June sat on the edge of the rickety cot in her room at *The Rusty Anchor*, the moonlight casting long, pale rectangles across the floorboards. Her small bag was open, her meager supplies—dried meat, a waterskin, the scarf with the teacup—laid out and ready to be packed. She was planning to leave tonight. The encounter with the guard earlier had been too close, and she knew her luck was a finite resource.
She paused, her hand hovering over the scarf. For a moment, her mind drifted away from the escape route and settled on a different image. Wilson's face. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed at the breakfast table. The way he had shielded her without hesitation.
She shook her head, a small, involuntary smile touching her lips. *He was a little cute,* she admitted to herself. *An idiot, but cute.*
She stood up, slinging the bag over her shoulder. She turned toward the window, ready to make her escape into the night.
"Freeze."
The voice was cold, professional, and came from the doorway behind her.
June spun around. The door she had locked was now open. Standing there were two town guards, their swords drawn, their faces hard. They didn't look like the bumbling patrol from the market. They looked like they had been waiting.
They knew. "You are under arrest for trespassing and suspicion of espionage."
Before she could reach for her knife, two more guards stepped out from the shadows of the hall. She was outnumbered. Surrounded.
She didn't fight. She just gritted her teeth and let them take her arms.
The town jail was a damp, miserable hole in the ground. The walls were weeping with moisture, and the air smelled of mold and despair. June sat on a pile of straw in the corner, her knees pulled to her chest. Her bag was gone. Her freedom was gone.
She stared at the small, barred window near the ceiling. It was too high to reach, and even if she could reach it, the bars were iron. She was stuck.
*Stupid,* she thought. *I got comfortable. I let a boy with a nice smile make me drop my guard.*
Suddenly, a sound broke the silence.
"Pssst. Pssst."
June looked up, frowning. She scanned the empty cell. The sound was coming from the window.
"Pssst! Hey! Convict!"
June stood up slowly. A shadow blocked the moonlight pouring through the bars. Then, a face pressed against the metal grating. It was Wilson. He was upside down, hanging by his knees from the roof, grinning like a madman.
"Wilson?" June whispered in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
"Well," he grunted, straining to hold his position. "The things I do for you."
He reached a hand through the bars, dangling a set of keys. "Guard took a little nap. Alcohol is a wonderful thing. Here."
He dropped the keys down to her. June caught them, her heart hammering. She fumbled with the lock, the metal clicking loudly in the silence. The door swung open.
She scrambled up the pile of crates Wilson had presumably kicked over to the wall, and he hauled her up through the window. They landed in the grass outside the jailhouse, rolling into the shadows of the alley.
"Run," he whispered.
They ran. They ran until the town was a distant glow behind them, until the trees of the forest swallowed the road, and until the only sound was the pounding of their own hearts.
They stopped deep in the woods, breathless. June bent over, hands on her knees, gasping for air. When she straightened up, she turned to Wilson. He wasn't even out of breath. He was just standing there, smiling at her.
"So," June said, her voice sharp but lacking its usual bite. "What do you want this time from me? I owe you. Again."
Wilson didn't ask for money. He didn't ask for information. He simply pointed through the break in the trees.
"Follow me."
He led her off the path, pushing through the brush until the ground leveled out. The trees parted to reveal a hidden lake.
The water was still as glass, reflecting the sky perfectly. Above them, the moon was huge and pearl-white, hanging low in the sky like a lantern. It cast a silver sheen over the water, making the whole world look like a dream. The mist rising from the lake curled around the reeds, soft and ethereal.
Wilson walked to the edge of the grass and flopped down onto his back, his hands behind his head. He looked up at the moon and sighed contentedly.
"Join me," he said, patting the grass beside him.
June hesitated. She looked back at the direction of the town, then at the peaceful, defenseless boy on the ground. She walked over and sat down, then slowly lay back, staring up at the immense, glowing orb.
They lay in silence for a moment, the cool grass brushing against their arms.
"So," Wilson whispered, his voice soft in the quiet. "What's the most remembered moment in your life? Like... the moment that is the happy place for you?"
June turned her head slightly to look at him. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking at the moon, a sad, gentle smile on his face.
"Mine is when I was little," Wilson continued, not waiting for an answer. "I saw that my father was always getting everyone's scolding for dozing off in the middle of the day. He worked the night shift at the mill, but he tried to stay awake to play with us. He would always try to be a better man for his children, even when he was exhausted." He laughed softly. "I remember him falling asleep in the garden with a tea cup balanced on his nose. It was funny. But it was... love."
June looked back at the pearl moon. The water lapped gently against the shore. She thought of her life—the running, the hiding, the secrets. But then, a memory surfaced, warm and bright.
"Mine," June said quietly, "was when I was with someone special in a training camp."
Wilson turned his head to listen.
"We shared a bathroom," June said, a small, genuine smile breaking through her tough exterior. "It was cramped and cold. And I just looked at her... she would always have the funniest expressions on her face when she was trying to put on her armor. She was clumsy, but she was fierce. I didn't have to hide then. I was just... me."
She trailed off, the memory washing over her. The mist swirled around them, blurring the edges of the world. The pearl moon shone down, reflecting in June's eyes.
For the first time in a long time, the fear receded. The cold, hard knot in her chest loosened.
As she lay there next to Wilson, staring at the beautiful, reminiscent view of the moon, June realized she had a new memory. A new safe haven.
The woods, the lake, and the boy who brought her here. This was now her happy place.
To be continued...