Chapter 2

Nikki was still wandering the streets at dusk. She had bought some small cakes from a baker earlier, but she was still hungry. She found herself wandering up to the castle gates. She had always wondered what it would be like to go to the palace and all of the parties and dress up and have suitors, but that would not happen now. Nikki reached out a hand and brushed the gates with her fingertips. That was a foreign world now. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. Nikki turned and began walking back along the main road. The houses were quiet and she could hear the man breathing behind her. She kept waiting for the ambush and it finally came outside one of the abandoned boarding houses. A man materialized in front of her and she could immediately tell that he was a thief. His clothes were torn and dirty, but the knife on his belt was sharp.

"Now where is a pretty little thing like you going all alone at night?" asked the thief in a gravelly voice.

"Home," Nikki answered assertively. She turned to find a side street and discovered that there was another thief behind her.

"Leaving so soon?" the other thief asked. "We was hoping you'd join us for some supper."

"No thank you. I have already eaten," she replied with a slightly snobbish tone. Her hand was now resting on her dagger hilt at her waist. She was watching and listening for any signs of movement.

"Come now, lass. We got a friend who's very eager to meet ya," drawled the rogue who was now at her back.

"I think your friend will just have to be disappointed then. I am not going anywhere with you two." Nikki's eyes lit up. She had just found her escape route down a darker alleyway off to her right.

"Sorry, lass, but that just ain't an option. We got orders an' we ain't losin' ears on your behalf," growled the rogue behind her. That was when she decided it was time to go. The two men had made a signal and Nikki saw that knives had appeared in their hands. She forced herself to stand her ground until they were almost on top of her and then she feinted to the left and knocked the one man into his friend. They went down in a pile and Nikki took off down the alley to her right. Behind her she heard the two men cursing, but she just turned a corner and kept on running.

Even while running, Nikki kept playing the scenario over and over in her head. She could not figure out why some thief would want to see her. She turned down another alley and found herself heading back toward the main road. She turned out on the road and heard footsteps behind her. Nikki ignored the sound because there were a few people out and around in this part of town. It was only when she realized that the speed of the footsteps had increased that she looked back. The two thieves were sprinting towards her and the gap was closing too quickly. Nikki took off running as fast as she could towards the populated part of town.

Unfortunately, she had realized her danger a little too late. The footsteps were on top of her before she knew it. The wind was knocked out of her as she was hit from behind. Her forehead hit a stone sticking out of the road, but she barely noticed it. She pushed the rogue off of her and she started up again pulling her knife from her belt when the other rogue knocked her to the ground again. Her knife went flying and she did not get a chance to grab another. She kicked and hit and was finally rewarded with a muffled grunt. She elbowed the other in the nose and lunged for her knife. As she reached it, someone else picked it up.

"Give it back, thief!" she exclaimed as she moved to get up, but the other two rogues had recovered enough to restrain her arms and pull her away from the smiling man who had her knife.

"Now, now, that ain't the way to speak to his Majesty, is it now?" asked one of the men who was holding her arms.

As Nikki squinted up at the man in the darkness, the other man who was holding her addressed the man with her knife. "We tried to bring her like ya asked, Majesty, but she gave us the slip. She's a tricky one." Nikki stared him down.

"So you're the one who sent these goons after me?" she asked.

"Aye," replied the Rogue. "Why don't you come in for a drink?" he asked making a motion towards the inn behind him.

"I would rather you return my knife, tell your men to let go, and let me go home," she replied forcefully.

He looked her over seriously. "No running off?" When she nodded, he signaled his men and they let go and wandered into the inn. Nikki held out her hand for the knife. He gave her a long look and finally handed her knife back. "That's a nice blade you've got there, lass."

"I know," she replied as she put the knife back in her belt. Nikki looked back up to find the Rogue studying her. "What?"

His gaze stopped at her hairline. "You're bleedin' lass. How about you come on in and we'll fix you up?" Nikki shook her head and took a small step backwards.

