Harvest from the fields surrounding the city has long been removed, and hay has been collected in haystacks and most of them have been transported to barns. Only natthe gala was still in place, and in the light of the moon looked like creepy dead, crucified on crosses. They, according to tradition, will be removed after the end of Samhain.

Eric walked in silence, looking intently in front of him. Alina walked alongside, still not deciding whether to try to convince her cousin to return to the city, or to agree with his decision.

They passed the field and entered the forest. The leaves rustled under their feet with each step, as if whispering. Eric stopped:

- Well, ready to go home?

Alina shook her head:

- I do not want...

- Why?

- You will again go to meet the adventures, and I will chuck with boring servants with whom there is nothing even to talk about ...

- How are your favorite hobbies?

“It's a hobby,” the girl remarked darkly.

- And I would give everything, just to spend the whole day at home, Alina.

- But you always looked forward to travel ...

Eric sighed.

“Do you know that time flows differently in the gardens of Iria than here?” - he carefully looked into her eyes. Alina nodded. “Father and I spent more than fifteen years there ... He taught me everything possible.” And during the absence I rethought a lot ... Including us.

The girl's heart sank. She understood where Eric was heading.

- How do you see us in five years? - he continued. - We will not be able to get married, we will not be able to give birth to an heir ... We have no future. For several years I have been looking for the source of Predictions in Iria, only to get an obvious answer ...

Alina, surprisingly, held on steadfastly. Only her eyes were cold, and her lips were curled into a thin strip. Eric calmly continued:

“You yourself understand this ... I have not been that arrogant juvenile goat for a long time, who didn't give a damn about everything except to satisfy my own lust, even with your price ...”

Alina felt the blood drained from her face. He voiced her deepest doubts and fears.

“But if you realized this, why are we this morning ... And then in the city ... Why did you spread all this hypocritical romance with public kisses?”

Eric shook his head.

- I don't know ... I didn't want that ...

“You're lying!” Alinin protested the mind.

“Is it because we are relatives? ...” she said out loud, desperately searching for something to cling to to keep his positive image.

“Even if we weren't ... you would still be better off without me ...”

Alina took a step back, not wanting to believe in what was happening. But the truth gave her one by one heavy slaps.

- How will I be now? ... What will happen now on my first wedding night ... What a fool I am!

In an instant, the man she loved suddenly became hated by her to disgust. Without waiting for an answer from him, the girl turned around and walked away into the depths of the forest, so as not to stand next to him.

- Alina, wait! - She heard behind her back, but it only added to her desire to go faster. She knew that he was following her, but the last thing she wanted was to see him. She wanted more than ever to move the power of thought somewhere away from here, so that he lost sight of her, but she did not possess this art.

How stupid it was to ignore the voice of reason, to succumb to minute weakness, and give that shit what she had to take care of for her husband!

A hand grabbed her shoulder and after a moment he violently turned her around.

- Let go, - Alina raised her voice, trying to push him away from me. Eric immediately removed his hand and took a step back. The girl was breathing heavily, looking down. No, it could not be Eric. It should not be ...

She closed her eyes, realizing that she needed to calm down.

“How could I not have seen your essence before,” she said coldly, lifting her chin upward. - Noble by origin Sir Erik of the White Dragons ... The future head of the clan ...Just what a father will do if he finds out that his nephew is noble only by descent ...

Eric shook his head.

“It took me eight years to earn his trust and respect back ... And if the whole truth had not been revealed in Iria, my nose would have broken and I wouldn’t have enough teeth.”

“So dad knows,” Alina whispered hopelessly. All the anger was replaced by shame. - How will I look into his eyes now? ..

“He is not angry at you,” Erik replied wearily. “You're just a silly, naive girl, with whose gullibility I so rudely used many years ago ...”

The girl was silent. Anger and hostility were gone, and she began to vaguely understand that Eric acted wisely, breaking off the relationship.

“It’s hard for you to understand, since you are still a child,” he continued. “But it’s better that in a few years you yourself will understand everything and hate me ...”

“Yes, of course,” she said almost on the machine. I wanted to say so much more. Her heart was broken. - I regret that I trusted you ... And I have a question: what should I do now?

“Father will perform a cleansing rite, and you will marry hiding that you had a man,” Eric shook his head guiltily. “I had no idea then what I was doing ... Forgive me.”

“I need time to be able to forgive you,” Alina said sternly, desperately wanting to close this topic. - Now I care more that you seem to have already gotten along with me?

- No, but once you have to choose a husband, Eric calmed her down. “You know that one day the time will come ...”

Alina did not answer. Of course she knew. As well as she knew that one day all the same they would have to part. She just had no idea how this would all happen, and what would happen so soon, and what would cause so many unpleasant emotions.

- Did you love me at all? ..

“Of course,” Eric wanted to take a step towards her, but the girl shook her head eloquently. “I always loved you like a sister.”

Alina had a million questions, the answers to which she wanted to know, but suddenly the couple heard a female cry, not very far from them, and nasty voices, slightly similar to human.

Eric immediately grabbed his sword:

- Alina, - he said quietly. - Hide yourself.

The girl nodded shortly and ran to the evergreen shrub nearby.

Eric used the Night Vision spell. His pupils began to shine with a faint red light, after which he lifted his head up, looking out for owls or squirrel branches. Fortunately, his search was quickly crowned with success, and, meeting his owl, he enchanted her mind, and connected with his own.

Spread its wings, the owl gently pushed away from the branch, and, maneuvering between the trees, she flew out to the edge of the forest and made a circle over a tethered hand to the tree with a naked blonde woman surrounded by a dozen or so long-armed humanoid creatures with wide powerful jaws, flat noses and closely planted eyes, whose heads were covered with helmets, had shoulder pads on their bare shoulders, and iron shields on their pants.

The largest of them beat the girl with a whip, sometimes so hard that the skin on her body burst, and her cries, mixed with crying, came to Eric's ears.

The owl flew back into the forest. With her eyes, Eric saw herself, and then a bush, behind which Alina sat, with her hand pressed to her mouth. The owl flew farther, to the road, and a little towards the city. There was no one.

Erik closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, dividing his consciousness, after which he quickly approached Alina:

- Running into the city for the guards. Orcs torture the girl.

Alina nodded.

- I will be here. If you see one of them, run away and hide. And if necessary, do not be afraid to use attacking spells. After all, you constantly incinerate logs with fireballs and gut game telekinesis.

- Well ... I'll do the best I can, - the girl turned pale with fear.

“Kill them if necessary,” Eric handed her the dagger. - If you are not them, then they are you ... Take care of yourself.

“But ... how are you unarmed?”

- I have a sword ...