Summer and Ida jumped to their feet, leaving the warm comfort of their beds. Summer gripped the dagger in her hands, listening carefully for another sound. It came a second later.

Sword in hand, Ida shoved her feet in her boots and sneaked out, following Summer. The sound was coming from another room in the inn, along with grunts and curses, the unmistakable sound of a fight.

"The guys' room," Ida whispered.

Summer hurried down the dark, deserted hallway. As if they'd done it many times before, she and Ida each stood on either side of their companions' door.

Another door opened across the hallway. A man and a woman peeked out, looking half asleep.

"Go get the guards," Ida hissed at them. The man shoved the woman inside, closed the door and hurried down the stairs.

Ida pointed to herself, the door, then held out three fingers. Two. One.

In one successful attempt, Ida's long, powerful leg broke the door open with a bang. Summer took the scene inside in a sweeping glance.

The room was larger than Summer and Ida's. With three beds along one wall and tables between them, two large windows with broken glass, and a closed door across the beds that must be the bathroom. Felix was nowhere to be seen, Summer assumed he was hiding in the bathroom. Leon and Al were fighting off six armed outsiders.

The intruders' were clad in all black, wearing head covers with slits for their eyes. The surprising arrival of Summer and Ida gave Leon and Al a precious second's reprieve.

Leon swung the pommel of his sword into one man's temple, crouched down to dodge another's sword, then thrust his blade into his attacker's gut. He moved on to the next man. His movements were grace personified. For a large man, he moved fast.

Ida swung her sword. The loud clang rang in Summer's ears as she slunk unnoticed in the darkness behind one of the men fighting Al.

She kicked his knees, he fell down, looking behind him. She drove her elbow into his throat. He struggled for breath. With a strike of her hand to the side of his neck, his eyes rolled and he collapsed to the ground. The sound of fighting intensified.

Summer ducked beneath a sword just in time. The intruder thrust his sword again. Summer jumped away, hitting the wall behind her. The man had the advantage of a longer reaching weapon. He was about to swing his sword again. Summer was cornered.

A blade tore into the man's chest before Summer could blink. The man dropped to his knees, his eyes wide. The sound of metal slowly sliding on flesh made bile rise in her throat. Leon stood behind him with blood on his face and a savage expression. The fighting died down.

Summer looked at the falen man. Blood bubbled out of his mouth, and his eyes lost life as she watched, turning dull as death claimed him.

Guards ran up the stairs, their steps like thunder in the sudden silence. Summer leaned against the wall, making herself as invisible as she could. The sight of the guards at the door made her uneasy, as if they would blame all of this on her. It wouldn't happen, but her mistrust in guards was deeply rooted, she couldn't shake it off.

Summer glanced back at the body laying prone before her. She felt sick. It was the first time she'd witnessed someone being killed. Her hands shook.

Leon stared at her with dark stained cheeks. He flicked his sword sharply, once. Blood spattered from the blade to the floor.

The bathroom door cracked open and Felix peeked out, his hazel eyes dark and wide. "Is it over?"

*** ***

Leon bled from different cuts on his chest and neck. As soon as the guards lit a lantern. Al, Ida and Felix zeroed in on him like mother hens.

"I'm fine." He grunted. Summer was still standing by the wall, doing everything she could to look stoic. Leon had seen the horror and shock on her face when she saw life bleed out of the offender who'd cornered her.

"Ida." Leon nodded at Summer. Ida understood. She took Summer's arm and led her out of the room. Leon checked beneath his mattress. The artifact was still where he put it when he went to sleep. Good.

"They're all dead?" Al asked. Felix still hovered next to Leon, looking about to faint. Leon took pity on the medic and sat down on one of the beds, giving him permission to check his injuries. Al and the guards checked the men laying on the floor.

"All dead," one of the guards said.

Leon nodded at the man Summer had knocked out. "Even him?"

"Yes, hit his head on the edge of the bed."

Al shared a look with Leon. She'd killed a man. Accidentally. Remembering the look on her face, he decided to not share this tidbit of information with her. She'd been forced into a corner, like the rest of them.

Leon had hoped to have at least one of the men alive. But they were professionals, fighting with the intention to kill. He couldn't take a risk.

"They're not amateurs," Al said, taking off one of the men's headcovers. Lifeless brown eyes stared at the ceiling. Middle aged, pale skinned, clean shaven. There was no indication of where he could be from.

"Do you recognize him?" Leon asked the guards.

The guards shook their heads. They confirmed the men weren't from town after checking the other faces.

