Green Eyes

“Do enlighten us,” Jared requested, crossing his arms and facing his sister.

“I followed the Bats of course to see if I could follow them back to their headquarters,” Mara began.

“Did you find it?” Jared interrupted.

Mara shot her brother an annoyed look. “If you let me finish, I’ll explain what I found,” she snapped. “As I was saying, I was following the Bats. Unfortunately they were too drunk to do much more than go home. But they did have an impromptu meeting.”

“Oh?” Jared raised both eyebrows.

“Just after they left the inn, they went into the alley out back to meet with someone,” Mara told them.

‘Where’s the girl?’ the person they were meeting asked.

‘She’s in there with her two bodyguards,’ answered the one of them, the same guy who got away from us earlier.

‘I told you to bring her here,’ the man said sharply.

‘What did you want us to do?’ retorted the other guy. ‘I’m not touching the Navi, especially with her two bodyguards standing there. You didn’t see what I saw; she shoots fireballs from her hands. No way am I going to try taking that down, I don’t care how big the reward is.’

‘Not the Navi, you idiots,’ spat the man, who I think is there leader. ‘I was referring to the troublesome innkeeper, Jael.’

‘The whore?’ questioned one of the goons. ‘What do you want with her?’

‘Bait, of course you imbecile,’ snarled the leader. ‘For some reason, the Navi and her companions have taken a special interest in her. If something were to happen to her, they would come running.’

‘Right into a trap,’ finished a goon. ‘Whoa boss, you’re smart.’

‘That’s why I’m the boss, but we’re not sucking them into a trap,’ the boss growled. ‘We’re going get them to surrender. Like I said, they’ve taken a special interest in her and I have a feeling they’d do anything to protect her.’

‘It sounds awfully risky, boss,’ the first goon said. ‘Taking them on alone. The Navi would be scary enough, but those two with her might be even more powerful.’

‘The idea is to take them without having to fight,’ the leader explained. ‘But if we have to, the full weight of the Bats should be able to take them down.’

‘You haven’t seen the Navi,’ the first goon said.

‘The reward is worth the risk,’ the leader told them. ‘Besides, this isn’t an option; it’s an order from the Big Man himself. We are to bring the Navi and her companions in. The Navi alive, if possible. Her bodyguards, less so.’

‘When do we jump the whore?’ asked another of the goons.

‘Tomorrow afternoon, while the inn is empty,’ the boss decided. ‘Also, you might want to make sure the Navi and her friends are out. We’ll take her to the stables out behind Full Belly Inn and Tavern. That should be private enough.’

‘Will do, boss,’ the goons nodded.

“Anyway,” Mara finished, “that pretty much ended the conversation. The drunk guys went home and the leader disappeared into the shadows.”

“So they plan to grab Jael,” Jared mused, his cobalt eyes narrowing to that intense, faraway stare they got when he was planning something.

“Like I said, it is the answer to all our problems,” Mara returned the stare. Selene hated when they got like that. That meant they were up to something and as usual she had no idea what it was.

“Excuse me, but how is this the answer to all our problems?” she piped up.

“Think about it,” Jared admonished. “What did we say the key to taking down the Bats was?”

“Taking out their leader,” Selene promptly recalled.

“Very good,” Jared nodded approvingly. “And, somewhat ironically, the Bats plan to capture us and leads us to their leader.”

“How—oh no,” Selene suddenly understood their plan. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Selene, it’s perfect,” Mara pointed out.

“But we promised to protect her!” protested the Navi.

“We will,” Jared assured. “And letting Jael get abducted is the best way to do that.”

“But if she gets hurt or killed?” Selene pressed. “You’re taking an awful big risk by using her as bait.”

“Of course we’re taking a risk,” Jared snorted. “Did you think that taking down a city-wide crime syndicate wouldn’t be risky?”

“Well, I guess,” Selene said slowly. “But I thought the risk would all be on us.”

“It’s not as risky as it might seem,” Mara pointed out. “We’re the ones they are after, not her. She’s just the bait, so it behooves them to keep her in one piece until they get us.”

“And then?” Selene raised an eyebrow.

Jared smirked. “Then they’ll be in pieces.

*******

The next day, Jael was humming away as she scrubbed the floor of the common room. It was early afternoon, so the inn was pretty much empty. Jared had been right; a good night’s rest had greatly improved her mood. Jael was even feeling a bit optimistic, something she hadn’t felt in quite a few years.

She wasn’t entirely sure why. Things had truly gotten worse since the mysterious trio had arrived three days before but there was something about them that gave her hope. Jael couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, but there was just something special about those three.

Selene was probably the most unique of the three. She was young, naïve, and seemed to tire rather easily for someone her age. The girl had slept in to nearly noon before stumbling out to do some shopping.

But she had a kind heart, kinder than any Jael had met in recent memory. It seemed to radiate off of her, like a sweet perfume, infecting everyone around her and filling them with hope. After all, it was Selene who had convinced the other two that Jael was worth saving. She had treated Deborah with nothing but love, reciting to the child an endless stream of fairy tales.

