To Catch a King

6.

“Stop playing with your pin,” Andreas retorted. He was annoyed. Because of Jask, they left earlier than they needed to. Earlier than Jask needed to. He understood her restlessness, but he was prepared to leave her in Aundie’s care when he knew that she was awake and going to survive the whole ordeal.

Instead, she made him pay Aundie while she went out and got the things he was supposed to go get, which was against his orders. She needed to get better, not travel across the iffy terrain and get attacked by possible bandits or assassins sent their way.

When Jask started playing with her pin, they were still on their horses and it was rather late in the night. Because they had been in Daemis for so long, the schedule that Andreas had mapped out had been disrupted. It was also inconvenient that Jask was hurt, since they had to stop and rest after a while. He frowned, glancing over at her for the seventeenth time in under an hour. He should have left her in Daemis. Should’ve left in the middle of the night so that he could have been far away enough that she couldn’t follow. Should’ve forced her to stay with Amy or whatever that lady’s name was, since she was going to get better much faster in that woman’s care than she was traveling with someone who barely knew any medical skills.

After a few more minutes, the two came upon a stream. Andreas stopped his horse and dismounted, letting the animal rest and drink water. He helped Jask dismount—which he could tell she hated—and sat down on the bank, not caring if his trousers got wet. He barely looked when Jask sat down beside him.

“Why are you continuing this?” he asked. For a while, it was quiet. He wasn’t sure if she was going to answer, but he prepared himself just in case she didn’t.

“I always finish a mission,” she answered, her voice quiet. Andreas fought not to look at her, but he couldn’t hide his surprise. He’d been attempting to talk to her since they left, but to no avail. Now, when they were sitting in an open area with no fire, she chose to actually answer him. Andreas felt himself getting angry, but he tried to push those feelings away.

“No matter what?”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a while, letting the horses rest. While the horses rested, they snacked on fruit that they gotten from the market.

“You know that we’re spending a week on the road, with barely any civilization, right?” Andreas said. He looked over and noticed Jask staring at him. She nodded, then turned to finish watching the horses. “You…you think you’re ready for that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jask replied. “I’m joining you no matter what.”

Andreas sighed and hung his head. Of course she was. He really should have left her in Daemis.

“Daemis wasn’t going to stop me if you left,” she said, somehow reading his mind. He glanced at her. “You’re an open book, soldier. You need to get better at hiding your feelings.”

He sighed again.

Jask knew that he didn’t want her on the trip. Heck, she didn’t even want to be on it. Yet, it had been instilled in her since she was young that whatever she started absolutely had to be finished. She couldn’t give up on a job, because her moral code screamed at her that there could have been pretty things that she could have found. There could have been things that she could steal, or the mission that she was on could negate the mission that she had failed when she got arrested. The mission that she was on could keep her alive for a few more years and out of jail.

The reason she kept glancing at Andreas was simple. He was too open. It wasn’t something that she was used to. Even in Hena, most of the people weren’t open. She knew that Andreas wasn’t simply a Native making money to send to his family—yes, she had checked that. She knew that he was smart, but he was almost as naïve as she was.

His openness confused her. He’d been really open ever since the day before, when she woke up. He’d never been this open with her. Sure, he was usually open because he had no idea how to keep an impassive face or stay impartial, but ever since she’d woken up, he’d been an open book. Maybe it was new insight that caused this, new insight from them both. Maybe he realized that he needed her on this mission, since she realized that she needed a soldier to help her with the legal side of things, since she didn’t exactly lead a legal lifestyle herself.

Since she was pretty open with her body—living among hordes of men that you grew up with did that to you—she felt pretty comfortable checking her stitches in front of Andreas. Either he didn’t notice or he did and ignored her. It didn’t really matter. Her stitches were healing quite nicely and she hadn’t really felt any pain, which was surprising. Usually injuries like a stab to the chest gave you a bunch of pain.

“She stitched you up pretty well,” Andreas pointed out. She narrowed her eyes. So he had noticed. There was no need for her to get annoyed that he did, but the feeling went through her anyway.

“Yeah,” she said, resituating her shirt. “She did.” They were quiet once again. After an hour or so, Andreas stood up and stretched.

