Emma needs me

For the moment, I return home and rest a bit. Not need to waste my energy now. I need to get Darx to see what his precious Amelia is really like. Only after that do I get to waste my energy. Preferably with him. When I start thinking on how to ‘console’ Darx, I start grinning.

Suddenly Emma comes bursting into my room.

“Mia!” Emma says with a fearful look. “Oliver is leaving tomorrow!”

Leave?

I stand up and ask, “What?”

“I just came back from the inn.” Emma says. “He told me that tomorrow he is going to his uncle in Riledo. When that happens, I will have no one left to defend me from Fabe.”

Good gods, now this. Will we ever have some good news?

But as I am thinking, an idea pops to mind. Emma doesn’t want our parents and the villagers to find out she is pregnant. Emma and Oliver both want to get away from Fabe. That is when it hit me.

“Why don’t you leave with him?” I ask.

“With Oliver?” Emma asks.

“You and Oliver both leave for Riledo.” I start to explain. “And I tell Fabe you went to Tristanis instead. If he tries to take you back, he will travel to the wrong city and in the meantime you and Oliver can start a new life in Riledo.”

“And Fabe won’t find out we're leaving?” Emma asks, still with a worried look on her face.

She’s got a point there.

“Then you have to leave tonight.” I say. “We tell mom and dad that you are leaving for Riledo a week earlier then first intended. You start packing your bag while I go tell Oliver. Then I’ll go pick you up.”

It was quite hectic, trying to get my sister to leave on such short notice, but at least Emma saying goodbye to our parents went easy enough. They were already prepared to say goodbye to her a week from now.

While Emma is preparing her luggage, I head off to the inn where I find Oliver. I explain the plan to him and he quickly agrees. I do tell him to find Darx and get him in on the plan. Then I tell Oliver where to meet.

I hurry back home to pick up Emma. We can’t bring her luggage with us yet, it would tip Fabe off in case he finds us. Then Emma and I head off to the secluded place I told Oliver to meet us. Shortly after Oliver and Darx arrive.

"Why are they hiding here? What's going on? "Darx asked.

"Nobody saw you coming here, right?" I asked while looking around.

Oliver turned to Darx and began to explain. "Darx, when I went to the bathroom, I met Mia. She brought me here to ask me for a favor. They asked me to escape tonight with Emma."

"Escape!? Why do they want to run away?" Darx asked.

By the gods, Darx, we don’t have time for this!

I take over explaining from Oliver and say, "Darxi, I love you but shut up and listen. You should know Emma is pregnant, and we are afraid of what Fabe will do once he finds out. Emma wanted to leave Fabe, but he doesn't leave her and behaves violently towards her. Emma told me that Oliver was planning to leave tomorrow and she was afraid of being left alone. But the idea occurred to me that Emma should go with Oliver, behind Fabe's back. Fabe will not expect Emma to abandon the village during the festival."

"Emma planned to leave in a week anyways, so she had no problem convincing her parents. If Emma comes with me, I will be able to protect her, and I am sure my relatives in the city will not mind if I take her with me." Oliver continues.

I again take over from Oliver and say, "A group of people will leave in an hour, and the idea is that they go with them. By the time Fabe realizes they are gone, it will be too late. If Fabe asks, we can say that they left for a city different than the capital. Tristanis is a good idea since it is in the opposite direction."

Emma then speaks up and says, "I'm sorry I'm causing so much trouble."

Hearing my sister apologize for something that isn’t even her fault is painful to hear. I face her and say, "It's not your fault, Emma! It's all that damned Fabe's fault. I'm not going to let my little sister continue to suffer for that bastard. Let's follow the plan and if Fabe wants to get you back, he’ll travel in the wrong direction. And if he doesn’t care and goes to the capital anyways, it could take a very long time until he eventually finds you. Especially if he isn’t looking. I’ll also be joining you in a week, so we’ll be going through this together.”

Emma, a little more relaxed, replied, “Alright, I’ll do it. If it’s with Oliver, I know I’ll be safe.”

"Now I understand the situation, but in what way can I help?" Darx asked.

"Fabe is all crazy looking for Emma all over the village, and most likely Cal is helping him. Oliver has to go pack up and say goodbye to his parents. I can take care of distracting Fabe until it's time for them to leave. But I don't want to leave Emma alone with Cal hanging around." I replied.

"Will you distract Fabe, Mia!? Are you sure it's a good idea?" Darx asked.

Did Darx just show concern for me? Oh my, I suddenly feel so flustered.

"Ahhh! Are you worried about me, Darxi!? Don't worry. I'm ready to deal with Fabe. For now, take care of protecting Emma until the time comes for them to leave." I reply with a mischievous smile.

"O-Ok, take care..." Darx said.

Emma and Oliver have a moment together, and I must say, it was sweet. Kinda made me want to have a moment like that of my own now, with Darx of course.

"I'm leaving too.” I said. “I'll make sure to get back in time so that I can say goodbye to you."

"Be careful, sis." Emma replied.

I then look over to Darx. Looks like I won’t be able to let him see the true Amelia. Gods, this sucks.

"Darx...” I said.

"Yes...?" Darx asked.

"I had planned tonight to be different for the two of us and to make you see the truth."

"I don't understand..."Darx replied confused. I figured he’d react like that

I decided to be mysterious and just smiled and left. I need to distract Fabe.