A storm had rolled in from the east, bringing with it the frigid rains of an Akwinduu winter. Overnight the land had changed from rolling green to frost-tinted grey, and even the sun seemed to shine a little weaker that dawn. I knew I would have to hurry if I was to catch the first train out of town, and yet something held me back. Be it the strange hand of fate or merely happenstance, I would never see that train, and my cousins in Masaya would be waiting a rather long time indeed for their darling Clarus to arrive. It began with a peculiar letter left on my doorstep. I nearly missed it in my hurry out the door, knocking my hat askew as I tugged a thick woolen scarf over my head. It was only the slight glint of red in my peripheral that made me pause, then bend down to scoop the paper up. Bells tolled across the square, calling me towards the station, but my feet remained firmly planted on the ramshackle tiles of my city apartment...

"Put it down," I demanded, though my trembling voice belied my trepidation. Jayme quirked a brow, giving me a long once-over. I could tell what he was thinking by the way he smirked, leaning back against the wall with my diary held firmly in his calloused hands. "It's my duty as a Knight of the Crown to ensure you're on your best behavior," he admonished, idly flipping through the pages. His gaze, however, did not fall down to the words. There was something oddly reverent about how he treated the paper that bore witness to all the trials I had endured since I stumbled my way into the past. "How do I know you aren't a spy from Dari? Your dress, your manner of speech, your strange behaviors. You're hiding something, Clarus, and I intend to discover it. Whatever it takes." His heated gaze pierced mine, and I felt myself frozen to the spot, unable to muster the words to defend myself.

Sweat trickled down Jayme's brow as he looked up at me through his shaggy hair. I wasn't used to seeing the flaxen locks so lank, almost black with the soot and blood that covered every inch of his body. He strained slightly against the shackles binding him to the dungeon wall as I knelt down to press a wet cloth to his cheek, desperate to turn into the touch. "I'm sorry it took me so long," I murmured as I wiped the muck away. Jayme let out a low laugh that rumbled through my arms and up into my own heart. Before I could realize what was happening, he was pushing me away. "You can't be here. The Duke will have your head too if you stay." I scoffed and produced a worn brass key from my pocket. As it caught the light from the torches, I saw that selfsame light return as a glint in Jayme's eyes. "I'm not here just to visit," I told him.