"An accountant?" Dan nodded, maintaining a straight face, although he felt increasingly uneasy. Internally, he questioned why she looked at him with such a bewildered expression.

           "Are you a criminal? Fraudster? Running from creditors?"

           "No!" He bellowed with honest outrage. "I'm not such a person!"

           "Then care to explain why, for God's sake, do you want to go with me?"

           They sat on a roof over one of the side streets, hidden from everyone below. Yew had dragged them there without much issue, but this was where she needed to stop. The city center was surrounded by a ring of poorer houses, lower and constructed in a way that jumping from one roof to another didn't guarantee a safe passage.

            "What keeps me here? Some people have seen me with you, and they will assume I helped you after what you did to that boy. Only one punishment for me if the Governor has anything to say."

           "And why should I take you with me?"

           Dan smirked and presented a simple plan on how they could leave the city.

           "Alright, let's try." Yew sighed, and they started moving.

           Thanks to his familiarity with the local geography and typical patrol routes, they avoided pursuit. They even stopped at Dan's room, giving him a chance to pack a change of clothes and collect his meager savings. Yew didn't comment on his poverty, but her face spoke plenty. She was probably reconsidering the decision about accepting his company.

            Dan led towards the place where the city walls were the lowest. Yew performed another set of dance steps to leap through the obstacle, and they found themselves outside, undisturbed and unobstructed.

            Yew insisted on putting some distance between themselves and potential pursuers, so they spent the rest of the day walking alongside an imperial road, not daring to step a foot out of the surrounding shrubs. At night, they stopped at a clearing where Yew made a fire but offered no food because her bags were left in an inn half a day's walk from where they camped. She had a purse full of coins, but gold turned out to be rather useless in the wilderness.

            Everything was like in the poems Dan used to read in the temple school—danger, adventure, sitting by a fire with trusted companions. However, books did not mention the exhaustion, the burning pain of strained muscles unused to long walks. No poet had cared to speak a word about mosquitoes biting every uncovered piece of skin or about night chills seeping into Dan's bones. Yew didn't seem bothered, but she was a martial artist, and such inconveniences weren't a novelty for her.

            "Maybe I'm too old for traveling," thought Dan, trying to warm stiff hands over the fire. He couldn't feel his fingers.

            "What is your plan, Miss Yew?" He asked.

           She turned her eyes from the fire that she had been gazing at for a long time.

           "A plan?"

           "What are you going to do from now on? Where do we go?"

           She shrugged and resumed staring at the flames.

           Dan sighed, attempting to cover himself better with a blanket, but the fabric meant for a safe bed in the city didn't protect from the weather in the middle of the forest.

          "Won't you tell me why?"

          "Not much to tell," she understood what he was asking about. "Probably better if you don't know too much about me."

          "I know a few things already."

          "What exactly?" Dan feared answering incorrectly, lest he lost a chance to learn anything about his companion. He needed to take risks.

          "For instance, the man you killed was acquainted with you, and you had a motive for that. I'm aware of your familiarity with the code of honor, yet, for some reason, you didn't hesitate to exploit it for your own objectives."

          The way he formulated his speech bordered on insult, but he managed to attract Yew's attention.

          "I knew him, yes. We had an old score to settle."

          "What happened?"

          "He married my sister." The woman sighed. "And killed her."

          "What?" Dan's eyes widened. Out of all possible explanations, this was beyond his wildest imaginations.

          "It was an arranged marriage. I may not look like a noble, but I was born a lady. You know, highborns sometimes arrange their children's marriages before the said children are five."

          "I know."

          "I was supposed to marry the guy, but I heard some concerning rumors, so I refused. When my father tried to force the issue, I left the family." She spun one of her braids around a finger. "My younger sister took my place. To save honor."

          Dan had so many questions but didn't want to interrupt. He wouldn't risk her closing up and refusing to continue.

          "I joined the army. They accepted me into the communication corps for delivering messages. I had learned the Art of Light Steps before. For dancing." She smiled fondly at her own memory. "Light Steps is a subdivision of the Art of Swiftness, which every army always needs, so they took me without much issue. Someone there realized I was better at scouting and fighting than many trained martial artists and let me join a regular squadron."

          "I didn't keep in touch with relatives, but the news about my sister getting married off to... that man, reached me anyway." In the dim light of the fire, her face looked dark. "She was fourteen."

          "Fourteen years old?" Dan exclaimed, unable to subdue his outrage. "That's two years earlier than the minimum age by the imperial law!"

           "Both families came to an agreement. Who was supposed to report it? All who knew chose silence, and what problem is it for the governor to change a birth date in an archive? I was in Trakos, far away, even if I had tried to stop them, I would've been too late."

          "And where did they find a priest to make the vows official? Temples don't condone child marriages either?" Dan wondered aloud. He remembered clearly the lessons in the orphanage and was sure none of the priests he had ever encountered would've dared to break sacred regulations!

