Even from their place up high, Adrian could hear every word that was said below the water tower.

“My, I haven’t seen you since you left me in the dead of night after stealing from me,” Ruisseau said, approaching Jacques. The shorter man stood his ground as the water lord stretched out a hand to gently stroke his cheek.

At this point, Andre was undetected on the other side of the wall, and Adrian and Zuri were hidden from view behind the water tower. Maybe if it stayed that way, they could figure something out.

The guards had completely surrounded Jacques and the treacherous water guard.

“Maybe I would have stuck around if you weren’t such a shitty lover,” Jacques retorted, and even from his vantage point, Adrian could see the furious blush covering Riusseau’s cheeks.

Zuri’s jaw dropped. They looked at Adrian, mouthing the words, No way.

“How dare you,” Ruisseau spat, grabbing him roughly by the jaw. “No one talks to me like that.”

Jacques chuckled. “Egotistical as ever.”

Adrian looked around, trying to find some kind of solution as the two men continued talking. His eyes fell on the little device still embedded in the water tower.

“You know, I was planning on letting you and your friend go if you submitted yourself to me.” Jacques scoffed at the suggestion. “But it looks like you’ll be joining them in the dungeons where I’ll let you rot the rest of your days.”

Adrian got Zuri’s attention, pointing to the device and then to the water lord. They looked at him in confusion then something dawned on their face.

“What a tempting offer,” he heard Jacques say sarcastically. “So sad to miss out on such a great opportunity.” His voice darkened. “I’d much rather rot.”

“As you wish. Guards, take them away.”

Zuri scrambled to remove the device, wrapping their arm around the tower to try and place it on the opposite side from where they were standing. Not quite able to reach, Adrian took it out of their hand, using his extra bit of height to get it in the right place. It drilled itself in place and Zuri hissed, “Press the green button, like I showed you!”

Finding the button described, Adrian pressed down on it, then quickly followed Zuri down the ladder.

He faintly heard Riusseau begin to say, “Hey! There are his teammates—” when an explosion rang out.

Adrian and Zuri jumped the rest of the way down, landing hard on the ground as the tower toppled over. One third of the tank had been ripped open by the explosion as it flooded the area, knocking everyone in the splash zone off their feet.

In the chaos, Adrian ran forward, seizing Jacques by the arm and tugging him towards the little door where their escape chariot awaited. Jacques gripped onto him as they sprinted together, but their path was already blocked.

They stopped in their tracks, both breathing heavily. Jacques pushed him away, unsheathing the dual swords from his hips. Adrian drew his own weapon, looking over to see that Zuri was standing in the middle of three guards with their hands up, a scared look on their face. Did they know how to fight?

It was then that Adrian realized if he’d just chipped in some of his cash earlier, none of them would even be here. He sighed.

“Make your way to the exit, Hon,” Jacques breathed out, then swung both swords over his head to down an approaching guard.

Adrian shot into motion, engaging with an incoming opponent. He made sure not to completely focus all his attention on this large man, leaving some awareness for his other surroundings the way Boden had taught him.

Deflecting the opposing blow, he made quick work of the guard, slicing clean through him. Looking away from the lacerated corpse, he pushed to where he’d seen Zuri. He was temporarily distracted when the door leading out to their cart burst off its hinges. An enraged Andre charged through the ruined entryway carrying a massive battle axe. He swung it one handed, absolutely thrashing three guards who did not move again after the fatal blow.

The sound of steel slicing through flesh beside him made Adrian jolt back to the present. He looked over as Jacques removed one of his blades from a guard who would have impaled Adrian had the leader not stepped in. The corpse fell at his feet.

“Focus, Sweetheart!”

He blinked for a moment at the dead body, then shook his head. “Right. Thanks.” He quickly made his way over to the base of the water tower.

To his surprise, Zuri was surrounded by several corpses, their face fierce. None of the downed guards had puncture wounds and there was no blood in sight. Zuri threw a small metal baton into an upcoming guard, and Adrian blinked as a jolt of electricity shot through the now contorting body. When the body dropped, Zuri held up the weapon, smoke floating off it.

Adrian rushed forward, thrusting his sword past his companion and into a man behind them they had missed. Zuri’s eyes widened.

