Kyle

Kai could see his breath rise in thick plumes as he sat in the carriage. Besai was nodding off on his lap as he braided her hair, then brushed it out with his fingers, then braided it again.

Varasach sat on the bench opposite his, eyes closed. She had started complaining of an upset stomach about three hours ago. If the amount of potholes they were driving through (not over) was any indicator, she was motion-sick.

Jay fiddled with a pencil as he stared past Kai's head, eyes detached. Since they were in the North, he had a high chance of being recognized by someone, so he stayed in the carriage. The last thing they wanted was to be arrested for 'harboring a fugitive of the law'.

The laughter of young children beckoned to Kai's ears, and he peeked out the window. A half-dozen little boys and girls chased after a ball that had rolled to the other side of the road, bundled tightly in furs and boots that seemed too big for their little feet. Kai smiled.

"Careful, kids," he heard Cole say as the horses pranced, trying to avoid the tiny children. "Whoa! Roads aren't safe, you know."

Jay chuckled softly. "They don't get a lot of visitors up here," he said, fingers twirling the pencil in an intricate dance. "Most people walk to where they need to go, so the roads are, technically speaking, usually quite safe for children to play on."

Besai sat upright and smiled at the children. "They're cute," she said, voice like a soft winter breeze.

"You like children?" Kai said.

Besai nodded.

Jay stared at her for a moment, lips pressed together. "How many kids do you have, Besai?"

The question surprised Kai. Jay sounded as if there was no way that Besai could not have kids.

The children were safely across, and Cole commanded the horses to continue plodding through the snow. Besai nestled herself in Kai's arms again and pulled her blanket close. "Four," she said.

Kaytake's words came to Kai, sharp and disappointed. "You don't even know her. What in the name of all things good... You don't even know your own woman."

Besai struggled through a loud coughing fit, then cleared her throat. "Three girls und...one boy."

"And your youngest," Jay said. "How old is he?"

"She." Besai closed her eyes and sighed. "Two," she said.

Jay's face seemed to melt. "She was taken to Building Two, then."

Building Two. Where the children stayed until they were old enough to be 'useful'.

Besai nodded. "A few days before I was ordered to follow Kai."

Kai ran his fingers through her hair furiously, mind pondering what he had just learned. She was the Overlord's slave.

So...she had bore the Overlord's seed. Four times.

That was her. Always so quiet, never talking about herself.

"That must have been hard," Jay said.

Kai could feel her shoulders slump as he separated her hair into three parts and weaved them together. Her blue eyes- slightly yellowish because of her disease- were deep. Like a curtain, concealing a shattered soul.

"What were their names?" Jay asked.

It was as though Besai hadn't heard him. She shivered with her blanket close to her chin, expression suggesting that she was reliving a painful memory.

"Hey," Kai said into her ear, "did you hear him?"

Besai blinked. "Alyx," she breathed. "Mgdan hjdi'kee systuhr to."

Jay replied in the same language.

"Mmm." Besai forced a laugh and rubbed her forehead. "Sorry. I meant to say that my son's name ees Alyx."

"What about the girls?" asked Kai.

"Alfdis," Besai said. "She ees...eight years, yes. Und...Atgas ees seven. The youngest..." The heel of her hand covered her eyes, and she released a tiny sob that sounded as though it had been suppressed far too long.

How has she been able to keep quiet about such an emotional subject for so long? How had she kept it hidden?

"Ahlie," she said. "My baby."

Her baby. Not Overlord's baby- although they all certainly looked like him- but hers. Hadn't Cole said something about women distancing themselves from their children? If that were the case, then why did Besai seem so attached to hers?

Besai went into a fit of hysterics, one arm squeezing her stomach. Was she feeling nauseous again?

"It'll be all right." Kai shot a dark glare at Jay as he spoke, voice soothing like honey. "We don't have to talk about it anymore."

Besai petted the blanket as she shook her head. "Eet has a hole," she said, pointing through the tears at a graying spot near the edge of the woolen material. "Eet's sad, Kai. There ees a hole een my blanket."

Jay leaned forward in his seat and felt her forehead. "Yikes," he said. "She's running a fever. When did that happen?"

Kai pressed his cheek to hers, then winced. "Just now, I guess," he said. "Wow. That...that was fast. I could have sworn she was freezing a moment ago."

The pencil's bounces accelerated as Jay watched Besai's antics. She had long since forgone lamenting the blanket and was now insisting that they stop so she could go outside and taste a tree.

"She's delirious," he said. "The sudden temperature change must be affecting her brain. Maybe we-"

A noise not unlike thunder filled the air, followed by a scream.

The carriage stopped, and the door opened a moment later. "Get out here," Cole said, face grim. He turned and jogged out of their field of vision.

Jay obeyed immediately, but Kai was a little more hesitant.

"Just leave Besai," Jay said, pulling his scarf up to cover his face as he stepped into the snow. "She'll be okay for a few minutes."

