You're with us now.
    The words of his sister reverberated through his mind as he sat next to the fire.  He looked over at the child - never far away.  Sighing, he glanced toward his new charge.  Alexis was sleeping soundly on the opposite side of their camp.  After they - Chrystle in actuality - had managed to calm her down, she had spent the remainder of the day eating and talking quietly with the child.  Alexis seemed to regard Eric with more than a little fear, probably due to his attitude when he had discovered her following them on the path.  Eric had felt bad about that, but it was really beyond his control.  He didn't know her.  More than once they'd encountered strangers on the path.  The first time, he had trusted the person - to their peril.  Eric had, of course, stayed awake, and caught their guest trying to steal from them.  Ever since then, he hadn't trusted anyone.  True, he had never overtly turned someone away, and once or twice his tasks had included escorting someone to their destination, but usually he was at least as hostile to oncomers as he was to their new guest.
    He felt bad about it now.  He regretted his hostility, and he kept wondering to himself what would have happened had he turned her away.  For he had a task to accomplish, and it involved her.  For once, Chrystle hadn't told him.  He simply knew.  And whatever it was, it was important - he had never had two tasks that involved the same people, and now it seemed he had.  Either that, or Alexis was part of one larger task - yet another unprecedented event.  Whatever it was, he didn't like it.
    Eric fed another small log to the fire, watching it crackle.  His two charges didn't move, nor did he expect them to.  They had both been through a great deal that day, he supposed.  It worried them - the fact that he now had two people he was required to look over.  There was nothing binding him to Alexis, of course.  His life was tied to that of Chrystle's, his fate to hers.  He could no more abandon her than he could abandon himself.  On the other hand, he had only met Alexis today.  But his sister seemed to trust her, and Eric had faith in Chrystle's intuition.  But if forced to choose between the two, he would choose his sister.
    And he hated himself for it.  The cold, calculating thoughts preceding that conclusion were all to familiar from his old days.  He hated everything - he no longer seemed human to himself.  And the most horrible thing was that he wasn't.  He wasn't human anymore at all.
 
    The sun was rising slowly into the eastern sky, burning away the morning mist.  Sunlight filtered through the leaves, highlighting the ashes of the fire from the night before.  The elder Andrews was sitting, leaning against a tree for support, when Alexis woke up.
    For a few minutes, she said nothing at all, and Eric had no intention of speaking.  He didn't want to frighten her any more than he had already.  Nervously looking up at him for a while, she finally seemed to gather up enough courage to walk up toward him.  She stopped when she was four feet away, still out of his reach should she determine that he was a threat to her.  Eric hadn't moved at all.
    "I'm Alexis."  she said softly.
    Eric nodded.  "My name is Eric Andrews.  You've already met my sister Chrystle."
    This was greeted by silence, and after an uncomfortable moment he spoke up again.  "I apologize for my earlier behavior, Alexis.  I did not mean to frighten you, I was merely concerned with the safety of my sister."
    Alexis nodded.  "I can understand that." she whispered, keeping her distance.  "Do you trust me now?"
    "Yes."  Eric said.  "Chrystle trusts you, and I do as well."
    Alexis contemplated silently, and Eric let her.
    "Can I talk to you?" Alexis asked softly.
    "Of course you can.  You may speak to me about anything." Eric tried to sound as reassuring as possible, and it seemed to have its desired effect.  Alexis crouched down so that her eyes were level with Eric's, though she didn't move any closer.
    "Sir Andrews... it was you who saved me at the tavern the night before?"
    "Please," he smiled "call me Eric.  And yes, it was me."  Eric shuddered inwardly.  He had once been known as "Sir Andrews", and he had great reason for being glad that was no longer the case.
    Alexis nodded.  "How did you do it?  He was a Tyrant Knight... he would have killed you for trying to save me."
    "I bribed him."  Eric lied.  The truth was too bizarre for the woman to believe, at least for now.  "You're worth quite a bit, you know."
    Alexis looked confused and shook her head.  "Bribed him?  That... that's impossible!"  she shot him back an accusatory look.  "You did not bribe him.  I know that he described me as some slave girl who had run away, but that's not the case.  He kidnapped me, and I was to be his bride.  He wouldn't give that up for any amount of money."  she was glaring at him angrily.
    Eric took one of the coins from his pouch and showed it to her.  Her eyes widened slowly.  "Money from the Old Kingdom?  You gave him...."
    Eric nodded, feeling bad about lying to her but knowing it necessary.  The story seemed plausible now - perhaps no amount of current money would sway the man, but Old Kingdom currency was something different altogether.  Money from the Great Kingdom was priceless these days, as he well knew.  Alexis looked sheepishly toward the ground.
    "I'm sorry."  she said.  "I apologize for not believing you...."
    Eric sensed her retreating to her earlier silence, and spoke up quickly to prevent it.  "That's quite all right, not many people have this sort of coin - you had no idea that I possessed some."
    Alexis smiled a little.  "Forgiven?"
    Eric nodded.  "Of course.  I don't bear grudges."
    "Thank you."
    There was another moment of silence, this time more comfortable, before Eric began again.
    "If you don't find it an intrusion, I'm curious as to how you followed me...."
    "Oh..." she looked surprised, and then composed herself.  "No, it's no intrusion.  I ... you're going to think I'm some sort of insane person though...."
    Eric laughed lightly and smiled.  "No, I will not.  I promise you."
    "Okay."  A sigh followed this before she resumed.  "After I left that night, I ran for a very long time before I came to my senses.  I started to wonder who you were - to just jump out and save me like that.  So I went back....  I never went into the tavern itself, I was too frightened."  She breathed heavier, simply with the memory, and smiled.  "I was too frightened to do much of anything except lurk outside.  At some point, sleep got the best of me, and I drifted off.
    "I came to sometime in the early morning, and you and your sister came out of the tavern a bit later.  I hadn't got a good look of you when I was running, but you were different enough from the locals for me to remember what you looked like.  I was still frightened - I mean, I didn't know anything about you.  I didn't know why you'd saved me from him, but it occurred to me that you might be doing it for less-than-honorable reasons.  There are some people who try to steal slaves from others, and I didn't know you then."  She looked up at him as though to apologize, but Eric merely waved the gesture away - she needn't apologize.
    "I decided to follow you, to try to see how you were.  You caught me before I could get a clear impression, and I was so afraid you'd send me back...."
    Eric shook his head.  "My sister told you that we won't send you back.  As far as I'm concerned, her word is mine.  And my word is my bond."
    "Thank you...."
    "Chrystle also promised you that I would protect you as I protect her.  I cannot promise you such comprehensive protection as that I offer for my sister, but I can promise that I will do my what I can to protect you."
    Alexis smiled.  "You're the only person who's ever offered me anything like that, Eric.  Thank you.  I owe you my life."