The Union 69 The Knight and the Maiden

Henry had heard from Freya that after King Timothy declared war against King Leopold, most nations which had broken their ties with Castonia turned to Western Castonia. Inkit, Hadea and Canton even made alliances with King Timothy.

"We should go back, it will rain soon" Henry said to Freya who was walking beside him.

Almost every day, the two of them would go around the city. Freya had said to Henry that enjoying the chilly and calming air of Solon will help wipe the gloominess off his face. At first Henry was reluctant. Most of the refugees from the surrounding villages still hadn't returned to their homes and were still in Solon. Even though none of them could recognize him, he was still ashamed to go near them.

But it worked. After more than two months, he can now look into their eyes. He was even able to buy second-hand books from a refugee yesterday. Henry felt delighted that his life was starting to have meaning again. And all of these changes were because of the woman beside him.

Freya put her index finger on her lips and thought for a while. "Not yet" she said after a moment of contemplation.

"But we had already bought everything on the list." Henry showed her the bag he was holding. It was filled with various food products like bread, vegetables and cheese. Since they were staying in Earl Mathias' villa, it felt wrong not to help with the chores.

"Don't worry, I think we can make it before the rain. And even if we don't" Freya spread her arms. "Let's just enjoy the rain!"

Henry almost laughed but he prevented himself. Freya can be childish sometimes and that's alright. Actually, he likes her that way. Her youthful smile makes Henry's heart flutter. Her childish but sweet actions bring color to his dismal world. About a month ago, Henry realized that he had fallen for her.

"Still with that face?" Freya's voice had a hint of sadness in it. She then cleared her throat and smiled. "Let's go Henry. I promise this will be our last stop. It seems you don't want to enjoy the rain with me today"

"No, I.." Henry wanted to tell her that she was wrong, he wanted to spend more time with her. Every moment with her was golden. Enjoying the rain with Freya would be a memory he wouldn't forget. But he prevented himself from saying so. What if she realizes his feelings for her? What would be her reaction? Henry was afraid. He is a criminal. A criminal falling for a noble lady? What a joke.

So he just asked, "Where are we going anyway?"

In response, Freya just smiled and grabbed his hand. "It's a secret" She then ran and dragged Henry.

After running for a while, a familiar sight was revealed to him. He had been here before, albeit in hiding. Thousands of tents sprawled for as far as the eye can see. This was the place King Timothy set aside for the refugees.

Being a refugee camp, the place was disorderly. There were garbage lying around and the odor wasn't nice.

"I had seen you go here last week. I didn't mean to spy on you, but I was curious so I followed you. You were hiding in that fence" Freya pointed at the fence that serves as the border between the refugee camp and the rest of the city. "Even after two months, you still felt guilty for what happened to them"

"That's because we caused this Freya" Henry looked down "When the Grandmaster of the Knights asked me if I wanted to join the invasion, I agreed. I thought that since it's my duty to serve my nation, then I should go. I thought that our only job was to break the spirit of your soldiers. The Tulosan civil war was like that. Even though many civilians died, the Order of the Knights did its best to keep the civilians out of the war. But the invasion is different. We caused this and my hands are not clean."

A cry for help then reached Henry's ears. He looked towards the direction of the cry and saw two men bullying a thin refugee with tattered clothes. One of them, a man with a big belly, was holding the refugee by the collar. The second man was holding a knife.

Years of learning the doctrines of the Knights trained Henry on how to act in this situation. His sense of justice was still sharp even though he had already committed crimes.

Without a second thought, he rushed towards the men and rammed them with his body. Even without a horse, a knight's charge is powerful. The fat man was downed by the impact while the other was stunned.

Henry tilted his body and punched one of the assailants in the face. His punch was powerful and it broke the man's nose. The fat man stood up and grappled Henry from behind. But contrary to what he expected, the fat man's grip was weak.

It didn't take long for Henry to escape the man. Henry elbowed the fat man's belly. He then turned his body and delivered a punch to the chin. The fat man staggered and fell backwards. Henry lunged towards the man, but Freya held him from behind.

"Henry, don't!" she shouted.

Henry looked at her. He was confused. Why would she stop him? He still needs to tie their hands or something and wait for the city watch.

The two men didn't waste time and ran. Henry was left staring at their vanishing figures. Evil had escaped again.

"Why?" he asked her. But Freya did not answer. She just looked blankly at Henry and remained silent.

The silence was broken by the refugee. "Thank you for saving me. I would have been hurt if not for you!" the refugee bowed.

Henry was still confused by the turn of events. "It's…It's fine. Think nothing of it" he waved his hand.

"But without you, I would have died! You saved me from those men. What you did was good." The refugee bowed again.

