"So this is Marek." He stated as they halted before the city gates.
She nodded.
"What happens when we enter?"
"I don't know. First we'll go to inn. Then we'll see."
She knocked on the door and a small shutter opened, revealing the slighty bloodshot eyes of the gate guard.
"Whaddya want?" he snarled.
"We want to enter the city." She replied.
He looked at them and measured them up. After a moment of silence he moved again.
"Just a minute." He said as he closed the shutter.
They heard some hushed arguing behind the door.
"Grab your dagger and be ready to draw your sword." She warned quietly. "I don't trust him."
Ahro nodded determined and tightened his grip on the handle of his sword. The door swung open and the man's expression had changed from annoyed to friendly.
"Welcome to Marek, young man, young lady."
Calandra gave him a friendly nod and passed through. But Ahro could see her friendliness just masked her tension. Had the guard watched more closely he would have seen it too.
Suddenly he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Alarmed he wanted to call out to Calandra, but she had already been closed in by the two other guards. He didn't wait for her signal this time, but let his dagger slide into his hand and pressed it against his attacker's stomach.
Calandra had taken her own dagger and dove away from the other two. She threw it at their feet, making them jump back surprised. Her hands grabbed her bow from her back and an arrow from her quiver.
She pointed it at one of the guards. Ahro used the confusion she had created to slip away and he joined Calandra at her side. He didn't know the way in this city and he hoped she could guide them out of this mess.
She didn't take her eyes off the guards and whispered something to him under her breath.
"Straight on, first left, second left. The crossed bolts."
He took a second to understand what she had said. The first bit he could understand. But what she had meant by the last bit...did she want him to take out his crossbow?
He glanced at the guards and then ran in the other direction as fast as he could. He ran straight into the coridor and turned the first left. He heard a groan behind him but he didn't look back to see what had happened.
He turned the second left and wished he had not left Calandra to handle this on her own. He had promised himself to preotect her, to take care of her. That was what had started all of this. But somehow he always ended up the one being saved.
He slowed down. Where to now? He had done what she had said, but what she wanted him to do now was a mystery to him.
A door swung open and a rather rough looking man stormed outside, a sturdy dwarf under his arm. They started to fight in the middle of the street. Ahro glanced up a the sign above the door and a wry smile formed on his face.
'The Crossed Bolts'
Calandra had meant an inn.
He entered, feeling obviously out of place. It seemed to him that everyone was eyeing him. Gingerly he went up to the bar and ordered a pint. The man behind the counter handed it to him silently and Ahro shoved two coins over the counter.
Slowly the inn went back to the ususal low rumble of noise. Ahro sighed relieved.
Suddenly he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder for the second time that day. He turned around and stared into the face of a tall man. His black hair cast a shadow over his face.
"New?"
Ahro nodded.
"We don't like strangers in here...who told you about this place, why did you come in. This doesn't seem like your type of tavern..."
A man on his left side laughed. "Look at 'is face. A real young ci'y boy, tha' is."
The black haired man silenced him by raising his hand. "Like we said. This isn't your type of place. This isn't the kind of pub young lads like you should go to. Your face...no scars, no signs of ever having been in a fight...aren't we too rough a crowd for you?"
"I just came-" Ahro tried.
"Came for what? A friendly drink? To share a pint with some of us locals?" the man said airily, earning him some laughs from the other drinkers.
"Actually I'm waiting for someone, if you must know." He replied in a stronger voice.
He wasn't going to be the underdog this time. Not anymore. The man laughed.
"Waiting?" he said. "For what? A contractor? A mercenary? Or perhaps a lady friend."
"That's right." Came a female voice from the dooropening.
Everyone looked up to see her push her way through the crowd.
"Thanks for waiting." She added to Ahro as she managed to find an empty space next to him.
She looked at the counter and ordered a pint of mead.
"Hello Lan." The man with the black beard said.
She looked at him with an icy glare. "Hello Finnean."
"Haven't seen you in a while. Everything alright?"
She looked up at him from her drink.
"Why, how sweet of you to ask me that. You almost sound as if you were worried." She said sarcastically. "And there Ii was thinking you didn't really care what happened to me. I guess I misunderstood you when you just upped and left me with all the dirty work. But perhaps to you it is a way of showing affections when you leave and betray your partner!"
The inn went silent. You didn't hear a lot of this. Betrayal under thieves wasn't uncommon, but to see it out in the open like this was something you didn't get to see very often.
"Or perhaps you just forgot I was there too." She continued. "You tell me."
"...I thought your wrath would have packed more of a punch. Are you losing your touch, sweetheart?" he replied with a smirk.
Another heavy silence filled the room. Somewhere in the back an old toothless gnome started to laugh. The rest followed gingerly. Finnean and Calandra joined in too, but their eyes stayed cold and tense.
Suddenly Finnean's head snapped up. "Oi, Thodor! Give these two a glass of that special brew of yours."
Soon two brownish glasses were passed on to them. Ahro looked at it hesitantly and sniffed it carefully. But Calandra raised her glass and drank it all in one swig, as did Finnean.
They slammed their glasses back on the table and stared at each other with the same coldness as before.
"So what brings you here?" he asked.
"I could ask you just the same. But what guarantees me an honest answer?"
