Behind the Tales

by Aurora Peppermint

  There were some sounds of movement inside, but Martus swore he heard something behind him too. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed nothing but an empty road and he relaxed. The people of Altonswood did not need to know he was back in town.

  “Martus! El! What are the two of ya doin’ here?” Alexander stepped back immediately and opened his door wider for them. “Do you know I was jus’ talking about you?”

  “What?” That was the last thing Martus had expected to hear, and he momentarily forgot what he was there for.

  “Not you. Not really. Someone was ’ere, though, maybe fifteen minutes ago, and asked me if Elsaben was ’ere as well. Thought maybe you sent ’em, she’d run away or something.” Alexander laughed, leaning against the doorframe.

  Martus didn’t think it was funny, however, especially with the increasing feeling that there were eyes on him. He pulled his sister a little closer to him, brows furrowing.

  “Who was it? They just wanted to know if she was here?”

  “It was jus’ some older fellow. He didn’ seem suspicious. I mean, I don’ know.” Alexander’s face fell, and he glanced down at Elsaben. “Ya all right?”

  “I think so.” Martus shifted nervously. All of a sudden, it didn’t feel like a very good idea to leave Elsaben anywhere where he couldn’t look after her. “We were going to ask if you could take Elsaben for a week or so while I do a job. But I don’t think I should leave her.”

  Why would someone be looking for his sister? She’d had a few friends here and there throughout her life, but the only people who would actually look for her were Martus and Hal. And neither of them had sent someone looking for her.

  “Are ya sure? I’d be ’appy to watch her.” Alexander smiled down at Elsaben again, and she looked back at her brother.

  “I’m not staying, Mar?” It was nearly impossible to say no to her, with her lower lip just popped out a little. But, glancing over his shoulder again nervously, Martus had to shake his head.

  “Not this time, El. I’ll bring you to visit Alexander again soon, I promise.” Now the detour seemed completely pointless. Martus didn’t know which decision had been stupider. But he knew he couldn’t leave Elsaben alone if anyone was looking for her for any reason. “I’m sorry, my friend, but we have to get back on the road.”

  “Are you sure? Don’ want to stay and ’ave some lunch?” Alexander glanced at Hal, who just looked to Martus for an answer.

  “I don’t think so. It’s possible we shouldn’t have made this trip at all. If someone knew we were coming….” But why would they even care? Martus shook his head. He’d just need to make sure he kept an extra eye on Elsaben until they were back home, at least. “No. We have to leave. I’m so sorry we’ve had to bother you, my friend.”

  “It’s never a bother, Martus. Ya ’ave a safe trip. An’ it was good to see ya, little one.” Alexander took Elsaben from Martus’s arms for a quick hug.

  “Bye, Alexander!” Elsaben hugged him tight before slipping back into Martus’s arms.

  Alexander stayed in the doorway, watching them as they got on their horses and back on the road. Now Martus wouldn’t be able to get rid of his paranoid feelings for the rest of the trip.

  A FEW hours later than they had hoped, even with the detour, the trio arrived in the town of Barkeysville and put their horses in the stable of the local inn. Elsaben was still engrossed in the book she’d been reading on the ride, so Martus hauled her off the horse and let her rest the book against his shoulder.

  “Will you get my coin purse from the bag, Hal? It’s a little hard to navigate.” Martus gestured as much as he could with Elsaben in one arm and his bag in the other. He pushed the door open with his hip and stepped up to the bar. “Hello! Could we get a room with two beds, please? And can we get food here?”

  Martus was positive Elsaben was hungry by now, and although his stomach was a little squirmy from the horse riding, he wanted to eat before he went to sleep. Usually inns had some sort of food, even if it was just a dinner of bread and cheese. They’d snacked on the ride, but it had been a full day and a half, at least, almost two days, of riding.

  “We’ll get a room for ya if you three want ta take a seat at the end of the bar. We have a pot of stew on now, three bowls?” The woman behind the bar smiled brightly, leaning forward on her elbows.

  “Oh, no thank you, I’m not really hungry,” Hal piped up from behind Martus before rummaging in Martus’s coin purse.

  “Three please,” Martus corrected. He could practically feel Hal’s eyes on him, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Just in case. If you don’t eat it, El and I will split it.”

  Hal sighed but didn’t protest as he fished out another coin and passed it over the bar. Then he shifted his bag again and nodded toward the end of the bar where she’d suggested they take a seat.

  Martus glanced around the inn as they sat down. For some reason he felt like someone was watching him. There were quite a few people there, eating and drinking and talking. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the feeling of unease might be coming from. He was likely just paranoid because of what Alexander had told him, but what if whoever had been looking for Elsaben was still following them?

  He pushed it from his mind when Elsaben tugged on his hand, her book abandoned on the bar. Bending down to press a kiss to her forehead, he used his free hand to close the book and tuck it into his bag. She didn’t need any reasons to be worried.

  “What is it, Els?” Martus gave his sister his full attention, even as her hand slipped from his and she rested her head on her arm against the bar.

