Bakura stroked his beard. “Daha, ye say? Always good ta have some contacts in the capital. Hmm. Well, if ye were lying ’bout being ’ristos, you’d have been beaten black ’n blue. Not a scratch on ye, though.”
Maiya’s patchwork makeup job had done the trick. Vir shot his friend a thankful glance.
“But here’s what I don’t understand,” he said, eyeing Vir and Maiya. “If they let ye go, why’s yer Ash’va still captive, eh?”
Maiya spoke up. “W-well, we weren’t exactly let go. We couldn’t bear to remain another minute in those filthy cells, you see. When Alda offered to help us escape, we could hardly turn her down.”
“Uh, huh,” Bakura responded. “Offered you, for coin. I know this girl. Doesn’t do nuthin’ for free!”
“Not like you do, either! Stingy old man!” Alda shot back.
“Not runnin’ a charity ’ere, Alde. It’s every man for himself. Same as you.”
“Such denominations are nothing for us,” Maiya said, patting her coin bag, which was actually Alda’s old coin bag. Her words earned her a pointed look from the urchin.
“Reckon so. So, I help ya and ya go tell yer pappy ’bout Old Man Bakura, won’t ya?”
“R-right,” Maiya said. “If you help us out, we can put in a good word with our father back in Daha.”
Bakura clapped his hands, then rubbed them together, all smiles. “We got a deal, then! I ain’t even gonna charge ye on dis one. Havin’ a ’risto fam in me pocket’s worth seric.”
“You’ll help us break Bumpy out of wherever he’s being kept, right?” Maiya said. “We’ll be leaving the city as soon as you can.”
Bakura blinked at her. “Boy, ye got no chance.”
“What?” Vir said. “Didn’t you just say you’d help us?”
“I’m saying that one does not simply ride an Ash’va out the city gates after breakin’ out from the guild. Too big. Too noticeable. Guards’ll be all over ya. Ye got no chance. They may already have closed the gates, for all ye know.”
That seems likely, Vir thought, based on the guard activity outside.
“Then what should we do?” Maiya said, biting her lip.
If they couldn’t ride out of the front gates, they’d simply have to find another entrance. Vir was sure there were others… But were there other entrances that would allow an Ash’va through? That he didn’t know.
“Aight, so. Here what we do,” Bakura said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “Me ’n me men’ll help ya break yer Ash’va out. But you ’n yer brother ’r comin’ with me.”
“With you…” Vir said blankly.
“S’right. Aboard me ship.”
Vir and Maiya exchanged a glance.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Vir said. As much as sailing out into the open ocean filled him with excitement, it sounded really dangerous. They’d be at Bakura’s mercy on a ship. If the crew turned against him and Maiya… there would be little they could do. Could they really trust him? “There has to be another entrance to the city.”
Then again, Riyan said disguises can provide protection as well. So long as Bakura believed they were Sawai, he couldn’t touch them. If he did anything to a couple of Sawai kids, word would get out, and Bakura would be executed. The man knew that.
Bakura shook his thick neck, which jiggled. “That’s what ye don’t get, boy. Breakin’ an Ash’va out ain’t like breaking out a person. Trust me. Yer safer aboard me ship. We be heading south, for Balindam.”
“Balindam?” Maiya asked. “Isn’t that the capital of the Pagan Order?”
“S’right, boy. So we can let ye loose along the coast just south ’o town tomorrah. Ye can find yer own way back to de highway east from dere.”
“And you’re doing all of this just to get into my family’s good graces?” Vir said.
“Imma businessman, boy. Won’t risk me crew ’n me business over nuthin’. I be gainin’ aplenty from this lil deal of ours. Connections. Trading partners. New routes. ’Sides, not my first time doing something like this. I wouldn’t be where I am if I couldn’t sneak a person or two out from under de guards.”
Vir looked to Alda. “Is there any other way to get an Ash’va out of the city?”
The girl shrugged. “Dunno. Don’t think so.”
Maiya turned pensive, then nodded to Vir. With that, his last reason to refuse crumbled away.
“Alright,” Vir said with a sigh. “If that’s how it has to be, then we’re onboard.”
As long as Bakura believed them to be Sawai aristocrats, there’d be little danger to themselves. Maiya must have come to the same conclusion. That was a big ‘if,’ however. Vir would have to ensure the man had no reason to doubt them. That acting was best left to Maiya—she had trained for this, and even had a knack for it too.
“Good. Gimme an hour or two ta get me men ready. Haven’t pulled a heist like this in a long time. De boys are gunna love it.”
Something had bothered Vir this whole time. He thought back to Riyan’s words months ago. About how, with the proper disguise, they could walk into the king’s palace and steal from under his very nose. It felt like they were going about this heist the wrong way.
The disguises had helped, yes, but they were still sneaking around like criminals. And if Vir had Maiya drastically alter his appearance now, the urchins and Bakura would ask questions.
Or would they? What if!
“No, wait,” Vir said, grinning as an idea dawned on him. “I’ve got a better plan. Just grant us passage out of the city on your ship. That’s all we need.”
“Uh, you sure? Welp, suit yerself. Less work for me, ha! I’ll be waiting by de docks. Best be quick about it.”
“So? What’s this idea of yours?” Maiya whispered as Alda led Vir and Maiya back to the urchin’s base. Weaving through the back alleys and broken walls, the girl bypassed the main roads as if it were second nature to her. A good thing, because guards were now out in force, even in some of the alleys.
“Oh, just wait,” Vir replied. “You’re gonna love this!”
36BUMPY THE BRAVE
“Yesser. Orders from de jail, ser. They be wanting the Ash’va back tonight. Fresh developments, you see,” a brown-haired boy proclaimed, handing the stablemaster—a man in his early twenties—a writ of actual paper.
“Oh, uh, mmm. I see,” the stablemaster said, looking over the document nervously, then to the two boys before him. “Yes. Mmm. Yes. Everything seems to be in order.”
The stablemaster led the boys into the Merchant Guild stables. Most of the animals had fallen asleep, snoring peacefully. But there was one in the corner that remained wide awake, whimpering, desperately searching for a familiar face.
The stablemaster opened the gate and tried to pull the beast out, but it resisted. “Stubborn, this one,” he said.
The blond boy went up to the Ash’va and began soothing it. “There, there, boy. Nothing to worry about. You’re safe now.”
He beckoned for the brown-haired boy to let the Ash’va sniff his hand, doing the same himself. The instant he did, the beast quieted down, ceasing its whimpering and nuzzling him.
“Wow!” the stablemaster said. “Took everything we had just to get ’im into the corral. You work with Ash’va, boy?”
“Just a bit,” the blond-haired boy responded, leading the animal outside. The moment he’d left the stable, he mounted the beast, and the brown-haired boy followed suit behind him. “We’ll take it from here. Thank you for the help.”
“Anytime…”
They rode away into the darkness, leaving the stablehand holding the writ of paper.