"I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt that la…."

He dropped off as Nikki took off down an alley. Nikki was putting as much energy into her escape as possible, but she was drained after her run in with the other rogues. All too quickly she was immobilized by the Rouge with his knife pressed against her throat.

"I wouldn' try that again lass," the Rogue growled in her ear. "Now, we're goin' back to the inn to have a nice chat like two civilized people." Nikki nodded stiffly, feeling very aware of the knife's sharp edge against her skin. The Rogue put his knife back in his belt, and took a vice like hold on her arm. He steered her forcefully back to the inn called the Dancing Dove.

Now that Nikki did not have adrenaline coursing through her body, she was feeling dizzy. She was actually thankful that the Rogue had such a tight grip on her arm. They were almost at the door to the inn when Nikki stumbled. The Rogue caught her before she hit the ground and then he moved her under a light to see what was wrong. Nikki blinked in the torchlight. He went to move her hair off of her face, but Nikki knocked his hand away.

"I'm fine…." She mumbled, but she really didn't believe her own voice. Her head was starting to hurt and she couldn't focus on what all was going on.

"There is a lot of blood and I want to know how bad you're actually hurt," he replied in such a gentle voice that she let him lift her hair and look at the cut. "We had better get you inside and cleaned up quick." He took a better hold on her arm and helped her through the door and into a large, noisy room. He steered her towards the bar and Nikki noticed several people turning to look at her and the Rogue.

"Solom, send up some hot water and bandages to my room and other than that I don't want to be disturbed," the Rogue ordered in an urgent voice and then he steered Nikki up the stairs.

When they got to the top, the Rogue unlocked the door and settled Nikki in a chair near the table. From her position, Nikki could look around the entire apartment. She supposed it looked like it should belong to a thief with all of the mismatched furnishings scattered around. Nikki was still finding that she could not concentrate as well as usual and her headache was increasing. Her eyes started to droop, but she shook herself awake. She would not fall asleep here, with a man she did not know. Nikki put a hand to her aching head. When she touched her hairline a sharp pain flashed through her skull, making her gasp and her vision blurred. She pulled her hand away to find blood all over her fingers and that was when she realized that it was also dripping down the side of her face. She felt sick.

The Rogue returned with some clean cloths, a needle, thread, and some whiskey. He quickly surveyed her and noticed the blood on her fingers.

"You shouldn't go touchin' it lass," he told her as she started to clean the blood off of her fingers. If she hadn't been so dizzy from the cut, Nikki never would have let him do that. There was a soft knock at the door and one of the serving girls came in with a bowl of steaming water and the bandages the Rogue had asked for. He directed her to put the supplies on the table in front of Nikki. When the girl had left, the Rogue started to soak one of the cloths in the water.

"I can do it myself," Nikki demanded even though the room seemed to be swaying.

"Oh no, let someone else take care of you," the Rogue said with a grin. He poured some of the whiskey on the wet cloth. "What's your name, lass?"

"What's your name?" She was not giving out information to total strangers no matter how hurt she was.

The Rogue's grin broadened. "Ladies first…"

Nikki sighed. She just wanted this awful headache to go away. She took a deep breath and looked at the table. "My name is Nikki."

"And my name is George. It is a pleasure to meet you," George said as he wrung a little of the water out of the cloth. "Now we really need to clean this wound." With that George pressed the cloth to her forehead. Nikki hissed with pain because of the sudden pressure and then she sank into unconsciousness. George caught her once again and laid her on the bed so he could get a better look at the cut. Then he washed the cut and her face and stitched the wound closed. He wrapped her head with a soft bandage and tucked the covers around her after removing her knife belt and boots.

George had just finished putting away the supplies when he realized that Nikki was shivering under the blanket. He grabbed another blanket and wrapped her in it. He wrapped his arms around her so that he could feel her heartbeat and breathing. He was not going to lose this girl to a small cut. Eventually he fell asleep as well.