13. Caught

Therius glanced at Calista and Zesha behind him, the two both wearing hooded cloaks to conceal themselves. The white knight knew it was a paper-thin disguise, but it was either that or Zesha would be attacked instantly because he was a Gurak and Calista would be swarmed by Jirall and her uncle instantly. Therius himself had taken a cloak, too-running around half-naked in Lazulis was definitely not recommended, unless one wished to be stared at.

The guards to the entrance of Lazulis Castle, however, did not seem convinced that his 'knightly companions' were who they were told to be.

"Do they have Castle passes?" One of the two guards demanded gruffly. "Show them at once."

Zesha and Calista both showed them the castle passes that they stole from some other Lazulis knights a while ago (the knights had been drunk at the time, they weren't looking and what they didn't know wouldn't exactly harm them...for now. That was how Zesha tried to justify it, anyway, despite Therius' protests).

The guards let them into the castle, which was good. Calista looked around the hall as they entered the castle. There was no sign just yet of a Jirall and a Count Arganan, which was good...

...Although there was the sight of none other than Zael and General Asthar approaching them.

Therius took a deep breath, before speaking. "General Asthar..."

"Sir Therius." General Asthar greeted him. "You found your way back to Lazulis?"

Therius nodded. "Yes, General. I.." He bowed briefly, his head hung low. "I apologize for disobeying orders and running off like that back at the Gurak Continent. I will accept any punishment fit, sir."

General Asthar smiled a bit. "No, raise your head, Sir Therius. If anything, you have done a good, honorable thing. Lady Calista is safe, is she not?"

Calista pulled down her hood, smiling at Therius. "If there is anyone that should be in trouble, it's me..."

"It's me, not her." Zesha muttered from underneath his hood, but General Asthar overheard it and glanced at the hooded Zesha.

"Sir Therius, who is this exactly?"

"Erm..." Therius paused, unsure of what to say for a moment. "He is...he is a friend, General. He helped Lady Calista and I escape from the Gurak Continent."

From the corner of her eye, Calista noticed her uncle and Jirall coming closer, accompanied by a few soldiers. If Zesha was found out...

She sensed Zesha wince from underneath the hood. Zael glanced at Jirall and Count Arganan coming their way, but Calista knew that Zael was in no position to do anything-he was a mercenary, after all.

Before Count Arganan could even open his mouth to speak, a familiar feminine voice spoke up.

"Oy...what's up?"

Everyone turned to see Yin, who was sitting on the balcony with that familiar little smile on her face. She wasn't in the tailor robes that she had been wearing before-instead, she was dressed in some chainmail for flexibility, overtop what appeared to be some silver cloth armor and black leather greaves, finished off with black and silver boots. Somehow, though, it looked good on her-knowing Yin, she probably made up the entire combat outfit herself, considering that she was a skilled tailor (and blacksmith, too, as Zesha had told her on the way to Lazulis Castle).

Therius looked up at her. "What do you want, Yin?"

The Gurak tailor/assassin pouted a later. "Oh, Sir Therius, is that truly a way to address a lady? No wonder you're not so popular with them. You're not my target today. Nor is the traitor to my people, Zesha, who I have replaced as right hand man of Lord Zangurak."

Zesha knew that his identity was going to be eventually revealed. It was annoying, though, that Yin had to go and point it out just like that. Knowing he had no choice, he threw off his cloak. Count Arganan stared at Zesha, his eyes filling with rage.

"You filthy Gurak-"

A needle into his neck silenced the Count, knocking him out. Before Jirall could even do anything, he and the other soldiers were also silenced with needles in their necks. Yin let out a slow breath, examining the fallen bodies.

"Don't worry, they're not dead. Just unconscious. Though I don't like using sleeping needles on people-I'd rather go for things that actually kill, or close to killing." She then turned towards General Asthar, a half-grin on her face. "General Asthar...I wonder how much chaos Lazulis will be in once I kill you?"

Therius took out the sword he had borrowed from Yin. "That won't happen."

Yin took out a sword-Therius' sword-and pointed it at him. "We'll see, white knight. Come at me!" She leapt from the balcony, flipping once in the air before she landed gracefully on both feet. She gave a little half-smile at them, twirling once with the sword in hand. "Well? What are you waiting for? Fight me!"

Zesha lunged at Yin, snarling as he slashed at her with both blades. Yin dodged, flipping backwards and turning to block a strike from Zael before suddenly sinking downwards and extending her leg as she twirled in a circle, tripping him. The assassin was certainly doing one thing consistently in this fight, and it was that she was quite enjoying the fighting. In a way, she reminded Therius of Syrenne, Syrenne the mercenary who had actually been willing to pick a fight with the white knight. Therius betted that Syrenne seemed like the one who was ready for a fight-just like Yin.

Calista cast a Shining spell while Asthar rushed forwards with his sword, blocking Yin from slashing at Zael, before he stabbed forwards. Yin leaned to one side, barely dodging the attack, before jumping over him and landing gracefully on one foot. She then prepared an ice spell and shot it at Calista, countering the Shining spell that Calista had cast at her and the two spells colided, a large cloud of smoke enveloping the room.

Calista coughed, looking around.

"Zesha!? General Asthar!?"

She saw the silhouette of none other than Yin, readying to throw three needles...

And then Calista saw Zesha push Asthar aside, just as the needles were about to hit their target. Zesha let out a grunt of pain as the three needles stabbed into his chest, just below his collarbone and piercing through the armor. Asthar looked bewildered, surprised that a Gurak warrior of all beings was taking the hit in his place. Yin let out a groan of disappointment.

