Sal was not supposed to be afraid. She huddled just beside the nipa door in abject silence as the shadow of the sawali walls covered her. The rustling and minute breaths heard across the hut should’ve been comforting. Sal angled her head to the side for a peek outside, it was a vast darkness of what must be an empty grassfield. Only ragged silhouettes of the trees meeting the night sky to hide where they are.

    “Too dusty?” Ren patted the floor.

      Sal shook her head before remembering that it was dark. “No, “she answered.

       Ren sat by the doorway of the hut, and groaned a little, perhaps he’d used his injured arm to prop himself for support. He looked outside opposite Sal. “Want to see if it would echo if I shout?”

       Sal shook her head.

       “No one will hear alright. This hut is abandoned. We can stay the night here. The next house is about a mile away.”

       When Ren walked away from the door to the center of the hut, Sal glided in her seat to position herself at the edge of the door and let her feet dangle a good half a meter away from the ground where the hut stood.

Outside was nothing but a ring of forests surrounding the flat fields they must be. They’re protected. Only the two of them. No Signor. No doll-like men, no Lea. No Ro.

       Ren had lighted the lamplight again. “It’s only the two of us.” he assured her. Sal tried to smile in response.

        He draped his coat over her wrapping the sleeves of the coat over her waists. “Is something the matter?” She was not cold, but she felt exposed. It was bare, quiet. She’d walk away from this house and there would be no walls to stop her. She’d walk on and in this field and there would be no end in sight. She imagined that if she walked this course of land, she’d walk a good hour and it would still be quiet. There was no chatter from Lea or that singsong voice from Ro.

        Ren had been waiting for her answer it seems. How far are we from Calare? She’d wanted to ask.

       “No. Nothing.”Sal counted the distance between her seat and his. It was a good five finger’s breadth.

       “I hope you’re not upset.” Ren spoke, almost apologetic.

        “No. I’m quite alright.” Why should she not be? 

         Ren groaned as he leaned back using his one good arm for support before leaning forward again, hands on his lap. “I can’t understand. You were supposed to be safe, asleep on the Hospicio,”

       “I’m sorry.” 

        She was only following what he said. Perhaps, she was not doing it right. Of course, she was bound to botch everything. Sal trembled in the night cold, more scared than she thought she would. “I was scared. They say they’ll say who I was , that I’m Salice Nabiaty Cuorre.” Sal’s voice died down to a whisper, the surname awkward in her lips. “I had to help her.”

        “Her?”

          “The braided woman. Lea. She has green eyes too. She said she will keep my secret.” Sal tamped her voice down. Lea did fine on her own in the Casa, didn’t she? She debated whether to ask that question to Ren.

          “Hush! It’s alright. It was unwise of me to leave. “ He paused. “But I will see to it that you are protected. You will have no one to fear, not the Sgr. Cuorre or those men.” Ren held Sal’s hand, facing her. A characteristic worry and haste to his words.” But as such, your own, your sole safety is paramount to everything else.” He squeezed her hand.

            Sal replied at impulse. “Understood.”

            He used to hold her hand like that and she would feel light. She would not worry about anything else. But tonight, his hands were cold, clammy. It must be from dressing the wound on his arm.

            Sal did not break her stare at the forests. Perhaps for fear of lamps shining in the distance amidst those trees or a band of horses breaking through the barrier. Perhaps to simply calculate where the constable and the braided woman would be right now.Perhaps.

        That night, Ren laid Sal on the floor on an old, rough mat scavenged from the empty hut. Sal laid still awake, staring at the lamp while Ren sat on the floor beside her.

          “Do you want me to sing you to sleep?”

           Sal kept her eyes on the lamp., so Ren angled to turn off the light.

           “It was dark,” Sal spoke.

           “ You told me before, you liked the dark better.”

           “ It was brighter here. There was no moonlight in that carriage. Loud. They were loud. All men’s voices. Rough voices. They were outside. They all dressed the same.”

          Sal held her breath. Now, conscious of the unnecessary she began telling. She bowed her head in response. “ Sorry.” She didn’t dare search for Ren’s expression. “ I was outside. I was foolish.”

          Ren squatted beside her in the dark. “ Those men. They must be members of those shady guilds around the capital. It seems they must be getting careless recently.”

         Surely, an explanation was not expected. She looked up at the man.

