Benj woke up and noticed he was by himself. He gathered his clothes, bathed, and walked down to the dining area. Everyone was at the breakfast table eating and cracking jokes with each other. Upon seeing Benj, the room went quiet. Draiden stood up, raised a glass, and toasted to their newest member. There was a mixture of agreement and cheers around the table as Benj found a seat.

Lucia leaned close and whispered, "I would have woken you earlier, but I wasn't sure if you still needed time to recover."

"Yeah, how are you feeling?" Draiden asked, implying that he had overheard the comment."

"A lot better. What did I miss?" he asked, scooping cold eggs and sausages onto a plate.

Draiden looked pleased. "Reese left this morning, and he put me and Priest in charge while he's gone. I'm not sure why he couldn't just put me in charge."

"Because he doesn't want everything to burn down in his absence," Priest responded, walking into the room. "It's not like we'll be doing anything, so you're all free to scurry around and do whatever it is that lowlifes do when they aren't robbing houses."

"I'm going to go visit my dad," Lucia announced. "Benj, do you want to come with me?"

"Sure," He smiled. "I keep forgetting that John is your father. That's something I still need to get used to."

"You already know her father?" Jafa asked suspiciously. "How?"

Benj paused. With the story he fabricated, there would be no reason why he should know her father.

"We weren't going to tell you this," Lucia said, cutting in. "But Benj and I have been courting for some time now. He's already met my father."

Benj shot her a surprised look. That wasn't what they agreed their story would be. However, he had made a blunder and her story did make sense.

"Two thieves find more than just loot while plundering their assassinated victims," Priest mused. "Isn't that romantic, Draiden?"

"Sounds eerie, even to me," Draiden admitted.

"You'll want to get some new clothes then. You should find yourself something respectable to wear for the father-in-law." Priest tossed Benj a bag of coins. "This is your cut from the job. I'm sure Lucia knows some good places to go."

"We can go right now if you're ready, sweetie pie," Lucia said, smiling at him.

Benj stifled a laugh at the absurdity of the pet name. There was a part of him that was excited to pretend to court her. He had started liking her even though she was just a friend. She was the only person he was able to trust. Having someone to talk to and share secrets with was a good feeling, but their closeness only complicated his plans for leaving. She wouldn't leave without her father, and he wished he had left days ago.

"I guess I'm ready," Benj said, trying to think of a pet name to use at the last moment. "Uh, sugar balls."

"Hey, Pots," Jafa said with a nefarious grin. "Can you pass a sausage, sugar balls?"

The table laughed.

Jafa took the sausage and held it to Pots' mouth. "Say 'ah,' my little flower peddle."

"You guys keep that weird stuff to yourselves," Draiden said and then smacked the sausage out of Pots' hand. "All of you."

"You're the best, sugar balls," Pots said and then laughed.

Lucia stood and pulled on Benj's arm. "Alright, we're leaving."

The two walked outside and were well down Castle Road before she broke the silence, "Sugar balls? Is that the best you could do? We need to work on that."

Benj looked at her indignantly. "I'm sorry I didn't think of a cool nickname to call you twenty seconds after finding out that we're courting. That was not part of the plan. Besides, sugar balls are a real thing. They're little cakes, and they're delicious."

"Little delicious cake balls, huh?" Lucia asked. "Is that how you feel about me?"

"What? No, I was playing along," Benj said, exasperated. "Anyway, I don't know the first thing about courting. I thought people just decided they're going to get married and then order a cake."

"I'm not sure how it works either," Lucia confessed. "But I think we have to hold hands."

"It's okay, we don't have to hold hands," Benj said, involuntarily blushing.

"No, we have to hold hands," she demanded, taking his hand. "Just until we get out of here. Then you don't have to pretend to like me anymore.

Benj stopped, released her hand, and faced her. "Lucia, I really do like you. I haven't really had a friend like you before. I've always worked too hard at the bakery to go out and do things like have friends. I would really like it if we could stay friends after this is all over."

"If you're trying to get out of holding my hand, it's not going to work," Lucia said, retaking his hand. "Let's get you some new clothes.

----------------------------------------

Stau knew someone was approaching from behind him, but he didn't need to be a veteran assassin to hear or recognize the heavy footsteps coming his way. He continued watching his younger assassins train as the giant man stopped behind him.

"Did you draw up the plans I requested?" Darius asked, stopping next to him.

"I started putting things in motion as soon as I noticed Tannus was going to be a problem," Stau said. "All you have to do is say the word."

"Tonight, then," Darius told him. "There's no need to delay. When it is done, I will send in the thieves."

