Ken, Anna, and Mira sat beneath a lone tree in a field. Their horses grazed peacefully several yards away, and they’d stowed their gear with them in the shade.
“When they said there was an oathbreaker… I didn’t think of all people it would be you, Ken.” Mira said.
“So they didn’t tell you? I wonder why.”
“All we had was a description. He was blonde and carrying some boy who was a fugitive.”
“Girl.” Anna quietly interjected
“Oh?” Said Mira, “My mistake, sorry.”
Ken sighed, “We’ve been on the road for a week, outrunning the Inquisitors has been a perilous ordeal.”
“I can imagine... They sent word to everyone around.” Said Mira. “But Ken, I have to ask… is it true?”
“What? That I broke my oath? Yes.”
“I can get over oath breaking. But did you really kill those men?”
Ken was silent.
Mira continued, “I heard you slaughtered ten guards and maimed a fellow Inquisitor. Inside of the Sanctum itself, no less!” She looked over at Anna, fearful, “And this girl… I heard what she did to that priest.”
“Enough!” Shouted Ken. Mira jumped a little, Anna didn’t move.
“I was just-”
“No! I did what I had to do. To protect her. You don’t know the whole story, and to tell the truth neither do I. But... “ Ken looked at Anna, “When I look at her, I know somehow that she’s a good person.”
Anna hadn’t given either of them a single glance, she just stared off into the horizon. Mira took a deeper look at her, whatever Ken saw… she could not. The girl was unnervingly emotionless, docile, downright creepy.
Mira nodded. “You’re my friend, Ken. I’ll trust you.”
Ken smiled almost sadly, “Thank you, Mira.”
Mira got up, collecting her things. “Of course, it’s what I owe you. You’ve always been a righteous man, I remember that from our time together in training.”
She went over to her horse and got on. “But you should know, the High Inquisitor will be here in Mordain within the next two days.”
“Leveilleur? Her? Why?” Ken stammered, quickly jumping to his feet.
“You haven’t heard? There’s been a storm of cultists around Merravale as of late. It’s why there are so many Inquisitors around.”
“We’ve seen nothing of the sort, no cultists and you’re the first Inquisitor we’ve met since crossing the border!”
“Consider yourselves lucky then.” Her horse stepped to and fro beneath her, ready to take off, “I’ll head back to Mordain and speak to the other Inquisitors stationed there. None of them were in our group when we trained at the Sanctum, so they shouldn’t recognize you. I’ll keep them out of your hair.”
“Thank you Mira, truly.”
“We can meet up again later when my patrol shift is over, I’ve got to be getting back now. Stay safe, Ken.” She jostled the reins and her horse galloped away down the road.
Ken looked over at Anna, “Ready to go? We’ll finally have a warm meal and cozy bed soon.” He smiled.
“I guess, yeah.” She said, still gazing at the sky.
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