The Bones that Make Us [Zera]

[attr="class","itsover"]
"Knútr, Knútr!", Amadeus yelled as he ran ahead of his sister.

"Ama, wait!", Lana said in between breaths as she chased her younger brother into the alleyway.

Gwrtheyrn was simply standing with his back leaning against the wall, looking at Beggar's Wail in order to simply pass some time. Once he heard the voice of the children he had sent off minutes before, he looked at them with a smile. Swipping his white wool shirt and black pants with both his hands as if cleaning the dust out of them, he stood straight and away from the wall, only to then face the siblings and crouch down to the height of the brown haired youngster who was now right in front of him.

"Knútr, wass tuss drur", the kid said with a beaming smile, words that meant 'Knútr, we did it'.

He extended one of his gloved hands and, closing it into a fist, gave a gently tap into Amadeus' left shoulder... just like he was his older brother.

Or, better said, just like he was some type of paternal figure.

See? I knew I could believe you, he spoke softly, yet with assertiveness.

"Yeah, it was easy-peasy!", Lana said with enthusiasm as she herself approached the two males that were deeper into the alleyway, "The man saw nothing and the wallet is a really heavy one! I think it's..."

The girl words turned slower, lower and then completly ceased mid-sentence, just like her feet. The intense look that the young adult was giving in her direction, it wasn't... it wasn't something she had seen before from him.

"Gwrtheyrn...?"

Lana, grab your brother and stand behind me. Now.

His calm and tender tone was still there, but now with the commanding undertone of a leader.

The tone of a wolf protecting his pack.

The girl didn't question it and, with a fast step, did as ordered: she came near Gwrtheyrn and Amadeus, grabbed the hand of the latter and, taking just a few extra steps, placed herself and her younger brother behind the long-haired male, who was now standing tall and unmoved.

But why the sudden shift?

Following young children into a deserted alleyway doesn't give a good first impression, he spoke loud in his usual stoic voice, as if he was talking to someone else other than the kids behind him, I'm sure you mean no harm towards them, so can you please show yourself?

An Enforcer? Did they get caught? Shit, if he is so petty to the point of following them over such a small thing, then I might..., his mind raced as the possibilities emerged.

Be ready to run in case I tell you to do so, he said in a low, whispering voice only intended for the smaller ones to hear.

He felt Amadeus tiny hands grabbing his pants, his little fingers shaking... The poor of the Fishing Hamlet know from a young age what these encounters can mean.

Still with his back turned towards them, Gwrtheyrn moved his head a little to the side in order to gaze at the boy with the corner of his diamond eyes.

It's your time to believe in me. I'm counting on you, he finished with a smile the sentence spoken in the same low tone.

Shaking he was no more.

Then, moving his head to face the entrace of the alleyway once again, Gwrtheyrn announced at the giant shadow that had caught his attention, the shadow that had been there lurking ever since the arrival of Amadeus and Lana. The shadow that caused the situation to change.

I cannot lose their trust. And I don't want to see them get hu-, his thought stopped by the words that came out of his own lips.

I assure you that whatever your motive might have been we'll be able to talk it out.

It was up for the shadow to show it's owner.

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