"This one is going to be messy," Stau warned. "It's hard to make it look like an accident when you also need to kill a palace worth of guards."

Darius watched as one of the assassins jumped toward a straw dummy, stabbed it through the chest, and landed with a roll. "This isn't the first chancellor we've killed, and it won't be the last," he said with finality.

Stau creased his forehead. "Have you considered what Reese will do? He's not going to agree with you dispatching his dear old friend Tannus."

"That's why I sent him away."

Stau asked, "What happens when he gets back and starts connecting the dots?"

"I'll leave that to you," Darius said, turning to leave. "By the time he gets back, I'm sure you will have planned a perfectly acceptable tragedy."

"I will look into it."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"See that you do."

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Benj and Lucia walked inside a store called, "Amelie's Apparel." Clothes laid folded across racks and wooden crossbeams. The smell of cotton and leather filled the room. A small lady with dark skin peered at them from around a wooden crate stacked with folded tunics.

"Welcome to my store!" she chimed happily. "Can I help you find anything today?"

"Yes, please," Benj said, taking in the room. "I'm looking for something for me."

"He's meeting my father today," Lucia added.

Benj shot her a glance. They didn't always need to pretend to be courting.

"Oh, how exciting," the lady said. "What colors do you like wearing?"

"Brown, mostly," Benj shrugged.

"Let's try green," Lucia interjected.

The lady relaxed into a knowing smile and waved for them to follow her to the left of the shop. They followed her as she led them to assorted colors of tunics and vests.

"Most of these should be about your size," she said digging through a crate and pulling out a couple loose fitting shirts. One was tan and the other was off-white. She handed them to Benj and kept moving around looking at various pieces of clothing and holding them up to him for sizing. She gave him two vests, one brown and one green, and then handed him several matching pants. One was cotton; the other one was leather.

Benj took the clothes and looked around for a privacy curtain.

The lady pointed towards the corner of the store. "You can try them on back there. Do you need help?"

"I'm sure he can do it himself," Lucia said on his behalf.

He brought the clothes back and closed the curtain. When he was dressed, he walked out wearing the green vest, green trousers, and white tunic. "How does it look?" "You look like a proper gentleman," Lucia complemented with a smile.

The lady clicked her tongue, walked over, and began fussing with his trousers. "I'll need to take these up. If you give them to me, I can start doing that now."

Benj went back in the room closed the curtain and when his pants were removed, he held them out of the curtain. When the lady took them, he put on the brown leather pants, tan tunic, and brown vest. When he came out Lucia fixed him with an odd look.

"That was fast," she said proudly. "It takes me forever to shop for clothes, and here, in a matter of minutes, you found the exact perfect look with no effort whatsoever. Obviously, you have to get them."

"I don't even know how much they are," Benj admitted, looking around for a price.

"Four Talents and five," the lady informed him from across the room.

Benj opened his new coin purse, anticipating the need to put some of his items back. He was astounded to find two silver Talents, twelve copper Marks, and one very large gold Royal. He had never had this kind of money in his life. He looked at Lucia, who, seeing the look on his face, said, "We'll take them. Oh, and do you have anything black?" ---

Reese slowed his pace to a trot, giving his horse time to rest. He would need to go easier on his horse if he was going to make it all the way to Thannon. He had been upset that Darius sent him to find his brother when his brother could look after himself. If Gallows didn't want to come back to Royal, that was his problem.

It was past midday when he stopped to eat and take a few sparing sips of water. As upset as he was about the unexpected journey, he was happy to be out of the city and on the road again. It had been too long since he had gone anywhere.

Deciding he was content to take his time, he scanned the horizon for any sign of water and green pastures for his horse. He decided that when he got to Thannon, he would stay a while regardless of if he found his brother. He noticed a dark circle of birds in the distance, except they weren't flying like normal birds; they had to be vultures. He decided to take a closer look, just in case.

Reese found he had guessed correctly as he watched vultures soar overhead. He kept a cautious eye on his surroundings. Dead animals meant other, more dangerous animals. He drew his sword and nudged his horse closer.

He moved his horse through a cluster of trees and saw where the large birds were landing; it was the dead body of a man. The corpse's clothes were gone, and the man was lying face down in the dirt. His decomposing body was ripped to pieces from the vultures, but one thing stood out, a tattoo of a snake and a three-point crown over two stars.

"Brother," was all Reese could say. Though he hadn't gotten along with him, he felt the pain of loss as he stared down at his brother's lifeless body.

