[Maaike]

Maaike and Aiden had barely walked in the door when Graeme greeted her with a fretful frown and a letter. When she tried to dismiss it as something she would look at later (any urgent business he could take of himself, damn him), the human shoved the envelope right in her face so she could see that it was already opened — and stamped with the official insignia of Alexshire's Red Wardens.

She stared at it dumbfounded for a heartbeat, two. She had been away for so long, had been through so much, that being back in Elysia at all felt completely surreal. Physically exhausted and emotionally drained, terrified she was in no way cured after all, she wanted to just curl up and sleep for a week. The one good thing to come out of it all was that she could now say with conviction that Aiden Roy was a man she could trust.

“There's, ah. One for Mister Roy, too.”

That settled it. Despite all her caution and two months away from any known civilisation, someone had discovered her home base and spilled the beans to those delightful morons they called justice. And they had to know that this was home and not just a stop-off. She hadn't been back at Greenview long enough for anyone to find her. Though, if that damned League banana-chips-for-brains hadn't held her back to be sure she wasn't going to burst apart at the seams, they would have been in Espur two days ago. Everyone else got to go home, but her? She should have kept her mouth shut about the Red Mist, damn it.

“Are you sure no one's...” She arched her eyebrows rather than ask him outright if he or the staff had been blabbing, had any strange visitors, seen anything odd. Graeme blanched, and that was enough for her. “Sorry, Gray.” She patted his arm and rubbed the bridge of her nose with a weary fingertip, then skimmed through the crap — signed by Alain Moreaux. Well, that figured. This legalese was right up his alley. He'd made no bones about his job, so she'd been extremely careful around him. She hadn't given him her full name, and pinched Aiden's arm when he started to introduce himself. She'd hoped that, away from everything they knew, he would either fail to recognise her description or let it go, but apparently the first thing he'd done when he got home was to plot her capture.

At least now she knew how her location was discovered. That vlareon was a mind-reader.

“Well, I don't know about you, Sweet Cheeks.” She glanced up at her constant companion for the last two months. Oddly, while they were in that Xanth-forsaken place, she hadn't the energy to miss their banter, but now she was home it all came flooding back. “But I don't plan on being thrown in jail any time soon.”

[Aiden]

Having returned from the Helhole that was Acantha, Aiden wanted nothing more than to take his leopard form and run through the woods of Espur (after a sleeping marathon, of course). Already, the therian was lifting his head toward his surroundings to drink in the sights of endless green, and inhale the faint fagrance of trees and dirt. Greenview wasn't his home, but it was the closest thing to it now.

For the first time in months, he finally felt peaceful and safe as he and Maaike stepped past the thick wooden doors of the mansion. Greeting Graeme with a warm grin, Aiden lingered near the door to set down his and Maaike's belongings. He didn't bother carrying the bags to the rooms. Everything needed to be cleaned now that months of Acanthan dirt had accumulated on it, and the old clothes would be burned in case they still carried remnants of the Red Mist. Danae promised that they wouldn't have any trace of the Red Mist upon their return, but Aiden was wary.

When Graeme mentioned his name, Aiden glanced toward the letter. The Red Warden's mark was immediately recognizable and his eyes widened as he skimmed and re-read the summons. “I don't want to be jailed either, but this letter is from Alain...” Magistrate Moreaux. He'd tried to be careful around that one during their trip, and especially during their conversations. The truth had inevitably come out, but was that necessarily a bad thing? “We traveled together—fought alongside each other. That has to mean something right? He'll give us a fair trial and clear our names...”

The hope was evident in Aiden's voice as he looked at Maaike, but already his eyes were clouded by doubt. There were many things that Aiden and Maaike could say about Thanatos. However, Aiden had observed enough court proceedings to know that their evidence would not be enough for the court.

“Nevermind.” Lowering the letter to his side, Aiden tiredly ran a hand through his hair. Everything in his training told him to obey the summons, but then he'd be useless in jail. “Dammit, what is Alain thinking?”

[Maaike]

Maaike merely raised an eyebrow at his still-naive thinking. She had married a man and still found him untrustworthy; two months in an alien land would mean diddly squat to a lot of folk. The fact that it meant something to Aiden only proved, yet again, that he deserved better than she could give him.

Patting his arm, Maaike let her hand linger. “Well, even giving him the benefit of the doubt... It is possible he's trying to give us an out.” She rather doubted it, personally, but the dashed hope on Aiden's face was a killer. She rubbed a thumb over an eyebrow. “It's not going to work, though. We just don't have the kind of goods on Thanatos that will get us off those posters, let alone get him unseated from the Council. And with that kind of power in his pocket...”

If her experience with Aiden had taught her anything, it was that corruption was invisible to the people that mattered until there was enough evidence to shove right under their noses. Those who were merely blind to it were problematic enough, but it was difficult to separate them from the bad eggs themselves. And if any one of them were secretly working for him, any evidence she and Aiden did bring to the table could mysteriously "disappear". She was weary deep in her bones after their little trip; she could afford a little patience.

“Listen. You can go if you want.” She wouldn't stop him, but she wouldn't join him either. She'd probably follow him from the rooftops to at least try to get him out of trouble if he was ambushed, but he didn't need to know she'd be tailing him. He could too easily give her away at a critical moment with a wayward glance. “Or we can lay low for a while, regroup, recover. We can't stay here, regardless. I have a... I have a place, somewhere safe—”

Graeme gasped. “Maaike, no. Are you sure?”

