Buri very carefully avoided looking at the man walking beside her, her companion for most of the day. It wasn't that she disliked him; quite the opposite, in fact. But the whole situation was rather unexpected, and in the face of new relationships, she reverted back to her old ways: pretending to be the barely-thinking, non-romantic, intensely-concentrating bodyguard.
She supposed Marek was doing the same thing, carefully navigating his way around passers-bye to avoid suspicion (and probably to contain his own instinctive urge to reach out and snatch their purse,) cocking his head thoughtfully and scrutinizing the booths that they passed.
Not that she had been sneaking glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Of course she hadn't. Why would the second in command and personal friend of Thayet, Queen of Tortall, do such a thing?
"We could go shoppin'," Buri heard Marek say casually. She would have automatically assumed that he was joking, were it not for the fact that they were currently walking past a large and bustling arms booth.
"Someone told me that you should be above that by now, you know." She responded in what she hoped was the same exact tone.
"Yeh? They did?" his voice sounded slightly closer than it had been, so Buri finally turned to look at him- he had sidled up very close to her, and was grinning broadly.
"Yes," Buri said simply.
"Bet it was Alanna. She always liked t' make fun o' me."
It had been Eleni Cooper, actually, talking to Alanna about something. Buri hadn't been able to tell at the time if the older woman was joking or not, though, so she said nothing now and merely stared defiantly at Marek.
The thief's smile widened for a split second before fading off his face. "Wait here," he said, and started backing up into the midst of a giant gaggle of foreign-looking travelers. "Wait here?" Buri mentally repeated, and growled. He was up to something. Not for the first time, Buri cursed whatever mischievous god had organized this little outing between the two of them.
Just as Buri, having stared at the foreigners' strange clothing for quite a while, was telling herself that she needed to brush up on her cultures, Marek came dashing back out of the crowd.
"Hurry!" he said breathlessly, grabbing her arm and half-pulling her along. She jerked it out of his grip, then, not quite knowing why, followed him as he dashed along the packed street.
She was not the fastest runner, but, it seemed, neither was he, and she was passable. Are you crazy, Buriram? She asked herself as she dodged a man on horseback, following the annoying, immature thief's back. This is crazy. What happens if you're caught running away with him like you were his partner-in-crime, hmm? Did you think of that?
But as Marek started to slow down, Buri noticed that they had passed into a residential district. Better you leave with him than have something public happen, she amended. After all, Thayet will understand if anything happens. Which nothing will. It's not the end of the world.
Marek, now a good few yards in front of her, stopped abruptly in the entrance to an alleyway between two large apartment houses. Buri slowed, and when she caught up to him, he grinned happily at her.
"Fun, ain't it?"
Buri stared at him. "What were you thinking?" she snapped. "What did you do?"
"Nothin'."
"I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"I ain't jokin'. I din't do anythin'."
Buri exhaled slowly. "Why were we running, then?"
Marek shrugged. "I wanted t' see if you'd follow?"
"And what gave you the right to-" Buri had mistrusted Marek when they first met, but Alanna was a good go-between, and the situation between the thief and K'mir had soon warmed. Buri had planned to visit the city for no reason but personal enjoyment today, anyway, so the two had decided to keep each other company. Now, though, Buri stepped closer to Marek, scowling ferociously.
And Marek leaned forward, flung his arms around her rather overdramatically, and kissed her.
"So is this why you brought me into an alley away from the crowds?"
"No," Marek said. "No, I jus' decided it'd be a good idea since we're already here. You goin' to run me through now?"
"Not yet," Buri said warmly, surprising herself.
And then someone from further inside the shadows very nervously said: "um."
Swift as lightening, Marek spun and flicked his wrist knives out of their sheath; but they rested warily in his hands no sooner than Buri's sword was in hers.
The intruder, however, was not some Provost's Guard come to arrest Marek for the crime he did not just commit in the market- or for any of his many past crimes, in fact. It was not one of Buri's or Marek's peers, come to laugh at them- not that they would be embarrassed if it was, of course.
The truth of the matter was that it was a simple boy. He looked sixteen or seventeen years of age, maybe; he was well-filled out and obviously not starved, but not exactly wealthy, either.
"What?" Buri asked him, lowering her sword a miniscule amount.
The lad looked at Marek. "You're, uh, the- the Rogue, right?"
Marek said nothing.
"I'm Deren and my mother's having trouble and my younger sister needs stuff. And I brought this just to, you know, show you," he said very fast, then blushed. "Assuming you are him, I mean."
