‘You put up a rather convincing act,’ Eric found his wife in her study room. She had her hands pressed against her forehead. Her headdress was on the desk. She did not respond, only shook her head. He approached her and gently massaged her tensed shoulders. ‘You should rest,’

‘But I’ll miss morning prayers,’ she murmured.

‘You can read your prayers in your chamber. I can send for a priestess later. Besides, you look awfully tired. You would not want them to see you like this, do you?’

‘I just can’t believe it,’ she inhaled deeply, pulling her fingers back across her head. ‘Out of all people, Eric.’ Her voice was an angry, sad whisper. She sighed.

‘Would you have not helped her if you knew earlier?’

His words put her into thinking, but her mind was a clump of knotted wool strings. She shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’

‘It’s in the past,’ he sneaked up behind her, hands under her chin and he planted a kiss on the top of her head. ‘It doesn’t matter. Yesterday you helped her. Today? You can do whatever you want,’ his voice was soothing and calm.

‘What if I want to destroy her? For doing this to me?’ she turned to him.

‘Then today, you’ll destroy her.’

*

Shading under the menacing title belonging to her father has done Lisa more good, in her perspective. In fact, more even than the ‘Scouts’ themselves. Perhaps the fact that a person who chops off heads of the disobedient appears more frightening than three men whose voices respectively have more power than the rest of the men at Queen Ailee’s and King Eric’s court. Or at the very least, they respect the violence Lisa’s father’s title brings that they would always clear a spot for her at the Academy’s own private indoor archery range.

She tries not to take advantage of it; such attention does not please her and she would rather be as inconspicuous as any other student there. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed hanging out with Krystal, besides her initial motive. She liked that both the siblings treated her the most naturally. She felt as if her presence was sincerely enjoyed. Now that they have left Mount Rye on a long errand, she feels a little empty.

She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and fixed herself into position. She slid the arrow into place on her bow then slowly lifted it, pulling the string up till her strong fingers reached the edge of her jaw. She fixed her target, closed her left eyes, then released the arrow.

The arrow landed perfectly at the centre of the target board. Lisa’s force was so strong half of the arrow shot through the board and came out from the back.

A slow clap alarmed Lisa and made her turn her head.

She ignored them, then pulled another arrow out of her quiver. ‘Where is your friend?’ Jungkook questioned with a slight mocking tone in his voice.

‘I thought someone like you would have known by now, since you’re always barging in other people’s spaces.’ Lisa replied, not once looking at him. She placed the arrow on her bow, and pulled the bow up carefully.

‘You sound angry,’ Yoongi commented. ‘And yet you’re the daughter to the Royal Executioner. Shouldn’t you support our cause?’ he walked neared towards her and pushed down her bow slowly. Lisa looked into his dark eyes, and met them with higher intensity than he could ever expect.

‘I don’t support causes of privileged, over-ambitious amateurs.’ She made herself clear.

Jungkook gave a hearty laugh. Taehyung looked at the both of them uneasily. He did not like confronting people in such an intimidating manner.

‘Amateurs?’ Jungkook was amused with her choice of words. ‘Why don’t we go at it, then? See who the real amateur is.’ He provoked, but Lisa was barely shaken.

‘I don’t have time,’ Lisa put away her unshot arrow and walked away. She did not want them to feed fuel to her anger. It was better she ignore them. ‘Unlike you, I need not harass people on the streets.’ She said her final word.

Jungkook was about to lift a fist, but Taehyung held his hand up before he could try attack Lisa. It would be uncanny; after all, she was the daughter of the Royal Executioner whether or not he liked it. Lisa exited the school compounds without having a single soul question her actions. It was easier on her behalf. Having people notice her leaving the kingdom area would raise suspicions for what she was about to do.

*

The next town the party stopped by was thankfully, far more civilized and less caring of their presence than the previous one. They stayed there another night, cleaned and ate to their hearts’ content before setting off for another part of their journey; crossing the Borders. The landscape had changed. They have travelled downriver enough to reach the sea. The grassy area turned into a forested sandy vast space, with trees of all sorts that grew rarer and rare as they walked on further. The trees had leaves that looked like green short twigs. From afar, they looked light and soft, much like short hairs. Kai and his kin could hear the faint crashing of waves from the distance, and Krystal, though she could not curled her fingers, a sudden upsurge of excitement combined with curiosity making her stomach twist with delight.

The environment around her was new, and filled with all sorts of colours from gold to different shades of green she has never encountered before in her life. Kris shared her rush, and the twins seemed to glow from innocent joy. ‘We’re getting close,’ Baekhyun announce, his hands wrapped with Yui’s reign. They decided not to ride the horses, for they were not in a rush. There was not much distance to cover anyway for the time being.

Krystal could see the yellowish white light beyond squeezing through the slits of the tall trees that surrounded them. Light, she sighed with relief. It felt as if they were trapped in a world of trees for days and they never seemed to end. For once, it seemed safer being in the kingdom, where they were on top of the world, living on mountains and being able to look down from towers, with nothing but the sky and clouds above them. She wondered whether there ever was life above the clouds.

The Borders, Krystal could feel her palms sweating. What lies beyond? She imagined golden trails of sparkles and light in the air, all sorts of creatures she could never imagine. Horses with wings, a moose with a man’s body and head. Dragons, for sure. Would there be kingdoms surrounded with magic and beautiful fortresses and flowers? It felt amazing just thinking of all the possibilities that there could be.

Zhitao suddenly stopped, holding his head high and looking around.

‘What’s wrong?’ Kai stopped as well, along with Skye. The horse neighed lightly, then shook its large head. ‘Guys?’ he called out, and they all stopped. He looked up into the trees, the branches and leaves network against the white sky. There was an ongoing faint rustle, and then, nothing else.