“Oh, thanks, Ian! You like my stun baton? Made it myself—” They cut themselves off, thrusting the weapon into another upcoming guard.

“Yeah, it’s great. We need to get to the cart with the others.” He took their arm, dragging them forward and they both fought their way through several more guards.

He could see Andre and Jacques working together to take down an especially large group of guards, double teaming so fluidly, he almost got distracted again watching them.

“Ian, you help them out,” Zuri commanded. “I’ll get our water guard buddy and defend the cart. Go!”

They left and Adrian charged forward, cleaving his way to his other teammates. Jacques was busy with two guards while Adrian engaged with his own. The guard he faced nicked part of his shoulder before Adrian managed to cut him down. Looking away from the dead body, he held his shoulder painfully for a moment before pressing forward.

He caught up to Jacques who was stabbing both of his opponents through the heart, his swords shining with blood when he retracted them. He had a nasty cut over his eye and another over his forearm, while the rest of his body was covered with blood that was not his own. Adrian took his arm, making the shorter man jump slightly.

“Zuri’s waiting for us with the cart. It’s time to go!”

Jacques glared, saying, “I know that!” before quickly decapitating a man next to him who was giving Andre some trouble. Adrian grimaced as the head tumbled off the now lifeless shoulders. “Let’s go, Andre!”

“On it, Boss.”

They were running again, Adrian now at the lead, slashing through a female guard blocking the exit. Jumping over the body, he made it to the cart where Zuri and the water guard were fighting off four assailants.

Adrian thrust his sword into one of them, pulling it out quickly to block another’s incoming blow. Using quick footwork and reflexes, he ducked around the sword, taking out this second opponent. The last two guards had been downed by Zuri who was now cheering.

“That’s how you do it, Ian! Give ‘em hell!”

Jacques pushed past him angrily. “Everyone in the cart. No time to lose.”

As soon as all five of the group had clambered on, they were flying away, making their way to the outer wall of the ruined palace. Things were looking pretty good until the open gate ahead was blocked with a row of five of Riusseau’s guards.

The donkeys pulling the cart halted, and Adrian stood before he felt Jacques’s hand on his shoulder pushing him back down.

“Everyone stay put,” the leader yelled, jumping from the cart and drawing his crimson stained blades. “I’ll show you how it’s done.” He flashed a scowl Adrian’s way.

The blond blinked in reply.

Without hesitation, Jacques rushed forward, cutting down the first guard, jumping over his corpse to plunge his blades into the second. The team watched blankly as this one-man-army cut through the rest of the guards with such strength and energy, he was surely being powered by nothing but pure adrenaline and arrogance.

Adrian squinted as, for a moment he could have sworn, there was a flash of green light before the last man fell, even though Adrian never saw Jacques stab him. He thought maybe he’d imagined it and just blinked in confusion.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, Jacques looked back at his team, namely the blond, lifting his chin slightly in a triumphant pose.

The cart moved forward again as Jacques boarded the front of it, sheathing his weapons.

They made it through the entrance and out into the street when Adrian heard Zuri at the front of the cart, hiss, “What the hell was that? This is not the time to be a fucking show off, Jacques.”

“Had to show him who the real leader here is,” he retorted.

“Are you serious? Can you not be gay for five minutes?”

His face flushed with rage. “Excuse me? What does that have to do with anything? Like I’d give that posh priss the time of day anyway…”

They rolled their eyes, sighing in annoyance.

Adrian would have registered more that they were talking about him, but he became distracted as he stared at his gore covered hands. All those lives he’d taken… it was starting to settle in again the way it had when those three ruffians attacked his camp outside New Minoka. He once again recalled the hated memory of the life leaving that woman’s eyes. He looked away, taking a deep breath, willing himself to keep his composure.

A few minutes later, the cart was pulling into a tight alleyway.

“You got your water,” Jacques told the water guard. “Now give us our cut.”

“Sure thing, Jacques. Great doing business with you again.” He grinned, handing him a sack of coins which Jacques took with a bloodied hand.

“Let’s go guys,” he said, and the group of four was darting away.

At one point while they were running, a mass of water guards was headed their way. Andre grabbed Adrian, shoving him with the others into a tight alleyway. It was a tight squeeze with all four of them, and this close, Adrian looked down at the bloodied hands still holding the front of his shirt as well as the general splattering of crimson on Andre’s body.