Henry's felt his heart jump with joy. It was an ecstatic feeling. It was true, what he did was good. Even though he had committed crimes, he's still capable of doing good deeds. Being thanked for a good deed was a great feeling. Henry couldn't help but smile. He then looked at Freya and saw that she was smiling too.

It seems his life just got better today. Although he still felt guilty of what he did, he just discovered that he can still do good deeds. His dark past can't prevent him from making his future bright. Freya was right, nobody is beyond redemption.

"Thank you" he said to Freya.

Freya smiled, but Henry noticed that her smile was fake. "No Henry, you don't have to thank me. In fact I need to apologize to you" she avoided his eyes.

"What? Why?"

Freya did not answer and kept her stare glued on the ground.

"Nevermind" she shook her head and gave Henry a fake smile again "I..I just remembered that I still need to go somewhere. I'll meet you in the villa" she then hurriedly left.

Henry scratched his head as he watched Freya from behind. "What was that all about?" he turned towards the refugee.

The man was also acting weird and avoided Henry's eyes. "I..ah… Thank you but I need to go" he also left hurriedly.

Henry was left alone, confused by what happened. First, he just discovered that he was capable of doing good deeds. He was thankful to Freya for dragging him here. But then, Freya and the refugee started acting weird.

He sighed and decided to go back to the villa. But after several steps, he changed his mind. He turned around and followed Freya.

*********************************************************************************

Freya wanted to cry. It was a mistake. What she did was wrong.

The look on Henry's eyes was that of pure happiness. But Freya knew that Henry's happiness stems from a lie, her lie.

Her hands were shaking. Her heart was thumping like crazy. She felt guilty for what she did.

She hurried her footsteps and after a few moments, she reached the place. It was an alley near the western wall of Solon.

She saw three men, one fat, one a lanky and one dressed in tattered clothes. Two of them had swollen faces.

"Are both of you alright?" she approached them and examined their injuries.

"Honestly, we nearly died little miss. My mouth is swollen and his nose is broken. Your friend is strong"

"I'm sorry. I underestimated his passion when it comes to justice." Freya lowered her head and apologized. She then looked at Ben "But what's with the knife? I told you not to bring weapons."

"Oh this?" Ben showed her a small knife. "It's dull. I just thought that it would look more real if I brought some props. Don't worry, it can't cut. Look" he sliced his palm with the knife. The blade just slid on his palm.

"But bringing a knife heightened his emotions. You know he's a knight"

"I'm sorry" Ben apologized. He then looked at Freya "But little miss, this isn't like you. I think you had gone overboard. Tricking your friend is wrong."

Freya's heart again tightened. "I know, I know" she held back her tears. "But I needed to do it. My efforts for the past two months bore nothing. He is still the same. He's still burdened by his guilt. I can't watch him like that anymore. My heart aches whenever I see him blame himself for everything. Henry is a good man. He may have made mistakes in the past, but I know that he is a kind person. I know, what I did is too much. I tricked him."

She knew that it was wrong to force Henry to understand that the world still needs good people like him. Tricking him was painful. It was like her heart was being ripped apart. She didn't want to lie to him. But seeing him in a miserable state every day was more painful. She tried to remain cheerful for the past two months, but it was hard. She cares for him and seeing him in pain was excruciating.

"Freya?" a familiar voice sounded from behind. Freya turned and saw that it was Henry. Disbelief was written on his face. His mouth was agape. It was apparent that he had heard about everything.

Henry closed his eyes and turned around. Freya did not waste time and went after him. His steps were fast but Freya was running. She eventually caught up to him.

She grabbed his arm "Henry, I can explain! I'm sorry. I'm just tired of seeing you blame yourself every single day. I know it's wrong, but believe me. I did it for you" tears started flowing from her eyes. It also started to rain.

Henry remained silent. His silence was painful. After a while, he talked.

"You know, I had fallen for you Freya"

Freya did not expect what he just said. "I..I.." she wanted to talk but she couldn't.

Henry turned his head towards her. He was also crying. "When I first came here, I was ready for death. I even begged the Earl for an execution once. But after knowing you, I slowly changed my mind. Now, I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid to be away from you" he then laughed bitterly "My life had meaning again because of you. I can now genuinely smile because of you. I fell in love with you Freya. I was ready to forget about my past mistakes and redeem myself for you. But you betrayed me. You tricked me. I trusted you with all my heart and you broke that trust."

"I'm sorry Henry. I'm really sorry" she sobbed

"What's done is done Freya. Your trick worked by the way. Earlier, I felt that it's still possible for me to redeem myself. But that whole thing was a lie" he then wiped his tears "I think we shouldn't see each other again Miss Hall" He pulled his arm from Freya's grasp and left.

Strength left Freya's knees and she was forced to kneel on the wet road. Droplets of rain poured from the sky as droplets of tears fell from her eyes. She buried her face on her palms and cried.

Chapter end