       “You see, they are blades without a hilt. They are simply foolish men with nothing but their knives and fists. Although I am curious as to why they’re so tenacious, they’re barely worth your fear, my little bird.” 

Ren pointed outside toward the sky, his hands scanning the whole space of sky they could see. “ But you see that? Beyond the horizon is the sea, then another land outside this place. Those men will not find us there.”

It was a fantasy more vivid than reality when he speaks like that and when he paints an image in the blank slate of her thoughts.

         “Amianan?” Sal asked. A place beyond the sea. Out to the sea, to the lands below.

         “A lovely place it must be, don't you think?”Ren wrapped Sal with the mattress.

          Sal closed her eyes. It was dark. “Yes, it must be lovely.”

****

Sal awoke with a start in his absence beside her. Not a sound breathed in the air aside from the dawn chirping of birds. Ren left her feet covered in the mattress but he was nowhere to be found. Strangely, it did not feel disconcerting at all. It was a familiar solitariness. She explored around the funny house, finding all the remaining accessories of the house, old and dusty.

       Outside, Ren’s shoes were hung by a pole. Sal poked and prodded them. The shoes were still damp. Maybe she should ask Ren about them. Why were they sopping wet on dry grass? She imagined. There was an unpleasant face she couldn't quite place. Perhaps, it is good not to think of it. Ren will surely engage her question, probably give a silly answer or at worst, a bewildered look.

    Suddenly, wind slashed past Sal’s head. Then, a thud. “Go!” Someone yelled. Ren did.

    Sal fell back on the ground to see Ren on the ground holding a strange man by a large stick to the neck. Ren held the man tight while it clawed against the log on his neck. Ren groaned in the struggle.“ Go! Hide!”

   Then, the man looked at Sal. As if there was a slight glint of recognition, of malice that he managed to wring the log away from his neck.

    Sal darted back to the hut and hid inside a small chest in an inner room. Outside, there was a sharp cry, a loud thud. Sal flinched. It was quiet.

    Sal peeked outside through the box’s slits. A figure stood by the door of the hut, leaning on his left as he walked, his hand holding up his left arm.

    Sal shot up from the chest. And at one grip of Ren’s hand, she knows she understands what he meant by that look on his face.

***

    It seemed like ages since Sal’s feet touched the ground. The horse ride seemed endless and she’d clutch onto Ren’s waist tighter. Time to time, she glanced at her surroundings whenever the horse slowed down, or worse, stopped. She fixated on the blooming red on Ren’s left arm, the loud thud surrounding her ears.

     When her feet touched grass, she found herself in a house surrounded by a thicket of trees like that in the Hospicio. It was no less grand than the hospicio and it was puny in comparison to Edihna’s mansion. Two grand wooden staircases snaked from the second floor balcony down to the ground. But it was quiet, it seemed empty.

      She fought the urge to lay down on the grass and steadied her eyes on her surroundings. A good amount of trees covered the place on all sides save for a walkway in front of the entrance. Ren ruffled Sal’s hair. “You’ll get to see everything inside some time. Just follow me first.” He led her to the back of the house where a small, decrepit door and ushered her inside. He gave her explicit instructions to wait.

      Sal closed her eyes so as not to stare at things lest she be curious and walk away. She could hear a loud thud in her mind. It was a crash. Of objects falling down. Or of Ren holding the stick tightly against the man’s neck.

     Sal banished the thoughts. When Ren came for her, he led her through the empty but fully-furnished house to a small room with two neat beds. 

    This big house was apparently an empty school. The students have come home . Ren told her that the Headmistress would let them stay and that she would take care of the both of them, of her.

      He must have lied to this Headmistress. He lied for her again.

***

   The schoolhouse was empty yet Sal dared not to venture outside. The house was already full enough. Every night, Ren would lead her to the common dining area for supper. The table would already be set as if spirits left their meal in a hurry. Other times, Ren would bring the food to the room where she stayed. But when Ren does lead her outside, she’d take too long to go out. And when she does so, she’d spy a smile flashing across his face.

    Today seemed different. He came upon her and laid beside her on the bed to wake her up. Ren proceeded to open the windows wide before gifting her a satin dress, quite different from the dull colored dresses in the school.

