Sir Roland, also known as Knight of dread looked exhausted and weak even under all those layers of armour. 

His head hung low as if defeated, his eyes were dark and bloodshot as he gazed across the table at his beautiful wife of fourteen years.

Roland had once loved her with all his heart and would kill for her in the blink of an eye, but he had found himself falling apart ever since the tragedy happened and he feared what may follow. What did he have left in this world? What had he lost?

The woman sat opposite him in silence watching the man across from her with tears in her eyes. 

The good knight felt betrayed, cheated, used.  It wasn't fair.

He had loved her, hadn't he? 

he had provided for her, hadn't he?   

He had given up everything to protect her and his family.

he deserved better than this, didn't he?

Once he had needed someone to love him, he wanted someone to take care of him.

Now, he looked at his wife, she was beautiful, her skin white like snow; her eyes deep chocolate brown, her lips full and soft. Her hair was silky smooth and flowing down her shoulders. She wore a dress that showed off every curve of her body. She had taken great pride in wearing clothes she knew would make men lust after her and fall on their knees begging for her attention. Roland could still hear her giggles as she played pretend, her laughter echoing through the halls as she chased after him. How he had missed that sound! How he had missed her!

Roland couldn't help but smile despite his misery.

He looked back at his wife and felt a pang of anger in his chest.

His eyes travelled from her angelic face to her bulging belly that made him want to scream at the injustice of it all and curse the gods for taking this happiness from him.

Her hand reached out across the table towards his arm. He turned to look at her and watched her reach up and touch his forearm gently. He heard her whisper “I’m sorry.”

Roland sighed but didn't utter a single word, what could he say anyway?

He stood up from his seat and walked away from her, ignoring the feeling of longing in his chest that followed him as he headed toward his study. 

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm down, he could feel something within him trying to surface, he knew it would only cause pain, despair.

his mind wandered and the memory of a not so distant past came to him. 

Sir Roland was a high knight under the command of Underlord Bation the baron of Umer.

he was 

 tall, burly, muscular, and fierce but at times, a soft-spoken gentle giant, who was a master of his weapon the spear. 

Beal, the baron of Umer had drafted him in his expansion war against a minor Fae court.

After four years away from home,  fighting a war that no one wanted,  fighting for his honour and his liege,  Roland had finally returned to his beloved to his life, to his wife.

The memories brought a bitter taste to his mouth, he wanted to go back. But, the memory had caused such intense feelings inside of him that he had almost relapsed into a depression. He had tried to distract himself from the pain by drinking and partying. But, he was unsuccessful, the pain remained.

he had ignored the obvious signs, the absence of familial guards,  the lack of servants attending to the castle; the fact that everyone seemed to be avoiding him...

He had thought it was due to a regime change, that perhaps the new lord had implemented new rule and had changed his ways, he had never really considered the possibility that it was because of the actual reason.

Like an idiot he had just barged into his former home, ignoring the pleas, threat and request of the new start to stop as he was not allowed on the property grounds.

He had just kept moving forward, only to find his beautiful wife sitting at his dining table, enjoying a nice meal with another man.

he had imagined a thousand what his wife's reaction would be

in his dreams and imagination 

She had looked happy, radiant; she had smiled and laughed; she had laughed and talked; she had joked and teased, she had danced and sang.

and all the time he away 

All that he could think about was how much he wanted to return home to her.

He missed her.

He was desperate.

He just wanted to hold her again, kiss her again.

but now when the dream had become reality, all joy vanished from her face at the sight of him, her smile disappeared, colour visibly drained do her face,  her eyes grew large, and he saw panic and fear in her eyes.

in a panic, she got up and in doing so exposed her bulging pregnant belly.

Roland world had shattered at that moment in time. He had felt himself fall apart.

he had fallen apart.

It had hurt.

it had hurt too much.

The tears had started falling down his cheeks as he watched his wife run out of the room.

the following drama that ensued after that discovery was not something Roland would like to experience ever again.

After he left his former manner, he went straight to his father's manor only to find out his father was dead and his cousin Sky was managing the property as a steward for the family, 

from Sky, Roland had learned that his former liege lord had declared him dead two years ago, to seize his father's wealth to continue funding his insane war against the minor Fae court.

he also learned that after the announcement of his supposed death his wife Marian had laid claim to all his property and sold it and had caught the title of low dame, and had begun courting the lower and middle nobility bachelors,   in hopes to marry them to secure her wealth and titles and position.

and just 7 months ago she had married a low knight called sir William, who had immediately dissolved the marriage out of fear of what the peerage would say about him.

As Foland entered his study he felt a deep sadness envelop him at the memories of the past week, his wife's pregnancy, his father's death, his lord's betrayal and now today his wife had come to him to apologise. 

he knew why 

His wife who was now an outcast and a poor low Dame had come here and he was inclined to give her whatever she wanted as it was not her fault that he died.

just as he sat down he noticed a golden paper amongst the sea of white paper, having his curiosity peeved he fished out that particular paper and began to read it.

it was a letter from his uncle to his father, Roland remembered his uncle Ronald who had given up his title and rank to his brother to become a here knight.

