“So are you up for it?” Merek asked when he finished.
“You’re serious aren’t you?” Aeryn could barely believe he was not spouting some fantasized tale from one of the books by her feet.
“Deadly,” he replied in a cool, calm voice.
Aeryn turned and stared out the window for a time. She watched as Jynx bounded through the tall prairie grasses, periodically appearing atop one of the large boulders dotting the fields. A few leagues beyond, the last village before they entered Maerilin had just appeared as a dot on the horizon.
Merek’s goal seemed noble enough, if nigh on impossible. If she were honest with herself, she had absolutely no desire to help a noble; they already had more advantages than a thousand street urchins combined would encounter in as many years.
Lord Merek was perhaps an exception, knowing him personally as she did, but even he was a drop of water compared to the seething river of Maerilin’s less fortunate. Ty and Rickon had been lucky beyond belief to find a Master to take them in. For each of them, a hundred others wasted away on the streets, lacking even the ability to keep their bellies full, yet still convinced the only way to keep the Shadows from taking them in the night was to tithe every copper they came across to the Voices. That was their method of survival. Not fighting, not even running most of the time, just handing over coin that could help them right then and there and praying for a miracle from a God that did not care.
Could she really turn down an opportunity to help them? Could she pass up an opportunity to extract justice for the countless others the Shades had killed on orders passed down from Nameless through the Voices? Could she deny an opportunity to avenge Will, Brin, Bran, and every other poor soul put to rest before their time?
One thing nagged at her. She laughed and shook her head. One thing? A thousand points reached out to snag her. But right here, at this very moment, confined with Merek in this carriage, one stood out among all others. She turned back to Merek.
“Do I have a choice?” Aeryn asked.
“Of course you have a choice.”
Aeryn stared at the Lord. Faced with mountainous odds that may as well be a sheer slate cliff, running was the obvious and logical thing to do. Though some things were worth fighting for—like Jynx; that point had been driven home at Merek’s estate—this was not her fight. How could the lives of people she did not know and would never meet worth be dying for? Especially when none of them, not a single one, had lifted so much as a finger to help her when she was cold and starving on the streets? She was not a hero. Hell, she was not even a sellsword. She was just a bloody street urchin with a knack for filching that had stolen the wrong thing from the wrong Lord.
Aeryn put Merek’s words to the test. She knocked hard on the carriage wall. “Driver,” she said. “Stop here.”
The carriage rolled to a stop; all Merek’s servants were familiar with her favored position next to the Lord, if not the particulars. Reaching for the handle, Aeryn swung the door open and whistled sharply. Jynx trotted up while she ripped off bandages by the handful. Apparently, she would be cutting Emeline’s orders short by a full two weeks.
Merek put his hand on Aeryn’s arm as she moved to exit the carriage. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to walk the rest of the way to Maerilin,” Aeryn replied, not moving to retake her seat.
Merek’s grip firmed, as did his eyes.
Here it comes, she said to herself. She wondered how tightly Merek would pull the nooses he had looped about her neck.
“It is at least three days on foot. Can you even walk that far?” Merek asked, picking up steam. “I thought Emeline told you to stay off your feet for another two weeks? Do you even know the way? What happens if you get lost or twist an ankle? Not to mention there is no place to sleep out there.”
Making a show of swinging her legs out, Aeryn pulled her arm free of Merek’s hand. It was a good thing too, because the instant she put weight on her feet, her knees wobbled, forcing her to steady herself against the carriage. “I’ve lived on the streets my entire live. I can take care of myself.” Jynx tilted his head up at her. “Besides, after spending so much time with Gerald, that rough huntsman of yours, I think I can manage a couple days out here on my own.”
The little speech was more to reassure herself than anything; her legs were shockingly weak from spending the better part of a month abed.
It’ll also give me time to think and to see if you’ll use force to stop me like you claim to reproach the Shades, Voices, and Nameless for doing, she added to herself.
“Are you sure?” Merek asked. He looked as concerned as the draven. We’ll be at the next village before nightfall. You can stretch your legs there.”