"Geez, Zesha, those were meant for Asthar! Normally you should die, but...you're pretty resistant to poison, too, like the white knight and like Zepha, so..." Yin turned to see the other mercenaries hired by Count Arganan arriving. "Dang. I guess I'd better go..."

Zesha shook his head, stumbling forwards as he fell onto his knees. "Yin, wait..." He croaked out, coughing a bit. "How is...Zepha...? Is he alright?"

Yin paused, her back turned to him, before she turned her head to make eye contact with him. "Zepha is adjusting well to his blindness, if that's what you're wondering about. He'll be fine. Promise."

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Calista instinctively found herself rushing over to Zesha as he nearly collapsed forwards onto the ground now, lying on his front as Calista pulled out the needles, starting to use her healing magic on him. Count Arganan, Jirall, and the knights that had been knocked out by Yin's needles had regained consciousness, and Count Arganan was about to bark at his knights to send Zesha to the dungeon when General Asthar intervened.

"Count Arganan," Asthar started, "Excuse me for interrupting you but this warrior here saved my life and warded off the assassin just now. He wishes to help us fend off against the Gurak."

Count Arganan narrowed his eyes. "And what makes you believe that this Gurak is not like the others?"

Zesha and Calista looked up at Asthar while Therius turned to watch the two quietly, not saying a word as he put Yin's sword away. The General looked very stern about this, like how he'd scolded Therius earlier after the argument with Syrenne.

"Count Arganan, I will make sure to keep Zesha under watch and that he will not double-cross us. I swear it completely."

Count Arganan paused, thinking, before speaking again. "Very well. He will not be sent to prison."

Jirall couldn't believe it. "What!? But-"

Count Arganan cut him off, continuing to speak and ignoring Jirall completely. "However, if he leaves this castle or we find him double-crossing us, General Asthar, you will pay for the consequences dearly. Is that understood?"

General Asthar nodded. "Of course, Count Arganan. It will be done."

With that, Count Arganan and Jirall left, as well as the knights. Asthar let out a slow breath, before turning to Zesha, who Calista helped up.

"I would suggest that it would be best for you to tread carefully, especially since you come from the enemy. There are others, obviously, besides Count Arganan, who want you dead."

Zael paused, before speaking up. "Erm...can I ask something?"

Zesha turned to face the one who bore the mark of the Outsider besides Lord Zangurak. "You just did."

"That's not what I meant, I just..." Zael let out a sigh, before speaking. "Just...why are you here? Don't you serve Lord Zangurak."

Zesha shook his head, before explaining. "Not anymore."

Zesha was given a guest room in the Castle to sleep in-far better than the dungeon, but Zesha began to feel more like a captive than seen as some ally. It made sense, though, that he was going to be kept in the Castle-of course the humans would not trust him so easily.

At least someone seemed to trust him a little, though-General Asthar, that is. Once Zesha had explained earlier about wanting to know more about the Outsider, General Asthar and a mercenary by the name of Mirania seemed willing to help him-they were in the process of looking into it themselves, it seemed.

Just as he was about to be prepared for bed, he heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was someone coming to check to see that he was still in existence in the Castle, he went over to the door and opened it.

To his surprise, it wasn't some watch guard or someone like that. It was Calista.

"Lady Calista." He greeted her quietly, his face still straight. Calista had changed from that red dress she'd worn at the ball to a light blue dress that exposed her shoulders, but had sleeves with ruffles and such. She looked more like a Countess-to-be, now.

"Zesha..." Calista glanced around, seeing that there was no one, before speaking. "How is getting adjusted to Lazulis Castle?"

"Fine." He muttered quietly. "Though I think I feel more like a prisoner."

She frowned a bit at this. "Multiply that by years, and you'll have a sense of what I felt being locked up here in this castle for most of my life..."

Zesha nodded, saying nothing for a moment before speaking up again. "So, I suppose my presence at this Castle would be unwanted. It's best for you to stay away from me. I am your enemy-turned-traitor to my kind. No one should really be trusting me..."

"But I trust you."

That got him a bit off. He tilted his head slightly, brushing a greasy, pale blond lock of hair out of his face. Eugh. Maybe he should take a bath-he hadn't really done so for the past two days, anyway. It might even do himself some good besides improving his appearance-maybe Count Arganan wouldn't be scrunching up his nose and Jirall wouldn't be making obvious facial expressions of disgust whenever they passed by each other in the hallway. But that was another matter, for later. There was something more important to ask.

"Why?"

She blinked. "Why what?"

He gave her a look. "Why would you ever trust me? What did I ever do to make you trust me?"

"...You protected me from your own brother."

"I was following orders."

"And when you broke them later, you apologized the next time you saw me."

"I was being polite. Any other reason as of why you trust me-"

"Will you stop being so stubborn and let me keep explaining!?"

Both were silent, before Calista spoke up again.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine..." Zesha muttered quietly, biting his lower lip. Calista nodded quietly, silently acknowledging his apology, before speaking again.

"I trust you more than I would ever trust my uncle, or Jirall. If there's something that you should be wary of, it's not to trust them-otherwise things could end badly for you. I'm just worried for you, and I know what's it like to be in the palm of their hands. It's not pretty."

Zesha nodded quietly. "Agreed..." He then glanced around. "We should stop talking here. For now."

Calista nodded, taking a step back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He closed the door, and then turned and leaned backwards against the door, letting out a quiet breath.

What was that just now? What was that? He really didn't know...

He just hoped things wouldn't get any worse from here.