Chapter 6

Aquila glanced at Trouble's door then out the open kitchen door. It was already late morning and he had not shown his face yet.
Aquila returned to the parlor and picked up her needlework. Where is he? This is not like him. If he does not show up for lunch, I am barging into his room.
Aquila shivered as a draft came through the open window. Winter is coming. I suppose it is time for a trip to get firewood. I should have already had that done.
As it was, Trouble never appeared that day or the following day either. In fact, she had just decided that he had left for good when, a week later, he came through her parlor door with an armload of wood. “Winter is coming,” he explained.
Aquila turned around in her seat. “What have you been doing?” was the first thing that came out of her mouth.
“Getting this place ready for winter.”
Aquila wondered if he planned on fighting out the winter with her. Why would he go to all this trouble to just leave? And why was she not angry at this? It had been no wonder why he had been gone for a week. It had taken him a the week to cut down a tree, cut it into firewood, and then haul it back up.
He placed the logs beside the large fireplace. Aquila watched as he poked his head up the chimney. He opened the flue and Aquila giggled when soot fell and he started coughing and sputtering. He came back out completely covered in black soot.
Trouble rubbed it from his eyes and grinned at her. “It is clean!”
This sent Aquila giggling. When she realized Trouble was watching her intently, she composed herself and looked away. Grabbing her needlework, she became her former aggravated self.
She did not know what had gotten into her. It was at this point that she desperately wished for one of her brothers or maybe Wren. She was so confused. They would no what to say to fix this whole mess.
Something moved right in front of her. Aquila looked up to find Trouble kneeling in front of her. His eyebrow rose.
“Go clean up! You are getting black soot all over my floors,” she scowled.
Aquila was relieved when he stood and did so without another word. What had she been thinking letting her guard down like that? Women laughing in front of men must have been poor behavior in society or he certainly wouldn't have looked at her like he did. The image of Trouble covered in soot returned and small giggle escaped her lips before she caught herself. Was she beginning to really enjoy his presence? She must not let on so. He was still very much a stranger and she was uncertain of her own feelings. It had to be nothing.