Aeryn shook her head. “No.” She took an unsteady step, hand on the carriage for stability.
“At the very least, I’ll have my driver wait to make sure you don’t need any help.”
Aeryn fixed him with a determined glare. “I’m going,” she said and moved her left leg forward until it was astride the right.
Frowning, Merek said, “I understand what I’m asking you to do seems overwhelming—“
“Is overwhelming,” Aeryn corrected.
“Seems overwhelming,” Merek said without missing a beat.
Aeryn studied the horizon while Merek stared at her. Should she cut through the fields or follow behind his small caravan on the roads? The roads would be easier going, but it would also expose her to passing merchants and farmers alike. On the other hand, while she would be out of sight in the fields, they contained hidden dangers in the form of potholes and roots to snag her stiff feet as well as lurking animals.
“It seems you’re set on this course of action,” he said.
“I am,” Aeryn said firmly.
Merek nodded in a fatherly sort of way. “I’ll always have a place for you if you decide to come back.”
That took Aeryn by surprise. She was expecting an outburst, a threat, chest-puffing intimidation, or a knife flashing out. Anything other calm acceptance. The plans he had laid out a minute ago would not come to pass without her.
“You mean to go on without me?” she asked.
“Of course. I’ve managed for the past decade without you, haven’t I?”
Still not convinced he would just let her walk away, she tried the direct route. “You’re not going to kill me for what I know?”
Merek chuckled. “If you didn’t turn me over to the Shades when we first met, I don’t think you’ll do so now.”
Aeryn nodded to him in appreciation and took her first unsupported steps away from the carriage. Remaining steady turned out to be more difficult that she had anticipated. Not looking like a wooden scarecrow come to life was firmly out of reach. For the time being, at least. Jynx brushed against her leg as if in support.
“Aeryn!” Merek called out after she had gotten the hang of walking again and made it five steps. She turned back, wondering if he had changed his mind. “You might want this.” He tossed the sheathed belt knife Ty had made into the air.
She caught it, whispering a silent thanks to the heavens that her hands and arms worked better than her legs. It would have been beyond embarrassing to fumble with it while all Merek’s servants stood around watching the proceedings. Another item landed with a puff of dirt and heavy clinking at her feet.
Merek knocked on the carriage wall and pulled the door shut. “Continue on, driver.”
Waving away the rising plume of dust, Aeryn watched the caravan roll past before she bent down and picked up the purse. Not only did she not trust her still-sore back, but she did not want to give Reeve any more reason to widen the flaming smug smile that had spread across his face.
As a brisk breeze rose and began blowing away the dust, Aeryn felt a pang in her stomach. A part of her longed for the dust to rise again as it would herald the return of the caravan. Somewhere inside her, and not as deep down as she would have liked, she actually felt her insid
es twist at leaving Merek after all he had done for her. Though accompanying the Lord had been a Shade, more nooses and traps than she cared to count, a crusty chamberlain, a no-nonsense huntsman, a crone of a healer, and a pack of vicious wolves.
Aeryn shook her head. What was she thinking? Now that she was well and truly free of the Lord, did she really want to go back to all that? Letting out a deep breath, she limped off into the field before an answer she would not like could form.
A few minutes later, uncertainty crept back. To battle it, she picked up a stick and played a game of fetch with Jynx. That lasted for all of an hour before the draven got tired and simply watched the stick soar off into the field and disappear.
She immediately began looking for another. Eventually she settled on a wrist-thick limb stick almost as straight and long as a quarter staff and forked at the end. When not supporting her weight, she used it to examine animal tracks and droppings as Gerald had taught her. No doubt the picture she formed in her head of prairie dogs and rabbits, moles and voles, owls and hawks criss-crossing on, under, and high above the field had flaws, but it gave her something to pass the time.
She dropped her head back and laughed. Since when had she ever needed something to keep her mind occupied? It must have been Merek’s bloody books. Reading for fun, as if she had nothing better to do.