The scent of iron hit him, and his head began to spin. With the last shred of adrenaline petering out, his vision went black for a moment as he fell limply into Andre’s chest.

When he opened his eyes again, Jacques was looking him over, slapping his cheek. “Hey, Sweetheart, you good?”

Their faces were extremely close now and his eyes locked onto the nasty cut over Jacques’s eye. The blood slowly trickling down reminded him of all the carnage he’d just seen. He shoved the chest in front of him away harshly, putting the back of his hand to his mouth, suppressing a gag.

“What are you pushing me for—” Jacques began angrily but then seemed to register something was wrong when Adrian spoke in a weak voice.

“B-blood. The... the blood. It’s a bit...” His chest heaved as he summoned all little remaining dignity to not throw up in front of his companions. “It’s making me a bit squeamish.” He squeezed his eyes shut, not trusting his sight right now.

“A bit?” Jacques had a hint of humor in his voice. “Okay, let’s get cleaned up before you lose your breakfast. Don’t want to waste food and money feeding you again.”

The blond nodded as Zuri took him by the arm, leading him as he continued to keep his eyes shut.

The group made their way up a staircase and through a back entrance into the tavern. When they’d arrived at the room, Adrian was taken to the bathroom where he was given a damp rag to wipe all the blood off while Zuri tended to his wounded shoulder.

Adrian’s shirt was off now as they cleaned out the cut. They put a strange ointment over it then wrapped a fresh bandage around his arm. It was now that Adrian finally trusted himself to lift his head and look at the others.

Out of all of them, Zuri had the least amount of blood on themselves, though a shining gash ran across the top of their hand as they finished wrapping Adrian’s arm. He only felt mildly woozy at the sight of it. The shock from before was finally beginning to wear off.

“Thanks,” he breathed out. “I’m… good now. Not squeamish anymore.”

They laughed. “You really can’t handle gore.”

Jacques spoke behind them. “We’ll need to keep that in mind the next time we do a job like that. We can’t have you passing out during a tight spot because of your blood aversion.”

“It’s not a blood aversion,” he corrected, his regular, confident voice returning. “I’m fine during a fight. It’s just the aftermath and seeing all those bodies…” An uncontrollable shiver ran up his spine. “After the initial high wears off, it sort of hits me all at once.”

“Huh.” Jacques cocked his head to the side curiously, folding his arms. “You’re quite skilled with the blade. I’d have thought you’d have more experience dealing with blood and gore. It’s almost like you’re not new to using a sword, but you are new to taking lives, am I correct?”

Adrian looked away, biting his lip the way he always did when he’d been caught.

Jacques sighed. “I won’t press for details. Just glad we’re all still alive.”

“Speaking of which,” Zuri butted in as they began cleaning their hand wound. “You never told us you fucked Riusseau. Are we not going to talk about that?”

The leader shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the question. “We needed money at the time and that bastard just so happens to keep all his valuables in his bedroom.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Gross.”

“Hey, we got fed that week. This was back when we had a lot less and before we had our connections with Alphy. Though, speaking of which, I am not taking another job like that for a while. It wasn’t supposed to go that badly.”

“Yeah, we very nearly became dungeon dwellers and or minced meat.”

“Good thinking, bursting that water tower, Zuri.”

“Wasn’t my idea.” They gestured to Adrian with their head.

“What?”

“It was a team effort,” Adrian said, giving Zuri a small smile. “It wouldn’t have worked without Zuri’s device.”

They beamed at him. “Aww! Thanks, Ian! You’re so sweet.”

“That was a genius move,” Andre chimed in. “Really started some chaos.”

“Genius, but reckless,” Jacques said. Adrian could feel the jealous glare a mile away before he looked up to see it on Jacques’s face. “Don’t think this gives you a free pass to do whatever you want now. You still follow my orders.”

“I know,” Adrian replied evenly, “and I did, didn’t I? I did everything you asked.”

The brown eyes considered him. “Yeah. You did, and you did well out there, even with your weak stomach.”

He exhaled quickly. “Is that a compliment?”

“Yeah, it is.” He pushed past Adrian with his shoulder. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Speaking of heads,” Zuri said as Jacques stepped into the bathroom, “you’re going to need stitches over that eye.”

