Chapter 12

“An earthquake sometimes reveals more than a history book.”

—Sardonn, a historian, after seeing the city of Keld crumble and reveal the many ancient layers beneath.

Seff’s fireball poofed out of existence, and Reyn dropped the candleholders.

The silver candleholders bounced off the floor with a booming echo.

For Seff, he jumped a few inches in the air and lost concentration as his mind blanked and forgot all his prepped spells. Seff was now helpless for several seconds—the minimum time for him to cast the simplest of lightning bolt spells. He backed up a step, hoping to use Reyn to buy time for his spell to complete.

For Reyn, he put his hands over his ears, and only after, put his hands down.

“Out of here where?” Natali asked, a candle illuminating her face and figure.

Reyn stood there, almost speaking. Reyn found himself staring at how slim the girl’s silhouette was, and how delicate and pretty her face was. She wore a lacy knee-length nightgown with a low neckline. His heart raced as his mind emptied into nothingness. His heart drummed in his ears, and as he tried to think of something to say, nothing came to mind. After a few seconds, the only thought that Reyn managed was how she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his whole life.

She had green eyes, perfect lips, a petite nose and ears, and a thin neck. Her chest was seemingly amplified due to the shadows, and everything in concert made Reyn’s mind drop off a cliff. And she stood just feet from him.

However, Reyn recovered quickly, and he concluded that she was not only the prettiest girl but also the boldest. There she stood, against all odds and intruders, protecting her home with a mere candle. She was fearless, brave and commanding… and mysterious. Why was she there? Why had she approached them? Why had she not hid? And what was it that she had asked?

“Dammit,” he heard Seff say.

Natali looked at Seff. Natali said, “Hey, is he crazy or something?” A smirk appeared on her face shortly after asking.

Reyn looked at Seff and knew exactly what he was doing. His facial expressions were changing to different emotions to cast a spell on Natali. And so, not wanting Natali to die, he shoved Seff with his right arm, stepped forward, and punched him with his left across the cheekbone hard enough to jostle him nearly to the floor. Reyn said, “Are you crazy? We can’t do that.”

“Do what?” Natali asked softly, stepping forward and throwing light onto Seff.

“What do you mean we can’t?” Seff asked. His face had stopped changing expressions.

“Seff, you can’t just kill everywhere we go,” Reyn said.

“Kill?” Natali said.

Seff ignored Natali, “Yes, we can. She saw us, so we kill her and keep going. It’s not as if our faces are covered.”

Reyn looked back at Natali, then looked back at Seff and said, “She doesn’t know us. Who cares?”

Seff picked up the candleholders and said, “She could see us years later and track us down and cause lots of trouble for us.” Seff flipped one of the candleholders upside down in his hand and stepped towards Natali.

“Zander,” Natali said, stepping back, “I’m right here. I know exactly who you are and you’re talking about me as if I’m not even here. My name is Natali. I was in your first class just this morning. I remember you. You don’t remember me?”

Turning to Natali, Reyn cursed.

Seff pointed to her with a candleholder and said, “She even knows who you are. How could you pick a house that belongs to someone you know? What kind of thief are you?”

Reyn pointed to himself, “Hey, I didn’t decide to rob or steal. I didn’t suggest it to you. You suggested it to me, and you didn’t know where to rob, and here we are now, and you’re going to try to kill more people?” Reyn cursed and pointed at Natali, “I didn’t recognize Natali in this terrible light, and if you had taken more time preparing, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Seff took another step, “We’re not in a mess, we just kill her.”

“We can’t kill her,” Reyn insisted, giving Seff a light one-handed shove.

“Excuse us for a second, Natali,” Seff said, pointing a candleholder at her. He stepped away a few steps before he turned back around to her, “And if you move so much as an inch, I’ll lightning-bolt your sweet ass to that wall and deal with this,” Seff pointed his finger to Reyn, “Zander later.”

“Just talk here; I don’t mind,” Natali said while holding the candle. It illuminated her smirk. Reyn saw Natali’s casual posture, one of her hands even positioned behind her back as though she was purposefully trying to be disarming.

Reyn thanked the gods that she was not a sorceress. He imagined a wand behind her back, and what an awkward position that would put themselves in—Seff with his wand and Natali with hers. He wondered a little if she had a dagger behind her back.

Seff, ignoring Natali, led Reyn aside about ten feet down the hallway from Natali. Reyn glanced back once at Natali to make sure she stayed.

“Who in the hell is she?” Seff asked.

“She’s a girl in one of my classes.”

“What are the chances? One in a thousand and then another one in a thousand for her to be awake.”

Reyn winced, “Actually, it’s my fault. The chances are quite good that we’d be robbing my classmates since this house is just across the street from the school.”

“I didn’t, uh,” Seff sighed and groaned. “No, it’s my fault. I didn’t realize. Didn’t realize you’re an idiot. Let’s just kill her—without sorcery—and get out of here.” Seff swung a candlestick left to right, right to left.