“We’re not going to have a set schedule, now,” he commented. “For now, we can ride until we find a good place to make camp. I’m pretty sure our backsides will be sore from sitting on the saddles for so long.” He helped Jask up and lifted her onto the horse. Making sure she was steady, he gave her a small smile. “I’m not that much of an open book, Jask. But I do know that you’re just as curious about me as I am about you. You’re not as closed off as you seem, either.” He didn’t catch her frown as he turned away to mount his horse.

It took a few hours and the sun was well into the sky by the time they found some sort of shelter. The two were still out in the open, but they had found a large tree that had fallen right on the outskirts of a small expanse of trees. Behind the tree was a small, abandoned foxhole. It didn’t really help their situation, though: by the time the two had stopped, it had started raining.

It was freezing and they worked together to widen a rotted hole in the tree (Jask found this almost as disgusting as Andreas gutting the deer) so that they could build a meager fire that barely kept them warm. Neither of them spoke, since they were too busy trying to stay warm, and no one kept watch that night. They huddled together to preserve warmth and only move to put the driest twigs and leaves on the ever tiny fire.

The rain had stopped by the next morning, and by then, Jask had figured out their routine: they would ride their horses and stop whenever they saw the ever-meandering river they stayed near, then ride again until they could find a good place to rest, sleep, and then do the same thing all over the next day. She didn’t even know if they were going to make it to Challus in a week.

It kept raining for three days after they left Daemis. This left both of them grumpy and eternally wet, like they couldn’t get a break. It was nearly impossible for Jask to keep her wound dry, and she belatedly wished that she had gotten one of those waterproof cloaks that had been advertised.

On the fourth day of traveling, they happened on some merchants. They too were trudging along in the rain, but they were in carriages. When Andreas had spotted them, the carriage had gotten stuck, stereotypically, in a muddy hole. He urged his horse quickly forward, leaving Jask behind. He assisted the carriage driver—really, was there no one else with the people?—with the carriage and then waved Jask over when they were finished.

When it was all over, the door to the carriage opened and a young girl stepped out. She looked around, spotted Jask, and grinned.

“Jacqueline!”

Jask winced, suddenly recognizing the girl. Her name was Darius, and she was the only daughter of a lord that Jask had once done a job for. She and Darius had gotten close, and Darius was the only person that Jask had told her actual name to. It was embarrassing now that she was using in public. She didn’t dare glance at Andreas.

Darius practically jumped out of the carriage. Like Jask, Darius was dark-skinned, with curly brown hair and amber eyes in contrast to Jask’s grey eyes and dark hair. When together, the two of them looked a lot like sisters. Darius certainly seemed like a little sister to Jask.

“Hi, Darry,” Jask smiled, using the nickname she’d given Darius. Andreas somehow knew that she wanted to get off of her horse, and before Jask could, put her on the ground. Darius and the carriage driver watched all of this with wide eyes.

“Jask, is this your husband?” Darius squealed. The girl lifted her skirts and hurried over, giving Jask a hug. Jask winced but Darius didn’t notice. She was too busy chattering. She sent a distressed look to the carriage driver, who seemed to realize that all of them were still in the rain.

“Manners, milady,” he said, and Darius suddenly straightened, panic on her face.

“I am so sorry,” she apologized. “We are in the rain, aren’t we?” She grabbed both Jask and Andreas into the carriage. “Are you two headed to Challus as well?” Jask nodded while Andreas observed the both of them.

Jask had visibly relaxed once she saw Darius. It was the first time he had ever seen her let down her guard. He had to fight a smile, though. Her name was Jacqueline. It explained why her last name—aristocratic sounding—sound so weird with the name she provided. The two girls really looked alike, almost as if they could be sisters. He declined to get into the carriage, feeling bad for the coachman, and took his place. He’d driven carriages as a child to get a bit more money for his family. Six children tended to take up a lot of expenses, along with whatever other expenses his parents needed to take care of.

The coachman absolutely refused to go inside the carriage with the girls, so Andreas just had to join him on the seat. The man didn’t even notice that Andreas was wearing a pin until he adjusted it on his shirt.

“You’re an Elite?” the coachman gasped. He started to bow in his seat and Andreas nearly stopped the carriage just to get him to stop bowing. “If I’ve offended you, sir, please accept my apology.”

Andreas frowned. “Why would I be offended by anything you did? I helped you.”