“Fuck, really?” Distress crossed his face. “Couldn’t I just use…” His words trailed off, and Adrian blinked in confusion.

Zuri folded their arms. “No, you’d still need the stitches even with that. Healing still takes time and proper treatment. You know I’m really gentle with the needle. I’m the best medical caretaker around.”

“Doesn’t make it any more pleasant of an experience.”

“I assure you, it does.”

He breathed out in defeat. “Let’s get this shit over with so I can take a bath.”

Once Jacques got his stitches, the four took turns washing up in the bathroom, using some of the money they’d just earned to fetch pails of water and soap to use in the tub. Afterwards, they all collapsed on the beds, crash-napping through lunchtime and clear past the late afternoon.

🗲🗲🗲

Adrian blinked into consciousness around a darkened room, the sun having already set. He was in a fresh set of clothes; the only other pair he’d brought with him. The style was very similar to his old ones save for the top. Instead of an undershirt paired with a vest, he wore a silky, pine green long sleeved shirt that crossed in the front, leaving his neck and clavicle exposed. The sleeves cuffed tightly at the wrists.

He sat up, rubbing his face with the back of his hands tiredly.

“Hey, you’re up!” Zuri’s cheerful voice cut through the sleepy haze. Adrian looked up to see them on their bed, tinkering with some kind of new contraption with the metal-rimmed goggles over their face. “Andre and Jacques already have a table downstairs. I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up so we can go together. You haven’t eaten since this morning, you know.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to wait for me. Have you already eaten?”

“Yup! You’ve been asleep a good long while.”

He ran a hand through his messy hair, sighing. “Today was just a tad stressful.”

They laughed. “A tad?”

He stood. “Well, I won’t make you wait any more. Let’s go.”

They set the contraption down, pulling the goggles down to rest around their neck, then hopped off the bed to follow him out of the room.

When they both entered the tavern, Adrian immediately spotted the large black man sitting at a table in the corner by himself. He was contently sipping from a tankard next to a plate of untouched food when Zuri and Adrian came over and sat down.

“You’re finally awake,” Andre boomed, patting the blond on the back, and pushing the plate towards him. “Let’s get you a drink.” He caught Alphy’s attention, shouting for two more ales. “You still feeling sick from earlier?”

Adrian shook his head. “I’m okay now. I’m… not really used to killing, like Jacques said. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.” He swallowed.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s actually refreshing to meet someone who still has some humanity left in them.” He gave a chuckle before adding, “If you talk to Jacques, he can do things to lessen how much hand-to-hand combat you’re involved in. He can be very considerate like that.”

Adrian shook his head, digging into his meal. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. “I really need to just get accustomed to it if I’m going to survive out here,” he said between bites. “That’s what my mentor always told me.”

“Your mentor?” Zuri cut in, having been listening quietly on the other end of the table.

“Yeah. His name is Bo. He’s someone I’d consider another father in a way. He taught me how to fight dirty.” He let out a soft laugh. “I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Be easy with yourself,” Andre assured. “You’ll get a stronger stomach in time, but for now, you’re an amazing fighter and you do well during battle, so that’s worth something.” He took a big swig from his tankard when a staff member arrived with a round for Adrian and Zuri.

The blond took a sip from his tankard before asking, “Where is Jacques?”

Zuri gently hit his arm with the back of their hand and pointed over to the bar area, grinning.

Adrian followed the motion to where Jacques was leaning flirtatiously on the counter while talking to a much taller man with a similar bronze-colored skin tone and long black dreadlocks pulled into a low ponytail. Jacques’s change of clothes included a shirt that was showing a little more chest than usual. Perhaps he’d done that on purpose.

“He’s putting himself out there,” Zuri said, snickering. “Jacques doesn’t have the best luck with men, but he tries.”

“Very flirtatious,” Andre chimed in, “but he can be a bit rough around the edges.”

As if to prove their points, the group of three watched as Jacques’s amorous expression quickly turned offended, his eyebrows furrowing. He shoved the other man’s chest roughly, making the stranger with black dreads spill some of his drink.

“Oh, damn!” Zuri exclaimed as the taller man cursed Jacques out, who in turn, flipped him off and strutted away.

The short man made his way over to their table, collapsing into a chair with a loud huff while running a frustrated hand through his hair.

“What happened over there?” Zuri asked, biting back a grin.

