Beyond The Veil,

The night passed quietly with Nephele thinking about her life and her current situation, and Lucy avoiding bringing up conversation. Her best and most dangerous trait was observing, and she regretted it when she realized she had been too quick to open herself up to a chance to friendship with Nephele. She didn't know her, so she decided to make it up to herself by observing Nephele.

She lay on the top bed and Nephele on the lower bunk. Nephele slept in her chemise, which gave Lucy a little bit of comfort. She had to admit that they had a lot in common, but she had only spent a day with her so only time would tell.

Nephele was drifting off to sleep after long hours of staring into the dark when she heard the sound of moving carriages and horses galloping. Her eyes snapped open and sleep eluded her as her ears perked up, alert. Was she not in the convent, where there was heavenly silence? Or was she starting to imagine things?

She sat up, listening more attentively and she was sure she wasn't imagining anything. There were several carriages moving on the other side of the wall. She threw away the covers and was surprised when she stood up to find sister Lucy kneeling on her bed, peering out the small window that was just above the upper bunk.

"What are you doing?"

Lucy turned around abruptly, startled by the sudden voice. She hadn't heard Nephele moving.

Her eyes darted around as her brain tried to come up with something to say.

Nephele raised a quizzical brow when Lucy didn't give an instant answer.

"N–nothing, I was just checking."

Nephele tilted her head to the side, regarding Lucy with a skeptical gaze. Moonlight was spilling in through the window, allowing her to take a proper look at sister Lucy. She had also taken off her habit, but that was the last thing she noticed. Her eyes stayed glued to Lucy's head. She had brown, shoulder length, wavy hair. 'it would look better if it were longer', Nephele thought.

Lucy almost squirmed on the spot when Nephele kept staring at her. She felt like she had been caught sneaking around.

Nephele suddenly climbed up on Lucy's bed and the latter frowned, confused.

"What? I want to see," Nephele said defensively, finding a comfortable spot next to Lucy.

Lucy just shrugged and resumed staring out the window. Nephele copied her action and their faces were pressed together, watching a group of men stepping down from carriages.

Lucy had a calm look on her face, but her eyes darted around, searching for a particular face. Meanwhile, Nephele's eyebrows kept on pulling together as she tried to understand what was happening below the window.

They both watched and listened as the men talked and laughed as they unloaded chests from the carriages. Each chest was carried by two men as they disappeared round a corner.

Am I really in a convent?

She turned to stare at Lucy and found her eyes focused. She followed her line of sight to a man standing beside the last carriage. He stood there and watched as the men worked. It was just one floor below so they could see clearly. The man seemed to be supervising. He stood tall, his hands crossed over his chest and a sword hanging on the right side of his waist. As if sensing their gazes, the man suddenly looked up and Lucy cursed as she ducked below the window.

Nephele turned to her, surprised, then looked back at the man who pinned her with a fierce glare. Nephele couldn't look away. Her brain was overworking itself, trying to understand and make sense of whatever was happening. Is this a realistic dream or are people smuggling things into the convent?

"Is he gone?" Lucy whispered the question and Nephele nodded at her, too stunned to speak.

Lucy peeked out the window again, and there was a single man standing there. The rest had disappeared.

"What the hell is going on?" Nephele finally asked.

Lucy looked at her, her eyes scanning Nephele's face in the pale moonlight. Her face showed unadulterated confusion and curiosity.

Should she just tell her?

"I'll tell you everything, but I need to hear your story first," she said after contemplating for a few seconds. She had spent her first years in the convent trying to make a friend, and she would be stupid to throw the chance away when it presented itself. She didn't particularly trust Nephele—since she didn't trust anyone—but her instincts told her that Nephele could be a great ally if she could make her see they had the same goal.

"Why?"

Lucy made sure to hold her gaze. "Because it's a lot and I need to know if I can trust you with all I know."

For the rest of the night, Nephele narrated her life story to Lucy—the summarized version, from her childhood to her current state.

She was born in Scarrow, but she didn't know her parents. She was raised by an old medicine-woman called Laurel, who had adopted her when she was two years old so that she could pass on her knowledge to her. Laurel had taught Nephele to make herbal medicinal portions as well as poison, and she later died when Nephele was seven. They were poor and lived in a single rental room, so after Laurel's death, Nephele faced eviction from their landlord.

With nowhere to go and no one to give her a job at seven, Nephele turned to the streets. The streets were for orphans and children whose parents were too busy drinking their lives away to care for or provide for them. Nephele wasn't a stranger to the street children since she'd played with them ever since she was young, thus it was easy for her to be accepted into the family.

The street children survived by stealing and begging, and Nephele soon found herself adapting to their lifestyle. She would play and stay with the children her age while the older ones went to get them food.

At some point, a boy Nephele had been friends with brought her to the market and explained their process of getting food.

"You have to be wise, Nephele. Just pick someone from the crowd and measure them," Jethro, a twelve years old said. Nephele looked up at him then looked back at the crowded market.

Jethro had a hint of a smile on his face, and it widened as his gaze locked onto his target. "Stay here and watch," he said to Nephele and disappeared.

Nephele followed Jethro with her eyes. She saw him approach a jewelry stall, he squeezed himself among the buyers, then used another route to get back to where she was standing.

Jethro smirked down at little Nephele as he dropped a silver bracelet on her hands.

Nephele's eyes sparkled with amazement. "How did you do that?"

Jethro puffed out his chest, proud to have impressed Nephele. "It's easy. How about you try it?"

And Nephele was too eager to be as amazing as Jethro, so she tried to pickpocket. She was caught in the act and had been scared when a burly man had held her up in the air calling her a thief. She had cried, and Jethro had come to her rescue, but the man she had tried to pickpocket had let them go.

They met the same man the next few days in the market. It always seemed like a coincidence to Nephele, but Jethro had always been defensive.

"Stay away from him, Nephele. We don't know what he wants," Jethro would warn sternly.

"But he's kind. He brings us food and clothes. He's a good man," Nephele would argue back and Jethro would frown in disapproval.

The man, Renny Golding, later visited where Nephele, Jethro and the other children lived. He had observed the children and wisely, or calculatively approached Jethro first.

"I know you're protective of your little sister, but I want to take her back to Meplphet with me. She can have a good life there," he had said to Jethro, and the boy had glared at him grudgingly.

It had taken three days for Renny to convince Jethro that he just wanted to give Nephele the life she deserved. He would adopt her and treat her like her own daughter. Jethro was the one to talk to Nephele. It had been hard for him, but he had also dreamed of giving Nephele a good life, but since he was still young and not capable enough, he would just give her to the man, just until he was rich enough to take care of her himself.

Nephele had refused, not wanting to be apart from Jethro. They were still young but had grown quite attached.

Jethro had to accompany Nephele to Meplphet, to confirm Renny's words, and he had been impressed by the big estate. He promised to come back for Nephele and the two had cried a lot before they parted, and that was how she'd been adopted into the Golding family. She never saw Jethro again.