"Helena. You shouldn't have acted so rashly and your words were a bit too much, don't you think?"
Hank spoke in a gentle tone as he fastened his boots and picked up the twin daggers that he had set aside.
"I know, but how else would I have gotten some privacy with you? We needed to talk."
Helena, with her eyes red and swollen, gently combed her hair, ridding it of the dried leaves that stubbornly clung to it.
"But still... He's trying his best you know? Hurting him with words won't be good for any of us, we need him at full strength. Distractions like this will just —"
"I get it, Hank. I'll apologize when we get back so can you please stop talking about him like that?"
"Especially after what we just did..."
She finished getting dressed and dusted her clothes, doing her best to fix her appearance so as to not draw attention to their infidelity.
"Sigh... So, were you able to see them that day?"
She asked, fixing his collar.
"Only a glimpse..."
[This is the third time she's asked me this question.]
Hank replied and lowered his gaze, a sorrowful, somewhat regretful expression dawning on him.
"Did... Did they look like they were being fed well? S-sophia is a particularly picky eater you know?"
"And Kurt won't sleep without being read a bedtime story, were there any bags under his eyes?"
"Did they have any bruises? Please tell me that bastard isn't harming my babies."
She rested her forehead on Hank's chest and cried her heart out, gutted by the feeling of utter helplessness, how long must she endure this hell?
What mother would be able to continue living not knowing what her dear children ate, or where they rested their heads?
"I'm sure they call for me every night. They must think that I have abandoned them."
Her tears burned her eyes but they would not cease, not when this splinter in her heart remained.
"Helena... I'm so sorry I couldn't save them, but please stop crying."
Hank gently raised her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
"I also need you to be focused if we are to make it out of here. Please..."
"For the sake of our children."
He whispered that last phrase and leaned toward Helena's face, their lips locking passionately for a brief moment, before the two of them left to join the others.
Meanwhile...
"...", "..."
Margaret and Kaelen silently watched as the two of them left, their ears echoing each and every word that they just heard, the afterimages they'd seen burning deeply into their retina each time they blinked.
[This is...]
Kaelen attempted to assess, process and understand what had just happened, but his mind would not allow it. Rather, he was trying hard to convince himself that this was all just a dream.
It had to be, right? The Soaring Boar were the blueprint for true companionship in Kaelen's eyes, something he had never experienced.
So, if even they can betray each other, does that mean true companionship doesn't exist after all?
Those thoughts polluted his mind until he snapped out of it and glanced at Margeret to confirm that he indeed had not hallucinated the whole thing.
[... Ah, she's not taking this well.]
Her body shuddered periodically, as though her entire frame had been smitten by frost, her eyes red as though she had gone mad.
Kaelen, not knowing what to do next, extended his tiny hand and gently caressed her shoulder.
"Are you okay, Margaret?"
He spoke in a squeaky voice, his eyes glimmering with pure innocence.
"Yes... I'm okay Kaelen. Let's go back now, okay?"
She replied, forcing a smile that wouldn't even convince the blind.
"Oh, and please don't tell anyone about what you just saw and heard alright?"
She held his hand and the two of them quietly followed Hank and Helena from a distance.
[She's trembling...]
He couldn't help but feel sorry for how betrayed she must have felt. No, more than her, Kaelen felt sorry for Julius the most.
He dreaded seeing him, knowing very well that those closest to him had riddled his back with knives.
[She's right. It's better if he doesn't know.]
He lowered his cherry-pink gaze at the ground and soon, they made it out of the thicket.
/
As the intensity of the sun's light grew, Kaelen could make out the silhouettes of the Soaring Boar members, particularly two who seemed to be having a rather heart-felt conversation.
It was Julius and his wife Helena, and although Kaelen couldn't hear them, he could tell that she was apologizing. But from Julius's demeanor, it was clearly not for her infidelity, but instead for her earlier sharp words and for her having stormed away.
Kaelen then stole a glance at Margaret, and saw that her face was twitching, struggling to feign a normal expression.
[Ugh. What a mess.]
He mused at the current situation. It was at times like this that Kaelen truly wished he was also a child mentally, maybe then he could shrug it off in his innocence.
And so, he also tried his best to put on a front, and he succeeded in a way. Well, it was much better than Margaret's at least.
"Yo, hag. What took you so long? I bet you got lost again keke."
"..."
Arthur nipped at her as usual, but got no rebbutal.
"I was gonna come find you just now, but I wanted you to run around in circles like a headless chicken for a bit longer."
"Tsk. You damn hag, if it wasn't for Kaelen I really wouldn't have come though!"
Noticing her silence, Arthur came closer and poker her frontal lobe, clearly attempting to get a rise out of her.
"Oi. Are you listening? I said you —"
[!!]
As she looked up at him, he could see the crystal-clear puddle glistening in her eyes, and the quivering of her lips.
"What is it?! Did something happen?!"
His mischievousness quickly turned into a deep concern as he clasped her fragile shoulders, his loud voice garnering the attention of the others.
At his touch, the puddle in her eyes overflowed, turning into a stream that flowed down her rosy cheeks.
"Answer me, hag!"
He shook her, trying to force her to talk.
"Arthur, I... hic! "
She was surprisingly weak to his demands, and the vault that is her lips, one that she had determined to shut tight, was slowly becoming unlatched.
[She's gonna tell on them...]
Kaelen's stomach dropped, and the others, who had already gathered around her, were eagerly and anxiously waiting for her to speak.
"I saw something horrible Arthur, it was H —"
[!!],[!!]
Suddenly! A great bloodlust prickled their skin, demanding their attention and locking Margeret's mouth shut.
Simultaneously, they all turned their attention to the source, and they saw a figure walking with a refined posture, one that is even better than those they had seen from the few nobles they'd met.
All of them, except Julius, felt that the air had become thinner as they had trouble drawing their breaths.
"Greetings, Humans."
The figure placed their right hand on their chest and bowed politely before straightening their posture once more.
[Damn it!]
A cold sweat drenched Kaelen's spine, his eyes wide as though his brain refused to believe that he, the Roach, was here.
Even though he knew that this was inevitable...
"Get in formation, now!!!"
Julius roared, and their bodies reacted instinctively.
"My, how hostile. You have yet to determine whether I am friend or foe, no?"
The Roach spoke with a malevolent tone as he adjusted his bowtie with impeccable etiquette.