Lionheart balances his daughter on his hip, ignoring the nearby whispers of the housewives with the ease of practice as he shuts the gate to their small house in the resident district just outside the castle.

It's spring in Albion, the sun shining brightly overhead, and the birds chirp merrily in the boughs of flowering trees. There's yellow ribbons in his little Alice's dark hair, and her green eyes are wide, innocence still clear in her young face.

It should ease Lionheart's soul to see such, but the weight of the task set before him, waiting even now, darkens the bright day.

"Daddy," his daughter whines, "they're staring."

"I know," he replies quietly, "Just ignore them. They'll get bored and go back to gossiping eventually."

She sighs and leans against him, her head in the crook of his neck.

"Are you going to stay longer this time?" she asks, one hand curling about the edge of his jacket.

"Hopefully," Lionheart says. "There are things Daddy has to do, so I have to go and do that and then I can come home for good."

"Really?" Alice asks. "That'd be awesome! Mama would be happy too!"

"I know she would," Lionheart says with a soft chuckle. "Come on, let's see what the market has in store for us today."

"Okay!" Alice chirps.

The blacksmith's shop is the closest to their home, no more than a ten-minute walk and Lionheart listens to Alice chatter about everything he's missed while he was away.

"Good morning, Luke," Lionheart calls, hailing the blacksmith.

"Lionheart!" Luke says, grinning. "Good to see you! You've been gone for a while now, haven't you?"

"Too long," Lionheart says. "They tell me you're selling masterwork pistols now. Branching out?"

"A bit," Luke says, shrugging one soot stained shoulder. "Gotta keep the competition on their toes, you know."

"Indeed, I do," Lionheart says, adjusting his hold on Alice. "What exactly do you have in stock today?"

"Oh, lots of things," Luke says, bustling about the smithy. "I've got swords, a few large hammers, a couple of wicked looking daggers. I do have some pistols in stock if you'd like to take a look."

"Please," Lionheart says.

There is one master-worked pistol, a finely crafted weapon with ten chambers with silver detailing along the barrel and grip. There are two small orbs set on either side of the trigger.

"Fire augment," Luke says, gesturing. "Good ones too."

"How much?" Lionheart asks, considering. He's pretty set on coin at the moment and has enough stored away to last for a long time given careful spending.

"For you, three thousand."

Lionheart blinks. Surely, he misheard that. "I'm sorry, did you just say three thousand?"

"I did," Luke says firmly.

"This is well-worth over five," Lionheart argues. "I'm not going to stiff you your payment for fine crafted work such as this."

"Think of it as an investment," Luke says before dropping his voice and leaning in. "Word has it that you and some others are taking on Lord Lucien and his Spire."

"Word spreads quickly," Lionheart says, adding somewhat casually, "Perhaps I am doing as they say."

Luke nods, lips tight. "There are rumors about the Spire; they say that dark, terrible things happen there."

"That is true," Lionheart says. "There are many dark things that happen in the deepest depths of that place."

"Then they're true?" Luke presses.

Lionheart tilts his head. "Most of them, yes."

"I wish you luck, and pray Avo guards you," Luke whispers. "I'll have a full set of bullets ready for you by the end of the week," he says at normal volume, leaning away.

Lionheart nods, and counts out the coin for the pistol, tucking it away from Alice's curious hands.

"Thank you, Luke," he says, strolling out into the bright sunshine, shading his eyes for a moment before heading down the alleyway towards Old Town. There are more stalls there and he has a feeling that Alice would find it much more interesting than the few expensive places that are closer to the castle.

"Are we going to find something nice for Mama?" Alice asks.

"We're going to look," Lionheart says. "Do you think she'd like some flowers?"

"Not roses," Alice says decisively. "Mama likes tulips."

"Well, then we'll see about finding a few tulips for Mama," Lionheart decides.

He's going to make the most of his time here, relish each moment of peace, before he hunts Lucien down and makes him pay for the suffering he's caused to Albion.