********

Much to Aquila's discomfort, Trouble stayed the winter. She began to wonder if he would ever leave her alone. Every day was counted as victory to Aquila, as she stemmed off all thoughts and feelings of familiarity, keeping a wall between the two of them.
Aquila's twenty-first birthday came and passed with no recognition. It was just as well. Christmas arrived and nothing was said. Even Trouble seemed unusually quiet. When Aquila woke up Christmas morning, Trouble was back to his normal cheerful and talkative mood. She just rolled her eyes and began preparations for breakfast: bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and toast.
Trouble seemed anxious and fidgety all through breakfast. Aquila's brow furrowed. He was not normally so. He generally took his time.
When Aquila had just taken her last bite, he took her by the arm. “Come on.”
Aquila frowned, but he ignored her as he led her into the main hallway of the palace. There was the faintest hint of pine in the air but Aquila shook it off.
Aquila had done all her exploring when she first arrived but now mostly kept to her room, kitchen, and the servant's parlor. Why he would think to come this way was peculiar to her.
It was a long way around but they finally landed in the foyer in front of the main ballroom. Trouble grabbed the doorknobs. “Ready?”
Ready or not, Trouble swung the big double doors open and Aquila's eyes grew big. There in the center of the royal ballroom stood an enormous pine tree. Aquila almost blew up at him. Vegetation was sparse on the mountain, except for what grew in bounty on the ledge the palace sat on, but trees were even harder to find. There were not even any trees on the ledge. It was all vines and bushes. This one she had seen just a mountain top away and enjoyed its beauty. Now it was in her home? It would die after a few days, and it would take years for its stump to regenerate.
She stood speechless for quite some time, seething in her anger, before it all came boiling to the top. “You...you...you ruined it! How could you?”
Trouble stepped back and scratched his head. “What did I do wrong?”
“You cut down the only pine tree around for miles!”
“It will grow back,” Trouble came to his defense.
“How could you be so insensitive?” Aquila was almost to hysterics. “It will not be back to its former glory for decades!”
“I am terribly sorry. I thought you might enjoy a tree to celebrate the season.”
Aquila sighed and crossed her arms. She looked it over. She had never had a tree before. Not even when she was with her brothers and sisters. Aquila had not even heard of celebrating Christmas until she had been evicted from home and family. Had Maeron purposely kept them from such things?
Aquila just shook her head. No point in dwelling on the past. “It is nice.”
Aquila turned and slowly walked out. He had tried to do something nice. He was always nice for that matter. In keeping with his normal behavior he had tried to brighten the holiday. But in so doing, he had cut down her favorite tree.
She had lived under that tree for three nights before she found Quentin. Aquila had even carved her family's initials in it.
Had he seen them? Did he know it had been her handiwork? Her family were well versed in the art of woodwork. She thought it only right that she learn how as well. So she had watched Daelia carefully, and then mimicked every move until she had mastered it.
The first night she had spent under that tree she carved, “Ai.R.”, “T.R.”, “D.R.”, “Ar.R.”, “I.R.” “W.R.”, “Z.R.”, and “S.R.” into the trunk of the tree, a heart around each one. Aquila blinked when she realized she had unconsciously moved back into the room.
Walking up to the tree she found the eight hearts she had carved. Her fingers caressed the initials of her loved ones.
“Lovely handiwork that,” Trouble interrupted her thoughts. “Whoever did that must do it for a living.”
Aquila thought about the room full of weaponry and stuff she had made the first three months she was there. She had made them out of an oak tree that had found its way to life right outside the kitchen door. But she had not been thinking straight and it was blocking her view of the ocean. So, before she took into account the scarcity of trees, she had managed to get it cut down and burned the stump. It had taken her ten days to get through the trunk of the tree.
She had not done too much crafting before the banishment but she had found it a nice source of refuge and healing as she adjusted to life without her family...life without Wren. “It is lovely work,” Aquila managed. If he was fishing for something, he was not going to get it. “What made you put it in this room?”
“It seemed like a good idea. I explored every inch of this place while you were in town a couple of weeks ago and I thought it would be a nice mix-up of our normal station in the servant's parlor to put it in here.”
The color drained from her face at the words “every inch” and it was all she could do not to pass out. He had most certainly found her room. How many things had she carved the family's coat of arms on? It was her private room she had hoped to keep from the outside world. An invasion of that room was an invasion of her private world.
Suddenly Aquila twirled around and left the room. She needed air. She had written so many journals of her inner thoughts, her feelings, her desires, her past, one could read them and know every little thing about her.
Fear that Trouble had discovered her secrets and private life seized her mind. No one could like someone who had been banished as she had. They would certainly condemn her for what they could only suppose she had done to cause such banishment. Most people who were banished as she were often shunned, disgraced, and sometimes killed. She only had one option left: flee for her life.
That is what she had to do. She could not wait around long enough to find out what he thought of her. He could very possibly kill her before she could escape.
Aquila ran to her room and started stuffing her clothes into a bag. Something moved outside her window and she stopped. It was dark out at breakfast?
A blizzard! There was no chance of escape in a blizzard. She would freeze to death if she did not slip and fall to her death.
I will just have to take my chances here. Maybe he didn't find my journal and I am just jumping to conclusions too soon, Aquila reasoned. Will he leave this Spring? Will he ever leave? Aquila thought on this for a moment before from out of nowhere this question came, Do I want him to leave?
Aquila slapped herself. She must not think such things. She would pay dearly if she let herself get attached to that man. If he had found her journals, he would never feel anything for her.
Trouble. That is exactly what he was. You will miss him when he leaves.
Aquila sunk to the bed. “I will not!”
Do you really believe that? Aquila could not think anymore. She was too exhausted to fight her own feelings.