He exhaled sharply, his face red with anger. “That bastard said I’m ‘too short’ for him. Something about how he only goes for tall men.” He rolled his eyes as he said it. “Can you believe that? How can he care about height when I have this hair?”

Zuri chuckled. “Better luck next time, Buddy.” They patted him condescendingly on the shoulder.

He glared at them, then took a swig from whatever tankard was in front of him which happened to be Adrian’s.

“Hey, that’s mine,” the blond protested.

Jacques set it down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Don’t fret. I’ll get you another, Sweetheart. Did you have a good nap?”

Adrian rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly very embarrassed he’d spent most of the day passed out. “I didn’t mean to sleep that long.”

He snorted. “Don’t know why you look so worried. There was nothing else planned for today. You’re allowed to rest if you need to.” He considered him, smirking. “You have a hard time relaxing, don’t you?” Adrian bit his lip and the leader chuckled. “You’re too easy to read. Let me get you another drink.”

“That won’t be necessary—”

“Too late,” he snapped back with a grin. “Already doing it.” He made to stand up when the bartender came by with an ale in his hand, setting it down on the table.

“It’s like you read my mind, Alphy,” Jacques exclaimed.

“The gentleman by the bar got you this.”

“Wait, what?” The leader folded his arms, a scowl appearing when he saw who it was that had given him the drink. “Pfft! Tell him I’m no longer interested. He blew it.”

“Oh no, it was actually meant for your blond friend.”

Adrian perked up at this, looking curiously behind Alphy at the bar. The man with dreads had a hand under his chin as he gave Adrian a flirtatious wink. Eyes widening, the king quickly blinked away.

“Oh,” he managed to squeak out. “Well, tell him I’m not interested either.”

At this point, Jacques was positively fuming. “Get us another round, please, Alphy,” he said rather calmly, but Adrian could see a vein in his head threatening to pop.

“Sure thing, Jacques.”

After the bartender left, Jacques sat back in his chair, arms folded. “Of course, he’d make a move on you right after turning me down. Dick.” He took a big swig, slamming the empty tankard down before getting up. “I’m going to try my luck with someone else.”

“Go get em, Boss!” Zuri said encouragingly as he stormed off. The inventor was chuckling to themselves, leaning over to Adrian. “I told you he has bad luck with men.”

“Yeah, guess so.”

They both looked at his gifted ale. “Are you gonna drink that then?”

“I think I’m good.”

“I’ll take it then,” Andre said, snatching it up. “Wouldn’t want to waste good booze.”

Adrian watched the larger man drink from the tankard his admirer had bought him, feeling somewhat flabbergasted and overwhelmed by what had just happened. He wasn’t used to being pursued, especially not by someone of the same gender. It left him feeling uneasy and a bit flustered.

The only romance he’d had experience with was quiet, intimate tension between Princess Madeleine all those years ago as well as countless requests from neighboring kingdoms wanting him to wed their princesses.

Out here, relationships were so informal. So personal. He didn’t know how he felt about that.

He shook his head along with the thoughts, not wanting to linger too long on a topic that would inevitably bring up Madi and all the feelings that went along with that woman.

Wide awake and with no intention of sleeping for a good long while, Adrian remained at the table slowly sipping at an ale while thinking for what must have been a long time, since Andre and Zuri both turned in for bed. Jacques was striking up a conversation with a new man now, and Adrian thought it must be going better since he hadn’t been turned away yet. It’d been nearly half an hour since they’d started talking.

He grinned slightly, remembering Zuri’s words, and hoped that this time Jacques finally got the luck he surely deserved with how hard he tried.

“Need some company, Dear?”

Adrian looked up in surprise as his admirer from before pulled up a seat very closely next to him. He just stared blankly in response at the man with dreads.

“You’re gorgeous, you know that?” the man cooed. “I’ll be well worth your time, if you let me.” He placed an arm over the back of Adrian’s chair, looking down at his mouth daringly. “What do you think, Sweetcheeks?”

“O-oh,” Adrian stammered. “Erm...”

It was then that a hand seized the man roughly by his shirt, pulling him into a standing position.

At the other end of that grip was a livid Jacques, and Adrian was confused by the man’s levels of physical strength just now. “He already said he wasn’t interested. Fuck off.”

