Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I am not Tamora Pierce. I may have amnesia, but then, who are these people who say they are my family and I have lived with for fourteen years? Or, for that matter, why do I remember growing up here?
AN: Hiya! Sorry for the long wait, but we drove down to my cousin's for the week, and there's no internet connection. Hell, there isn't even a computer there. Anyway, enjoy!
Maybe I Will Chapter 6
Beka POV:
Huh?! The Scanran Rogue?! Gods, he's right! I killed Srimfor! I looked at Rosto, praying that he was kidding. But he was dead serious. He looked as anxious as I felt. Before I could speak, or protest, or even open my mouth, the door opened with an ominous creeaak.
Rosto POV:
As much as I love Beka-
Wait. Did I just say I love Beka? Yes. I did. Well, I do. I always have, and I always will. But she doesn't feel the same way. Where was I? Oh, yeah.
As much as I love Beka, I could kill her now. Why the hell did she do that?! The Chiefs here will try, and probably succeed, to kill her, seeing her as weak and too new to the throne, or Scanra, for that matter, to have any support or skill at dispatching assassins. Though she actually does, multiple attempts may tire her enough to kill her.
NO. That's not what I'm worried about. This is Beka. My sweet, law-abiding and enforcing Beka. She can't become the Rogue. Of Scanra, of all places! Either she will flat-out refuse, which is very likely, and be murdered in her bed or on the streets at home, or she'll do it, and then she will have to stay here forever. Although, Scanra will need a very powerful incentive to get her to stay. Her family, maybe, but they live in the Provest's house. Other than the palace, that's the safest there is. And her friends are all either Dogs, Rats, or Mages, or a combination. Pounce would be their best bet, but who would think to use a cat? Besides, he's got some power as a constellation, or god, or whatever he is. So, who?
Maybe you. Didn't you see her when he nearly killed you?
She just hates seeing murder before her eyes. We're just friends.
You wish you weren't just friends. And she killed Srimfor to save you. So you're 'she hates seeing murder' theory is cracknobbed. Can't you see what's right in front of you?
I was going to continue the argument, for reasons I don't really know, except just then the door creaked open. I looked up. It wasn't the main door, but a little used side-door that leads to… Actually, no-one knows where it leads. Although there are some theories. Very far-fetched ones, at that.
The man that came out of the doorway was old, surprisingly so, and clothed all in black. He had a very long grey beard and even longer grey hair. His face was almost completely hidden behind the beard and his cloaks hood, but his eyes were visible. They were a vivid green, and glittered with intelligence. And rage, as he looked first at us, then where Srimfor lay.
"What the hell is going on here? Who is that?" He was looking at Srimfor's body. Involuntarily, we both looked as well.
What. The. Hell?!
Beka POV:
Rosto and I both looked at Srimfor. And we both gasped very loudly. There, where Srimfor had lain, there was another man. He had the same wound, but was otherwise completely different. Where Srimfor had been fat and balding, with watery blue eyes and light brown hair, this man was thin, frighteningly so, with long, thick black hair and wide, staring brown eyes. His skin was an almost Carthaki black, and his clothes were patched and ragged, where Srimfor's had been rich and new.
"Who is that?" the old man asked again, the rage fading slightly, making way for bewilderment. Rosto stood up.
"No idea. Where's Srimfor?" The old man now looked very confused.
"Srimfor?" I also stood, right next to Rosto.
"The Scanran Rogue. The one who kidnapped me as a ransom to get Rosto here. The guy that was lying there a minute ago." The old guy looked surprised, though at my words or at the fact that I put it so bluntly, I don't know.
"The Rogue? But he's in there. That's why I'm here. He's ill right now. I need a healer for him. He's been in there for a month and a half." I looked at Rosto in shock. The Rogue was alive? And he wasn't the one who kidnapped me? Rosto looked past the old man, where I could just see a bed with a large form covered by a sheet. The main doors opened, emitting several rushers. They looked from Rosto, to me, to the old man, to the man on the floor, and back to me, noticing the dagger in hand. Then they drew their weapons.
Rosto POV:
The rushers hurried in, taking in the scene around them, noticing the dagger still clutched in Beka's hand. They drew arms. I suddenly wondered how none of them had noticed something was off about the Rogue. And the old man had to get food and such for himself and Srimfor.
Idiot. They were in on it the whole time. That's why they're going to attach Beka. She exposed their plot, whatever it is.
I moved in between Beka and the rushers, drawing my blade. The old man was watching us all, looking as though he was trying to decide something. He finally did so, and joined me in front of Beka, who was glaring at me with a look that clearly said 'I can defend myself; you're the one with injuries.' I ignored her.
"What are you doing? Fetch a healer, at once!" The old man looked calm, despite his harsh words. What is his role in this, I wonder? The rushers laughed at him.
(AN: Big oops! I wrote the rest of this in Beka's POV without noticing. Sorry for the abrupt change in people.)
