It was a chilly winter night in Crystal Falls. Snow was beginning to Fall. The midnight wind was crisp and freezing. I was sitting by my fireplace sipping on my hot tea. There was a rustle outside. It was easy to hear over Cian's soft snoring. It sounded almost like branches falling.

"Maybe it's just the branches icing over." I said quietly.

Cian mumbled in his sleep. And the sound of crunching leaves became louder. I got up from my cozy seat, grabbed a knife, and walked to the door. I opened it and leaned out. Just as I did so, a black figure jumped at me with a dagger to my throat.

"Who are you!?!" I grunted.

The attacker kept silent.

"Who are you!!" I yelled. This time I ran my knife into the attacker's thigh. They let out a groan and fell to one knee. I lit my hand with my healing flames. I categorized the wound with the knife still drilled into their leg. "I'm a healer. Which means I can hurt you worst than you could ever imagine." I spat. "I'm giving you one last chance to tell me who you are and who you work for, or else that knife wound will be the least of your worries."

My attacker kept quiet. I grabbed the knife and pushed it deeper into their leg. They let out a muffled scream.

"No, please I'll tell! I will tell you, just please don't push that knife any deeper." The attacker cried.

"Spill it!" I said and yanked the knife out and sealed the wound. "I sealed it, but I wouldn't do anything for a while. The severely damaged muscle and tissue will take several months to heal."

"My name is Nomura. Nomura Tanisia." They said and pulled of this mask revealing short, spiky, white hair. They had the face of a young girl with large eyes, one the color of the Sun the other the color of the moon. She had a plain face and a small,slender body, which was perfect for an assassin. "I work fo--"

Her face contorted into a look of pain and horror. The mark that was on her neck started to glow. She let out a wail and gasped, then went limp. "Poor child. She was just hired for play. That spell was meant to be used on fugitives." A familiar voice said from behind. I whipped around, only to find Kapono standing there dressed in think winter garments. "I feel I am getting to old for my late night strolls."

"Kapono, how did you know what kind of spell that was? I've only seen it be used maybe twice in my entire life." I said. Kapono's face turned into an expression of shame.

"I know ,Diana, because I made it." He said. "Please, let's go inside. I'll explain, but I fear my bones are getting too old for this."

Once inside Kapono and I sat down in my living area. I pulled up and extra chair for Kapono and poured some steamy tea. Right as I sat down there was a loud thud coming from the second floor of my house. I shot out of my chair and bolted upstairs. I found Cian laying on the floor with his blankets wrapped around him. His eyes slowly opened.

"How the hell did this happen?" He said groggily. "Why am I on the floor?"

"You fell. If you're ok, I will leave."  I replied curtly.

Cian waved me off and crawled back into his bed. I went back downstairs.

"Now you said you wanted to explain..." I trailed. "You're sleeping too."
When did my home become a hotel!?!

When the sun rose, I prepared breakfast, kicked Kapono out, and woke up Cian. I gave Kapono some food before I kicked him out. Lazy bum. He has a shop to keep up with! I thought.

"Do we have to leave so early. The sun has barely even risen." Cian whined. He was rubbing his droopy eyes and sleepily shoveling food into his mouth.

"There is less people up this early which lessens the chance of me and you getting caught. You forget we are both royalty. My training classes start today." I replied with a yawn. It was then that I realized that I only got about three hours of sleep.

We left my home shortly after we got through eating. We dressed in our armor and cloaks. As it turns out, the armor keeps body heat in during the winter and expels it in the warmer seasons. Concealing our weapons was a bit more difficult, considering they have colored auras. 

When we arrived at the main gate, we were stopped by guards. It was typical for guards to stop the merchants and travelers coming in and out of the capital city of Amia.

"Morning sir. Whatcha need?" I asked putting on my merchant voice.

"Just checking your cargo." The guard replied sleepily.

"Oh we don't have anything. Sold it all in town. Just a goin' back to my home in Puddleton with my, er, husband."

"We need to see your papers."

"We don't have any papers. Sorry sir." I said and quickly struck him in his stomach. Cian quickly figured out what I was doing and assaulted the cons guard. When both guards were lying on the ground unconscious, we made a run for it.

"Great, now I'm a fugitive in my own country!" I yelled as we ran.

"If it makes you feel any better, royalty can't get imprisoned  in their country. Trust me I've tried!" Cian laughed.

We ran until our legs gave out, which landed us exactly where I wanted. My neighbourhood.

"Come with me. We can do a little last minute shopping." I said as I gestured towards my old home.

"There aren't any shops here. Where are we exactly?" Cian asked.

"Welcome to my old home in Puddleton! I lived here 'til I was about six-ish."

I opened the door, the key was still hidden in the removable wooden plank. I unlocked the front door then Cian and I walked in. This place is just as I remembered it. I thought. I ran my hands over the dusty tables. "This is where mother, father, Amon, Jane, and I ate dinner." I said quietly as tears  started to form in the corners of my eyes. I walked over to a pile of blankets on the floor. "And this was where I slept in the winter. Oh how simple life was back then."

"May I ask, who were Amon and Jane?"  Cian asked.

"Amon is my brother, he works for the military as a knight. Jane was my sister she...died. it was years ago. I was only about three. My mother and father died as well."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It wasn't your fault, so don't apologize ok." I said, and put on the best fake smile. "Besides, we need to get some of these blankets and I think there was some money and other supplies here."

"What do we do after that?"

"We burn the house." I said grimly. "It will draw attention and the guards will come, there are going to be so many foot prints in the snow they won't be able to follow us."

"Oh..." He said and stopped asking questions.

We gathered up some blankets and I found my father's strongbox. It didn't have a lot of money but we took it. We lit the house on fire and ran off before anyone got there.