Sigil reckoned they had to stop eventually. The land skiff had great mileage, all IndustriaTech skiffs did, but it was an older model and three occupants was already more than its usual burden.

“We’ll have to pull over soon,” Sigil noted, glancing over at the silent man sitting next to her.

A soft gasp escaped the girl in the back. “But then they’ll find us!”

“They have a ship,” Sigil replied. “Even with the head start it’s not like we can out run them forever.”

The real reason they were pulling over was far more simple. They were out of fuel, but Sigil figured telling the young girl that would only make her panic.

“So what’s our next plan?” the girl asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The man next to Sigil stirred. She hadn’t known him for very long and he wasn’t much of a talker either. Kaius was his name, so he claimed. Compared to the men of her mercenary past he was more than bearble, most of the times at least.

“You. . .” Kaius growled, his eyes glued to the road, “can shut up and let us think.”

“Now, now,” Sigil said cheerfully. “No need to get snappy.”

Kaius grunted in response.

The girl cocked her head to the side. “Who are you people?” she asked. “I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. Tusk and Corvus were strong, but you two made them look like children.”

Sigil stifled a chuckle. “Well then you haven’t seen enough fights or fighters for that matter, princess, we’re hardly special.”

She’d meant it lightheartedly, but princess seemed to have struck a chord with the girl.

The girl stiffened in her seat. “I’m not a princess.”

“So tell me then,” Sigil asked, “who exactly are you?”

“I’m. . . just Aria.”

“Just Aria?”

She fidgeted in place before nodding shakily. “Just Aria.”

Aria was hiding something, but Sigil didn’t feel the need to pry any further. Everyone was allowed to have their own secrets.

The girl was born into wealth, at least that much Sigil could tell. Her hands lacked the calluses of the working class and her dress, although a little worse for wear, was of superior craftsmanship. The cloth alone was far above anything a commoner’s family could afford.

“The town should be nearby,” Kaius said. “We walk the rest of the distance.”

Aria nodded but still looked uncertain. “And if they find us?”

“Then Kaius will shoot them,” Sigil said. “He’s very good at that, shooting people. A useful talent to have in situations like these.”

“So why didn’t he shoot them earlier?”

Sigil let out a heavy sigh, before turning her head to face Aria. “The local authorities are willing to overlook most tavern brawls so as long as no one gets killed. If Kaius had shot those friends of yours, the constables would have come investigating. In the case we do have to off your friends, it’d have to be one hell of a desperate situation.”

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Aria nodded. “But they weren’t my friends,” she added hastily.

“Yes,” Sigil said. “We know they weren’t your friends. But I’m curious, how exactly did you end up traveling with their lot?”

“I don’t know.”

Sigil raised an eyebrow. “You. . . don’t know?”

She shrugged. “I woke up on the Cavendish.”

“The Cavendish?”

“The ship,” Aria said. “Tusk’s ship, he called it the Cavendish.”

The Cavendish, Sigil mused, odd name for a ship.

“Your friend doesn’t talk much,” Aria said, glancing over at Kaius.

“Drop the questions,” Kaius muttered darkly. “I don’t want to hear anything more from you, is that clear?”

“Yes,” Aria said glumly. “You’re clear.”

. . .

An hour later Kaius was scouting ahead, and Aria was on a lopsided stone, exhausted, but still sitting with unusually perfect posture.

Aria peeked up at Sigil. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked, drawing her eyebrows together. “Kaius doesn’t seem to like me very much.

Sigil snorted. “Don’t mind that old sourpuss, he’s perpetually angry,” she said. “He must have some rod stuck up his ass.”

Aria paused. “A rod? Stuck up his ass?”

“It’s an expression,” Sigil said. “Like when you- never mind.”

Aria nodded dumbly.

“We’ve got to get you better hiking gear,” Sigil noted.

“Why?” she asked absentmindedly.

“If you hadn’t noticed, dresses and heels aren’t exactly ideal for traversing the Yularian wilderness,” Sigil said. “We can get you new clothes when we reach the town.”

“Yularian,” Aria repeated. “Is that where we are?”

Sigil glanced at Aria. Did the girl really not know where her kidnappers had taken her? If so, she was an even bigger fool than Sigil had initially taken her for. Something was off about the girl. It was as if she was purposely making herself look stupid. The girl was helpless, but she didn’t give off the impression of an idiot when they had first met in the tavern. “Yes, the Kingdom of Yularia."

Aria folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. “This is a kingdom?”

“Yes,” Sigil answered, more sharply than she intended to. “We may be far from the capital and big cities, but everything as far as your pretty little eye can see belongs to the royal family.”

Aria fell silent.

“Something’s bothering you.” Sigil said matter of factly.

She nodded hesitantly. “Do you know where the Arai System is?”

Sigil shook her head. “Never heard of it,” she said with a brutally honest voice. “I’m going to go on a limb and assume that’s where you’re from.”

Aria frowned. “I assumed we were still within Arai borders.”

“Probably came through a warp gate.”

Aria fell silent again. She looked at Sigil, the same ignorant, helpless expression as before plastered to her face. “Warp gate?”

Invictus damn me, Sigil thought with shock. The girl doesn’t even know what a warp gate is. “You don’t get out much do you,” Sigil muttered to Aria.

Aria looked down at the ground. “I’d never even stepped foot off father’s estate before. . .”

“A crummy way to get introduced to the outside world,” Sigil said. “But that’s how it is outside the fancy cities and stations. Might makes right.”

“That’s horrible.”

Sigil grinned. She regarded the young girl for a moment. Sigil couldn’t relate to her painfully obvious aristocratic upbringing but she could relate to the feeling of helplessness, of being pushed around and not able to dictate your own fate. “Well. . . that’s life.”

“Done chatting?” a voice growled.

Sigil turned, her hands reaching instinctively for the daggers strapped to her belt.

Kaius stood beside a decently sized tree, staring at Sigil with obvious disapproval in his eyes. He held a bundle of clothes in one hand and a sack with what was presumed to be lunch in another.

Sigil smiled. “Anyone hungry?