‘What is it?’ Kris asked.

‘That’s odd,’ Kai tightened his brows, then loosened them. ‘Just a bird,’ he said, and started walking again. Kris and Krystal exchanged looks, but trusted Kai enough, so they too took no notice of whatever it is that got Kai and Zhitao stopping.

‘Whoa!’ Krystal jumped back, almost falling back to the ground. Something had fallen hard on the floor like a giant catapult and sent a splash of sand everywhere. Kris shielded his eyes. Skye and Yui began neighing again, Skye raising her front hoofs before Kai calmed it down. Krystal watched whatever ‘thing’ that fell in front of her rise to her feet from landing on one knee. It was tall, and had a blonde head.

‘Fancy finding you here,’ the girl said. She had long blonde hair plaited and hanging from one side of her shoulder, with bangs covering her brows. Her eyes were large, deep and grey. She had on a kimono-inspired tunic, its front two overlapping fabric pieces formed of tiny greyish brown feathers. Metal frames formed sleeve-plates that covered her bare arm, and she donned leather gloves to protect her hands. Her inside dress underneath her feather outer-piece draped from the top of her s down to her ankles, slit from her legs began and she had short leggings underneath. She had broad shoulders and a strong standing posture, and looked slightly taller than that of Krystal. She offered the party a courteous smile, though only seemed to be interested in the girl.

‘Lisa,’ Krystal recognized her very well. Lisa looked at every single of one of the party with a daring glare. One that even made Kai sit in his spot.

‘Isn’t Leflores way up north? What are you doing here heading downsouth?’ she asked. Krystal felt her sweat grow hot, though she was not exactly threatened by Lisa, but should she return to Mount Rye bringing words of suspicion, there was a chance she and Kris could never go back. Worse, they could hurt Kyungsoo. ‘And so close to the Borders,’

‘It’s none of your business,’ Krystal said firmly. Lisa raised the corner of her lips.

‘So I suppose-‘ she took slow steps towards Krystal. ‘-that story about your mother is a lie?’

The boys took hold of their weapons. ‘Who is she?’ Baekhyun mouthed at Kris, who could not find a way to answer.

‘Daughter of the Royal Executioner of Mount Rye,’ he spoke up, catching Lisa’s attention.

‘Why are you here?’ Krystal asked, already her cane in her hand. ‘What do you want?’

‘Easy with the weapons,’ Lisa said. ‘I thought it was odd you went away so suddenly without telling me. You’ve never talked about your parents before. It’s just so coincidental that right after you left, the Queen heightened her forces against any hiding Abnormals. It’s almost as if you’re hiding something,’

‘It’s almost none of your concern, either.’ Kai pushed his way through and stood in front of Krystal. ‘Now move,’ he said threateningly in Lisa’s face, looking down at her as he stood so provokingly close to the girl.

Lisa pushed Kai aside. ‘Who are you?’ she asked Krystal, her smile gone.

‘I don’t wish to disclose that with you,’ Krystal said politely.

‘Are you running away?’ Lisa asked.

‘What’s it to you?’

‘You’re one of them, aren’t you? An Abnormal. That’s why you didn’t tell me,’

Krystal stared at the girl for a while. ‘What are you going to do? I’m already out of there,’ she said. ‘Your Queen’s laws don’t matter here,’

Lisa turned around and took several steps. Krystal kept her eye on her, wary of whatever it is Lisa could do, but she did not seem as if she was trying to do anything offensive. She sighed, then turned back to Krystal, her shoulders sagging. ‘I just want to know the truth,’ she threw her arms open. ‘I don’t care about the law,’

Krystal thought she must have heard wrong. She was the daughter to the executioner. Every single time she fought in the mock battles, her moves screamed ‘execute’, ‘no mercy’, anything of the same wavelength as those. ‘I just want to know,’ her voice sounded as if she surrendered. ‘I am not hunting you down, if you assume that.’

‘Then why?’ Krystal still required an answer from her.

‘Because-‘ Lisa inhaled again. She pulled her leather half-gloves and bared the top of her hand. Krystal looked closely. There seemed to be an intricate mark in black ink on her pale skin. It bore the picture of a three feathers beneath a pentacle star. Krystal did not understand; but watched as Baekhyun walked forward in a swift and harshly pull Lisa by the hand to examine it closely. Lisa did not waver, gritting her teeth as Baekhyun gripped her. Then he released her hand.

‘Abnormal,’ he said.

Krystal exchanged glances with Kris. Kai crossed his arms, leaning the side of his body by Skye. ‘Well?’ he asked.

‘Well what?’

‘Judging from your fancy outfit-‘ Kai coughed. ‘-you’re proposing to come with us, aren’t you?’

Lisa looked away. ‘Yes, I am.’ She admitted. ‘I don’t have anything else back there,’

‘What about your family?’ Krystal questioned warily.

‘They will leave soon,’

‘But they execute Abnormals-‘

‘Krystal-‘ Kris tried to reason with her.

‘No! I want to know why your family is involved in killing your own kind, even if you are one of them.’

‘Can we do this later?’ Yixing interrupted. ‘Take all of her weapons if you feel she is a threat. We need to keep moving,’ he said. Krystal sighed, side-eyeing Lisa before walking away. Zhitao hesitantly approached Lisa to take her bow and arrow, and also a dagger she had strapped to her leg. She was ordered to walk in between Kai and Baekhyun, who kept a close watch, just in case, although they were sure.

Several feet away, concealed by the camouflage of trees and branches, a boy was observing from a very close distance. He had two others also in close range. Yoongi signalled to Jungkook, who nodded back at him. Busted, he thought.