*******

Wren Romany. That was one bounty hunter he would have liked to have met...preferably on friendly tones. Arnan Romany. He remembered him all too well. His reputation had been brought into question by the disastrous run in with that hired killer. Who the others were, he did not know. Had to be siblings, of course, but their names were only that: names. According to the journals, Aquila was a Romany as well. They were all banished about a year ago and split in different directions. It was hard, though, imagining Aquila the sister of Arnan and Wren Romany. And Arnan and Wren as siblings in and of itself was strange. Both on opposite sides of the law.
But...now someone wanted Aquila dead. Why? Something about a priceless treasure inside a red velvet pouch that was traced back to her. She was so small and harmless it seemed like such a waste of beauty and charm. How he longed to pull the pins out of her hair and wind his fingers in the thick tresses. And those eyes...eyes as dark as the midnight sky, but they could never hide her innocence.
For once he wished he had gotten more info on the girl. General policy was to know as little as possible about the job to avoid feeling any attachment for whatever reason to him or her. This time it would have been helpful to know everything about this job so he could have been prepared. He had been totally unprepared.
This job would cost him everything.

*********

When Aquila came down for breakfast the next morning, Trouble was surprisingly quiet. In fact, he was so quiet that Aquila started trying to make conversation. Aquila tried everything. The weather, what she would do when Spring came, her favorite season, what life had been like before he came, she even asked him what life was like before he was attacked. He only looked at her with an odd expression and said, “I do not talk about my past with anyone.”
Tears clouded her eyes against her will. What was wrong with him? She turned back to the stove trying to hide them from him. It was too late. He had already seen them and was instantly at her side. “Hey now, what is wrong? You have never cried in front of me.”
Aquila quickly wiped them away. “I do not know why they came. I have not cried in a year or so. I am fine, just go sit back down.”
Aquila was relieved when he did so and quickly finished breakfast. “It is not like you to be so quiet. I am not used to carrying on a one-sided conversation.
Aquila had recovered and now sat down across from Trouble. She shoved a plate full of eggs, bacon, and toast forward. Trouble accepted it only when his inspection for tears came up empty. “I was thinking.”
Aquila was not about to ask what it was. If he wanted to tell her, he would. She looked down at her plate she had unconsciously piled high with food. She was not hungry. “When–when Spring comes, I will be moving on.”
That was it. He was leaving. Aquila mentally beat her heart into submission. She would let him go and he would never know she did not want him to go.
Aquila forced herself to eat half of the food on her plate and then left the room. She would clean up later.

*******

Spring seemed to come earlier than usual the following year. One morning Aquila came down and found a letter on the table.
Miss Romany, My deepest gratitude I owe to you for saving my life. I also owe you a load of gratitude for putting up with me for so long. You are an excellent cook and make for good company. I will never forget the fearless little woman who could accomplish anything she put her mind to. But now I must bid you a fond farewell. Trouble
That was it? He could not wait to say goodbye to her face? She wanted to be mad, to say she was glad he was gone and that she really hated his guts.
Instead, tears fell down her cheeks, dropping onto the paper, smearing the ink. Aquila knew it was for the best. She could not get mixed up with a man like Trouble. Now at least her heart could heal and move on.
Aquila wiped the tears from her eyes. She had not cried since that morning Trouble was unusually quiet, and before that since the night Maeron had banished the siblings. She had built a wall around her heart like a prison, keeping her heart from escaping and protecting it from those who would willingly hurt it. Crying would get her nowhere. How could he have torn down those carefully built walls so easily?
Aquila wiped the tears from her eyes and folded the letter. Time would erase all memories and she would go on.

