I shake my head to chase my worries about how Tsek did, which are a waste of time until I have actual information. I take hold of my cloak and hand it over to Aisha, setting the hood over her head myself.
“Where did you tell him to meet you?” She asks.
“Up north, past the slums.” I reply.
“So pretty far from where we've been.” She nods approvingly.
In this case, it would be best if the other Shade didn't spot her first, or at all. I pick up my scimitar and ponder whether to take it or not. I set it back down as it's a lot more conspicuous to be carrying such a large weapon at night.
I take two of our short swords and fasten their belts to my waist, one slightly lower than the other and both on my left side. I vividly remember having one of my weapons stolen straight out of the sheath when I fought on the ship so if someone tries that again, at least they'll be forced to enter my symbiont's range.
I shift my mask under my tunic and depart with Aisha in tow. We make our way through the streets, going around the institute to head north. I focus mostly on my sense as the danger comes from those I wouldn't see coming.
The moon is in its first quarter and high up in the sky, it'll likely be full the night we attack the institute or the one after. One of the craters on it is huge, covering a good third of the surface.
We stop before reaching the rendezvous point, a street crossing that couldn't be any more ordinary if not for the small plaza with a well in its center which is distinctive enough that there is little risk that Tsek or I wouldn't find it.
I check around for a discreet place to keep an eye on the crossing, I decide against settling on a rooftop as, while it gives a good overview of the area, it also means that there's a higher chance we'd be spotted and it's hard to justify hanging around on roofs.
There is a large house with a wide front porch, the pillars sustaining it are big enough to hide us from view. I approach to scan the inside of the building, confirming that the people living in it are asleep.
“What do you think about that porch?” I ask Aisha having made my decision already.
“No lights inside, porch makes a shadow and provides good cover. It looks like we'll be able to, just barely, see the entire crossing from there. It'll work.” She replies.
“Alright then.” I nod.
We make our way to the porch and we settle with our backs to two different pillars. From there, we wait for Tsek to show up. I enhance my sight with a construct and keep an eye on the crossing which is out of my range.
After an hour without anything happening, besides a few city guards passing by as they make their rounds, my worrying begins anew and I occupy myself by nervously combing my hair with my fingers to get rid of the knots.
I use the fact that Aisha is showing no sign of concern to reassure myself and settle down as she has a better idea of the time-frame. After another hour, however, even she starts getting visibly fidgety as she starts opening and closing her hands.
“Maybe I should have gone.” I say.
“You'd have sounded the secondary alarms by breaking the locks, I set that one myself and I made sure that even I couldn't get through unless I had a key or picked the lock.” She tells me.
“Still.” I groan. “I'm starting to think I should have just intentionally triggered them and captured that Shade when he showed up.”
“He would have put an arrow in your thigh from two hundred and fifty meters away if you tried to set up an ambush that way, possibly through a wall.” Aisha tells me with a chuckle. “No, Tsek is safer without a sword.”
“Seriously?” I ask, baffled.
“No, we're in a city so I'm exaggerating, but yes, he's a very, very, good archer.” Aisha confirms.
“And you kept that to yourself.” I note, annoyed.
“I did tell Tsek.” Aisha replies with a frown. “You haven't been eager for conversation and you've been suspicious of everything I say or do.”
“Well, keeping information to yourself sure helps with that.” I say flatly.
“It's only relevant if Tsek screws up.” Aisha replies, ignoring my sarcasm. “Which is getting likelier by the minute.” She adds with a worried frown on both her faces.
“He might have decided to keep watching instead of acting tonight, just to be safe.” I suggest.
“He was a bit too eager for that, I think it's more likely he ran into an obstacle.” She says.
“Or he's simply running late.” I tell her.
“Possibly.” She nods.
We stick around for another couple of hours until it becomes more than clear that Tsek isn't going to show up. We're both very silent on the way back, each of us not only tired but also anxious about the lack of information.
Aisha could, once again, likely find out what happened, but if I trusted her enough to do that then she would have gone to get the schematics herself and Tsek wouldn't have needed to go.
I made the right call in staying as discreet as possible in Meiridin, if Elizabeth Vil was known to be in the capital, that Shade might have tried to hunt me down.
At least my symbiont's reflexes provide me with some protection against arrows, and I have some constructs like the defensive and hardening ones to protect myself if I see them coming.
As we make our way back to the shack, I catch a skinny boy raiding a house's pantry while the adults and children inside are asleep. The kid is likely a street urchin. It makes me feel bad, whatever the faults of the villagers back home, they didn't let anyone starve to death if they could help it.
“Wait for me here.” I tell Aisha and take off across the street.
I scan the house until I find the half-open window the boy used to get inside, he lifted the small metal hook keeping the flaps closed with a flat piece of wood. I take a couple of gold coins out of my purse and set them on the window's border.
I turn away to leave but pause and think it through. A kid like that with gold, he would have a lot of trouble spending it. He's almost bare bones, even someone that doesn't know him would think he stole the money.