He released him and the man with dreads straightened his shirt, glaring daggers at Jacques. “Bitch,” he spat, before storming away.

Adrian’s savior turned back to him, taking a seat, this one further away than where the previous man had been sitting, sighing as he did. “You okay, Sweetheart?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Guy’s a real bastard, huh?”

He snorted. “Aren’t you glad it didn’t work out between you two earlier?”

Jacques laughed. “Yeah, I am.”

“It seemed like you were making progress with that other guy. Shouldn’t you get back to him?”

He shook his head. “He seemed nice, but I’d rather not leave you alone drinking by yourself. That’s depressing.”

Adrian exhaled quickly. “Don’t worry about me. I’m used to it.”

Jacques considered him. “Not much luck with love either, huh?”

“Not really, no.”

“Surely someone with your looks has better chances?”

He gave a small smile. “You’d think so, but no. I’m not confident like you are with love. Wouldn’t even know how to approach it.”

He let out a short, bewildered laugh. “You think I’m confident with love? I’ve been turned down so many times, it’s not even funny at this point. Besides my short stature, I’m told I have a shorter temper.”

“Yeah, you do,” he said matter-of-factly. He looked over to see an especially grumpy expression on Jacques’s face. Adrian burst out laughing; an actual, hearty sound and not just the small, quiet laughs he usually made. “Forgive me,” he said through the giggles. “Your face... it’s priceless.”

Jacques stared at him, then found himself joining in with a chuckle. “I’ll be merciful and let that comment slide for now.”

Adrian sipped from his ale more contently now before saying, “If it makes you feel any better, my brother is even shorter than you and he ended up with Madi.” The nickname slipped off his tongue, and he wasn’t sure if it was the booze or the fact that he was trusting Jacques and his group more and more, but he did not feel the need to hide as much as he usually did.

Jacques made an astonished sound. “Are you serious? Who is this girl? She doesn’t sound very smart to me.”

“Oh, she is,” he said bittersweetly. “She could outwit me any day. Leave me speechless, having the last word in everything.”

“You?” Jacques asked incredulously. “She left you speechless? I don’t believe that for a second.”

He breathed out quickly. “She had the cleverest way with words and this way of commanding a room with just a few phrases. She was also, well, is stunningly beautiful.” A sadness filled his face now. “She was everything I ever wanted in a partner.”

“Sounds like you haven’t quite gotten over her,” Jacques stated carefully.

He sighed. “No. I haven’t. Jacques,” he looked over at the shorter man, “it’s been two years since she married my brother and three since I broke things off with her.”

He blinked in surprise. “You broke things off? Why?”

“I thought I was making the only choice. I messed up so badly. We were going to be together. I proposed and everything, but I was being a coward. It’s because of me that it didn’t work out. Now I just have all these memories and regrets. I should have moved on already, but I can’t seem to let go.” Adrian realized he’d been talking about himself for some time without interruption; something no one had ever really let him do. His face flushed suddenly in embarrassment. “Anyway, you probably don’t want to hear any of this—”

“No, I do,” Jacques corrected, and blue eyes met brown. “I really don’t mind hearing about it, though, I don’t think it’s fair for you to blame yourself for it not working out with that woman. Guilt isn’t very helpful, especially if you’re trying to get over someone.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He tucked into his drink again before saying, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

There was a pause.

“We’re leaving tomorrow, aren’t we?” Adrian asked, taking another sip then glancing over to realize for the first time that Jacques wasn’t drinking anything. “Oh, do you want…” he began, lifting the tankard slightly in the other man’s direction.

“Sure.” He took it from him, putting the rim to his lips and taking a sip before adding, “And yes, we’re leaving tomorrow. Going to travel to New Minoka.”

He perked up. “Oh, really? Why there?”

“Not really another way of getting to your location, unless you know of another path that would take us to Mermortiva that isn’t through hundreds of miles of empty sand dunes?”

“Can we visit someone while we’re there? My mentor lives in New Minoka. He’s a dear friend of mine.”

“I don’t know. How would he feel about meeting us? He’s not hoity toity upper class, is he?”

Adrian folded his arms. “Not at all. He used to be a war general, but now lives with his family in the center of town. He taught me a lot of what I know, and he’s the reason I’ve even survived this long on my own. I don’t think he’d be opposed at all.”