Reyn gave Seff a slight shove once more, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can’t... do that. It’s your fault, so you don’t get to kill anyone,” Reyn said.

“My fault?”

“Mr. Can’t-Get-A-Job,” Reyn said.

“Oh, c’mon.”

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Reyn poked Seff’s chest, “It’s your fault, so you have to make it right. She’s a girl, like, a really pretty one. She sounds nice. Really nice. And, she’s so brave. Look at her. Honestly, I think I’m in love with her. I might be in love. She didn’t run away or anything. We can’t just kill her. We can talk to her. I want to talk to her.”

Seff was quiet for a few moments before he said, “You want these candleholders, don’t you?” Seff hefted the two of them chest-high even as awkwardly holding his wand with one of them.

“I don’t.”

“Well, I do. I have to eat and get a better room.”

Reyn pointed at a wall, “We can rob somewhere else. She can keep them,” said Reyn, moving his pointer arm over to where he thought Natali was.

Natali had walked up silently. Reyn hadn’t noticed her until her face appeared next to his, lit up by the candle she still held. Her candle lit up all their faces, and she immediately added, “Aw, thank you. However, I think we were going to sell them soon anyway. I’m sure they won’t even be missed.”

“Can’t you—,” said Seff while pointing to the wall.

“Can’t I stay away to let you two decide my fate?” interrupted Natali. “I think not. You should know that I’m not going to report you. I love knowing that Zander is a dastardly robber.” Natali’s face was within a hand of Reyn’s. She smiled sweetly at Reyn, and Reyn smiled back.

“You know, I’m not a robber,” said Reyn, trying to distance himself from his thieving friend.

“You’re not?” asked Natali, visibly disappointed and sounding sad. Even as she said it, her arm wrapped around Reyn’s waist, her chest touching his left arm.

“He’s the robber,” Reyn said, pointing to Seff.

Natali was still holding the bare candle when she leaned over, exposing more of her chest to Seff, and placed the candle in one of the candleholders Seff held.

Seff’s mouth gapped open a bit.

“Well, that’s perfect,” Natali said in a self-assured tone, one that seemed to signal a coming explanation about why everything was so perfect. “We three,” Natali circled her finger round once, “seem to be in a bit of a bind. I have an idea which will suit all of our needs.” Natali’s arm still wrapped around Reyn’s body.

“Great, now we’re getting suggestions from her,” Seff sighed defeatedly as he leaned against the nearest wall and laid his head sideways against it.

“Can’t hurt,” Reyn said, “She was really sharp in class, if I remember right.”

“Yes, I’m good at solving problems, and this is a really great problem. It seems I know Zander’s identity, and he doesn’t want to commit cold-blooded murder and—”

“But I do,” Seff turned to her, his voice laced with hate.

Natali said, “Thank you for your honesty, but it seems you’re a team, and—”

“And, I guess you’re too damned pretty to kill,” conceded Seff, “Not sure how that happens though.” Seff looked at Reyn.

Natali smiled before continuing, “I didn’t know that was a thing either.” Natali looked at Reyn for a moment before continuing, “So my idea is this: you two continue to rob and steal and I get fifty percent of all the money and I won’t turn you in.”

“What?” Seff bounced up off the wall with indignation, a candleholder held high in the air ready to strike her down. “Can we kill her nooow?”

Natali stepped back from Reyn. With one hand hidden behind her back, Natali gestured with her other, “No, you don’t understand. My father is in a dangerous amount of debt, and no one knows it and if they did, he’d lose his job. I have to save him. He doesn’t have the money, and they’re going to kill him. But if you guys help me, then everything will be just fine, and we could really be good friends. What do you think?” finished Natali.

Seff slumped down all the way until his butt hit the floor. “I just wanted the candleholders,” Seff muttered, laying them on his lap.

Reyn just stood there speechless while Natali took turns smiling at Reyn and Seff. Natali took a step forward and took a close look at Seff. His eyes were closed, and his head and body rested slumped against the wall. Natali slowly sat down next to Seff.

Natali whispered to Seff, “Why’d you want to kill anyone?”

Instead of looking to Natali, Seff looked to Reyn. Seff said, “This is your fault. I would have killed her.”

“Why though?” Natali asked.

“Saw us stealing,” Seff said, turning to her.

“So why didn’t you run?”

“Easier to kill than run,” Seff said, “It’s so much easier to kill. I’m tired of running. It’s just easier, and I am really, really tired of running.”

“On the run, ay?” Natali said.

“No. But if we run, our description from you would go everywhere. If it does, then they may find us. It’s much easier to kill you than to risk what could happen. I still think we should kill her, Reyn.”

Natali punched Seff in the arm. “Who’s they?”

“Ow, people,” Seff conceded as he rubbed his arm.

“I punched the statement, not you. What is your name? My name is Natali.”