********

A week later, Aquila found herself on a mission to retrieve wood for her personal room that she had just decided needed something more, even though it was covered in miscellaneous decorations and whatnot. Two days it would take her to get to the Lucian Forrest and it would take her another three days to cut down a tree. Then she would have to cut all the limbs off, debark the tree, and sand it down which would take her another two or three days of intense labor.
She would sell the limbs to the village people for firewood and use that money to buy something to transport the rest of the wood up the mountain. All in all, she was probably looking at a good two weeks journey. When Leo showed up just as she was leaving, Aquila wondered if he did not have some sort of magical ability to tell when men are not around, but she shook it off and embraced her old friend.
She would need some food to start out with as well as her bow and arrow to hunt for the rest of her food. Leo was tagging along, but Aquila enjoyed the walk. It would be good to get out.
Aquila sighed as she walked on, talking to Leo about the beautiful weather they were having. She found herself bouncing from one subject to the next until she had spilled her whole life story to the poor dragon. Aquila even vaguely remembered telling him about Wren's love for fresh baked bread. Aquila could taste Wren's famous homemade bread as she spoke of it.
Then things had changed to her recent episode with Trouble. “He just had to get hurt right where he would wind up in my home. And oh, how he had to be so nice and...and then he had to go and stay so long! He interrupted my happy way of life and then just left! Without so much as a goodbye. What kind of a man would be so nice and gentlemanly, tearing down the barriers you had put up and then bam! Just up and leave like that! How could he? To think that I even let myself get attached to that tall, dark, blue-eyed, muscular...what am I doing telling such things to a dragon? Do you understand Leo? I am such a buffoon for allowing...and now I am talking around in circles. I think I will stop talking now before I make a bigger fool out of myself.”
Aquila looked at Leo who seemed to have not even heard a word she had said. “Guess I already have,” she muttered.
At long last, Aquila arrived at the Lucian Forest. It was night when she arrived so she camped under a promising tree until morning.
After waking refreshed from her long journey, she picked up her hand fashioned ax and began working at the tree. Sweat was pouring from her body an hour later. It was a beautiful day to work. The birds were singing in the trees almost in rhythm to the swing of the ax.
Still, she worked on taking five minute breaks every half hour. The lush green grass made for a perfect resting spot. She found a creek just off a ways that she could drink from and had already caught enough game to make it for the day and she would rise early the next morning to get food for that day without interrupting her time for the tree.
She had miscalculated the amount of time it would take to get the tree down but she was not too upset. She had calculated three days and it took her two.
It was the debarking and limb cutting that took her longer than expected. She opted to sell the firewood and move the wood home where she would sand it. She would rather not be out longer than she had to. Outside of her home and hideout, she now felt vulnerable and uncomfortable. She always found herself looking around, inspecting every tree and bush for someone or something.
Aquila had hoped the awkward feeling of someone watching her would go away as she moved up the mountain but it just grew worse. She just shook her head and told herself she was just being paranoid.
Aquila breathed a sigh of relief when she finally made it home. She really needed to find another source of comfort.
Aquila hummed to herself as she sanded down the wood. It occurred to her at one point that she did not know what she was humming and could not recall ever hearing it anywhere.
Aquila labored on for days sanding it down and then cutting it into blocks that she could fashion into odd trinkets and treasures. Some she cut in long lengths, others in boxes, and others in circular blobs.
One such circular chunk she picked up first and started working at it. She didn't know what she was doing but before she knew it she had the face of a man in her hands. Aquila blinked and quickly threw it against the far wall.
With an effort to forget about what she had just created, she picked up another chunk and began working away. The image of clock slowly worked itself out. Aquila was so proud at how she had fashioned the face of it that she decided to make it a rather ornate piece. Once it occurred to her that she might make a living selling things like this, but she just kept working away.
Suddenly she realized that she had been working for a full day and had not had one bite to eat. Aquila hung it up underneath the arrows of her siblings just as her stomach growled. What time was it anyway? She would return to finish the clock later.
She was halfway down the hallway when she smelled something cooking. “What did I leave on the fire?”
Aquila ran to the kitchen and, without even thinking of the possibilities, threw open the kitchen door. A man stood by the fire looking at the cauldron.
“Who are you?” Aquila asked warily.
The man looked up. “That is of no consequence to you.”