It was dark, raining, and cold by the time they reached the outskirts of Ashten. It was a bigger town than they’d seen in a year; almost a proper city by the looks of the lights in the distance. The road to the gate was flanked by closed-up merchant stalls, which likely belonged to the many farms that could be seen dotting the land around the tall walls of the town.

Del’s heart fell when she saw the gates were closed. She didn’t relish the idea of sleeping under a hedge in the rain or what her dress would look like after. But the rain hadn’t dampened Maug's high spirits. He kept his steady trot straight to the guardhouse and pounded twice on the door. A very sleepy-looking guard had answered and was arguing with Maug when Del got close enough to hear.

“I don’t care who she is. The gate stays closed after dark.”

“You expect my lady to sleep in the rain tonight?”

“I expect your lady to arrive when the gate is open like everybody else.”

Maug leaned closer to the man and whispered something she couldn’t make out. Del saw the guard regard her and then Maug and finally nodded before closing the door again. Maug turned to her and winked as the big gates swung open just enough to allow their horses through. Maug bowed and let her pass first. When they’d put enough distance between them and the wall, Del let her horse fall back.

“Ok, what did you tell him? I thought for sure we were stuck in this till morning.”

“I told him it was my fault we were late,” Maug answered, “and if you had to sleep in the rain you’d have me hanged in the morning.”

“Bloody hell. I don’t know what’s worse, that you thought of it or that he believed it.”

The inn they found was small but comfortable. The plump innkeeper was not happy to be woken, but managed a smile for Del in her fine dress and glass beads. Maug rented a small room for his lady and said he would find accommodations elsewhere, which seemed to suit the innkeeper. Del knew it was partly because he wanted to start the search and partly because they didn’t have enough coin to spare for two rooms. He gave a bare nod before dashing out of her room.

She left her dress to dry in front of the small fireplace, cringing at the idea of wearing the wet velvet against her skin in the morning, and laid down in the narrow bed. Tafa hooted and chirped around the small room until Del tossed down some dried meat and cheese for her. She intended to plan; how to find information on the fugitive, how to get Maug back across the border, how to make some quick coin. But her thoughts danced in her mind, refusing to solidify into any actual ideas. Too many restless nights were finally catching up to her. Was that why she’d even agreed to this? It really was a stupid idea on both ends. Maug would see that too, after a night in the wet and cold. She drifted off into another night of fitful, dream filled sleep.

The rain still pattered on the roof when she woke the next morning, feeling like she had barely closed her eyes. It took her more than an hour to work out stiff limbs, dress, eat, and tuck Taffa away. Not finding Maug in the common room of the inn surprised her. It wasn’t empty, though. Far from it. King's Guards in their red and white livery occupied almost every table. Del couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen so many outside the capital. A few turned toward her when she entered, but only long enough to register her dress and dark, beaded hair. The innkeeper nodded stiffly from behind a counter.

“Your man said he would be at the dressmaker's this morning to pick up your orders.” She picked up a small glass in one pudgy hand and waved it toward the soldiers. “I can clear a table if you want to eat while you wait.” The way she was looking at the men and women crowding her common room said she would take any excuse to chase them off. Del didn’t relish the thought of twiddling her thumbs in a room full of them, though.

“No, thank you.” The woman looked startled and Del grimaced. “I should go find my man. He has proved his incompetence these last few days and I would not have it meaning I get the wrong shade on my evening wear.” That seemed to pass as an appropriate response from a lady, and the innkeeper went back to leering at the guards.

Del walked from shop to shop in the drizzle, trying to find the dressmaker. Ashten was just too big, and she was too tired to keep it up for long. She broke down and asked a man selling fruit and discovered she’d already passed it. Twice. By the time she entered the dusty shop, she was cold and irritable.

“How can I help you this morning?” The shopkeeper was small, old, and bent, but her bright eyes took in every stitch on Del in a glance.

“I’m looking for my serving man. He left word he was going to stop in. Brown hair, blue vest, big hat.” The little woman shook her head without ever stopping her inspection of Del’s clothing.

“No one like that in today. Or any other day.” She moved closer. “That is a very … interesting dress, m’lady. You must tell me where you had it made.” She reached out a hand, but Del stepped back.

“I must have the wrong shop then. Are there any other dressmakers in town?”

“Oh, no. There’s a seamstress on Miller’s Way, but she couldn’t make anything for a fine lady like you. Oh, no. You would look radiant in blue. I’ve rarely seen anyone in my shop with skin that shade.”

Del had heard enough. Maug hadn’t intended to come here and she shouldn’t have either. Despite her dress and hair, she was no proper lady. And anyone who worked with them regularly would know that.

“I must find my servant. Excuse me.” She left as haughtily as she could manage without running and was two streets over before stopping. Traffic was heavier here. She let it flow around her for a moment as she thought. It was pointless to keep going and become even more lost. Maug would eventually find his way back to the inn, so she would just wait there.