    When she finished changing into the dress, Ren came and pointed at the light red lines by her wrist. Sal didn’t notice them before, red lines sunken under the skin that must have been from the tie she used for her sleeves. Ren proceeded to untie the wrist cuff Sal made on the sleeve letting the sleeve flow freely on the air. She waved the sleeve around noting how it bounced against her arms.

   “It must feel better that way, isn’t it?”

    Sal can’t help but nod. It feels different, but nice.

    Outside, everything opened up prettily. She and Ren walked down the double stairs separately. He would look at her as he synced his steps with hers, going ever so slowly.

    Below was a wide lawn unlike any she has seen. Elves sprouted from the earth in the form of leaves dancing in the air from the breeze. She let the wind take her. A sudden strength ran across her legs as she fixed her eyes at the top of a nearby guava tree.. Strength ran across her puny legs, letting her reach heights only residing in her memory. Branch by branch, step-by-step., she’s at the top of the tree. She’s at the top of the world.

    Though she was scared of the height looking below, the thrill told her otherwise, seeing how high up she is in the air.

     “You’re doing great.” Ren assured her. He smiled a light smile. Be free, fly.

    It was a wide world from above and the row of green trees seemed to never end and only kissed the horizon. If she runs to the edge would she meet the horizon itself?

    Sal went down the tree and took off running. The lightness in her steps sent her bouncing and breezing past like the wind itself carried her. Her sleeves flew onto the wind and her top skirt blew off. Then, there was a river. 

    She lay flat by the bank and watched as the clouds changed shape.

     Ren came and lay on the riverbank too. They lay in silence like that. Who knows how long it was?

     “I thought if I could run fast enough and far enough, I’d get to the exact horizon and maybe disappear. Or run across the horizon too.” Sal paused. 

     “Not a silly thought, I’d say. It ends when you say it ends.” Ren said.

     “So, it does not really end?”

     Clouds changed shapes until there was nothing left on the sky but blue.

     “This place, it does not end. It is only the two of us here. “ Sal mused. “All of this only to-” It was a clear sky. It was a happy day. It was an empty blue sky. “Me.”

     She was happy. Stop.

***

    Ren never left her side since that day. He’d be with her during meals. He’d be with her exploring the school’s library. Even now, he invited her to the kitchen and watch the fire cooking. It was not scary. The maid was simply silly to say Sal would burn a house. Ren knew she would not. Every waking day, every waking minute, he was tied to her and she to him.

    Yet, even as the supposed comfort of the days passed, Sal still found herself staring listlessly at the moon, awake in the wee hours of the night. It was as if every hour that drifted by was a haze and she’s recalling events. That day was real. It was real. 

   She stalked over to Ren’s quarters. She dragged her mattress around her head and a pillow clasped to her chest and a lamplight in one hand.

    Ren opted for another room for himself and Sal found relief in that. Married couples, they say, will be together. 

     The lamplight dimmed, turning the room dark in the absence of moonlight. It was alright. It was alright. She took a hesitant step forward but met nothing but air. A crash.

     Silence.

“Nightmares?”

    Ren sat on the bed. Faint glimmer of yellow from a lamplight he just opened by his side was enough to only illuminate half of his face. The light was making funny shadows on his face, making him look ghoulish.

     Sal started, “I’m sorry. I woke you up.”

     “I’ve been awake.” He paused. “ In case something happens.”

   Sal stopped herself from saying anything odd or betraying her surprise, but it seemed her honesty would. “ I can’t sleep.” Sal kept her head down.” I was scared.”

    Ren stayed seated on the bed, looking at the air. “Perhaps, your room was more humid than I thought.”

     Sal shook her head. “It was more than comfortable. “

     “Oh”

      Sal hid her face in the pillow. She thought her tone conveyed joy. What more at the prospect of sleeping beside the man she said she’d elope with? Her tone betrayed something else, something she couldn’t quite place.

     Sal jumped to Ren’s bed and plopped a pillow under her. As she was sure she’d invaded his bed, he laid on the space inching even close. She wrapped an arm around his left arm, around his back. The skin contact made her jolt as a strange feeling built in her chest. She was floating, like she was out of her body. She savored it. She was lost.

   Once, when she was a child, she played atop the trees despite Oleon tagging along. She didn’t mind. She was happy that she’d reached the top. The wind was blowing loud and hard like it does tonight. She didn’t even notice Oleon crying from a hard fall that time. 

