His desire to be attacked caught Neta off guard, but she shook her head and forced herself to focus. I really don't want to hurt Parker, but if he's so sure, then... then I can't disappoint him!
That's what she thought, but she was visibly distressed when she ran at him with her eyes closed like a sleeping child wincing from a nightmare. Everything about the way Neta came at him screamed "Please dodge, please dodge...!"
Maybe she wasn't ready to do this, because she was off to a terrible start. But when she again opened her eyes and looked into Parker's, the young woman was reassured. There was no more time to hesitate, because they were sparring now. It had become a fast-paced trading of blows, and before Neta could even try to soften hers and ask forgiveness for what she was doing, the blade spoke for her and answered the street boy's. Her instincts took over, and she was soon trying her best to parry his sword with her machete.
Neta lost track of time in the heat of the moment, for the changing colors of the sky were obscured by the changing emotions that colored her face: apprehension, then determination, then enjoyment. She was surprised to find herself having fun sparring with Parker, when she had thought herself incompatible with any blade.
Parker and Neta had eaten together, and the innkeeper teased that this was a date. Was this what people did on dates? Lock blades instead of arms? Neta knew nothing about them, because she had never been close with any man. But something about this swordplay made it fun for her, made the exercise more than physical. She was happy, and she couldn't figure out exactly why. The breaks that they took every now and then seemed to fly by, but it was the rush she felt when they resumed practice that lingered inside her.
Neta had been sparring in a light blue dress, but she was a lot more comfortable now. A little too comfortable, in fact. She'd been having all these pleasant thoughts and staring into space, so she had let her guard down. When Parker's sword next moved in and clashed with hers, her grip and stance were so poor that she lost her balance and fell backwards onto the ground.
She closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall, but when she opened them again, she instantly froze. Parker was right on top of her, his face only a few inches away from hers. Neta did not know what to do, but her cheeks had turned a bright red.
~~~
All preparations were complete. It was night now, and the children were hiding in every corner, in every dark alleyway, and on every rooftop by the inn. The place was packed, but hopefully these people weren't so drunk that they would ignore an order from a government official.
"EVERYONE, LISTEN TO ME NOW! I WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND I DECLARE THAT THIS INN IS CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT, SO YOU'LL DO AS I SAY AND LEAVE!" Claro boomed across the tavern, using his powers enough to project his voice but not enough for people to suspect that he was an Aberrant.
The sober patrons quickly shuffled out of the building, while the drunks lumbered. Claro was tall, muscular, and loud, too imposing a man for any common folk to cross. But the innkeeper had words for him.
"And just what are you doing shutting down my business during its peak hours?" Anka questioned the knight.
"I know that you're keeping Neta Briarwood here. Turn her over to me now. I serve the kingdom, and you won't defy me," Claro commanded.
"If my Neta is in some kind of trouble, or if there's some debt she has to pay, I will gladly take care of it, and you won't bother her," the innkeeper responded unwaveringly.
"You are not listening, woman. This doesn't concern you. Neta is wanted by the government, and you will cooperate with me and tell me where she is!" the Blood Knight asserted.
"You lie! Neta is a sweet girl, and she's no criminal!" Anka yelled back, brandishing a ladle at Claro. "Now you leave at once, because she isn't here! If you must know, she left here hours ago with a boy..."
For a brief moment whose passing was barely noticeable, there was a flash of anger on the Blood Knight's face. He wanted to strangle the woman for the way she spoke to him, but he composed himself. "Very well, then. I'll take my leave now. Goodnight."
Claro turned his back to the innkeeper and smirked as he walked to the door with the heavy steps of a man lofty in both height and status. The look on his face melted, however, into a unimpressed frown when he passed a woman who had drunk herself out of consciousness. Even the rowdiest patrons had cleared the inn, but she alone remained. And Claro knew exactly who this hopeless fellow Blood Knight was.
"Well, Urias. I give the other Blood Knights shit for chasing common Aberrants, but you can't even do that right. You'd rather get wasted at an inn that I'm about to burn down," he said, his voice already lowered in disappointment. "I suggest you leave. I'm not about to drag you out."
~~~
Neta hadn't realized how dark it had gotten when she and Parker finished sparring. But she'd barely been able to express the thought, because she was still awkward and blushing from before. She was more surprised and confused than uncomfortable. Still, Neta knew she couldn't remain silent, because she had to thank Parker properly for everything he'd done.
"H-hey, um, thanks. Really, thank you. For practicing with me so late. I-I think I learned a lot, b-but I'm confused about other things now... Still, I had fun- No, I learned a lot. And I had fun. Both of those." Neta was more flustered than usual. "Hey, Parker... we could always... we could always... maybe we could-"
She couldn't finish her sentence. No, it wasn't because the awkwardness of the situation had overwhelmed her. It was because she'd stopped in front of the inn, which was now burning to the ground. Horrified, Neta clasped her hand to her mouth, and her lip began to tremble. She was choked up again, and the next few words that she barely managed to speak trickled out of her mouth irregularly like hopelessly tiny drops of water that would do nothing to quench the flames. "Wh...what...what is going on? The inn, it's- it's on fire, but why... why would anyone-"
In an instant, the feelings of fun and enjoyment that Neta had experienced with Parker were being consumed by the flames, along with her home of fourteen years where all her memories were made. And Anka! Was she still in there?! Was she safe?! Was the one woman she had for a family safe?!
All Neta felt now was emotional pain. And poised on the roof of the opposite building was a tall knight with flowing, dark purple hair, who released his bowstring and sent a flaming arrow sailing toward the young woman's lower back to express her pain physically.