It was more than her kindness that made Selene special, though. Again Jael couldn’t quite place what it was but there was a sense of uniqueness that hung around the young woman. Perhaps that’s why the other two protected her so fiercely.

The twins, at least Jael assumed they were twins; no two people acted that much alike unless they were; had a regal sense about them. It was strange, Jael thought. At first glance, the pair seemed nothing more than ordinary travelers. Their clothes weren’t anything special, Mara’s in particular were little more than rags when she first arrived. They said little, asked for nothing, and kept largely to themselves. No one would take a second glance at them on the street.

Yet one had only to stand in their presence for more than a minute to be awed by the sheer power of command they bore. Over her years as a prostitute, Jael had had many nobles as clients: generals, palace officials, and even a few high ranking lords but none had near the regality that these two did. Theirs was the kind that couldn’t come from a title or a castle; theirs was the kind that you had to be born with. Jael had only felt that kind of power once and that was a long time ago.

As Jael thought about it, that kind of contradiction seemed to define the twins. They just didn’t add up. Jael had met enough people to be able to peg people’s age fairly accurately, but she had a hard time with these two. They appeared and sounded young, roughly the same age as Selene she guessed, but they talked like people who had decades of life experience. Either they were older than they looked or they were wise beyond their years.

Then there were the twins’ personalities. They maintained a hard and rough exterior, acting as if they didn’t give a single care in the world. Part of it, Jael knew, wasn’t an act; Jared and Mara were the ultimate pragmatists. They were single-minded and task-oriented and would do anything or sacrifice anyone necessary to accomplish whatever task they had set their minds to. If it wasn’t for Selene insisting that they stay and help her, Jael knew that they would’ve left her to her fate in a heartbeat.

But Jael also knew that deep down, they really did care. In fact it was as if they cared too much which is why they went to great lengths to hide it. For the most part the twins were successful, but Jael could see through their hardened, practiced mask.

Mara had taken a special interest in Deborah and the girl had returned the interest. More than once Jael had seen her daughter curled up on the woman’s lap, sleeping peacefully as if Mara hadn’t nearly killed her a couple days before. Even right now Mara had taken Deborah out back to teach her Kalashonian Form I, something Jael had never learned. When Mara found that out, she told the innkeeper that it was a disgrace for a Kalashonian not to know how to fight. So she was teaching the little girl Form I.

Then there was Jared. He knew exactly what she was and didn’t judge her. Jared had treated her with nothing but dignity and respect, something she wasn’t used to. Then last night he had cleaned up after the tavern after she had closed. When she broke down in front of him, he just held her and then gently carried her to her bed and tucked her in.

Thinking about it gave Jael a warm glow in her belly. Jared was so different than the litany of men that had come through her life. He made her feel like a woman rather than an object. He was gentle and kind while simultaneously being strong and stern. Jared was everything Jael could want in a man.

That thought made her sit up straight. Could she be falling in love with him? There were so many things wrong with that. Jael barely knew anything about him; she had known him for all of three days and they hadn’t talked that much in that time. She didn’t know where he was from or why he was going to Ammon or his age or really anything else about him other than his name. She hadn’t even seen his face. He could be a serial killer for all she knew.

But she couldn’t deny that her heart was beginning to tap dance every time she saw him. She couldn’t deny the warm glow that she felt every time she thought of him. Maybe it was crazy, but she couldn’t help but be drawn to him.

Sighing, she tried to shake off those thoughts. Jael knew it would never work; she was at least 10 years older than him, probably more. But more than that, there was a greatness about him, that regal bearing that hung around him and his sister. While that was what drew Jael to him, it was also what was keeping them apart.

Jael wasn’t naïve to the suffering that permeated the kingdom under Manasseh’s rule. While she didn’t know exactly what was going on with the trio, she knew that they were Manasseh’s enemies. She couldn’t shake the sense that those three were destined to set the kingdom right and that was probably why King Manasseh was hunting them. To ask Jared to stay with her would be to sacrifice all the other people that he could help and that was something that Jael just couldn’t do, no matter how she felt about him.

The innkeeper was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the back door to the tavern open and close. Suddenly she felt strong arms grab her and jerk her to her feet. Trying to spin around, Jael found herself looking into the cruel face of Benjamin, the same man who had been harassing her the other night and the only one who had escaped Jared and Mara.

Adrenaline coursed through her body as panic began to explode inside her. Wriggling out of her captor’s grip, she started to escape only to run headlong into another one of Benjamin’s goon. Looking around, Jael realized with growing dread that she was hopelessly surrounded. Only one thought came to mind.

“JARED!” she screamed. Jael had no idea where he was but he seemed like her only hope. “JARED!” she screamed again.

Instantly a rough hand clasped over her mouth and then shoved a rag into her mouth, gagging her.

“Try to relax, whore,” Benjamin menaced. “We’re not going to hurt you, much anyway. This will go a lot easier for you and us if you just cooperate.”

Jael hated this man with a passion. He had been a thorn in her side for years and she would be damned if he was going to order her around like that. She twisted and writhed, trying to get away. Where was everyone?

“As you wish,” Benjamin sighed and signaled to a man positioned behind her. A powerful wallop cracked the back of her head causing her world to spin before turning black to nothing.