He began searching the surrounding area for anything that would identify his brother's killer. There had been a fire. Around the charred remains lay a half-burned leather satchel. He opened it and found burned clothes, a broken and burned wooden spoon, and some damp papers. Most of the words were written too small, and the rain made them illegible. He peeled the papers apart to reveal the words "Benj's Recipes."

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Benj and Lucia walked down the busy streets carrying folded clothes tied together with string. Benj was grateful that his hands were too preoccupied for Lucia to try walking hand in hand again. They talked and walked together until they approached a cart that he recognized. It was the spice cart he had seen come through his village so many times, except for it looked dingier than he remembered. Their laughs and smiles turned into a solemn silence as they approached.

"Father?" Lucia asked, calling towards the spice cart. There was silence at first, followed by a rustle within. Sound of glass bottles and shuffling noise. The back of the cart opened, and John dragged himself out.

Benj watched as the familiar man slid out, carefully maneuvering a hurt leg with his hands. He was a shadow of the plump and happy spice merchant he had shared breakfast with so many times before. He had become thin, and his beard was longer and unkempt. His dark skin had become paler, and he was covered in fading bruises.

Lucia ran to him and threw her arms around him, causing him to groan in pain. "I came as soon as I could; how are you feeling?"

"The leg still hurts, but the rest of me is doing better," he said before noticing who she had come with. "Is that," he paused for a moment, "Benjos Baker? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see what life was like outside the village," Benj said, clasping hands with the man.

"He saved my life," Lucia blurted out excitedly.

John looked at Benj, surprised, "How?"

"It's okay. You can tell him everything," Lucia said, adding, "I do."

"It's a long story, I hope you don't have anywhere to be," Benj warned.

John laughed, "My schedule just cleared up."

"I was looking for work at a bakery when I recognized Lucia...." Benj continued recounting the story, explaining how the pickpocket found Gallows' ring in his jacket pocket. He also expressed his desire to leave the city as soon as possible.

"I see," John said with a troubled look on his face. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"I'm not sure," Benj said honestly. "I was going to leave as soon as I got the chance, but I'm worried they'll chase me down if I do. To make matters worse, someone decided to tell everyone that we're courting today, and it won't look good for her if I just disappear."

"It's not my fault you constantly need someone to rescue you every time you open your mouth," Lucia argued, crossing her arms.

"At any rate, I'm happy for you two," John said, beaming. "You couldn't have picked a finer or more hard-working man then Benjos. You have my blessing."

Benj opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Lucia looked as if nothing had happened.

"We've mostly just come to a mutual understanding that we need to stick together in order to get out of here safely," Lucia clarified. "We're not actually planning on getting married."

"If we did, it could buy us some time to escape," Benj mused satirically.

Lucia sat up. "That might actually work. If we tell them we're getting married, they won't come looking for us right away. That should buy us enough time to get out of their reach."

"If I got my cart fixed and got a horse, all we would need is about a three-day head start," John said in a quiet voice, leaning forward slightly.

"I have a horse in the stable," Benj offered. "But I'm not sure how pretending to get married will buy us three days."

"We'll just tell everyone that we are staying somewhere in town to celebrate or whatever," Lucia devised out loud.

"There's no way they'll believe it," Benj said uncertainly. "We've only known each other for like…" he started counting the days on his fingers.

"As far as they know, we could have known each other for years. We'll just have to speed things up a bit."

"Speed things up, how? Do we start wearing matching outfits or something? Because you're flirtatious enough without speeding things up." "Just do your part and leave the rest to me," Lucia said with a smile. "In the span of ten days, they'll be begging us to get married."

"Thankfully, we already know a fake priest," Benj added. "That solves at least one problem."

"Are you sure he's fake?" Lucia asked. "It would be safer just to tell people we already got married out in town."

The conversation bounced back and forth between Benj and Lucia as they arranged their fake wedding. John observed quietly, looking like he was enjoying himself.

"Benj, promise me to be good to her," John said when the conversation had lulled. "She's all I have in the world."

"We're not really getting married, John," Benj reminded him.

John leveled his eyes at him.

"I swear to be good to her," Benj promised. "You have my word."

John motioned him closer and then wrapped his arms around Benj in a hug. "Whether your wedding is real or fake, welcome to the family."

Benj gently patted Johns back. "Thanks, John, now let's try to get out of here."

After the two pulled away from each other, Lucia emptied her money pouch and placed the coins in her father's hands.

Benj followed suit, adding the rest of his coins to the pile. "I have some more back at the cathedral."

"You two are incredible," John smiled proudly at the pair. "If you already have a horse, this will be more than enough to fix the wagon and get supplies."

"Just be ready for us," Lucia advised. "I'm not sure how long it will take, but when it's time to go, we'll have to rush."