He smiled lightly every time he saw the young man playing, practicing his arts, or helping out around the village. Their arrival had been met with much wariness and scorn by most, few openly accepting of him. Because he was the peace-keeper he was – the part that was pitted and battled orders in the past – he had made his family's home upon the mountain, where both they and villagers would be safe.

The child that had been brought – the child not his own - however, had been easily taken in. Children were innocent, after all; carefree, adorable, sweet, needing nurturing and love, craving it and offering it unconditionally, and so terribly vulnerable. A good home was needed to shelter the easy prey they were and loving parents to mold them into honorable beings.

He was in town on a stocking run, having come to trade wares, medicines, and freely offering any services requiring his extensive and expensive knowledge; much had been lost for its gain. But he was not needed today and he made his way back towards the mountain path. He paused, looking over his shoulder for a parting glance at his currently gleeful charge and companions. And as he watched the child who had grown into a fine boy run ignorantly about the equally ignorant village-folk, the delicate smile flickered and faltered, but he was able to prevent its demise.

If they only realized how fragile this peace was – this barrier between boy and man – that nothing more than a wavering expression made it cohesive and lay between it and horror, then they would not be so accepting of the beloved child they had all widely adopted. The smile slipped and his mouth became only a small firming line. These thoughts and memories had stolen the little peace of mind he'd been grasping onto, visions of what was, what is, and what could be briefly overwhelming his control before he shut his eyes against it, breathing it out in a long quiet sigh. This was fruitless and he set forth on the trail up to his mountain cottage, refuge from Solaris and Lahan.

They had peace. And it would last. That was his job; that was why he was here.

It would last.

It would last.

…For how long?