Kai slid her off his lap and followed Jay, taking care to pull his hood over his eyes.

What he saw wasn't pretty. A man lay face-up in the middle of the street, gasping and twitching like a fish out of water. Blood seeped through his thick shirt from...what wound?

Jay ripped the man's shirt open and stared at the tiny wound in the right side of his chest. His face paled. A woman behind him began to sob.

"What is it?" Kai asked. "The hole is tiny. Too small for even a knife."

"And it goes through the other side," Cole added.

Jay looked up, then jumped- or rather, flew- over the man's body and to the wall of a shop on the other side of the road. He pulled Stormstrider from his belt and wedged it into the wall. A tiny something fell into his hand, and he returned to where a large group of locals had gathered to look at the mess.

"Look," he said, palm raised.

Cole picked up the tiny pellet and held it between his thumb and forefinger. It was copper-colored. "Not to copy Kai, but his question was a good one. What is it?"

Jay did not answer. He was kneeling next to the wounded man, hands pressed to his bleeding chest. "I think it punctured a lung," he said. He turned to the teary young woman who stood nearby. "I'm...sorry. There's nothing we can do."

Kai was captivated by the tiny sphere. How had it gone through the man's body like that, then embedded itself in a wall ten feet beyond? Why was-

"It's him!" a man cried out, pointing with a shaky finger at Cole. "The Dark Knight. He must have done it."

Cole looked up at the man, jaw tense. He made no move to deny the claim

Jay swore and stood. "Umm...get inside," he said. "It looks like our time is up. We need to run."

Kai turned to enter the carriage, then realized that Cole had not moved. "Hey!" he said. "Come on!"

Cole looked at Kai. His eyes seemed...icy. The crowd was in an uproar but afraid to approach him. Probably because one hand rested on the sword at his waist.

Angry cries rang through the air.

"Killer!"

"As if taking Kaytake's children wasn't enough, you've come to ruin the rest of us with witchcraft!"

"You took my sister a year ago. I'll make you pay!"

Another peal of thunder silenced the crowd. All eyes turned to the source of the noise; a tall man atop a building, face concealed by a colored scarf.

"Get back to business," he said, sounding almost bored. "They're with me."

No one dared to move or breathe.

"Ten seconds," the man said. "I want everyone but the five strangers out. Now."

Five strangers. How did he know there were five of them, when the women were hidden in the carriage?

The crowd hastily left the street, disappearing into whatever building was nearest them.

The masked man leaped from the building, sending up a spray of snow where his boots landed. The way he approached them gave Kai a sense of dramatic urgency. Like he had somewhere to be, but had enough time to scare people while getting there.

"Who's in the carriage?" he said. "An ill woman?"

"Two, actually," Jay answered.

"You taking them to a healer?"

"No. I have relatives up north."

"The cold air can't be good for 'em, though."

Jay's shoulders visibly relaxed. He laughed breathily. "You never know," he said. "It might do them some good."

"Excellent," the man said. He pulled his scarf loose, exposing his chiseled, rugged face. "I'm Kyle," he said, proffering a hand for Jay to take. "I have some friends up north too. Mind if I join your group?"

Jay shook the large hand. "Not at all," he said. "As a matter of fact, why don't I let you drive?"

"What?" The single word came out like a scoff. Kai shook his head. "Hey. Didn't this guy just kill someone?" He nodded to the body of the dead man lying in the street.

Kyle jumped into the driver's seat and took up the reins. "He was poking in business he shouldn't have."

Jay gave Kai a meaningful look and nodded to the door. "Get in," he whispered. "It's all right. He's one of Borg's men."

Cole used his cane to help him into the dark, claustrophobic box. "Thanks, Jay," he said as he settled into his seat. "That makes me feel much better. Yes. He's with Borg, so all the world is right and-"

Jay shushed him, then sat.

After Kai situated himself with Besai on his lap- she was unconscious- Kyle flicked the reins and the horses carried them away from the town.

"Look at this," Jay said. He held out a shiny silver cylinder.

Cole leaned close. "It's a tube," he said. "Where did you get it?"

"From Kyle's pocket. He had a blind spot on his right side when he shook my hand. But look here." He tipped one end up, then dropped the marble inside. "It fits perfectly. Now, if I were to wind up this tiny crank back here, fill this hole with black powder, then flick this switch, the cylinder would create a spark and-"

"Pretend we're children," Cole said. "Explain it in a way that they would understand."

"Right. So...basically, that shot came from this ingenious piece of machinery."

Cole snatched it from him and threw it out the window. It disappeared into the snow.

"That's sick," he said. "Absolutely sick. Shooting your victim in the back, not giving them a fighting chance. Where's the honor in that?"

Jay looked flabbergasted. "I...I was going to give it back when I was done looking at it."

"So he could do what? Ruin more families?"

For once, Jay did not have an answer.