Leon took off his shirt at Felix's insistence. There was a shallow gash on his chest. The head guard burst through the door then. The sight of Felix cleaning blood from Leon's wound drained all the blood from the man's face. The head guard knew who Leon was, making things both easier and complicated.

"What happened?" The head guard asked.

Al recounted the events of the evening. They had been asleep when the the windows shattered. Leon was up with his sword as the first man jumped through the opening. He'd shoved Felix into the bathroom and told him to lock himself in. The last thing he wanted was to have him used as a hostage again.

The six men were professional. They fought in the darkness like they'd done it hundreds of times before, handling their weapons with the ease of hired killers.

"Mercenaries?" the head guard said after inspecting the intruders' weapons. Al motioned to the rest of the guards lurking in the room. The head guard nodded and ordered them out.

"Who else knows who Leon is?" Al asked. The head guard drew himself to his full height.

"I've told no one, sir." He glanced at Leon, and lowered his voice, as if whispering the words would make them any less true, "do you think it was an assassination attempt?"

"We don't know yet," Leon said before Al could answer. "They attacked with the intent to kill, but they attacked Al and me both equally. There's no indication they know who I am."

Al, too, was bleeding from different cuts. He would be Felix's next target.

Al cursed, glaring at Leon. "Don't brush this away. Just because I was attacked, too, doesn't mean it was not an attempt on your life."

Felix finished cleaning Leon's wounds. "Only shallow cuts, no stitches needed. You're good to go."

He still handed him a glass of water with some powder mixed into it. Leon knew better than to argue and drank the bitter mixture. Felix had a gentle disposition, but when it came to his profession as a medic, he could be more stubborn than Leon.

"Check the bodies for any clues," Leon ordered. He pulled on his shirt, shoved the artifact in his pocket, and picked up his sword. "See if anyone in town heard or saw something out of the ordinary. And find out how they got past the town guards."

Leon went to the girls' room. Two guards trailed him, no doubt under Al's orders. Driven by curiosity, the inn's guests peeked through cracked doors. A few brave souls ventured into the dimly lit hallway and spoke to the guards. The inn owner, his hair wild and face lined with sleep, was rushing up the stairs. Al and the guard would deal with him.

The girls' door was ajar. Summer sat on one cot, unseeing eyes staring at the floor, face pale. As Leon walked in, her hand tightened on the dagger and her attention shifted to him. For once, her face was devoid of all expressions. No smile, no laughing eyes, no quips. He didn't know if he liked that.

Ida walked out of the bathroom with a wet towel. She put it over the back of Summer's neck and put a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Rest."

Wordlessly, she nodded. Leon and Ida walked out to the hallway. The guards gave them their privacy.

"She threw up. She's never seen people die- being killed- before." Ida looked at him. "I don't think she's faking it. You know what that means, right?"

He nodded. It meant the chance she was involved in the artifact's heist was lower. Leon's instincts were already on her side, this only strengthened his belief that she didn't do it.

Could it be that she really found the artifact in a creek? Leon had thought it was far fetched, but now he couldn't help but wonder. Maybe she was an innocent caught up in this mess.

"Why don't you go check the bodies. I'll stay with her," Leon said.

Ida had a sharp eye when it came to details on people. Part of it was due to her constant travel with her parents' as a child. She'd met countless people from different parts of the world. If anyone could tell where the intruders were from, it would be her.

Leon walked into the room. Summer was playing the dagger between her fingers.

"It's different compared to practice." He sat down on the other cot. Ida's sword cleaning kit on the bedside table near him.

She nodded, the lanterns light giving her skin a golden hue. "I froze. I knew what I should do, how I could take him down, but my body wouldn't move." A humorless laugh. "So much for all my training."

Leon wiped the blood off his sword using Ida's sword cleaning rag. "Never been in a serious fight?"

"I have. But nothing like this. This was a life or death situation. Those men would have killed without thinking twice."

He glanced up. Clear violet eyes looked at him. She had lovely eyes. She asked, "what did they want? Were they thieves?"

"Perhaps." She didn't know who he was. If she had, her first assumption would be an assassination attempt. Which made her point of view even more valuable. "What do you think?"

She frowned, the dagger moved unbelievably faster in her hand. She wasn't even looking at it. "You and Al were standing between them and the bags. If they were thieves, cutting through you was the reasonable course of action."

She didn't look convinced. "But?"

"I don't think they were thieves." The dagger paused. "At least, not normal ones."

"Why?"

"How can I explain?" She sighed. "You're not profitable targets to a regular thief. If I was in their place, I wouldn't break into your inn room in the middle of the night when you're bound to be there. For all I know, you could be trained assassins or experienced soldiers or some such thing. I would have a much better chance breaking into a rich merchant's house: the money is guaranteed, and there's little to no risk.