No, she thought, stopping in her tracks. Being bored was simply a byproduct. The real problem was not having to survive. Instead of searching for the next safe alley to sleep in, looking for an opportunity to flitch a meal and keep her stomach from eating itself, watching for guards, soldiers, strong-arms, thugs, and sellswords, she had had a score of men and women to see to her every need.
Shortly put, the problem was the coin at her belt. Only, she found she could not get rid of it. Worse, she actually realized she did not want to get rid of it. Just because having it allowed her to focus on something other than the bare essentials in life did not mean it was bad. It had paid to save her and Jynx’s life and, for the most part, had given them a better quality life as well. Nearly filled out to his full potential, Jynx looked healthy for once, no longer resembling an oversized, emancipated dog. Aeryn actually felt healthier, too.
An uncomfortable thought rose. What if she had been born privileged, as Merek had? Was his fight any different from her own? A fight for survival?
Of course it is, came the immediate response. Only, if that was all she had ever known, if there was someplace to fall that was perhaps worse than death. . .
All too many times, Aeryn had watched her fellow street urchins give up on the constant fight of balancing on fate’s razor thin edge and give in to despair. Their corpses had stained the streets soon after. Could it all simply be a matter of one’s point of view? The plotting and scheming of the Lords and Ladies was the fight for survival in their eyes?
A grey blur streaked in front of her, Jynx hot on its tail. Aeryn whirled her head to follow. Ten feet from where she was standing, the blur vanished. Jynx started to paw at the ground. Dashing over the best she could on sore, aching legs, Aeryn found large rabbit warren pocked marked with entry holes.
Her stomach rumbled at the thought of rabbit turning over a spit, sizzling as its juices spattered into the fire below. How could she be hungry already? She had only left the carriage an hour ago.
She looked up to the sun, only to realize the rabbit was not the only thing that was gray. The entire landscape was gray. She had Drifted. Pulling back into the Physical Plane, the world grew dark, lit by the multitude of stars overhead.
Lost in thought, she must have Drifted instinctively as the sun had set and the night had come on. She would definitely have to get that under control. If she Drifted while walking through the streets of Maerilin and was not ready for what followed, she would not live long enough to see the sun rise again.
Jynx looked up from his pawing and let out a sharp yelp.
“I know, I know,” Aeryn said. “I’m hungry too.” In a warren this large, there must be fifty rabbits beneath her feet. If only she had a way to get at them.
Walking around the perimeter, she examined the area and took stock of what she had at her disposal. Prairie grasses, rocks, sticks, and of course plenty of dirt—
A loud, vibrating hiss sounded. Aeryn jumped backwards. Tripping over her own feet, she landed hard on her tailbone and sucked in air between clenched teeth.
A brown and black snake coiled and reared up, its head a good foot off the ground.
Jynx let out a yip that drew the snake’s attention. Aeryn crawled backwards. She rose to her feet when the draven danced in with snapping teeth before quickly retreating to avoid the venomous fangs.
Snatching up the walking stick that had fallen from her grasp, Aeryn wound up, preparing to club the thing. After all, food was food, and she had eaten much worse living in the refuse-strewn alleys.
Gerald’s words flooded back. She froze to think them through. A rabbit warren, tall grasses, sticks, rocks, a snake. . .
Flipping the stick end for end so the fork was pointing down and out, she crept forward. The snake swiveled to appraise its new threat. Aeryn stabbed the walking stick forward, pinning the snake to the ground, the base of its skull between the wood fork.
Jynx dove in to deliver the killing blow.
“Wait, Jynx,” she called. “I’ve got an idea.”
Aeryn set to work. Leaving the snake pinned where it was, she quickly wove a handful of long, tube-like bags out of the prairie grasses. Staking or weighting them down at the rabbit warren entrances, she then methodically packed the remaining open holes with dirt so they were unusable. The moon hung high in the sky by the time she was ready.
“Ready for this, Jynx?” she asked.
