A small noise pulled Kiri out of sleep. Still not really awake, she tried to ignore it. But there wasn’t any chance of going back to sleep, not with the morning sun turning her eyelids red. She opened them slowly, then jerked her head back and stifled a yelp as she saw, not the green swampy vegetation she expected, but Colin’s grinning, dirt-smudged face, bent close to her own. What? It made no sense. How could anyone have known she was out here, much less this urchin?
He was squatting on the ground beside her. Kiri hoped he hadn’t been there long because it was just too creepy to think of him having watched her sleep. Maybe that noise had been him coming up to her. She pushed back to get a little distance from him and sat up.
“Good morning,” she said. “Sorry, I haven’t got any breakfast to offer you.”
Colin half-straightened so he could dig into his pocket and pulled out two cloth-wrapped, crumbling pocket-pies and held one out to Kiri. “I’ve got it,” he said. “I thought you might be hungry.”
Kiri dug in eagerly. Lots of Firebrand work always made her extra hungry. “Thanks. I guess you’re hoping I’ll overlook the fact that you came out here without being invited. How did you find me?”
“Fire,” Colin said. “I was looking for you and saw it, so I came out here. I don’t think anyone else would have bothered coming so far off the road even if they noticed it. I wasn’t even really sure it’d be you, since the swamp gas sometimes catches fire on its own anyway. And I didn’t see anybody else coming.”
Well, that explained how he had found her, but not why he’d been looking in the area in the first place.
The cold pie had left gelled goo all over Kiri’s fingers. She licked them off. “Any water, Colin?”
Colin held out a flask. As fast as Kiri had eaten, he’d been faster. Youths were amazing like that. He watched her drink in a way that made her want to ask him to stop staring. He was getting a doe-eyed look in his eyes she’d seen on others before. As uncomfortable and awkward as handling the romantic interest of men her own age had been, she had a feeling that dealing with the infatuation of a young boy like this was going to be its own breed of problem.
“You’re really pretty,” he said.
Of course, he wasn’t going to be shy about it, not this brave kid. Kiri suppressed a groan, then, with a sudden realization, her hand flew to her face. With no one around to see, she hadn’t bothered to sleep with her mask on. Colin knew what she looked like now. At least he didn’t know her name. If she was careful, he’d never learn it. She handed the flask back and stood, brushing the last of the crumbs off her clothes.
“Go home, Colin,” she said. “Your mother must be worried about you.”
Colin stood, still looking at her with doe-eyes, but now with an extra layer of smugness on top that added irritation to Kiri’s uncomfortableness. “My mother isn’t worried,” he said. “I told her I would be with the Firebrand.”
Kiri didn’t suppress the groan this time. For good measure, she rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “That should make her worry. I’m not safe to be around at all. You’re a kid. Go home.”
He nodded. “Of course, of course.” But he didn’t go anywhere.
The two stared at each other for a few moments in silence, then Colin turned a little and gestured back towards Laed. “So, I’m heading home. You’re going my way, right? Keep me company?”
“I have more I want to do out here, thank you,” Kiri said. “Go on.”
“Of course,” Colin said. “It’s just, the road can be a little unsafe, for a lone traveler, you know. It’d be much better for me to have company.”
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Kiri growled at him through clenched teeth. He just kept smiling at her. She swooped down on her now very dirty dress and tugged it on. When her head popped up through the neck she saw that Colin was now holding out his arm for her. He even gave his elbow an inviting wiggle. She ground her teeth and sidestepped it. She kept going, not looking to see whether Colin followed. She could hear by sodden footsteps that he had. And what’s more, he whistled.
Colin kept on whistling until Kiri stopped huffing in indignation at being roped into going with him.
When he finally went silent, Kiri caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye.
“I’m not stupid, anyway,” he said.
“That’s clear,” she answered. “I’m still amazed you found me.”
“I mean I know I don’t have a chance with you,” he said.
“Smart and direct,” Kiri said. “And totally right. You’re a kid.”
“I’m not that much younger than you,” he said. “I’m telling you I’m not stupid about that so you don’t think that’s why I followed you out here. I’m not trying to-you know.”
“Ok,” Kiri said. “So why did you follow me out here?”
“At this point,” Colin said. “I’m all in with you. If you don’t back me up, and I don’t back you up, those guys are going to kill me. Or, who knows, the Enforcer could even get involved. I’m not used to stuff like this. I used to think the key to surviving the Outside was just to keep my head down.”
“But not anymore?” Kiri asked.
“It didn’t work for my dad,” Colin said. “He kept his head down plenty. They still cut it off.”
“They--”
“Not the same guys. They’re not the only bad guys.” Colin said. “When they came to round me up, I thought that at least they could protect me from that stupid, random stuff. But, you’re much better. I’d rather have your protection than theirs.”
Kiri grabbed his shoulder and he turned to her with surprise on his face. “Don’t count on me too much.”
“Why? You’re not a good protector?” When Kiri didn’t answer he broke into a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not stupid remember? I’m still going to look out for myself.”
A bead of sweat rolled down into Garon’s eyes and he pushed it back with a sleeve almost as sweat-damp as his dripping hair. There were no deliveries to make today. A big barge heavy with iron had come in, and all hands were called in for the unloading. The load was so heavy it would have taken the normal deck crew too long, so Tan held the delivery crew to help out. It wasn’t a particularly hot day but the work was hard and Garon was miserable.
Garon grunted as he straightened up after setting down his end of a heavy iron beam. He looked out over the river while slipping his gloves off to wipe his sweating palms off on his legs. Behind the barge they were unloading he could see, anchored near the middle of the river, a pretty pleasure-boat with its deck bustling with activity. He yanked his gloves back on--they were hot but it was worth it to keep the rough edges of the iron from cutting his hands--and squinted at the boat. He thought he recognized it, but wanted confirmation.
“That boat,” he said to Ben, who had been carrying iron with him. “Do you know whose it is?”
Ben threw back a mouthful of water from his flask and furrowed his brow. “Some outland lord,” he said. “They’ve been there a while. They have loud parties at night. The noise keeps me up, but the ladies are pretty, like little flowers.”
“Right, noble women,” Garon said. “Do you remember the lord’s name?” He took a long swallow of water from his own skin, and tried not to look too interested.
“Somethin’. What’s it matter?” Ben said. “Joseph, I think. Or, no, it was Useph. Lord Useph.”
Garon’s eyebrows jumped up. Even though he had been expecting the answer his face gave away enough emotion that Ben noticed.
“What, you know him?” Ben asked.
“In a way,” Garon answered. “What time do you think we’ll be done here?”
“If we’re lucky?” Ben said. “Sundown. If not, it’s going to be work by lantern light down here. Boss won’t let us quit until it’s done.”
Garon nodded, squinting at the boat again before going back to get more iron from the barge. He could almost imagine that he could see Mala among those shapes moving along the deck. Why was his sister staying so long in Laed? Wasn’t Lord Useph supposed to be taking her to the desert by now to meet her new people?