     So it was like this then?

     She pulled back and excused herself for a while, not knowing how to calm her trembling beats so she covered her face instead.

***

 THE first few minutes the house was empty, Sal couldn’t tell if the surprise was pleasing. She’d wandered the house and found every nook and cranny, every open space, devoid of people. Whether to be scared or comforted by that, she does not know. Yet, as the sun turned dark orange, a sense of dread washed over her. Since they arrived here, Ren has never left her side until now.

    Before long, Sal found herself sitting on the floor, ears to the window, eyes to the door. Perhaps, Ren will walk back in. Or perhaps, someone else? Sal whispered tales to herself in the nook she holed in.

    Neighing horses roused her into sitting up. Outside, a lone carriage stood just outside the door.

   “You useless roach!”

     It shook Sal, enough to knock her back crouching on the floor. She covered her ears. Yet, something stirred in her. Inch by inch, she peeked her head above the windowsill to peek. Out from the opened door of the carriage, a man limped with his cane. At first glance, his stance and build looked a lot like Ren’s, towering as he was, albeit Ren never wore coats much less needing a cane.

    The yelling dissipated. The conversation continued and Sal was losing grip of the words being said. Useless. Be useful. Excuses. The little words she overheard and strung together in tales and narratives she thought possible.Sal flinched at the sound of a whip and a horses’ cry. 

     Down by the carriage stood Ren. His body was almost folded in half from bowing for so long to this other man. Even as the man in the carriage departed, he stayed bent. 

   Sal could not take her eyes away as if she was forced to look. When Ren set to go back inside the house, Sal stayed on her spot.

     At first, there was rustling then a clang, then a bang of a door swung open. A voice called out, “Sal! Sal!” Ren’s voice grew louder, shakier by the minute before it melted into silence.

    Sal dragged her feet out in the hallway. A few paces away, Ren stood straight, unlike his bowed posture from earlier. For a split second, he rushed to meet her. He embraced her, tipping her balance, dragging her feet and making her fall until he held her like putty in his arms.

    He locked the door. Sal felt her feet lifted from the ground as he carried her. 

   Only four walls surrounded them. It felt like her room in the Casa yet also the world only both of them knew. A beat thumped in her chest. She’d be guilty if it was a beat of bliss but a heart beating out of fear was a tired, bladeless knife at the moment. The strange sight from earlier ran through her mind like a saw.

    “I’m truly sorry.” Ren whispered into her ear over and over.

    Sal angled her head to look at him. 

    He grasped her small head in his hand and kept it over his shoulders. Don’t look.

    Ren held Sal. Long minutes passed.

    “I promised I’d be with you,” he said between breaths. Ren held Sal and his grasp seemed to grow weak at each second. “Everytime passes, They will see you but they will not, and I-” He bowed his head folding in half like how he was before. For a moment he was a small sparrow stuck in grass, flightless.

    You see, Sal was a sparrow too.

    Sal rubbed a finger down his chin and traced his cheek up to his white hair down to his lips. She clasped another hand at his cheek. She did not understand what he meant or if she’s supposed to be more afraid. Yet she looked at him deep into his brown eyes, different from hers. Brown, like a sparrow’s. “Pretty,” she whispered.

    A weak smile drew across his lips. “ Walk by my side every minute and not a hair of yours will be harmed,” he asked.

    Her hand traveled towards his tuft of hair down to the white hair strands. A slight heavy smoke settled on her chest that went away when she closed her eyes. A sparrow. She nudged her head closer.

    “The birds rush home early to their nests. They are afraid they will fly for too long and they will abandon the young in their nests.” Sal let her tresses fall in front of Ren. “ They are afraid they will be punished for too long.”

     “What could I do for you?” He gives her that look like he will just offer her the world. He didn’t skirt around the question and it unnerved her. Speaking in riddles and fables was preferable than this.

     Sal sat on the bed, letting go of Ren's face. She took a long look outside, hoping that he’ll forget the question and let her be but as he now stood over her in his full height, his eyes were expectant. 

    Nothing, she’d want to say. Then, they could go on like before. Sal heaved a breath. “ I didn’t bid them farewell.”

    She held her breath while expecting Ren to wave it away and ask for any request but that.

   “I’d like to see Lea and Ro.”

     He stepped back. “Alright.”