“Seff.”

“And that’s Reyn, not Zander? You called him Reyn just now,” Natali asked.

After a pause, Reyn said, “Yes.”

Natali and Seff remained silent side-by-side.

“I have an idea,” Reyn added. “My idea is that we let Natali live, unless she tells on us.”

Natali nodded and then said, “Provided that I get fifty percent of everything you rob.”

“That is impossible,” said Seff. “If we get caught again by another pretty girl, we’ll be robbing for free.”

“I can help you not get caught,” Natali said.

“How?” Seff asked.

“I know all the places with money and valuables. My father is the treasurer for the city. I tag along sometimes to different places.”

“You’re still not getting fifty percent.”

“A third then. Equal partner.”

“But you’re not going to be doing any of the robbing,” Seff said.

Natali shrugged, “I might. But, information is more important than doing the robbing. It would explain why I caught you.”

“Fine. We’re new to town anyway. You get half of Reyn’s and a sixth of mine,” Seff pointed at Reyn and then himself.

“Uh,” Natali said as she thought about the numbers. “Yes, sounds good.”

“Whoa,” said Reyn. “That’s not fair, not even close.”

“Life isn’t fair, it would seem,” Seff quipped. “You’re the one who prevented the most direct solution in the first place, so you get the greatest penalty. Not hard to think about, unless you want to agree to my original solution.”

Natali punched him, hard, in the arm again.

“Still violent…” Seff quipped.

“Doesn’t matter,” Reyn said. “Sounds fine.”

“So, Seff is a sorcerer? I saw the fireball over his shoulder lighting the way,” Natali asked.

Seff cursed and said, “No one’s a sorcerer. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw the fireball. Is it Zander? Is he a thief and a sorcerer?” Natali smiled at him. Her eyes in the candlelight melted Reyn’s heart.

“No dammit, it was my fireball,” Seff said.

Natali looked over to Seff with a smile.

Reyn added, “But I am also a sorcerer.”

“No, he isn’t,” Seff said.

“Yes, I am,” Reyn said.

“You’re both sorcerers?” Natali’s face scrunched up in disbelief.

Seff growled, “Fine, yes, you’ve got us. We’re both sorcerers, although I wish Reyn would have stayed quiet about it.”

Natali said, “I don’t believe that you’re both sorcerers. Cast something for me.”

Seff immediately began casting a fireball while Reyn began on his puff of air.

The fireball appeared small and then grew large between Seff’s hands. Meanwhile, Reyn had already failed to cast his puff of air once. Natali, satisfied with Seff, turned her full attention to Reyn.

“Do you need some help, Zander?” Natali asked, her voice showing concern as Reyn knotted his face into different emotions.

“No.”

“What spell is it?”

“It’s a puff of air. I hope to blow you down with it, if I, uh—just let me cast it,” Reyn said, “Now I have to start over. Don’t distract me.”

Seff had no doubt of Reyn’s talent, so he just let him fail another six casts in front of the girl he had a crush on.

“Seff,” Natali said. “Why don’t you help him?”

“I don’t know the spell he is trying to cast. It’s an air spell that I don’t know. He’s just failing,” Seff chuckled.

“Why don’t you try another spell?” Natali suggested.

“It’s the only one I know,” Reyn said.

“That is unfortunate,” Natali said. “Do you know more than one spell, Seff?”

“Many more.”

Natali stood and pointed at Seff, “Earlier, you mentioned they were searching for you. Who’s they and why are you guys on the run? Did you kill somebody, Seff?”

Seff glared at her, and Reyn was silent. Tense moments in the dim candlelit hall passed by.

Natali laughed, “So serious. I was just curious. Anyway,” Natali yawned. “It’s getting late.”

“It is,” Seff said. “We’re taking the candlesticks, right?”

“Sure,” Natali said. “Also, let’s meet tomorrow after school at Wen’s Fresh Fish stand in the Benelid Market. If you can’t find it, just ask anyone. I’ll think about some places we can rob in the meantime.”

Reyn and Seff agreed and left the house through the front door.

“I think that really went well, except I couldn’t cast anything,” said Reyn, thinking of Natali. So daring. So bold. Sharp too. Damn smart. Damn pretty. Reyn thought he was the luckiest man in the world.

“Are you cracked?” Seff said.

“No. No one died. You can sell the candlesticks for rent money. And, we made a new friend who knows everything about the city, it seems.”

“It didn’t go very well at all. Natali could turn us in and set a trap for us in the Benelid Market. She’s already suspicious and probably thinks we’re cold-blooded killers.”

“Could be worse.”

“How?”

“She could have been a talented sprinter, outran us, and alerted the entire town. Although, I think as it is we’re getting blackmailed,” Reyn said as they walked down the street together. How had he let himself and Seff get blackmailed? He wasn’t quite sure.

Seff grimaced, “All thanks to you, Reyn.”