The coachman looked confused. “Why are you so nice? The other Elites…is that girl an Elite, too?”

Andreas nodded. “I wouldn’t be Elite without working hard. We just became Elites. What’s wrong with the others? You just asked why we were nice.”

The coachman frowned, obviously debating on if Andreas was actually a good person or not. It offended him a little, but the coachman was afraid of Elite Soldiers, and he wanted to know why. When Andreas refocused back on the man, the latter seemed to have come to a decision.

“I’ll start from the beginning,” the man said. “My name is Kelim, and milady is Darius Sansdora. We both came from Challus, but she’s obviously aristocracy while I’m…working class.”

Andreas nodded. He understood. Though Talehaven was technically rich, his people were still working class. Kelim continued.

“In Challus, working class and aristocracy aren’t allowed to mix.” He had turned to face the rain, but he glanced back at Andreas. “Your people are even lower than working class. There are very few Natives actually in Challus, but they are all persecuted mercilessly. That’s probably why they’re doing a mass migration to Talehaven.”

Andreas nodded again. His parents had sent him letters talking about the influx of other Natives coming into Talehaven, all of them dirty and sad. It broke his heart to hear from Kelim the treatment of his people.

“Anyway, the Elites of Challus are dirty, corrupted people. We just came from Hena—the Elites there are much nicer and organized than the ones back at home. The Elites are born into their positions, much like aristocrats are born into money. They don’t even go into military academies, or even the military. They aren’t competent, and they don’t protect the people. They let the Enforcers do what they want while they laze around and do nothing.”

Kelim looked Andreas right in the eye and the latter was startled by the other’s intense gaze. “Be careful. The Enforcers don’t care if you’re Elite; all they see is that you’re a Native. Before we get there, you’d better take off your pin and give it to your lady. They won’t bother her, since she’s practically aristocracy, but they will be suspicious of you. It’s best if all of your belonging are with her.”

Andreas gazed forward.

“Great,” he said. “I knew Challus was corrupted, but gods.”

Kelim nodded, though he knew that Andreas couldn’t see it. They rode in complete silence.

Inside, Darius was busy chattering away to Jask. Jask loved the sixteen year old girl like sisters loved one another; it made her think of the family that she never had even if she was raised in the Thieve’s Guild. Jask reveled in the fact that she was no longer in the rain. It was still cold, but Darius had allowed Jask to change her clothes. It felt nice to finally be dry, even if she did have to deflect Darius’s questions about the stitches.

“…And Kelim is so adorable, don’t you think?” Jask finally tuned in to Darius’s one-sided conversation. She raised an eyebrow. She was rather glad that she could talk to Darius like she used to talk to her father.

“Kelim? The coach?”

Darius nodded, excitement brimming in her eyes.

“Isn’t in his twenties?” Jask commented. “He’s too old for you.”

Darius rolled her eyes. “Kelim is eighteen. Like me. Don’t tell Daddy, though. He’d get rid of Kelim in a heartbeat. Anyway, you’re an Elite now, right? How did that even happen? Does Andreas know that you’re a thief? He’s cute, too, you know.”

It was Jask’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’m ignoring that last statement. And he knows my…profession. This is an alternative to what I usually do, and pays much better.”

Darius nodded like she understood. “Anyway, are you and Andreas staying with us when we get to Challus? I know Daddy would love seeing you, and he’d probably like Andreas. He’d probably protect him from Enforcers and Imposers.”

Jask looked down. What Darius said was true. Last time she had been to Challus, she’d been fourteen. That was a trip she’d never forget: she’d seen a Native arrested just for walking on the sidewalk and beaten to within an inch of their life. When she tried to save him, she was nearly arrested. The only thing that saved her was Darius and her father: she’d been walking with them when everything had happened.

“We’d need to keep him on the grounds,” Jask whispered. “I know that he’d hate being hidden, but that’s the only way to keep him safe.”

Darius nodded in agreement. “We will, Jaq. Nothing will happen to him.”

Jask gave a grim smile, not even bothering to remind Darius that she didn’t go by Jacqueline in public. Darius looked curiously at Jask for a moment, cocking her head, and suddenly grinned.

“You look so unladylike, Jaq,” she said. Your hair is so short. Andreas’s hair is longer than yours by a mile.”