He signaled to Maiya with his hands. Be ready. Biding his time, Vir waited for the right opportunity. The girl led them across a main road, then into another alley. It was perfect. Empty, dark, and with branching alleys they could use to make their escape.
“Well, you fleeced us, but thanks for the help anyway,” he said, drawing his katar in one fluid motion. “We’re gonna go our own way now. Don’t follow us. If you do, we’ll retaliate.”
Before the girl knew it, she was staring down the blades of two katars, her back pressed against a stone wall. “W-wait! I’m not a bad person, I swear! I just… We wanted to help you,” she said, scratching the back of her head.
“Why? Nobody risks their neck for strangers like that,” Maiya said.
“It’s because, uh… well. Y’see… I’m kinda the one who set you up?”
Vir and Maiya’s blades were at the girl’s throat before she could blink.
34A SHEEN TARNISHED
“Wait, wait, wait!” the girl hissed, her eyes wide with fear at the katars that pressed against her throat. “I can explain!”
“Then explain,” Vir said. “You have thirty seconds. Starting now.”
“Yeesh! So a man came to us yesterday. Said he’d pay us good money, like real good, to dress up like a couple of ’risto boys and go around stealing for ’im. So we did. But then… Uh, you don’t recognize me, do you?”
Vir studied her face. “You’re Alda. You’re the one who approached us when we checked into our inn yesterday.”
Alda nodded. “We were gonna just leave you be, but, well… it’s not everyday people are kind ta us, y’know? We felt bad. Didn’t sit right. And ’sides, yer not even ’ristos after all…”
Not like you did it out of the kindness of your heart. You’re still profiting from this…
Vir thought back to the stranger who’d accosted them on the road to Saran. He’d held suspicions about the man as soon as they’d met. Maybe he’d seen an easy mark in them… But that didn’t explain why he’d gone through all of this trouble to sabotage Vir and Maiya.
“How do you know we’re not Sawai?” Maiya asked.
The girl pointed to Vir. “They’d never rough up a ’risto like that. I mean, it’s a good thing yer not. Means you’re, like, one of us!”
“You never thought to ask why this man was paying you to steal from these stores? He could’ve just bought that stuff himself for less, right?”
“Money was good, man! Like, real good.”
Vir stared at the girl’s deep, black eyes, but all he saw was fear. He let out a long breath and pulled his katar away. Though he wasn’t happy about it, he wasn’t about to off someone for doing what they could to survive. He fully understood how hard things were for those ostracized by society.
Even so, the anger within him refused to abate.
“You’re just gonna forgive her?” Maiya said, incredulously.
Vir shook his head. “No. If she were an adult, I’d have beaten her to the ground, but well… I can’t exactly beat up a kid, can I? Still, we need our money back,” Vir said, approaching the scared girl.
“Oh, really? No problem,” Maiya said, stepping in front of Vir. With lightning speed, she punched Alda in the gut. Hard. Then again. And a third time.
The urchin didn’t even see it coming. Clutching her stomach, she collapsed to her knees, whimpering.
“That’s for hurting him. And this,” Maiya said, taking Alda’s coin sack from her, “is for me. You do not mess with us and get away with it. Got it?”
“H-hey! You can’t do that!”
“Oh? Can’t I?” Maiya said, bringing her katar to bear again.
“G-geez. I just… That’s all my money! That’s more than what I took from you.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before setting us up. Prey can have sharp teeth sometimes. C’mon, Apramor,” Vir said, using Maiya’s alias. “Let’s go.”
“W-wait!” the girl said, shakily finding her feet. “W-Why don’t ya come with me instead?” she said through gritted teeth, massaging her stomach.
“And why in all the realms would we do that?” Maiya asked. “Even if we believe your story, there’s nothing to be gained by following you. You could be leading us to danger for all we know.”
The girl waved her hands in front of her. “Definitely not! I wouldn’t gain anything from that! I mean, I wouldn’t do that! Not even after gettin’ punched. Y-You have an Ash’va, right? They’ve taken that too, and I don’t think you know where they’ve taken it. And like, you have my coin… I need that back.”
Vir narrowed his eyes. “He’s not at the inn? You know where Bumpy is?”
“Bumpy? Oh! Your Ash’va,” she said, clapping a fist against her open palm. “Hehe, cute name. Oh, but uh, yeah. They captured him too. We can help you get Bumpy back.”
Vir mulled over her words. It made sense that the authorities incarcerated Bumpy. If they’d taken him to a holding facility, it’d be difficult to spring him, and that was assuming he knew where they’d taken him, which he didn’t. As much as it irked him, he needed information.
“Alright,” Vir said, flourishing his katar. “Tell us where he is, then.”
“I… even if I did, it wouldn’t help. They’ve locked him down. You’ll need our help to spring him.”
The girl had already backed away several steps, no doubt intending to flee if Vir made good on his threat. The last thing he needed was for her to scream and alert the authorities.
“Alright,” Vir said with a scowl. “You help us, and we might give you back some of your coin.”
“All of my coin!”
“Depends on how angry my friend over here is,” Vir said, gesturing a thumb to Maiya, who glared at Alda.
“Yeesh! Alright! Okay,” she said, beckoning them to follow, but then she stopped. “Akshully, you know my name, but I dunno yours…”
“Neel,” Vir said, going with the name he’d prepared with Maiya beforehand. “And my brother here’s Apramor.”
“Well, I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I’m uh, pleased to meet ya?” the girl said, uncertainly flashing them a thumbs-up.
Neither Vir nor Maiya replied, but they did sheath their weapons, which helped calm the girl down.
They set off, following several paces behind Alda, in case they needed to make a quick escape.
As Alda led them through the alleys, the buildings grew denser, squatter, and more squalid.
Vir had expected as much, but even so, traveling through Saran’s slums was not a pleasant experience. He smelled urine, rotting food, sewage, and both Vir and Maiya had to be very careful about where they placed their steps, lest they tread upon a pile of dung.
Then there was Alda, who walked barefoot through all of this, entirely comfortable.
She kept sneaking glances at them. No, at him, specifically.
“Something on my face?” he said after she’d turned back for the dozenth time.
“Um, well akshully… Yer makeup’s running,” she said, looking away.
“O-oh. Thanks,” he replied awkwardly, glancing at Maiya.
His friend was already on top of things. Her rucksack was off, and she’d retrieved her makeup kit before Vir could even ask.
Maiya spent a few minutes cleaning off the dried blood on Vir’s face, then restored his makeup as best she could under the dim light.
“Not gonna fool a pro, but it should pass for now,” she said.
“Woah,” he said, inspecting her work with her travel mirror. “This is amazing. You’re way too good at this. I really need to learn how to do that.”
“T-thanks,” Maiya said, blushing. “Glad those hours practicing came in handy.”