that their leader was swiftly beheaded by Navish, they all ran off to save their lives. "That's enough, Navish" David commanded him as Navish tried to follow them.

The weather was soon settled down and they all prepared to get back on the road. As Alina was stepping out of the carriage, she was blocked by a black horse with a cloaked man on its back.

"You should stay on the carriage. The journey from here on will be more dangerous."

Alina looks at Navish. This was the first time she saw his eyes. Dark green. She suddenly remembered how he looked when he was slashing those men.

"I understand" is all she could respond.

Alina seated herself at the carriage with her helpers.

"Are you alright, Lin?" Min asks. However, Alina did not respond. She just gazed at the window.

"Don't you think you were a bit hard on her earlier?" Lira asks David are they rode horseback.

"She needed that. Her parents entrusted her safety to me. I can't afford endangering her because of her own actions."

"She just wanted to help. You should actually commend her bravery for speaking up despite being scared."

"You know that this journey is dangerous. I'm just doing this to protect her. Did you even see how she looked at Navish when she saw her slashing that Roger's neck?"

"She was shocked. It must be her first time witnessing such killing. You have to admit, you had the same look when you first saw Navish kill."

"You're right."

Finally, they arrived at the nearest town- Kore Town. They had dinner and settled in an inn near the town gate.

"Today was tiring, wasn't it Rin?" Min asks Rin as she put off all the luggage.

"Indeed, it was. Now, hurry up. You have to prepare Lin's warm bath" Rin reminds her.

Min walks towards straight to her face. She was so close. Min studies Rin's face.

"Lin, huh? You sure are getting used to calling her that way."

Rin walks away from Min. "As we should be. It is her request after all."

"You're right. I should probably get used to it."

As they were talking, Lin enters the room. She laid on the bed facing the ceiling and her arms were open wide.

"I shall get your bath ready, Lin." Rin informs.

Lin looks at her two helpers who's been by her side since she was a child.

"I'm glad I brought them with me on this journey" she thought.

"I'll make my own bath from now on. You can do what you want to do. You don't have to attend to me in this journey." Lin directs her helpers.

Min and Rin looked at each other.

"We'll still help you, Lin." Rin says while smiling.

"Only if I ask for it. That's my request." Lin says as she get up and walks towards the luggage. She got her own change of clothes and went to the restroom.

Meanwhile, in the room, Mina and Rin was wondering what was going on with their Ladyship.

"Do you think she's okay?" Min asks Rin.

"Probably not."

"It's not because of David, right?"

"It could be a part of it. But it wasn't really it."

Min gasps and covered her mouth.

"Could it be because of Navish?" she says barely whispering.

"That's what I was thinking." Rin agrees.

"It's the first time she saw such killing. Remember what she asked us when we were training swordsmanship?"

"Do you really have to kill someone just to protect me?" Min recites the question.

"Right, and then she said "Killing is a sin. I command you not to kill anyone for me and for anyone else" From that day on, she would always signal us to sheath our swords" Rin recalls as she looks at the sword on her waist. A silver scabbard with a white handle sword.

"She's probably thinking how she'd approach Navish regarding his killing." Min says.

While the two helpers were talking, Navish was outside the room and heard what they had talked about. He was only passing through when he stopped when he heard his name mentioned in their conversation. After what he heard, he continued to walk through the hall when he saw Lin just coming out from the restroom across the end of the hall. When he saw her, he hurriedly went to his own room which was just two rooms away from Lin's room.

At midnight ...

"Wake up, Lin" Min says while panicking.

"What's going on?" Lin asks as Rin puts on a night robe over her night dress.

"The inn is being attacked by bandits. We'll have to go to David's room, the others are already there."

The ladies slowly took all their belongings, careful not to make any sound. They went sneakily towards David's room. As Min was about to knock, Lin stops her.

"What's the matter, My Lady?" she asks

"They're not there. Let's go back to our room." She informs.

"Why do you say so?" Rin asks

"Who told you to go there?" Lin asks as her helpers as they reach their own room.

"It was David."

"Did you see him?"

"No, it was dark. He just whispered through the door, but it sounded like him."

"David would not let us go into their room. They would've come here instead." Lin says.

"What time did the bandits come?" she asks.

"A quarter to an hour before we woke you up. Min and I heard some noises down the hall, so I went to check it out. The owner was talking with the bandits so I went back here to warn you both. When I got in the room, the lights went off, then we heard the voice."

"Let's go back to our room and ready your knives."

The two helpers looked at each other in confusion.

"Why would they be in danger?" Rin asks.

"That probably wasn't David"

Lin says as she looks for a bottle inside her medical bag.

"What are you looking for, My Lady?" Min asks.

"A potion. David and others are probably poisoned. They drank wine until midnight, did they not?" Lin responds.

Min and Rin nodded until they realize the situation.

"The owner is in cahoots with the bandits?" Min was shocked.

Lin nodded as she signalled the two to quietly go back to the room.

As they got back to their room. They tried to think on how to safely save the others.