She shook her head at him, glanced at a spot on the floor to reconsider, then fixed Aiden with a frank stare. “It's in the forest, a few days hard slog from the portal. Graeme will cover our tracks here.” If he couldn't visibly sever ties with her altogether, the human had instructions to sell up and move out. Once it was safe, assuming he even wanted to a third time, he could use the proceeds to set up a new business in a new town off the radar.

“We can put out feelers in a couple of weeks, poke around a bit quietly while Thanatos and his guys are looking the other way.” It was a sound enough plan, one she had considered right from the start "just in case", but there was a huge, gaping problem attached: Hiding out on Sullivan turf meant introducing Sweet Cheeks to her folks — and letting him find out about her son.

[Aiden]

He really wanted to believe that Alain had done this to help them, and that the magistrate would clear the bounties. But even if Alain had the best intentions, there was still plenty of danger from the rest of Alexandria. The vanguard, Renna's lackeys, and even the Guard. Aiden knew first hand that if any criminal showed their face at the portal or gates of Alexandria, they'd be swiftly and forcibly apprehended—court summons or not. And Maaike was right about their evidence against Thanatos. Nothing would be good enough for the court.

“We'll look even guiltier if we don't show up. Not to mention the doubled bounty.” Eyebrows furrowing, he muttered, “We'd be worth more than Izekim, or the entire crew of The Typhoon. Lumping us with the murderers...waste of the city's money.”

“Listen. You can go if you want.” As Maaike shared their second option, Aiden noticed that Graeme became greatly concerned. The human at their side was anxiously clasping and unclasping his hands, and even Maaike seemed uncertain as she glanced toward the ground before meeting Aiden's eyes. Watching Maaike closely, Aiden saw genuine worry as she spoke of the place in the forests, and he wondered what could possibly cause this kind of concern. They wouldn't be like this if this 'safe place' was just a random shack in the woods. Something else was there. Other colleagues like Graeme? Maybe they weren't sure if the colleagues would be willing to help.

Crossing his arms, Aiden nodded once. “You're right, the Alexandrian Court is too tough to deal with. And we'd hide better in the forests than anywhere else. But...” He glanced from Maaike to Graeme, “Is there something I should be warned about?” Like, it's in the Chandrics. Or the safe place was with a bounty hunter...

[Maaike]

Maaike's lips twitched into a smile she tried to hide. Aiden was kind of cute when he was being serious. She'd noticed it in Acantha, but it was kind of dampened by the constant worry and hyper-alertness there. Here, in a far more casual setting, it made her want to smoosh his cheeks and baby-talk him to death.

It also eased her worries a little, for some reason - not enough to stop her fretting altogether, of course. Introducing him to her son would grant him access to a part of her life she hadn't shared with anyone new since Ashton first began to cut her off from the outside world. Even before then, her married life and her old clan life had been completely separate. One of the reasons Niamh was so fond of Sammy now was because she had seen him only once in the years before Ashton's death.

“Don't worry, Sweet Cheeks. There's no more danger where we're going than on any other clan's territory.” No more danger to him, at least. Another issue with bringing him to the Sullivans was their reaction. Knowing Maaike's distrust in all things sentient, her mother would eye Aiden with a curiosity reserved for potential mates for her daughter. Maaike wasn't even sure how her father would react, but it probably wasn't going to be pretty.

“Pack us some things, please, Graeme. I'll be taking Cailean and Magda.” The human nodded, but his eyes were still wide and he was still wringing his hands. He seemed mildly shocked that she was willing to do this for Aiden, but that was partly Maaike's fault. She had mentioned having a contact in the guard, but hadn't really gone into detail for both their sakes. To Graeme, Aiden was little more than a stranger and a potential traitor.

“Maaike, are you... really sure about this?”

With a gentle smile, Maaike placed her arm on the steward's shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I'm sure.” To Aiden, she winked. “I'll saddle Cailean and bring him up to the house. You can ride him since you're so delicate right now.” Her smile turned wicked. As far as the guard knew, Cailean was a landstrider. It would be fun to see him on Cailean's back since the azani didn't take kindly to strangers. It would speed up their journey, though; the worst of Aiden's injuries were gone, but the trip to Greenview had probably worn him out so trekking through the forest wouldn't be the best thing for him.

[Aiden]

“Delicate!?” he spluttered, all seriousness discarded and replaced by humorous indignation. “Just for that, I may just race you to the portals,” nevermind his scratched-up leg—their last trip at the Ohani city had been a real struggle. As Maaike slipped out the door, Aiden grinned toward Graeme. “At least I know for sure now that the Red Mist's gone from her.”

As Graeme strode toward the pantry to pack some food, Aiden ran up the grand staircase to retrieve his clothes from the guest room. Acantha's red dirt and red mist pretty much ruined everything he'd worn in the other realm. It was the same for Maaike too. Aiden hadn't missed the hint that she'd dropped about the clan, and he grew wary at just the thought of walking into some other clan's territory. But if Maaike said the place was safe, then he'd believe it. It wasn't like they had many other options, anyway. He had siblings in Espur, Nubia, and Oertha, but all were too easily linked to him. Everyone talked about their families in the Guard, and Aiden could never have imagined back then that it would become a problem.

A realization formed like a sunstone flickering to life. As Aiden walked out of the guest room and down the stairs, he met Graeme as the older human packed fruit into some bags near the manor's entrance. “The clan that Maaike spoke about. It's her family, isn't it?” No other clan would be safe enough. But there were other vulnerabilities.

“It's her decision,” said Graeme in a tone suggesting that he'd read Aiden's mind or was thinking the same thing.

Outdoors, a loud roar sounded alongside the lengthy screech of a falcon.
Dropping the clothes over his backpack, Aiden careened past the heavy front doors and burst outside.

((Continued at Gotcha!))