Chapter 22
"So…er…where exactly are we going?" John whispered, striding next to Ryan and whispering in his ear, so the other two wouldn't hear.
"Not sure," Ryan muttered in reply, remembering the city as well as he could, as he tried to find his way to the palace.
"What are we going to do with those two?" John asked again stealing a glance at his younger brother, and Candle.
Ryan glanced back at the two, who were following with their heads bowed, and their hands in their pockets, as if they were in serious trouble. He chuckled a laugh, as he turned ahead again "We'll ditch them somewhere. They don't need to be mixed up in this."
"Who knows. They could be of some help." John replied not exactly wanting to ditch his younger brother in the city at night, no matter how hold he is.
"I doubt it." Ryan replied with a chuckle. "Although, if you're going to get attached to your brother again, I can leave you with them…"
"You wish." John replied knowing his friend would never ditch him. "Fine, we'll get rid of them soon. Pull something like we use to." a small smile crept along his face. Ryan glanced at his friend, before smiling and chuckling as well. When they were younger they use to pull the stupidest getaways, and they still did every once in a while, when they wanted to be away from the crew when they went into cities.
"On the count of three," Ryan muttered glancing back at the two out of the corner of his eyes.
"Wait, which way are we going?" John muttered nervously glancing at Ryan
"Left," Ryan replied "One…"
"We're both going left? Or your going left and I'm going right,"
"right," Ryan muttered "Two…"
"Who's going right? I'm going right, or are you going right? Or am I going left?"
"Right! Three!" Ryan replied shooting past his friend and into the left alley, while John disappeared into the right. Noah stopped walking and stared at Candle, who stared back. They both broke out into grins.
"About time they left," Candle muttered walking over to the nearest house and grabbing onto the window.
"I don't think they knew we could hear everything they said." Noah replied waiting his turn as Candle pulled himself onto the roof of the house.
"That was pretty stupid of them." Candle replied straightening up as Noah started to follow him.
"Even though he is my brother," Noah mumbled as he pulled himself up, getting his knee over the edge, in order to crawl onto the roof. "I'm going to get a lot of joy out of watching him run all over the city, when he could easily take the roofs!"
"It seems they forgot some of their thieving lessons. The easiest way around the city, is to go the best way you can see." Candle said with a laugh
"And that's always up!" Noah said standing up wiping his hands, which had gotten scratched on the way up.
"You okay?" Candle asked with a small laugh looking at Noah's hands.
"Oh..yeah I'm fine. I just haven't climbed any roofs lately." Noah said with a large grin
"You need to get out more!" Candle said taking off across the roofs, with Noah behind him, laughing.
*~*~*~*~*
Rovin stood on the balcony, with her hands on the railing, observing the grounds of the palace. She sighed as she thought of all that had happened since she had arrived. Daniel had taken her straight to his parents and announced that they were to be married. His parents were overjoyed at this, and went immediately to make the arrangements. The wedding was to take place in a week. Emily had apologized for her behavior, and the two girls left it at that. Rovin sighed again and started tracing figures with her finger on the railing, wanting badly to be doing something, but there was nothing to do. If she were back at the Rogue, she could just go down to the common room and play a card game with some of the older men, or maybe a round of darts with the boys. The only other time Rovin had thought about the Rogue, was earlier when Daniel's parents had wanted to meet hers. She didn't have a hard time telling them that her mother was dead, but when they asked about her father, she didn't respond, and Daniel ended up changing the subject. She felt guilty about leaving her father like she had.
She sighed again and leaned her elbows on the railing, while cupping her chin in her hands. She became even more bored, and decided to take a walk around the palace. The only problem was, it was the middle of the night and she didn't want to wake anyone by walking through the palace. Looking down at what she wore, she decided that a dress would have to do. It was a simple blue dress, that hung straight down, curving around her body. Around her waist was a light blue cord, that hung almost to the ground. The sleeves on the dress were long, and widened as they moved down her arms, and the neckline was modest enough. She hoisted up her skirt and steadied herself as she climbed onto the railing of the balcony (since Daniel had taken the rope, thinking she wouldn't need it again), and stood. Remembering her training, she carefully reached out and grabbed the end of a branch. With a small prayer to the gods, she jumped off the balcony and grabbed onto the branch, swinging herself around to a sitting position.