"Maybe I should do the same," he said out loud to no one 

he continued to read the letter, till his butler and his squire  Simon walked in, by that time he made up his mind. 

" Simon, bless you boy for your good sense of time, here's what I want you to do I want you to sell every non ancestral property, business or title within a month or so and go and call Sky to tell him he had twenty breaths to get his arse in here if he wants to become a knight, and before I forget, prepare a writ of forgiveness for the good dame and tell her to get out. " 

without blinking, Simon just turned around.

 Roland sighed. He loved his squire, he really did, but sometimes, the boy was too trusting and idealistic.

"I'm going to miss you, Simon," Roland said sadly and sadly the lad turned around and smiled at him.

"I'm sure we will meet again someday my friend."

Roland smiled and then he looked back at the letter 

"Varnis Eh, good place as any"

* * * 

Hary couldn't fathom the reason why no tears had rolled down his face, 

as he stared down at the mangled cold cold corpse of his wife and child, 

he turned to study his wife Hella,

her lifeless face was looking at him,

her eyes dull, her hands and legs were limp,

she held herself stiff, there was a small tear stain on her cheek,

her head twisted to an unnatural angle, 

it was a gruesome and painful image to watch.

he then turned to his child, to his son the boy hadn't even seen his tenth winter, 

Hary's heart ached 

to see his son, his beautiful boy, frozen lifeless and dead,

his heart broke in his chest at the sight, 

but he still felt no tears form, 

Hary suddenly felt his  body tremble uncontrollably,

he shook like a leaf,

his breath hitched in his throat.

Hary felt as if his heart would burst with the force of the beating in his chest,

he gasped for air.

His breathing quickened. 

His heart pounded in his chest as he felt panic rise inside him.

Hary's vision blurred as he felt the pressure build up inside his chest.

He tried to calm down.

 He tried to keep his heart rate calm. He tried not to let the pain overtake him.

He failed miserably.

Hary dropped to the floor on his knees. The pain, the agony was overwhelming him.

He could not breathe properly. He felt faint.

He fell on his side on the ground. His legs folded underneath him.

he felt sorry for himself, for his wife and his son. 

he felt sorry for everything that had happened to him.

and finally, the tears came,

He cried.

And cried.

And cried.

And he cried until the tears stopped flowing until he fell asleep until he awoke to the familiar darkness.

Hary woke up the next morning and lay there for a while,

waiting to feel better but in vain he waited, he looked around to see the ruins of his home,  the once beautiful home of his people, 

 the home of his ancestors.

the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the walls were destroyed.

The land, the crops on the lands, the livestock was gone.

his family was gone.

Hary was alone,

He had lost everything.

he cried.

he couldn't understand why someone would do such a thing to him, he just had been a farmer; a simple humble commoner who had no money and no status. 

it had been just an ordinary day, his wife was sitting on the front porch, watching his son play with the Geese, 

their son whom he loved more than anything else in the entire world.

Hary had loved this boy so dearly,

this boy, his beautiful baby boy. 

and his brother-in-law  and his wife had been not far in the barn sheeting the sheep, 

and then like a gust of wind, the soldiers clad In red armour  had arrived ordering them to burn their entire crop, 

and they all had done so obediently and without question,

and he had just stood there, stunned.

they were burning their fields.

They were killing their livestock.

They were taking everything from him.

They were stealing everything he had worked hard and dedicated his life to.

Hary had been away in the town sleeping off a hangover when the soldiers had burned everything, and then they had unsheathed their swords and killed all of his family, they had killed his wife and his son, his brother-in-law and his sister in law.

And all he had been left with was his own clothes on, the little money he had had in his possession and his old worn boots which he had been wearing for many years now.

He was all alone.

he was homeless.

he was penniless.

"I told the truth, did I not?" the voice that had spoken to him since he was a little boy spoke up.

"I had shown you the truth, when dreamed did I not?"  The voice spoke again 

the voice was somehow genderless, just from hearing it Hary could not tell whether it was female or male.

the voice was strange,  and yet somehow he felt like he knew it,

and yet he didn't.

Hary had to admit, he did know the voice.  It was a familiar feeling he had had ever since he was a young child and always had.

That was not the first time he had heard that voice.

the first time when it had told him to 

 run away from the village, that the villagers and peasants hated him and treated him as if he was scum.

It had also told him, to never trust anyone, to avoid strangers, to be suspicious and wary of all humans.

He remembered telling the voice to shut up when it had said the word "love" because,

"Love is a lie, love does nothing but brings misery upon yourself and others," the voice had told him

and for a very long time, Hary had believed it, 

 he had stayed all and away from anyone and everyone,  he had shunned the company of other people and he had lived in solitude.

he had done so for years until the day he met Hella, the Shepard's daughter, who had knocked him out cold when he had tried to steal her sheep.

He remembered, how he had fallen into the pitfall trap.

How he was captured and dragged along by the strong woman, only for her to end up nursing him back to health.

Hary was smitten by the woman, and from that day he stooped listening to the voice, he had built an honest life for himself.

he was a farmer and a poor one at that,

that was true, but Harry enjoyed living his life, working hard and doing his best every day to give him and his family a decent meal.