Unraveling her steps and locating the gate inn again required some time, yet it remained packed with guards who seemed more restless than when she departed. Del instead walked to a small bakery with a few outdoor tables and a ‌view of the inn. She ordered a hard roll from the baker and found a seat in the shade. She watched the soldiers fidget and pace in and out of the inn, and a stable boy take and deliver countless horses. It felt good to just sit and watch for a while, but soon her head became fuzzy with fatigue and she found herself as restless as the soldiers she was watching.

“That’s an interesting ring you have there.” Del jumped at the words. She had taken the ring out from under her dress and was rolling it between her fingers. The deep blue sapphires sparkled even in the weak afternoon sun. A well-dressed man with silver in his dark hair was standing over her, still staring down at the ring in her hands. His face was hard despite his smile and he had an odd purple birthmark on his cheek.

“Um, yes. Thank you.” She tucked the ring back inside her dress as quickly as she could and tried to hide her discomfort. After a curt nod in the man’s direction, she went back to watching the inn, hoping he would take the hint. Instead, he took the empty seat across from her.

“I’ve never seen it’s like before. Tell me, where did you get it?” Del really did not like the way he smiled.

“I’ve had it for so long. It’s hard to remember.” Her reply was curt and given without taking her eyes from the inn.

“A gift then. A family heirloom, perhaps? The elves aren’t known for selling their wares these days.”

Del tried to keep the panic from her face. She gathered herself and rose. She hoped the color she could feel rising in her cheeks would be mistaken for anger.

“If you will excuse me, I have business to attend to.” She forced herself to walk, not run, past the inn and around the corner. Finally, out of sight, she picked up her pace, trying to put as much space between her and the bakery as possible. By the time she felt winded enough to stop, she realized she didn’t know where she was. A hand clasped her elbow from behind and she unsheathed a dagger before realizing it was Maug.

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“I’m so glad I finally found you, m’lady.” He bowed. She glared, but allowed herself to be led down the street. They eventually made their way to a less populated part of town that had some small food stalls and brick homes. Maug moved closer to her and made a show of re-buckling his various bags.

“Why did you go in the dress shop?”

“You said that’s where you’d be.” Even as she said it, her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Of course, he would never actually go in the shop. They had no business there. It would look suspicious. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I haven’t slept well in days. Also, I hate it here.” She glared around at the carts and stone houses and people moving along the street. All Arulians. It made her skin itch. “We need to leave, Maug. And soon.”

“I agree,” he said.

“I know this plan is important to you … Wait, you agree?”

“I think there may be people looking for me. I’ve noticed some things. Odd things. It’s probably best we leave Ashten.” He smiled. “But all is not lost. I found some information last night. Told you I would. It seems our fugitive, a young man by the way, has moved on from here. But the move was recent. He was put on the road just one night ago. If we leave now, we should be able to catch up to him easily in the next town north. That should make you feel better.”

“Leave here to travel further into Aurelia. No. No, Maug, that does not make me feel better. We need to leave Aurelia altogether.”

“Leave when we are so close to our coin,” Maug wrinkled his nose. “Why? I know I said I’d seen some weird things, but there’s no reason to panic. I haven’t done anything that bad. We just need to get out of sight, is all.”

Del rubbed at her eyes, trying desperately to think. When she opened them, she saw a group of King’s Guards coming down the street, towards them. Maug saw it too, and they both moved toward the closest food stall. Del turned away from the seller, ignoring his greeting and the guards. Maug ordered food in hushed tones and eyes down-turned. The guards passed by without stopping.

“You have a lot of guards in your town, good sir,” Maug mumbled to the vendor. The man sniffed.

“They eat too much and pay too little,” he growled. “But they’ll be gone soon. Heard they’re going north, and soon.” Del closed her eyes again. It seemed the headache that had been creeping up on her was here to stay.

Del decided not to mention the man with the birthmark. She also decided not to fight with Maug about leaving. Getting out of Ashten was necessary, and arguing about where to go for hours was not. No one had any reason to think they would go north, much less following a band of roving fugitive hunters. Eventually, the people in nearly every town they went to wanted Maug for something, so it wasn’t unexpected for him to be watched. The man at the bakery was likely just nosy and rude. He was Aurelian, after all. Those were the things she told herself as she waited for Maug to return with their belongings and horses.

They made their way out of town through the gate opposite the one they had entered. Traffic was sparse in the early afternoon, but they saw a few smaller groups of guards and a few marked mercenary bands. The guards gave them little notice, but the mercenaries gawked at them whenever they passed. It made Del uncomfortable. She wasn’t afraid of being attacked. They could handle themselves, but being noticed and remembered was never good. After the third such group passed by, Del moved her horse closer to Maug.

“I think we should leave the road for a while. We’re attracting too much attention.” She was prepared for his arguments. Trekking through the thin woods along the road would be tedious, but he only nodded.

“I think you’re right. Someone has been following us since Ashten—”

“What?” She looked over her shoulder but saw only an empty road.