Rovin breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the gods for letting her live, as she scooted herself to the trunk of the tree. She heard her dress tearing behind her, but chose to ignore it. When she reached the trunk of the tree, she wrapped her arms as far around it as they would go, as she stood on the branch, before carefully picking and choosing the branches she would use to climb down. When she reached the ground, she kneeled down and kissed it, thankful she had gotten over her fear of heights when she was younger. She sat on the ground catching her breath for a few minutes, before standing and observing the damage she had done to her dress. There was a large hole in the back of her dress. Rovin stared at it and swore, before shrugging it off and heading towards the garden. It took her a few minutes to located the garden, and when she did get there a light drizzle began to fall. She raised her dress, and walked through the grass, which was starting to turn to mud. She gave a large sigh, as she entered the garden and fell onto a bench under a large willow tree. She looked at her surroundings through the rain, which had started picking up, but all she could see was large dark figures, which had to be trees.
Rovin lay back on the bench and closed her eyes, maybe she would actually be able to get to sleep that way. She moved her right arm to rest on her forehead and started tracing circles on her stomach with her left. Suddenly a noise came from the garden around her, that wasn't just the rain. Rovin bolted up from the bench and squinted through the rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was there. She heard voices shouting at each other through the rain, and caught the outline of two people, men most likely, walking towards the willow tree, which provided plenty of shelter against the rain. Rovin stood from the bench, not knowing who was coming, and swearing at herself for not loading herself with daggers before she left.
As the men came closer, Rovin clenched her fists and stood ready, in case they were to attack. Bracing herself, she waited as they came closer and closer. Finally, when the first of them emerged under the tree, Rovin tensed, waiting to see who it was and swore as she looked at Candle. She had expected someone to be sent after her, but hadn't expected the person to be there in the same night.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in order to get a concrete answer, as she relaxed her muscles and walked over to him, slapping him across the head.
"Watch it Dodge," Candle commented rubbing his head in pain, "What do you think we're doing here! Knitting! We're looking for shelter!"
"Who's we?"
"Me and Noah,"
"Noah and me," Rovin corrected looking around "And for your information, Noah's not here,"
"Oh, right," Candle muttered turning back to the wall of rain and shouting into it "NOAH! I FOUND SHELTER, AND GUESS WHAT! ROVIN'S HERE AS WELL!"
Rovin covered her ears, as Candle repeated this message many times. Candle turned back to her with a large grin on his face.
"He'll be along in a minute. We got a little separated in the storm. But other than that…how've you been?"
"Ecstatic," Rovin muttered under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest, and paced up and down in front of the bench, scowling at Candle. Sure enough a few minutes later Noah's figure emerged into the shelter, dripping wet. Noah himself had a grin on his face as well, as he looked Rovin up and down. She stopped pacing when he had emerged and stood there glaring at him.
"Hey Sunshine!" Noah said running his hands through his dripping wet hair and shaking it out. He then wiped the rain off his face, but still stood there grinning at her. "You miss me!"
"Oh yeah Noah, you were all I thought about!" Rovin hissed
"I knew you would!" Noah replied "Nice dress by the way!"
Rovin glared at him even more as she looked down at her dripping wet dress, which also had dirt on it. Rovin didn't know how to reply, so she made a noise that sounded like a growl and threw up her arms, before sitting on the bench. Candle laughed as he came over to the bench and sat beside her.
"What are you doing here!" Rovin asked crossing her arms again and glaring at both of them.
"Well, right now we're waiting for the others to get here." Candle commented
"Of course that could take a while." Noah replied crossing his arms as well and leaning against the trunk of the tree
"True," Candle announced
"Others?" Rovin asked
Candle and Noah exchanged a glance, before their already large grins got larger.
