“Question,” Hector said when he broke from his stupor. “Do you think if Mercy was here she would have-”

“Shut up, you horn dog,” Mallory said quickly.

Hector’s face turned beet red. “I wasn’t thinking about… I mean-”

He turned to Jon. “What do you think-”

“Don’t infect Jon with your dirty thoughts,” Mallory insisted. “Let’s go!’

Jon didn’t understand why Hector’s question was so bad. He wondered if Tallow would have kissed Mercy on the lips as well.

“We should head back,” Hector said, interrupting Jon’s thought process. Jon suddenly felt embarrassed.

Mallory looked at the King’s Guard. “You sure you don’t wanna stay here?”

“I’m sure,” Hector said, looking warily at the building. “I don’t want to stay here longer than I need to.”

“I guess I should think about packing anyway,’ Mallory commented.

Hector suddenly pulled his gaze away from the building and to Mallory.

“I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” Mallory said. “Let me just take care of stuff here first.”

Mallory briskly walked back inside the building.

Hector sighed. Jon followed him back to the wagon where they both sat in the front.

The last time Jon had sat in the front was with Sabez, when they were allowing the others to sleep in the back. Jon had wondered if he would ever get to sit in the front again. He admired the fact that now he had HEctor’s respect to be able to take the seat. Now, he was sad, because sitting here meant that there were less people to compete with.

Jon was only sitting here to keep Hector in good spirits, as even he could notice Hector’s dour mood. Pretty soon, it would just be him and Hector riding at the front of the carriage. And then Hector would get married, and so that would leave Jon by himself. Just him and the wagon. The image reminded him of being back on the farm, and he shivered at the thought. As soon as Mallory came back, he would move back to the end of the wagon and let Mallory take his place.

“Move over!” Mallory jumped inside the other side of the wagon.

Jon was confused. There wasn't any room for him to step out of the wagon.

“I.. can’t move,” Jon said.

“What do you mean?” Mallory asked. “You’re sitting in front with us!”

Hector glared in concern. “Are you sure? Will there be enough room for-”

“We’ll squeeze!” Mallory exclaimed.

Jon looked at Hector, making sure he would be okay with the invasion of personal space.

“If… that’s what Mallory wants…” Hector said.

Jon took a breath and moved over to the center of the bench.

Mallory plopped in right next to Jon. There was more room than Jon thought there would be.

“Home,” Hector muttered. He ragged on the reins.

The horses started to move forward.

Hector curved around the side of the house before driving away. Jon watched the small building drift away.

“You’ve never been by the house before, right?” Mallory asked.

“Huh?” Jon looked over.

Mallory had a small gray knapsack resting over his lap.

Jon decided not to comment on the bag and answer Mallory’s question.

“No.”

“You haven’t?” Hector asked in surprise.

“Hector, it's only been a couple of weeks,” Mallory explained. “Come on.”

“Oh.” Hector sat up. “It just feels like he’s always been here. Well, don’t worry. The place is a dump.”

“It is not a dump,” Mallory exclaimed. “It’s so not a dump. You got everything.”

“Yeah, but my family lives there,” Hector muttered.

Jon looked at Mallory’s wary face.

“Uh… you’ve seen Hector’s relationship with his family,” Mallory said.

Jon nodded.

“Don’t worry,” Mallory continued, “they’re usually off on missions. Charlotte and Majorie live elsewhere for their jobs. Lana practically lives at the King’s Guard. Macy likes to travel, and is usually on a mission.”

“Luther?” Jon asked.

“The… house is big enough.” Mallory leaned back into the seat, apparently hoping that it was a good enough answer.

Jon felt anticipation in seeing Hector’s home, but he also felt pity. The more that he watched Hector’s worry grow over his face, the more Jon was reminded of his own terrors of having to come back home and see his father’s disappointed face.

Maybe there was a way that Hector could reconcile with his father, like Jon did.

Soon, Jon saw another smaller building appear in the distance. Unlike the King’s guard, however, it just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger until it deafened the area in front of it in shadow.

Whoa. The house was wide and white, with several windows. It was composed of a stone that looked as if it had been smooth at first and then had slowly been peeled away from time.

It was still very impressive to Jon. At the front of the building was a door with two pillars outlining the entrance.

“Don’t be too impressed,” Hector muttered. “We still have to…”

He stopped as the front doors opened.

Luther was walking out of the building, a large bag being dragged behind him. He noticed the three men in the wagon.

“Hector!” Luther called.

Hector groaned.

Luther dragged the large bag out of the house, letting the door close behind him./ He then tossed the bag to the side as he stepped to the wagon.

The closer he got, the more Hector’s head sunk in between his shoulders.

Luther finally made it to the side of the wagon.

“Hector,” Luther repeated, at a lower volume now that he was closer to the wagon. “You didn’t respond.”

Hector grumbled. “Yes…”

Luther looked at Mallory. “Is he okay?”

“He got knocked around a bit,” Mallory said. “He just needs some rest.”

Luther looked at Jon.

“Hi,” Jon said softly.

Luther tightened his eyebrows before looking at Hector again.

“Well, I’m heading out to the castle,” Luther explained. “I’m gonna be staying there for the time being. Good thing I saw you on my way out.”

“Yeah…”

Luther looked even more confused at Hector’s response.

“Did he lose his voice or something?” Luther asked. “He’s not…”

“Loud?” Mallory asked. “Yelling? Indignant?”

“Well… I hope your mood improves.” It wasn’t normal for Jon to see Luther in an awkward position. His attention turned fully to Mallory now.

“I heard you’re finally movin’ out,” Luther said. “You’re not procrastinating anymore.”

“Yep,” Mallory said, with a tight smile and a nod.

“Well, uh…” Luther scratched the back of his head. “You’re always welcome here, of course. I’m not gonna like, abandon you. Your room can stay intact and whatnot.”

“I understand,” Mallory gave a nod.

“Good. Do a good job. I know you will.” Luther coughed.

“Yeah.” Mallory nodded again.

Luther looked at Jon. “Are you planning on staying the night?”

“Yeah,” Mallory said, answering for Jon.

“Good. There should be enough room. Should I-”

“We;ll take care of it,” Mallory told him quickly.

“Right then. Mallory. God speed. Jon. Hector.”

Hector took another sad breath.

“I’ll, uhh… see you later Hector.”

“Yeah…” Hector just barely uttered from under his breath.

With that, Luther went back to his bag and started dragging it behind him again. Jon watched him as he made a right and made his way to a large carriage with a scary dark-colored horse in front of it. The carriage was different in that there was only room for two people, and the top half was missing, allowing the driver to stand up as they held the reins.

“That’s a chariot,” Mallory said when he noticed Jon staring. “He can shoot at things while riding his horse at the same time.

“Ah.” Jon wondered if that would have been useful in an earlier battle.

When Luther finally left on his chariot, Hector brought his horse to the wide fenced area.

“Jon you can bring your stuff in,” Hector said when they climbed out of the wagon. “We can give you a room for a while.”

“What is he gonna do after you drop me off?” Mallory asked.

“I dunno…” Hector looked at Jon. “Would you rather stay here or at the King’s Guard?”

“I don’t know,” Jon said. Jon had been so busy, that he hadn’t even thought as far to where he would be staying for the duration of his mission.

“Just bring your stuff,” Hector said. “It’ll be fine.”

Hector took his own luggage and dragged it off.

Mallory took his small grey knapsack and also grabbed his stuff from behind as well.

Jon grabbed his own luggage and they went through the front of the building.