Aerion sobbed in my arms until she ran out of tears to shed and her knees went weak. Then we sat on the grass, and she just shivered against my chest as I stroked her head. She was like a small animal. I couldn’t even imagine going through what she did. Knowing your family was next in line for ruling the whole damn kingdom, only to be banished to the street urchin life Aerion had to deal with? At least she’d had her mother to start. On Earth, losing parents was a seismic blow. One that most kids often didn’t recover from, based on the few I’d seen.

  But here? To lose your parents in a world of figurative and literal monsters? That was a goddamned death sentence. It was a miracle Aerion was even alive. The things she must’ve done, the hardship she must’ve suffered… I doubted I could ever truly know what she’d been through.

  “I’m sorry,” Aerion said, finally pulling away. “I’ve never…”

  “I’m the first person you told, aren’t I?”

  Aerion nodded. “Now you see why I’m forced to dress like a boy. Why I have to keep checking my shoulder.”

  “Actually, no,” I said with a frown. “It’s pretty clear that this asshole annihilated your whole family. You say he’s the Prime Warden now? What does he have to fear from you?”

  “The truth,” Aerion said sullenly.

  I scoffed. “What worth is the truth to a politician? Those people live and breathe in lies. Who’s going to believe you if you go public with all of this? No, sorry. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Aerion shook her head. “No, you’re right. I’m a nobody. I think he fears that I could become like my father. Someone eventually powerful enough to challenge him. Elves live long. They tend to hold their grudges longer as well.”

  “So, he’s trying to nip you in the bud before you can become a problem. He’d literally kill a child to ensure his power goes uncontested?”

  Aerion nodded.

  What a disgusting bastard.

  “Good!” I said cheerily.

  Aerion frowned. “What could possibly be good about this situation? Did you not hear me? He’s been hunting me ever since I was little. It was pure dumb luck I escaped.”

  “It’s good,” I said, “because I’ll sleep like a baby when that motherfucker’s blood paints the streets red. Or whatever color a living pile of shit like him bleeds.”

  Aerion blinked. “You mean to kill him,” she said, her voice breaking. “You?”

  “You see anyone else around here?” I said. “Besides, who the hell’s going to say anything if the Champion of Order kills a Warden? Last I checked, my rank’s higher. Matter of fact, I’m beginning to wonder if this was Cosmo’s plan all along. Drop me in that Trial at the exact moment you happened to be on the same floor, all so we’d meet.”

  Aerion frowned. “You can’t mean he wants to oust the current Warden?”

  “Why not? Sounds to me like the kind of scum that Cosmo would be happy to dispose of.”

  “Order is a god, Greg. He’s the god of that territory. If he wishes for the Warden to be removed, he needs only to appear and say as much!”

  “And since when has Cosmo ever, in any way, given you the impression he's a rational actor, hmm?”

  Aerion had no response.

  “Look, I get that it’s stupid. That Cosmo could have solved this decades ago with a single word. But for whatever reason, he doesn’t. The rest is just speculation. Regardless, when I’m strong enough, I swear to you, that asshole is going down. And after that, I’ll make damned sure you’re given the voice you deserve. Let your people hear the truth about what happened to your family. The whole truth.”

  Aerion blinked. “You would do this? For me?”

  “Well, yeah,” I said. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course! But this is… We’re not even betrothed!”

  I snorted. “Who said you have to be married to support a partner?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t do this. Don’t give me hope. Not with Order. Not with you…”

  “What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.

  “I… don’t want to be alone again,” she whispered, turning away as though the words were shameful for her. “Never again.”

  I did the only reasonable thing and swept her up in a bear hug. She didn’t resist. Which was good, as it gave me a few moments to think of what to say next. It was wild seeing Aerion this vulnerable. She was never this way. And certainly never with outsiders. Until recently, I thought she didn’t have a soft side at all.

  Turns out I was sorely mistaken. That meant I couldn’t just give her some half-assed response. The damage that might cause could be permanent.

  Still, she had a point. Who was to say I wouldn’t die before I got strong enough to keep up my end of my promise? Assuming I ever even got that strong. Should I really be making oaths I didn’t know for sure I could keep?

  One look at Aerion, trembling softly as she looked up at me, told me everything I needed to know.

  One look at that expression and all of my indecision went out the window.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Sorry, Aer, but that’s kinda what I do. I can’t change the past. I can’t erase what happened to your mom or the torture you endured growing up. But this? This, I can do. Whatever happens between us, whether uh, we get married or not, you can rest assured. And if you haven’t noticed, I kinda like your company too. So don’t worry. I'm not going anywhere, and I stand by my words. I’ll gain enough strength to make that vision a reality. This, I assure you.”

  Aerion blinked rapidly. “What did you just call me?”

  “Uh, Aer? Sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing. If you don’t—”

  Aerion lit up like a blooming sunflower. “It’s what my mother called me. No one else.”

  “Oh, er, then I won’t—”

  “Please do. I insist.”

  I grinned. “Well, then, Aer, I guess I will.”

  Aerion smiled, leaning against my chest. “You have me at a disadvantage, you know?”

  “I do? How?”

  “You know my deepest, darkest secret. You know of my past, while I know near nothing of yours.”

  “Oh, ah. Right,” I said, deflating. “Believe me, it’s nothing next to yours. Makes me feel a little ashamed to think I had it bad.”

  “And this is supposed to make me feel better?” Aerion asked. “I would never wish my past upon anyone. Let alone the one I hold dearest to me in this world.”