"So…er…where exactly are we going?" John whispered, striding next to Ryan and whispering in his ear, so the other two wouldn't hear.
"Not sure," Ryan muttered in reply, remembering the city as well as he could, as he tried to find his way to the palace.
"What are we going to do with those two?" John asked again stealing a glance at his younger brother, and Candle.
Ryan glanced back at the two, who were following with their heads bowed, and their hands in their pockets, as if they were in serious trouble. He chuckled a laugh, as he turned ahead again "We'll ditch them somewhere. They don't need to be mixed up in this."
"Who knows. They could be of some help." John replied not exactly wanting to ditch his younger brother in the city at night, no matter how hold he is.
"I doubt it." Ryan replied with a chuckle. "Although, if you're going to get attached to your brother again, I can leave you with them…"
"You wish." John replied knowing his friend would never ditch him. "Fine, we'll get rid of them soon. Pull something like we use to." a small smile crept along his face. Ryan glanced at his friend, before smiling and chuckling as well. When they were younger they use to pull the stupidest getaways, and they still did every once in a while, when they wanted to be away from the crew when they went into cities.
"On the count of three," Ryan muttered glancing back at the two out of the corner of his eyes.
"Wait, which way are we going?" John muttered nervously glancing at Ryan
"Left," Ryan replied "One…"
"We're both going left? Or your going left and I'm going right,"
"right," Ryan muttered "Two…"
"Who's going right? I'm going right, or are you going right? Or am I going left?"
"Right! Three!" Ryan replied shooting past his friend and into the left alley, while John disappeared into the right. Noah stopped walking and stared at Candle, who stared back. They both broke out into grins.
"About time they left," Candle muttered walking over to the nearest house and grabbing onto the window.
"I don't think they knew we could hear everything they said." Noah replied waiting his turn as Candle pulled himself onto the roof of the house.
"That was pretty stupid of them." Candle replied straightening up as Noah started to follow him.
"Even though he is my brother," Noah mumbled as he pulled himself up, getting his knee over the edge, in order to crawl onto the roof. "I'm going to get a lot of joy out of watching him run all over the city, when he could easily take the roofs!"
"It seems they forgot some of their thieving lessons. The easiest way around the city, is to go the best way you can see." Candle said with a laugh
"And that's always up!" Noah said standing up wiping his hands, which had gotten scratched on the way up.
"You okay?" Candle asked with a small laugh looking at Noah's hands.
"Oh..yeah I'm fine. I just haven't climbed any roofs lately." Noah said with a large grin
"You need to get out more!" Candle said taking off across the roofs, with Noah behind him, laughing.
*~*~*~*~*
Rovin stood on the balcony, with her hands on the railing, observing the grounds of the palace. She sighed as she thought of all that had happened since she had arrived. Daniel had taken her straight to his parents and announced that they were to be married. His parents were overjoyed at this, and went immediately to make the arrangements. The wedding was to take place in a week. Emily had apologized for her behavior, and the two girls left it at that. Rovin sighed again and started tracing figures with her finger on the railing, wanting badly to be doing something, but there was nothing to do. If she were back at the Rogue, she could just go down to the common room and play a card game with some of the older men, or maybe a round of darts with the boys. The only other time Rovin had thought about the Rogue, was earlier when Daniel's parents had wanted to meet hers. She didn't have a hard time telling them that her mother was dead, but when they asked about her father, she didn't respond, and Daniel ended up changing the subject. She felt guilty about leaving her father like she had.
She sighed again and leaned her elbows on the railing, while cupping her chin in her hands. She became even more bored, and decided to take a walk around the palace. The only problem was, it was the middle of the night and she didn't want to wake anyone by walking through the palace. Looking down at what she wore, she decided that a dress would have to do. It was a simple blue dress, that hung straight down, curving around her body. Around her waist was a light blue cord, that hung almost to the ground. The sleeves on the dress were long, and widened as they moved down her arms, and the neckline was modest enough. She hoisted up her skirt and steadied herself as she climbed onto the railing of the balcony (since Daniel had taken the rope, thinking she wouldn't need it again), and stood. Remembering her training, she carefully reached out and grabbed the end of a branch. With a small prayer to the gods, she jumped off the balcony and grabbed onto the branch, swinging herself around to a sitting position.
