Before I Leave You

prologue

The heels of your dark boots grind against the dirt road as you strut your way across town. Thick fog clings in the air and the smoke of factories burning coal paints the sky an ashy grey.

Your armed cadre follow close behind, sporting guns and knives like a second skin. They are your most trusted guards, your closest confidants, and four of the seven members belonging to your inner circle.

Mikasa Ackerman, a tall female with short dark hair, killer instinct, and sharp eyes, flanks your left side. Jean Kirstein, a strong, willful young man with warm brown eyes flanks your right. Holding the rear is Connie Springer, a young man with a slim build and signature buzzcut. At his side is Sasha Braus, a fiercely driven female with big, brown eyes and long chestnut hair tied in a high ponytail.

You don't usually walk around town baring such tight security. There's hardly any need. Your father is Thomas Ymir. Crime boss of the Founding Sector. He owns this town. No one in their right mind would dare touch you—his only daughter and heir— unless they've got a death wish they want granted.

But today is different.

Today you're carrying out a business deal. And your cadre deserve a place at that proceeding. It's the least you can do for them, given the regrettable circumstances.

As you cross through the heart of town, the townsfolk bow their heads to you a safe distance away. Out of respect or fear, it's all the same to you. You pay them no heed. Yet you don't miss the way their wary eyes slide over to your cadre behind you, knowing that if they're with you, trouble is close at hand.

Down the road, coppers patrol the streets in their forest green uniforms. They too notice your cadre at your heels, but they remain unfazed.

They greet you with a tip of their hat dutifully. "Miss Anya."

You walk past them without sparing them so much as a second glance. They've learned not to expect a response from you and do well not to linger, promptly taking note of your destination and carrying on in the opposite direction to resume their daily rounds—knowing when they're not needed and when to look the other way.

You detest the whole lot of them, but these coppers are under your father's payroll, and it's the only reason you tolerate their presence. Yet despite their loyalty to your father, they are not to be trusted. They still carry a police badge on their uniform and are therefore obligated to answer to Erwin Smith, the commanding officer of the Paradis Police Force. And that bloody bastard has been after your father for years. He will do anything to bring your father down, even if it means risking the lives of his own men to plant his spies into Ymir territory.

Reaching the outskirts of town a few minutes later, you approach one of the old warehouses owned by your father's company, Ymir & Co., that stores some of his rather not-so-privy merchandise.

A handful of his men stand guard at the entrance. They nod to you in greeting as you make your way towards them before moving aside to let you pass.

Inside, Historia Reiss and Armin Arlert—your blond hair, blue-eyed duo, and two of the last members of your inner circle—are waiting for you in the center of the rusty, dim lit building with the man you've come to strike a deal with. He sits on a crate with his hands tied behind his back and a bag over his face. So perhaps hostage is the more accurate term for him.

Nevertheless, this remains a business deal all the same.

"Historia. Armin. Thank you for keeping our guest company." Your voice is warm and inviting as it cuts through the tension in the room, but there is an undertone of malice present and the dark glint in your eyes promise violence. "I trust you've shown him just how hospitable we can be?"