“They have remained well hidden, but my eyes are better than theirs.” Del knew that was true. He wasn’t the type to panic over shadows, either. “I told you someone was looking for me back in Ashten.”

“Maybe … It doesn’t matter why right now, only that we lose them. Do you think we can?”

“Of course,” he answered. “But we may have to lose the horses.”

That was regrettable, but perhaps for the best. She nodded, and they continued down the road again in silence for some time. When dusk was almost on them, they came to a long straight stretch of road that was clear of other traffic. Maug stopped his horse and raised his voice.

“If we must stop here, let me set you up some privacy at least, m’lady.” With that, he jumped from his horse and, taking his own reins and Del’s, led them off the side of the road, just far enough to be out of the way but still visible to anyone passing by or watching. He dug a blanket from his saddlebag and walked into the underbrush. He found two trees close enough together to hang the blanket between them, then motioned Del forward. She dismounted and joined him.

“You can’t be serious?” She asked. Maug just shrugged and left to retrieve their bags. Behind the blanket again, he tossed Del her bag and swiftly changed his clothes.

“Be quick. I’ve been tracking where our tail is so I could get the right angle, but they could’ve made a run for us as soon as that blanket went up.”

It felt good to have leathers on again, but there was no time to undo her beads. A quick knot was the best she could do. If anyone found them, she’d have a hard time explaining her odd appearance.

“Ok, straight north to the edge of the forest, then northwest. Fast as we can.” Maug threw the last of his belongings in his bag and walked into the woods. Del took a last look at the horses, sighed, and followed.

When he wanted to avoid being seen, Maugrian Bilkan could, even from Del. He was lighter of foot, faster, and had better eyes. She lost sight of him in the dimming forest almost immediately, but continued north as instructed. Occasionally she thought she could hear others following, fumbling in the wood behind her, but she saw no one and eventually, the noises stopped. When full night fell, she had to slow her pace. The underbrush pulled at her feet and threatened to trip her and the air became wet and cold. She was thoroughly miserable when the forest finally gave way just before dawn.

She had only seen Maug once in the night when he popped up to correct her direction, but he appeared again now, some distance ahead. She stumbled out of the trees to meet him. He sat down in the tall grass just outside the tree line, maybe the start of a pasture, and waved her down beside him. Del was more than happy for a chance to rest her aching legs.

“That was not a pleasant walk.” She mumbled. Tafa crawled from her hood and stretched grandly.

“No, it definitely wasn’t. But it was productive. Our followers were determined. They stayed on our trail for hours.” Del only nodded. She was working up the energy to open her water bag and had nothing to spare for talking. “But a few false trails and one well-placed snare seem to have done them in finally.” He grinned.

“So you not only walked through the forest all night, in the dark, you also backtracked, laid trails, and set up traps?” Maug shrugged. Del closed her eyes and let the rising sun warm her face. “I need a nap.” Tafa hooted playfully as she ran circles around them. Del gave her a scowl.

“Me too, but not just yet. See that tree line over there?” He pointed in what Del thought was a northerly direction. “The road is just on the other side.”

“Maug, they’ll be looking for us on the road,” she said. “And in the next town. We have to get out of Aurelia.”

“We lost them in the woods. And even if we didn’t, there is no way they would think of looking north, and definitely not in the very next town. You’d have to be an idiot to hide there.”

“And yet, that is exactly what you want us to do?”

“Ah,” he leaned over her, “but I know they will never suspect it. It’s the perfect hiding place.” He sobered a bit when he saw the look on her face. “Come on, Del. How many towns have we left with a tail? No one keeps up for that long. I don’t make the trouble you go across the country for.”

She considered telling him about the man with the birthmark, but hesitated. Bringing it up now would just seem like her trying to get out of moving on.

“You are a stubborn man,” she said instead. “We don’t have the coin for a mug of ale, much less a room. A ‘lady’ wandering around town without two coins to rub together is going to draw attention.”

“That’s why I’ll be doing the wondering,” Maug answered. “One day in the town walls and I’ll have the info we need. You can camp off the road until I’m done.”

“I don’t like it. Now is not the time for us to be splitting up.”

“I can take care of myself,” he said. “And it’s one afternoon. If I don’t come back by sunset, then you can ride in and save me from whatever jail I’ve landed in.”

“And if you don’t find the information in that one afternoon?” She asked.

“Then we’ll go. We’ll go south as fast as we can.”

“Without a big payout?”

“Yep.”

“Without stopping?”

“Not once.”

“All the way to Vintera?”

“I…,” he hesitated. “Yeah, alright.”

“Fine. One afternoon.” She sighed and closed her eyes, but they snapped open again when Maug poked her in the side.

“None of that,” he said, jumping to his feet and scooping up Taffa, who chittered excitedly. “We have to make it to the road. We’re wasting daylight, and if we don’t make it to the next town by midmorning, I say it doesn’t count.”

“What? That wasn’t part of the deal.” But she hauled herself to her feet and walked after him.