I pick up the gold and set down my last three pieces of silver in their place. He'll still have to deal with some suspicion but not nearly as much. It would be better to leave bronze but the few coins I have wouldn't get him through the winter.
As I walk back, Aisha throws me a curious glance, likely having noticed I left something there. I shush her and we keep going through the streets until we reach the slums, the Shade growing increasingly concerned as I remain silent.
“House is far behind us now, what was that?” She asks. “Did you see someone following us?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I spotted a scrawny kid sneaking in so I left him some silver.”
Aisha gapes as she loses her tension. After a few moments, she starts softly laughing. There is an odd look in her eyes as she looks at me. It feels like she's making fun of me.
“What?” I ask sharply.
“This is exactly why you're the worst monster ever.” She tells me. I throw her an annoyed look. “Aw, don't be upset, it's really endearing!” Aisha exclaims teasingly.
I accelerate my pace, leaving her behind. She tries to keep up, chuckling. I'd love to take her down but I don't have a comeback and threats would backfire at the moment. She'd definitely laugh and then I'd have to retaliate or she'd think I'm not serious. I slow down once at the shack and point her in.
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“Give me what you used to free yourself this morning.” I order in a firm tone, holding my hand out.
Aisha smiles but does take the twisted nail she used to open her shackles out from behind her ear. She then walks up to her pair of shackles and sits down next to them. She then picks them up and closes the bracers around her wrists herself. I take the key out and lock them before making sure they're secure.
“I'm sure Tsek is fine.” She says.
The fact that she doesn't look at me as she says so tells me that she isn't really confident in her own words. I don't reply, the possibility exists that she set him up to fail to warn the other Shade. I think it would be a stupid move to make, for her health and mission, but who knows.
Besides, she's made dumb calls before. I settle down in my chair, dropping my feet on the table. I grab my blanket and wrap it around my shoulders, not really enthusiastic about spending another night like this and unable to sleep deeply.
--- --- ---
I wake up at noon. A quick glance tells me that Aisha is still slumbering away. I remain in the chair, inspecting the few lightning constructs I keep assembled. I find a few errors and discrepancies in the segments' arrangement and shapes.
I dismantle them all, which brings my reserve to full, and store the energy inside my scimitar. If I squint my eyes, I can almost, possibly, see a small block-golden glow coming from the thinnest part of the blade.
With that done, I check her shackles and the shack with flow. I don't notice anything untoward so I get up and start making lunch. When I open the last bag of grain, I realize that we'll be running short if I keep waiting for Tsek after tonight.
Aisha awakens from the sound of boiling water, making a grimace as soon as she does from sleeping on the floor with her wrists tied up. I free her and help her up. She starts stretching out so I turn away to keep an eye on the meal I'm cooking.
Once she fully woke up, Aisha takes the small rocks we used to play Knucklebones out and has fun throwing them up and catching as many as she can on the back of her hand. She even manages to get all five before the gruel is done.
We exchange a few ideas of why Tsek could have missed the meeting but, in the end, the conversation doesn't uncover any new theories. He either got caught or he didn't.
Aisha trains her constructs again while I go through my exercises but, unlike yesterday, she plays with the rocks once she runs out of flow. We take off after we've had dinner, as soon as the sun falls behind the horizon, because Tsek could simply have missed yesterday's time-frame and would be waiting for us there.
As it is still early in the night, we come across a lot more people as we make our way, even in the slums we see people talking with friends outside in the cold. Many throw us curious glances but I notice that most eyes turn away when they fall on my swords and those who don't seem either wary or curious so it doesn't alarm me.
At the plaza, there is a group of seventeen or eighteen year old kids hanging out at the well. Two boys and two girls chatting about their day. The scene feels more bitter than sweet to me, but it nonetheless makes me smile.
The front porch that we used to hide isn't a good observation point anymore because the people living inside haven't gone to bed yet and the kids would have full sight of us, standing on someone else's property, so the two of us keep going.
“No sign of him, we could sit by the well and mingle while we wait.” Aisha says. “We wouldn't look too out-of-place.”
“I'm not exactly sociable, Aisha.” I halfheartedly protest, surprised by the fact that I kind of want to.
“Nonsense, you're perfectly likable.” She takes hold of my arm by the elbow and makes us turn around.
Unwilling to let her drag me along, I take the lead and pull her behind me. The closer I get to the four kids, the more awkward I feel and it's further aggravated by the fact that they stop chatting to watch us approach.
The two boys are staring at Aisha, but the girls are more interested in the swords at my waist. I slightly change course to head directly at the well instead of to their group. I shake off Aisha's grip and throw the bucket into the water.
“Hey, I'm Desha.” Aisha speaks up cheerfully.
“I'm Gale, this is Mel.” A tall blond boy replies, nodding at his dark-haired friend.
“Jada, I'm his sister.” A blond, long-haired, girl speaks up pointing her thumb at the boy who spoke.