Hary had grown up and married well.

But now he was paying the price for not listening, when the voice had shown him what will happen all those years ago, he had huffed and recused to believe the voice.

And today that vision had become reality, 

"Now will you listen to me?" the voice asked 

"Yes," Hary said in a whisper 

"Good, now let us leave" 

"No"

"No?"

"No" 

"why?" 

"I can't leave until I burry my family and kill all those who had a hand in their death" 

"Vengeance then" 

"Vengeance" Hary said with firm determination 

"Then hurry we will need powerful weapons if we wang to destroy the nobles of Varnis"

* * * 

Rebecca, quietly looked at her younger brother who was smiling at her like an idiot.

they just formed the perfect plan by watching the street urchins.

the urchin children had been robbing the farmers of their harvest money for the past three weeks.

Rebecca had watched them carefully,  and she noticed what they were doing.

When they had to kill a grown man, the children worked in pairs.

 The Bait, usually a girl, would lure the target in by faking some sort of crisis and begging for help.

 When the target isolated himself, the Knife would somehow find its way Into the target's neck and then the children would strip the man whilst the grown-ups would rob the man's cart.

and so Rebecca and her younger brother had agreed on the same tactics, 

By mutual agreement, Rebecca was decided as to the Bait. 

She had long, curly hair and big eyes that looked like she was always ready to cry. Sometimes adults would stop her on the street and ask her what was wrong, even when she wasn’t trying to lure anybody.

and James was the knife, especially since James could use magic.

it was not something Rebecca wanted to do but, the siblings hadn't eaten anything for two days now and they needed to eat.

Rebecca had come to Varnis with her father and brother because her father had promised her that he found a stable job that would not require for them to travel anymore.

but just in the second of their arrival, their good fortunes had turned, her father trying to sell his armour to a smith when a pompous, overweight man marched in and demanded that her father hand over all his equipment, when he had refused the ominous man attacked her father without any warning.

she remembered watching her father fall to the floor.

She remembered screaming.

She remembered standing next to her brother who had been terrified but, had been too afraid to do anything to save his father.

she remembered seeing that awful man dragging her father's limp body towards a cart and she remembered crying and screaming and shouting at him.

she remembered the mockery of a trial where they proved her father had attacked the noble pompous man.

and now they had been left with nothing.

so, even if Rebecca hated her life now she had no choice, she needed to survive.

 So, The two of them dressed poorly, but not too poor. They couldn’t look like homeless beggars, or the target would never stop.

Rebecca had used one of their old faded clothes for this, they had been lucky, they had found an abounded alleyway where they were able to live without anyone knowing.

even they were poor they still had a lot of possession left to them by their father.

Rebecca wore a faded yellow, dress and faint pink region and some leather boots and an old dirty pants shirt for James.

it had taken them a long time to smooth out the process, they had first practices in some harmless men and women who would come help them and leave, and now they thought themselves read 

Rebecca hated waiting; the long, boring stretch of hours between the time you set up your ambush and the time the target wandered through.

Rebecca hated being hungry.

and she hated the heat, especially during this time of year, which made the summer hot and dry.

She hated having no money in her pocket or in her purse.

but James loved it according to him This was his favourite part.

As James  sat on one side of the street with his chin in his hands, waiting for the target to pass by, 

Rebecca leaned against the wall of an alley, eating chunks of meat from a stolen skewer. 

The noise of the busy port city blurred into a soothing lullaby, and she found herself drifting off as she watched the people pass her alleyway: a tourist couple carrying their luggage; a shirtless half-orc carrying a  small backpack on his shoulders, and another halfling man who carried a large bag on his head; a balding middle-aged man, with a long beard and black robes on, walked alongside a group of teenage boys, all laughing and joking together. 

The whole scene reminded her of how peaceful things were here in Varnis.

and finally, she found her target a fat man,  who was munching on a  loaf of bread, which he kept crunched up between his teeth.

he was dressed richly enough that he would have coin but not richly enough to have magic.

James stood up and walked to meet him.

"Hmm," the fat man said before taking another mouthful of bread "what do we have here? kids running amok eh? Do you want money? I'II give you money, kid, but not more than you can carry," he said, holding out a hand to James who reached forward and placed a few coins in his palm.

"What are these?" James asked "silver? he asked in shock.

Rebecca too was shocked what rotten luck, the first man they targeted was nice.

This was a nice man, they could kill a nice man,  they could not rob him and they could take his food away from him.

"Yes yes! silver and gold!" the fat man said enthusiastically 

"they're real, they've been minted lately. Now, do you want money or not?" he said again

"what do I have to do?" James asked warily his plan already forgotten.

"Nothing, the kid I just found out today that  I am going to be a father in nine months, can you believe it eh me a father?" the fat man then began to laugh at his own home, as began to walk away from the bewildered coins James, who stood there clutching the handful of coins.

after the man was gone James walked into the alley where Rebecca was still hunched overlooking in shock 

James had a bright smile on his face as he presented the money, it was a small fortune by any standard, a gold coin and 13 silver and 6 bronze.

they would survive a year on this if they were careful.

Rebecca grabbed her brother and together they ran toward their secret home.