          "It doesn't matter." Yew shrugged. "They got married. But half a year later, my father got himself caught by an imperial prefect for corruption. The whole family got sentenced to death for men and slavery for women and children. The governor cut ties as soon as my family lost power and turned a blind eye when his son tortured my sister to death." She quieted. The next sentence was but a barely audible whisper. "They didn't even give her a proper burial."

          A gaping silence prolonged, disturbed only by the muted sounds of nature, animals sneaking in the dark, creaking wood. Yew pulled on her braids absentmindedly, engrossed in memories.

          After a long time spent staring into flames, Dan asked.

          "Can you tell me what happened next?"

          The woman shook off the melancholy.

         "By that time, I was at the frontier border, just joined the squadron of Hawks and swore a blood oath. When I learned about the whole thing, I asked permission to take a leave from the army to deal with personal matters. General Mericas didn't let me leave since we were in the middle of a war, but he promised assistance in getting justice for my sister after the fighting would cease. So I stayed."

           "And what?"

          "And the prefecture did nothing when I finally reported the case."

         "And the general didn't vouch for you?" Dan exclaimed, genuinely surprised.

         A local governor wasn't an equal opponent for a general, and no imperial bureau would dare to tread lightly with such a high-ranked presence watching their hands. Especially if Yew was connected with him by the blood oath, the lord would be obliged to defend her. Why would she resort to killing the man in the arena?

          "He died, alongside most of my squadron."

          Her eyes trended misty again. What she was telling sounded like a tale from far lands. Broken promises, revenge, family drama; there was everything to make it into a good ballad, similar to the ones he used to read. The books, however, spoke nothing about pictures of fallen comrades burned under survivors' eyelids that haunted their dreams.

         "You know the rest. I came here, made the conflict public, and killed him. Nothing to add."

          Dan listened, he spun the received information in his head, trying to make correct conclusions until he finally reduced the whole story to short:

         "You don't know what to do from now on, do you? You didn't plan that far forward."

         At the same time, a sketch of a new idea appeared in his head. It was rather obvious, the version of the story the woman presented was highly subjective. Dan would have noticed if the governor or his son were corrupt individuals; he had lived under their rule for years, after all. The new perspective was enlightening nevertheless.

         Yew said nothing. Though admittedly, a faint blush of embarrassment appeared on her cheeks.

         "You really didn't," Dan stated. "So, you plan to wait till the governor gets you and let him vent his anger on you?"

         "Let them catch me first."

         He shook his head, almost pitying her naivety. For the first time in their interaction, he felt superior. She might be able to jump on roofs and fight martial artists twice her size, but he had a plan! A vision! He clapped his hands and grinned.

         "Well, let's try to sleep. We're on the wrong road; we need to turn east. Better if we set off early."

         "Why? The eastern road leads to the Capital!"

         "Exactly! That's where we're going!"

         The look on his companion's face indicated that she took him for a rambling madman. To clear the misunderstanding, he spoke:

          "Listen." He was unable to stop excitement from seeping into his voice, "dying without a good reason is sheer stupidity. If you have to, try to die fighting for a just cause, or find a worthy master and die protecting them. Or try not to die."

         "The way you smile makes me anxious," she murmured, but the accountant didn't pay attention to her complaints.

         "What better place to do any of these things than the capital?" He clapped again, as if this statement explained everything.

         "I'm starting to regret that I took you in."

          Dan groaned but internally, he beamed.

         "Just think! What's in the capital?"

         "Everything?"

         "Well, yes," he agreed reluctantly, "I meant to ask what in the capital may help with your... our situation?"

         "I don't know. Central magistrate? Imperial prefecture? A bunch of snobbish nobles?"

         "His Majesty, The Emperor."

          This gave her a break.

          "You're completely insane! You can't tell me you want to present our case before the Emperor!"

         The man waved a hand dismissively, a satisfied smile widened on his lips. Enough banter. Time to deliver the idea.

         "Nah, not a chance. But from what I heard, His Majesty is allergic to corruption amongst his own officials. If we report all the abnormalities and abuses around your sister's marriage," He rose a palm and bent one finger starting a count, "and how the prefecture didn't investigate her death properly," the second finger, "how the governor refused to accept a legitimate result of the trial before the gods in the arena." The third finger. "Officials in the capital who are so close to His Majesty won't be able to ignore this level of corruption. There'll be no mercy. Heads will start rolling."

         He was so satisfied with the simple idea that he stopped feeling the cold. Visiting the grandest city in the world was always his dream. Now, he was about to make it real!

          Or we can find some powerful protectorate there, someone like your general Mericas." The accountant added the other option. "Or do you have a better idea?"

         Yew looked at him in bafflement. It was a miracle her braids stayed in place with how persistently she was tugging and pulling on them. In the end, she sighed exhaustedly.

         "Alright, let's sleep."

         "Let's sleep!" Repeated Dan. "The capital is waiting for us!"