“Would he be willing to put us up for the night?”

“I’m not sure. We could very well find out when we get there. So, may we?”

Jacques blinked ahead in thought. “It would save us some cash if we had someone to stay with, I suppose, but we’re out of there immediately if I sense something is off. I don’t like being played.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he replied, his disposition lighter than before.

“And we’re not staying more than one night if he says yes.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “If you wish. I doubt he would mind feeding us though if you’re worried about money.”

“It’s not that. We just have a schedule to keep. Always need to keep moving on before trouble catches up to us.”

“Even with Carnadine no longer on your tail?”

He hesitated. “Yeah. We’re not really ones for sticking around or belonging anywhere.”

“So I’ve heard. Ever since you were sixteen, right?”

“Huh?”

“It was sixteen when you left your home?”

He blinked. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, Zuri told me.”

He sighed. “Of course, they did. I keep telling them they’re chatty to a fault.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, you probably weren’t even prying when they told you that.”

“They did tell me to ask you personally about it for more details, since they said it wasn’t really their place to say.”

He snorted. “Well at least they protect some of my privacy.”

Feeling the liquid courage, Adrian requested, “Can I ask why you left home?”

Their eyes met for a moment and Jacques was silent for a few seconds.

“My parents had a lot of expectations for me, some of which I could just never adhere to. I was supposed to be this model child that was everything they wanted, but I couldn’t be that for them. They weren’t exactly happy about that, so I left.”

“I know Andre lived there as well. Did he want to leave too?”

“We grew up together. Andre knows better than anyone what my parents expected of me and what they put me through; what they put both of us through. He followed me without hesitation. ‘No regrets,’ is what he always tells me.”

“He’s a good brother.”

He exhaled quickly. “Yeah. He is. What about you, Ian?” He lifted his head in the blond’s direction, obviously not wanting to linger on the topic. “Are your parents shitty too?”

He let out a humorless laugh. “No. They were really great people. I’m doing everything I can to honor my late mother’s work.” He hesitated, then continued without regrets. “The Alchemist journal and gem key used to be hers.” Jacques’s eyes widened. “I always knew she was obsessed with the Alchemists, but right before my father died, he showed me those two items, telling me about the adventures she went on. She found some connection with the gem key and that place you found me at. I still have no idea what any of it means, but it’s all I have left of her.” He paused. “I’m not sure why I didn’t just tell you that much earlier, I just… everything having to do with my parents is all a bit tender still. You were a complete stranger.” He laughed. “You still kind of are.”

“I understand. Everyone has things they don’t want to share, especially to a complete stranger such as myself. Why did you decide to tell me now of all times, other than because of the alcohol, of course?”

He shrugged, saying, “I like you guys,” before lifting the tankard and tilting his head back. “I can tell you all have your hearts in the right place, but also I tend to be overly trusting so maybe that’s just a fault on my part.”

They both exchanged a short laugh, then there was a pause.

“I’m sorry about your mom,” Jacques said softly, “and your dad for that matter. When did they die?”

“She died when I was barely a teenager and my father… around two months ago.”

“Oh, shit.” A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. “That’s really recent.”

Adrian didn’t trust himself to make eye contact. “It’s a big reason why I left on this journey. I couldn’t bear to live under the same roof he’d just died under. I don’t know. I also couldn’t stand being there with my brother and Madi, seeing her live out her happiness with him. I… couldn’t be there anymore.”

“That’s understandable.”

A few tears escaped the blue eyes, sliding down his cheeks. Adrian wiped them away quickly. “Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? I should be sorry. I’m the one who brought up your parents.”

“No, it’s okay.” His voice wavered a bit. “I haven’t really talked to anyone about it before.” He gave a weak chuckle. “It’s a relief to get off my chest.” He found the dark eyes again. “You’re a really good listener, you know that?”

Adrian spotted a dusting of rouge on Jacques’s cheeks and decided it must be from the alcohol. “That’s a first,” he said, glancing away. “Usually, people are upset I don’t listen enough.”

The blond snorted. “Yeah, I can see that. You are pretty stubborn.”

“So are you, Sweetheart.”

He gave another genuine laugh. “Can’t really argue with that.”

Jacques grinned easily at him. “Let’s order another round, yeah?”

“Yes, please.”