  If it were anyone else, I’d have laughed and called them cringy. But this was Aerion, and when she said those words with such sincerity, I found myself unable to do anything other than nod seriously in return.

  “Well? What would you like to know?

  “Everything,” Aerion said simply. I laughed.

  “As I said, this story’s gonna be pretty disappointing, but uh… I grew up in a normal enough household. Elder sister. Amelia. Older by just two years, though if you listened to her talk, she’d make it sound like ten. We used to be pretty close until, well, until mom died. Car accident. Those are the—”

  “Electricity-powered four-wheeled vehicles, yes,” Aerion said.

  I shook my head. “Pretty soon, you’ll be educating me about Earth tech. Anyway, yeah. Dad was always a piss-poor driver, even when he was sober. Insisted on driving, anyway. Said he couldn’t trust the car to drive itself.”

  “The car could drive itself?” Aerion asked. “With magic—no, you said your world has no magic.”

  I chuckled. “Might as well be magic. And yeah, pretty much all cars did. They all talked to each other, in a way. Apparently accidents used to be about a hundred times more common before. Anyway, dad was driving that day, as usual. Even if he wasn't, there’s not a whole lot you can do when you’re going a hundred and the other guy’s doing sixty.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Aerion said, wrapping her arms around me.

  I shrugged. “I barely even remember it. And it was quick. Mom probably died before she knew what hit her. Silver linings, and all. Anyway, dad changed a lot after that. Drank a lot more. Got violent. He wasn’t the only one. Amelia changed too. Grew distant. I tried to get her to open up, but I was just a kid at the time. I had no idea what I was doing, let alone help someone.”

  “That must have been difficult, drifting away from your sister like that.”

  “It was… Until she started acting like dad. Starting beating me up, too. That was especially tough. Felt like a betrayal. I began to hate her after that. More than dad, even. Anyway, she moved out when she was 16. Didn’t say where she was going or even how to contact her. Dad doubled down on his drinking after that, and with only one target left… Well, let’s just say I stayed out of my house as much as I could.”

  “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been,” Aerion said, nearly echoing the words I’d told her earlier. “At least my mother loved me with every fiber of her being. I don’t think I’d have been able to endure were it not for her.”

  “Might sound weird saying this, but games took that place in my life. For most kids, gaming's just entertainment. Something their parents told them to do less of. Say what you will about dad, he definitely never stopped me from playing, so long as I bought them with my own money. Though I guess it was more like he couldn’t be bothered to care enough to stop me, but it worked out, so I can’t exactly complain.

  “Through gaming, I could be someone else. I could explore new worlds. Doing good. Saving people. No baggage. No shitty life to return to. I forgot my reality to really become those heroes. Heart, soul, and all. I couldn’t get enough of that. It was honestly the only thing that kept me going. Everything I learned about life, I learned through the experiences in those games. Love, loss, business… You name it. There was a game for everything. I ended up getting very good, as you might imagine.”

  Aerion frowned. “No illusion can take the place of a parent. To be scorned by your own father…”

  I shrugged again. “I used to hate my old man. These days? Couldn’t care less. They say the opposite of hate isn’t love, but apathy. He could go die in a ditch somewhere and I’d sleep just fine.”

  “You don’t mean that,” Aerion whispered.

  “I do. You’re more family to me than they ever were, Aer. It wasn’t all bad, though. Dad’s reckless spending and generally assholish nature forced me to be independent. Got a job earlier than most kids to afford those games. Had all the time in the world to play. My life wasn’t anything special, but I wasn’t on the streets, either.”

  “Yet you lacked purpose,” Aerion muttered.

  I pursed my lips, meeting her gaze. “I did. I don’t anymore.”

  Aerion chuckled. “How strange. To me, your world seems full of wonder. Of magic in the truest sense. To be lost in such a world sounds almost unthinkable. I’d be falling over myself just trying to absorb all that I could.”

  “Happens more than you know,” I said with a wry smile. “Something about modern life is… poisonous. I’ve never been happier—more in tune with myself—than I’ve been here on Axius. Despite being in near-constant danger. You’d think that would have the opposite effect.”

  Aerion lifted her head off my chest and smiled at me. “Maybe it’s the company…”

  Unable to resist the opportunity, I swooped in for the kill, kissing her on the lips. “Sure is.”

  Aerion recoiled, eyes bulging. “Wha—!?”

  “You really set me up for that one,” I said, laughing.

  Aerion’s ears went red and she pushed my chest. Owing to her prodigious Dominion stat, that light push forced me down onto the grass, pinning me there.

  “That was mean,” she said, straddling me. “I’m afraid naughty boys need to be disciplined.”

  “Oh?” I asked, grinning. “And how exactly will you discipline me, O Princess?”

  “I-I’ll—!?”

  We both whipped our heads around as sounds of galloping horse hooves approached.

  We had no time to react. The rider approached, their form hidden against the setting sun.

  “Well, well,” an unfamiliar voice called out. “I suppose this is our lucky day.”

  The rider whistled, and suddenly, the sounds of horses could be heard everywhere, in all directions.

  “Aerion? Be ready,” I said, struggling to get out from under her, who, in her shock, continued to straddle me, ears as red as rubies. Well, she wasn’t the only one.

  Unfortunately, we had more serious problems than being caught in the middle of a private moment.

  We’d been surrounded by no less than twenty mounted assailants, each armed with a variety of weapons, all pointed directly at us.