Beka POV:
"For who? Krimal? That pitiful Rogue in the bed behind you? These pathetic Tortallans? No, I think we'll just finish our plans. We will kill the Tortallan Rat King and Srimfor in one strike! Plus, we also get Srimfor's most trusted chief and a doxie to play with." His gaze lingered on my chest and everything from the waist-down. Rosto growled softly, and I wondered again whether his feelings are just flirtations, or something more.
Of course they're deeper than simple flirting. He was willing to come here and die to save you.
We're just friends. And Aniki, Kora, and a few others may have killed him anyway for staying there.
Those people could have come themselves. Or accompanied Rosto. And you know that he wants to be more than friends. You do too, just you won't admit it.
I do not! I am not in love with Rosto!
You are too. And you're only proving my point.
Am not!
Now you're arguing with yourself. And losing, I might add. Now, pay attention. The real people are talking again.
I tuned into the outside world in time to hear Rosto, as if inquiring about the weather, "Krimal? That Carthaki who's wanted by both the Provests and Rogues of three countries? That Krimal?" The rusher grinned even wider. I turned to the old man, who should know what they were talking about, being Srimfor's most trusted chief.
"What is he wanted for?" The chief looked at me.
"In the Rogue, conspiracy against the respective King's. In actual law terms, mass murders and assassination attempts on various powerful nobles." I whistled. That was an impressive list. And angering both sides of the law was a recipe for disaster. If our old Rogue had done his job, the Shadow Snake would have been chased down and killed, instead of being allowed to continue for over three years. And if half of the Dogs had given a hoot for kidnapped children, ransoms, or actual work even, Mistress Noll's little operation would have been rooted out within a few weeks, instead of being allowed to fester. Though it pains me to admit that the Dogs did sommat wrong, they are just as too blame as Deerborn.
"So he was trying to start something here, and in Tortall as well." The old man nodded.
"It would appear so." Rosto looked at us from the corner of his eyes, most of his attention still on the rushers around us.
"How is Srimfor ill? Poison or a regular disease?" The old man looked weary.
"I've no notion. Whatever it is, I've never seen it before. Though I'm no mage, I believe it is magic induced." He was going to say more, but Rosto interrupted him. The rushers were all but forgotten, and looking none-too-pleased at it.
"Beka, can you help him? Your ma was a herbwife, mayhap you know what it is." He was right. Ma taught me almost everything she knew, though it wasn't much. But, living in the Cesspool, what she did know was extensive in magical illnesses and poisons. I nodded, and the old man led me into the chamber where Srimfor lay.
Rosto POV:
Beka nodded at my suggestion, and I almost sagged with relief. With her in that backroom, I could defeat these rushers easier. They'll go for her first, and having her in that backroom would make it easier to defend her. Whether she likes it or not. She followed the old man into Srimfor's room, leaving me with these traitors. They fanned out around me, leaving no place to escape, as if I would even consider leaving Beka here with them. Then the fight began. Surprisingly, I wasn't tired after my fight with Krimal. There were twelve rushers, but none of them matched my speed. Loobies didn't even try to use their numbers against me. I shook my head as I killed the last one. None of them had any skill in fighting. Why had they been chosen?
Because they were easily manipulated into Krimal's plan. A voice I vaguely recognize said from the alcove Beka had come out of. I looked. Pounce was still sitting there. In the fight, I had forgotten him, and that he could speak. Huh. Funny what you forget in the heat of battle. If you could call it that.
"How did those spells of his just roll off, Master the Cat?" He looked at me reproachfully.
I did it. That 'rusher' didn't need an advantage, and those were death spells he was throwing. I nodded, cleaning off my dagger on a cove's shirt. He was one of the rogues that had disappeared when Beka was kidnapped. Looking at the bodies, I saw that all the missing rushers I had suspected were there. Good. Then there were no more to try to hurt my Beka.
AN: This is Rosto's thoughts, not Pounce talking.
There you go again, calling her yours. Even you know she loves you, you just won't admit it.
But she isn't. She says so herself. The one time I kissed her, she completely avoided me until… now, after she had been kidnapped. Elsewise, she would have continued to evade me for who knows how long.
Why would she avoid you, when before, when you just flirted, she either ignored you, yelled at you for calling her your gixie, or teased right back. She never avoided you for simple, harmless flirting.
I had nothing to say to that, so I walked into Srimfor's room to see if they had anything. Beka looked up at me from where she knelt beside the bed.
"He's going to be fine. It's just…" I glared at her, trying to figure out why she had stopped.
"What is it, Beka? I'm all out of patience right now." She glanced at the old man, who was leaning against the wall, watching.
"It's just… until he's well again, we have to…" she sighed, saying the next very quickly.
"Rosto, don't get mad at me, but we have to stay here, in the palace, until Srimfor's well again."
"What?!"
AN: Sorry to all those who wanted Beka to actually be the Rogue, but it just doesn't fit her character. Plus, she'd have to stay in Scanra until someone kills her, so she could rule the Rogue. And that means she and Rosto couldn't be together!