Marek and Buri locked glances. "Dove?" Marek asked. Buri sighed, and nodded. "Come on, then, but stay back," Marek told the kid and began walking towards the center of the city at a steady pace.
"You're building a reputation already," Buri said quietly for Marek's ears alone.
He grinned, yet again. Buri strongly suspected that his smile would be infectious if only he didn't do it so often and give his victims time to develop an immunity. "Already? I've been doin' this for years!"
"He needs t'introduce himself to th' others if he wants to make somethin' of himself here," Marek said quietly in Buri's ear. "An' he'll never do that when I'm here. So what d'you say to goin' upstairs for a bit?"
Buri barely hesitated before agreeing; Deren kept gaping at them, and it bothered her. So the two of them surreptitiously left the bustling common room of the Dancing Dove and trudged up the narrow stairs.
About halfway up, Marek stopped a passing pretty young woman. She was wearing the revealing outfit of a street prostitute, even though- Buri smirked at the irony- she had a very slight chest. The woman looked more like a girl, with round pink cheeks and several freckles.
"There's some guests comin' tonight that might interest you," Marek told her, "if you want t' know."
"Oh," she replied, smiling shyly. "Thanks."
Marek nodded, glanced briefly over his shoulder to see if Buri was still following, and continued up the stairs. When the two reached one of the largest rooms, Marek entered and immediately sat down on the bed. "You can sit, too," he offered, but Buri remained standing.
"How much leeway does the King of the Rogue get with all the pretty flower-sellers?" she asked, partly out of curiosity and partly out of…well, some other emotion.
"Gettin' rather personal, ain't you?" Marek asked, more seriously than she had expected.
"Not like you're the king of tact," Buri mumbled. "I was just wondering."
Marek paused for a moment, apparently deciding whether or not to answer. "Well, I don't really know."
"I doubt that."
"You seem to doubt a lot o' things."
Buri shrugged. "I like explanations."
"Fair 'nough," Marek said. He looked at her determinedly. "There was Anci, an' Laughin' Nell was a friend o' mine an' that gang of girls ain't the same without her. An' bein' the Rogue is hard business, right?"
Buri hadn't meant to bring up Anci, and she could think of nothing to say in response; but while the conversation was on these serious lines, she could deal with one of her nagging ideas. "You know the lad- Deren's- sister? I bet Deren's worried that she'll have to turn to prostitution."
"An'?"
"I was talking to him about his sister while you were dealing with the others. She's fourteen, smart, relatively good at defending herself, and, according to him, very law-abiding and chivalric." Buri took a deep breath. "Thayet and I are starting a military group that'll accept any commoners, girl or boy. And we need recruits as much as you do."
Marek gently lay back on the bed and stretched his arms over his head. "Why're you tellin' me this?" he asked.
"I just thought, with her sibling in the Rogue, it might complicate things." The last bit of the awkwardness that had slowly been dissolving all day left her, and she finally sat down on the bed next to him. "You know siblings."
"Aye," Marek agreed. "I had a ton of 'em, older an' younger both. Wild animals. You got any?"
"One," Buri said quietly. "Older brother. Pathom." Even though they had never been exceptionally close, Buri sometimes missed her brother. She was proud as only a sibling could be about the way Pathom had given his life for Kalasin and the K'mir, and it didn't hurt any more.
"George always reminded me of my older brother," Marek commented thoughtfully. "He's certainly annoyin' enough to be a brother." Buri snorted, and comfortable silence fell for all of five minutes.
"What time did you tell your gang you'd be back?" Marek asked suddenly.
"I think I have a few more hours."
The rogue rolled over to face Buri. "I'm not sayin' that you takin' the girl to the crown's service isn't a good idea, an' I couldn't stop you anyway, but we have to be careful. Soon I'm gonna start distancin' the Rogue from the Crown again, you know. I ain't George, and it's always messy when the two courts get involved too closely."
Buri looked thoughtfully at him, and he gazed back. Just as she was beginning to tolerate his immaturity, he up and proved himself fit to be an influential kind of leader. "I haven't even been here long; I can't imagine how it'll feel to someone who's always lived here, like Alanna, to not see all you ruffians involved in everything under the sun."
"I'll be talkin' to George, still, sometimes. They'll be leavin' Corus, anyway."
"I won't."
Marek shrugged. Or rather, he attempted to; it came out lopsided, as he tried to scoot closer to Buri in the exact same moment. "It ain't gonna happen overnight, anyways. Certainly not before you leave me today."
Buri nodded, and slid onto her stomach facing Marek. "In that case, what're we going to do for the next few hours?"