"They could've broken into the room when you were out, taken what they wanted and left without having to deal with you."

"I see." Leon had stopped cleaning his sword. "You said you don't think they're normal thieves."

"The other possibility is that they were after something specific. Something only you have. It has to be something you have with you at all times.

"Stealing it from you in a crowded place would have been my way to go, but if it's something of great value, you will not let your guard down in such setting. And so a direct approach is the best approach. Waiting until you're the most vulnerable, like when you're asleep, and surprising you."

Leon stared at her. With a bit of training, she would certainly be of use.

Except she would prefer to eat nails than become a guard. He hadn't missed the way she cringed away from them earlier. She truly detested any symbol of authority. It was a wonder she was sitting peacefully across from him even while knowing he was a royal guard. But then again, she didn't have a choice. She believed he would use her friend as a replacement if she escaped.

"This means the thieves knew the item would be in your disposal," she added, her brows shot up. "You still have that pendant, right?"

The artifact, bundled up in a cloth, weighed down his pocket. "Yes."

"Well, maybe they were after it, for whatever reason." Summer shrugged, "I still think it's a long shot, though. They were too focused on cutting you guys down rather than looking for something. If one of you was someone important, I would've said this was an assassination attempt. You're not some sort of political figure or something?"

Ah. She was too sharp to fool. "And if I was?"

"Well, then it means an assassination attempt is more likely." She regarded him through squinted eyes. "What are you? A military man? A general?"

"Something like that."

He resumed cleaning his sword. The oiled cloth slid smoothly on the blade. He entertained the thought of telling Summer who he was, her reaction would be entertaining to behold. But he quickly came to his senses. He shouldn't forget that she was a captive. The less people who knew his identity the better. He wanted to get back to his son as soon as possible.

"Your insight is interesting," Leon said. Maybe it wasn't an assassination attempt, after all. However, who would know that they had the artifact?

"It comes with the craft." She grinned. Her previous gloomy mood receding.

"It does give you a unique perspective." Just to see how she'd react, he added, "you wouldn't mind working for me, would you?"

She broke into a fit of laughter. A light, breezy sound. "You're a riot."

Leon blinked. A riot. This was the first time he was called that. "I was not joking."

"Right." She raised her brows. "I'm good. But not that good."

"You can knock down a man twice your size, sneak through an entire town filled with guards on the watch for you, and leisurely have a chat with your friend in a secure building. I think you're good enough."

She pursed her lips, but didn't deny that she had, indeed, done that. She had denied it at the time.

Ida was back by the time he put his sword back in its scabbard. "What have you found?"

She glanced at Summer, then spoke, "their skin tone and features are not conclusive. Their clothes, too, are local. Their skin is drier than the average local though, which suggests a colder climate. And their boots are different. All of them wore fur lined boots with serrated soles."

So they came from the north. Or at the very least, they had ties there.

"Serrated boots." Summer mumbled. "For snow?"

Ida shot her a surprised look and nodded.

"Yes, boots like those are special made," Ida said. "I only ever saw them on merchants who traded in the north."

Which weren't many. The relationship between Springwood kingdom and the Snowridge kingdom was strained at best. Over the last decade, however, tension had been escalating over a specific mountain pass on the border between the two nations.

The mines in that area were extremely profitable. The gemstones and minerals found there were unique. There had been skirmishes and small attacks on the area over the last ten years. None of the attacks were proven to be linked to the Snowridge kingdom, but Leon knew they were.

He had been fighting on the northern border ever since he was twenty two. Everyone who came was faced with immediate, ruthless death. It took time, but the attacks grew more sparse as the years went by, his reputation as a ruthless man in battle giving them an advantage. Now people thought twice before taking any commission from the north to attack the pass.

He had gone back to the capital two years ago, after the attack on his wife and son. The incident took his wife's life and left his son scarred and silent.

If this had truly been an assassination attempt, and the north was involved, then the precarious peace between the two kingdoms would soon crumble down into an ugly conflict.

It was useless to jump to conclusions now, however. He had decided to stay in this town for a night to rest and freshen up. It would help sharpen their instincts and strengthen their bodies for the journey ahead.

"We leave at dawn," Leon said.

He would speak with the head guard about contacting the capital. They had to know what happened. His brother would no doubt reply with an order to stay in town until he could send an escort. But Leon would be long gone from Midcreek by then, so he wouldn't technically be disobeying his brother's orders.

Leon was too restless to stay. He missed his son.

--- ---- ---

Vote and comment! I appreciate it <3 <3 <3