Jynx eyed her as if saying, “I’ve been ready for hours.”
Aeryn carefully picked up the trapped snake with her hands, walked over and deposited it in one of the rabbit holes. The snake quickly slithered out of sight. While she waited, she set up a spit over a fire she sparked to life using her knife and a rock.
No sooner did she sit back to marvel at what she had just done then a frantic squeal broke the night. Jynx had the rabbit, and the woven prairie grasses it was caught in, clamped his mouth in the blink of an eye. By the time Aeryn had it gutted, skinned, and hung over the fire, Jynx had deposited three more, each larger than the last, at her side. When Aeryn finally bedded down to go to sleep beside Jynx, both of their stomachs were blissfully full.
She woke hours later with the rising sun, shivering. Sleeping on soft beds under a solid roof with a fireplace to keep out the chill, she had forgotten was how cold it could get beneath the stars.
Stringing up the rabbits she had cooked but not eaten last night, she rose and stretched. Walking would get her blood flowing and warm her up.
Walk she did. With her legs and back fairing worse than she had initially thought, and getting better much slower than she had anticipated, it took three days to reach the village on the horizon. Once there, she bought provisions with the coin Merek had tossed to her. Satisfying as it was to catch her own meals, one could only eat so much rabbit before getting bored of it.
More than once she caught herself staring longingly at the carriages that passed along the main street, the inns with their comfy beds, and the lighted windows of the larger houses.
By the time Aeryn stood before the rusted open Slum’s Gate manned by snoring guards, she would have kicked herself had she the energy. Time with Merek had made her hard in some areas. Never in a thousand years would she have ever considered standing up to a pack of wolves or catching a snake with her bare hands, not to mention facing off against an army of Shades, Voices, and Nameless.
It had also made her every bit as soft in other areas. Like preferring feather beds to alleyways, carriages to her own two feet, hot, cooked meals to week-old stale bread, and servants to draw her a bath.
Her checks flushed at the last; would who have thought she would actually want to
take a bath? Yes, gold had definitely changed her.
Only, as she walked down the streets, winding her way through familiar alleys and squares, her face roared with heat, though this time not from embarrassment. Gold could never change some things: the burning bile that rose at seeing starving children hand over their last copper to the Voices for protection from demonized Shadows was one. The casual dismissal of everyone from street urchins to street-corner merchants, even the nobles in their own right, struggling to survive was another. In the end, it all boiled down to the exploitation of the weak by the strong.
Perhaps Merek was right. If Aeryn had a chance, no matter how slim, to provide a better life for Maerilin’s countless street urchins, could she really turn it down? Not too long ago she would have given anything for two silver to rub together. She may not be a hero from the books, but she could help her street kin survive.
Aeryn nodded to herself. She knew exactly where to start. She would do something no one with a shred of honor would contemplate. It would not be a big start, not when weight against killing an oppressive God, but it would be a start.
She laughed. No, she was definitely not a hero.
“Come on Jynx,” Aeryn said.
Stepping into an alley before an approaching knot of soldiers could ask questions about seeing a draven in the city, she dropped her hand to the hilt of her knife. “It is time to move forward.”
14
Prey
Finding them was not hard. All Aeryn had to do was ask a few thinly veiled questions at the raunchiest taverns and alehouses. Of course, a few silver here and there did wonders to help grease lips when the only answers she received were noncommittal grunts.
Leaning casually against the wall of a clothier’s shop, she kept her eyes locked on the door of The Gilded Lady. According to rumors, Jins, Brys, and Hal were inside emptying their pockets of hard earned—not for them, of course—coin.
The women inside were good. As Aeryn waited and watched, she could count on one hand the number of people that left voluntary and with two coins clinking together in their purse. As for the rest, they either stumbled out too drunk to walk, faces plastered in a wide smiles, were pushed out by a pair of thick-armed men, or occasionally, were bodily thrown out the door. Whichever way they left, the second their feet hit the streets, each and every one of them professed at the top of their lungs that they would be back as soon as they had more coin.
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