Rovin breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the gods for letting her live, as she scooted herself to the trunk of the tree. She heard her dress tearing behind her, but chose to ignore it. When she reached the trunk of the tree, she wrapped her arms as far around it as they would go, as she stood on the branch, before carefully picking and choosing the branches she would use to climb down. When she reached the ground, she kneeled down and kissed it, thankful she had gotten over her fear of heights when she was younger. She sat on the ground catching her breath for a few minutes, before standing and observing the damage she had done to her dress. There was a large hole in the back of her dress. Rovin stared at it and swore, before shrugging it off and heading towards the garden. It took her a few minutes to located the garden, and when she did get there a light drizzle began to fall. She raised her dress, and walked through the grass, which was starting to turn to mud. She gave a large sigh, as she entered the garden and fell onto a bench under a large willow tree. She looked at her surroundings through the rain, which had started picking up, but all she could see was large dark figures, which had to be trees.
Rovin lay back on the bench and closed her eyes, maybe she would actually be able to get to sleep that way. She moved her right arm to rest on her forehead and started tracing circles on her stomach with her left. Suddenly a noise came from the garden around her, that wasn't just the rain. Rovin bolted up from the bench and squinted through the rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was there. She heard voices shouting at each other through the rain, and caught the outline of two people, men most likely, walking towards the willow tree, which provided plenty of shelter against the rain. Rovin stood from the bench, not knowing who was coming, and swearing at herself for not loading herself with daggers before she left.
As the men came closer, Rovin clenched her fists and stood ready, in case they were to attack. Bracing herself, she waited as they came closer and closer. Finally, when the first of them emerged under the tree, Rovin tensed, waiting to see who it was and swore as she looked at Candle. She had expected someone to be sent after her, but hadn't expected the person to be there in the same night.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in order to get a concrete answer, as she relaxed her muscles and walked over to him, slapping him across the head.
"Watch it Dodge," Candle commented rubbing his head in pain, "What do you think we're doing here! Knitting! We're looking for shelter!"
"Who's we?"
"Me and Noah,"
"Noah and me," Rovin corrected looking around "And for your information, Noah's not here,"
"Oh, right," Candle muttered turning back to the wall of rain and shouting into it "NOAH! I FOUND SHELTER, AND GUESS WHAT! ROVIN'S HERE AS WELL!"
Rovin covered her ears, as Candle repeated this message many times. Candle turned back to her with a large grin on his face.
"He'll be along in a minute. We got a little separated in the storm. But other than that…how've you been?"
"Ecstatic," Rovin muttered under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest, and paced up and down in front of the bench, scowling at Candle. Sure enough a few minutes later Noah's figure emerged into the shelter, dripping wet. Noah himself had a grin on his face as well, as he looked Rovin up and down. She stopped pacing when he had emerged and stood there glaring at him.
"Hey Sunshine!" Noah said running his hands through his dripping wet hair and shaking it out. He then wiped the rain off his face, but still stood there grinning at her. "You miss me!"
"Oh yeah Noah, you were all I thought about!" Rovin hissed
"I knew you would!" Noah replied "Nice dress by the way!"
Rovin glared at him even more as she looked down at her dripping wet dress, which also had dirt on it. Rovin didn't know how to reply, so she made a noise that sounded like a growl and threw up her arms, before sitting on the bench. Candle laughed as he came over to the bench and sat beside her.
"What are you doing here!" Rovin asked crossing her arms again and glaring at both of them.
"Well, right now we're waiting for the others to get here." Candle commented
"Of course that could take a while." Noah replied crossing his arms as well and leaning against the trunk of the tree
"True," Candle announced
"Others?" Rovin asked
Candle and Noah exchanged a glance, before their already large grins got larger.