He laughed bitterly. "Well, what are you doing here?"
"Just trying to get on with my life. Maybe shrug off a few of Writath's men."
"Lan, I know I should just give you your share. But I can't. It's not all there anymore. You know I've always been a good spender."
She snorted. "Only you've never been able to spend anything because you never had anything to spend. And now you finally had something you've gone and blown it all?"
"...Lost it more like...well, most of it. I think I'm getting the hang of betting more and more."
She groaned. "You didn't...tell me you didn't..."
He grinned apologetically. "I didn't lose it all, the biggest part is...invested, as you might call it. In my future."
She looked down, not able to look at his face after this. He had to admit he was feeling a bit guilty seeing her like this. The young boy next top her tried to look tough as he had to fight to keep his place near her.
Finnean grinned. What a hopeless city bred person.
"Listen, I do have some gold left I can give you."
Ahro looked up at Calandra. Would she accept it? It would solve her troubles. It would solve everything right away, he knew that. But he felt that, if she did accept this, she would somehow be bound to this man again. It would take her away from him.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her questioningly. She shook her head slowly. Reaching down into her pocket she found a few silver coins and she threw them om the table.
"No thanks. You can't buy me, Finnean. I don't want your money or anything else from you."
She pulled at the necklace around her neck until the band snapped.
"There. I don't need any of this anymore. Get it? No golden bracelets or stupid necklaces to make up for your treachery because what you do is unforgivable. People will soon see through you if you keep on doing things the way you do now. Don't count on your charms to save you from your mistakes for ever, because people aren't blind."
She stood up.
"I have my own plan to get the money I need. This is my problem and I'll solve it my way."
She turned around briskly feeling very satisfied as a look of surprise washed over Finnean's face. Ahro followed her. He had been silent the entire time because he could feel the tension of the situation. This was more than just a little arguement about a failed plan.
Finnean followed them. "Stop! Lan, you can't be serious! Listen, I'm sorry for what I did before, even though I know you don't believe me. You've got every right not to, but please listen. Writath knows you're here."
She snapped back. "You think I didn't know? They ambushed us when we entered the city. How did they know where to find me? Because you told them, didn't you."
He looked at loss for words for a moment. "Look, they caught me, okay? I payed them what they wanted but that wasn't enough for them. I couldn't just walk away, they wanted to know more and they forced me into saying something."
"You betrayed family! You betrayed me to them! I'll bet you'd betray your own master if you could save your mangy skin with it."
"I'd never betray Tehk!"
"Well it's great to know that he means more to you than I apparently ever did."
They stood across from each other, their eyes gleaming with anger.
"I thought you were smarter than to come back here." He hissed. "That's why I sent them here. You know you should've disappeared."
"I intended to do that here." She hissed back.
"For Eleonora's sake, Lan. How should I have known?"
"This is as good as my home!" she yelled exasperatedly.
There was a silence. Calandra turned away.
"I'll solve my problems myself. Come on, Ahro. Let's find a place we can stay."
Ahro followed obediently.
"Wait! You'll solve it yourself?"
"I don't need you anymore Finn."
He laughed bitterly.
"Don't you? Will City-boy here help you? The boy can't even hold a sword properly. Or is he just there for 'company'."
She froze in her steps. Without turning around she spoke to him.
"He is there for everything. He is better company than any of you thieves. And you know why? Because I know he'd never betray me for gold."
She walked away, ignoring Finnean's pleas and his taunts. Ahro looked from her to Finnean and back. He moved to follow Calandra, but Finnean grabbed his arm firmly.
"So this is my competitor...my successor."
"Don't comepare me to you. I'm nothing like you." Ahro hissed as he pulled his arm away from Finnean's grip.
Finnean laughed. 'You're right there...and what makes you think she could care for boy who's so different from the man she has loved all her life?"
Finnean turned away with a satisfied smirk on his face. Ahro sent him an angry glare and turned to catch up with Calandra, who was waiting for him outside a bakery down the road.
"What did he want?" she asked.
Ahro shrugged the question off and suggested to go look for some lodgings. He followed Calandra through the narrow corridors. His hands slid into his pockets as he wandered behind her.
To his surprise he could feel somehting in his pocket. A piece of paper. He unfolded it when he was sure Calandra wouldn't look back and read it.
'The Crossed Bolts. Tonight.'
He didn't have to think long about whou could have written this. But why would Finnean want to meet him there...
Again it took me a very long time to update and I appologise for that. Buys, busy, busy, you know
Kar-vermin: I have two dictionaries here by my side as I type this :) I've been looking up some words like you advised me to do and i must admit that it feels good to be sure about the spelling of a word like 'mangy'. I've also managed to get me a beta-reader, but she's reading a different story at the moment, a Harry Potter one, so she's been set to do a different task. But it is very handy to have someone to discuss grammar and stuff with.
Greyangle: I'm glad you think the characters are lovable :D It's really hard to create believable characters of your own, that's why I stuck to fanfiction about harry potter and final fantasy for such a long time. But knowing that people out there actually appreciate my own creations is a very satisfiable thought. And don't call yourself a lowly reader, because what woul any piece of fiction be without readers? It's worthless if no one reads it and espescially if no one cares about it. Well, you know what I mean. I'm happy with your reviews :D