She's as tall as Aisha, or me kind of, but the soles of her shoes are probably a bit thicker than normal. The last kid is a soft looking girl with blue eyes and brown hair, she's slightly shorter than her friends. I kind of like her already.
“... Olivia.” She quietly tells Aisha.
The name is a bit surprising as is it somewhat pretentious for a low-born as it is based on a very luxurious fruit... or vegetable. She turns to me, probably to ask my own name, and notices my raised eyebrows.
“My parents had hopes.” Olivia explains.
“Hm. I'm Je... zebel.” I say, pulling the bucket up.
“She's being modest.” Gale tells Aisha. “Our tutor said she had a shot to get into the university, she has impressive flow skills.”
“Oh, what do you do?” I ask her.
“Never mind that, are those real? You a warrior? A merc?” Jada intervenes.
The girl doesn't seem offended by her abrupt manners, in fact the four of them seem rather interested in my response. I swiftly pull the bucket back up and take the time to have a gulp before answering.
“I'm kind of a mercenary.” I tell them, deciding to stick close to the truth even if it's a bit ugly since I'd rather not lie.
“You must've trained since you were a kid.” Mel comments, impressed.
“Jezebel isn't as young as her size implies.” Aisha teases with a corner smile.
“And you're not as funny as you think you are.” I reply, sticking my tongue out.
“Why aren't you with the army?” Jada asks, frowning. “King Cenwalh promised to pay any mercenary who volunteered.”
“You're being rude.” Olivia softly tells her blond friend.
“It's fine.” I tell her with a smile. “I was injured.”
“Oh, can I see?” Mel asks.
“Mel.” Gale utters shortly, finally turning away from Aisha.
“What, he's just asking.” Jada, Gale's sister, argues.
“Rather not.” I shrug. “But you can try my skills if you want.” I add, smirking at Jada.
“Hmph.” Jada sneers a bit disdainfully. I'm starting to regret this.
“Oh, can I?” Mel speaks up.
“Not a good idea.” Aisha intervenes. I roll my eyes. It's not like I was going to.
“So, what do you do?” I ask Olivia, changing the subject.
“I'm a weaver, I mostly work on canvas.” She replies. “I make household items.”
“Interesting, I didn't know that was a thing.” I say encouragingly. “How do you use flow?”
“I use it to make better strings, it's pretty difficult to get it right.” She replies softly.
“She's precise enough that our tutor said she could make it into the University.” Jada comments without turning to me.
“He was exaggerating, I just pay attention.” Olivia denies.
“Ha, she's right, you are scatter-headed.” Mel jibes at Jada.
“She didn't say that, dimwit.” She retaliates with a smile to soften her words.
“You should try to ask for second opinions.” I tell Olivia. “If you're not good enough, you can train hard enough. A friend of mine went for it and she was a waitress, I'm sure you could make it since it's your job.”
Although Teva did work in a mine with complicated constructs but that wouldn't boost her confidence. Olivia makes a shy smile and falls quiet. Jada purses her lips and throws me a grateful nod.
“So, what do you boys do?” Aisha asks.
“I work at the stables.” Mel says. “I take care of the foals when we have some.” He adds.
Gale waits for Aisha to turn to him before answering, almost glowing with confidence. The Shade's illusion construct slowly blinks once as the green eyes turn to him, creating a rather seductive effect.
“I'm about to be a Semplar.” Gale says, forgetting to bluster as he swallows his saliva.
I repress a groan. I can sense that Aisha's not serious about this, she's having fun. Although, to be fair, I don't know if she would have gone for it in different circumstances.
Mel asks me a few questions about sword fighting and I answer as best as I can. I get the feeling that he's jealous of Gale and the calluses on his hands make me suspect that he's training in secret, or that he's being assigned manure shoveling duty more often than his turn.
Gale isn't interested in what I tell his friend but that's likely because of Aisha's outrageously flirty behavior. As she keeps at it, I become less and less certain about her reasons, if there is one. Maybe she's just insecure.
Olivia is quiet, she listens but doesn't participate, she actually even stops Jada who is keeping her company from cutting in the conversation between Jada's brother and Aisha. She does the same when the blond girl wants to take a shot at my answers to Mel.
I throw a glance around the dark plaza, which seems a bit darker than it was yesterday but that's likely because the lights coming out of the houses make the darkness look thicker. Still, it makes me tense a little so I throw Aisha a meaningful glance.
“Well, it was nice to meet you. I'm sorry but we have to get going, it's pretty late.” Aisha tells the group.
“So should we.” Olivia nods.
“We'll be here tomorrow night!” Gale blurts out, coming short of directly inviting Aisha.
“Good to know.” Aisha says with a wink.
I wave at them and we head off. I lead us through the streets around the plaza, using my sense to look for Tsek. After a few runs without finding him, I stop us in an alley to wait a while before going back.
“There's still time for him to show up.” I say.
“If he couldn't get close enough to scout yesterday, then yeah.” Aisha agrees.