  “When can we go to sleep? ’M tired.” She yawned into her arm, her eyes barely staying open. It had been an especially long two days for her, and Martus would have been able to guess that she’d be tired now even if she hadn’t told him. She’d slept on and off during the ride, but it couldn’t be easy on a horse.

  “Soon, I promise. Don’t you want to get some soup first? We’ve been traveling all day, and we still have quite a ways to go tomorrow. You’ll want your energy.” If they kept up a good pace and didn’t have to stop too many times, they would get to Bayasonne by the night after next at the earliest. Hal had guessed it would take them a little over thirty hours if they had ridden straight through. With Elsaben, that was just impossible. And with the added time, Martus had no real sense of it.

  “Oh, I don’t want to.” Like all children, she tended to get whiny when she was tired. For that reason, Martus didn’t scold her. Instead he just smiled and looked up as their food came to them, the cheery woman behind the bar managing to balance the three bowls of soup as well as two tankards of ale for him and Hal.

  “Thank you very much,” Hal said, taking another coin from Martus’s money and handing it to the barmaid. Sheepishly, he pulled one of the bowls in front of him. “You know, I could eat.”

  Martus laughed at that, taking a drink of his ale. Hal didn’t eat as much as him, he barely even ate as much as Elsaben most days, but they hadn’t even had breakfast before they left. Of course he was hungry. Even when the other two had snacked on the road, he’d gone without it.

  “Well, in that case, let’s all eat so we can get to bed.” Martus was just bending down to try his soup when he felt someone’s gaze on him. His eyes narrowed, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. No one knew he was coming after Fitzy, apart from the man’s own family, and Hal hadn’t caused or gotten into any trouble since they’d started living together. Who was watching them?

  “Is everything okay?” Hal must have noticed the change in Martus’s expression, because he paused in eating too.

  “Uh.” There wasn’t necessarily anything to be worried about. Martus thought someone must have been staring, but whenever he glanced up, no one was looking at him. Everyone was consumed with their own conversations, and they were off in the corner. It certainly wasn’t anything to worry Hal over yet. But he did place a protective arm around Elsaben. “Of course. I’m just tired, I thi
nk. Ready to find Fitzy and get home.”

  Hal still looked a little suspicious, squinting at Martus for a second before shrugging and returning to his food. It was a huge relief that he hadn’t pressed the question. Between all his work on the spell every day, and coming along on this job, Hal didn’t need any more stress in his life. Especially if it turned out to be nothing.

  That being said, Martus kept his guard up and his eyes peeled. When they were just about to head up to their room, he finally spotted the one person in the bar who seemed out of place. There were a few older men having a conversation around a table, a couple of young ladies making eyes at a fellow a few tables away, but that all seemed normal. The other person, however, was wearing some sort of a hood, so he couldn’t see their face, but they were definitely turned toward the trio. The person was sitting alone, not talking or even eating or drinking. Just sitting, looking ominous and making Martus feel distinctly uneasy.

  “I’m going to get another drink before bed. Will you take Elsaben up for me? I don’t think she’ll last much longer down here.” Ruffling his sister’s hair, Martus tried to make his laugh sound more comfortable than he felt. Hal didn’t look completely convinced, but maybe that was just in Martus’s head, because his friend took Elsaben’s hand and nodded.

  “Okay. Do you want me to take your bag?”

  Martus nodded, handing his bag over and waiting for Elsaben and Hal to disappear up the stairs before he turned toward the person in the corner. Whoever they were, hopefully he could handle them quickly and get up to bed. But if they were here for Elsaben, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  “I seem terribly interesting to you for some reason. Something I can do for you?” Martus sat down in a chair beside the person, smiling good-naturedly. It dropped into a look of shock when the stranger turned around to reveal Mel. “What are you doing here?”

  “You seemed incompetent, and I’m worried about my brother. Even if this is probably just him being foolish, I wanted to make sure that someone brought him home. So I rented a horse and started my way on the map myself. I don’t know why it took you and your friends so long to get here.” Mel seemed incredibly nonchalant about the whole affair, pushing her hood back and letting her curls spring up. If he’d seen her head of hair before he would have immediately recognized her. “You’re being followed, by the way.”

  “Yes! By you!” Martus wasn’t really angry with Mel; she cared about her brother and that was good. But there was honestly no reason for her to have hidden. All it accomplished was to make him nervous. “If you would have asked to come along, I would have been more than happy to have you. I know you can handle yourself, at least, and an extra set of hands is never something bad.”

  “You really need them too. I mean, you brought a child along with you? And you’re wrong. I’m not the only one following you. You really didn’t even notice, did you?” Mel shook her head, taking a long drink of her ale. “I recognize the people following you. Criminals, crooks. My brother drinks, and when he drinks he gambles. I would guess he owes them money and they dragged him off. You think you can handle them on your own? There’s about three following you now, and more with my brother, I’d guess. They’re probably holding him in Bayasonne, still, so you should make that your destination.”

  Martus had honestly thought Fitzy had just gotten himself lost. Or even that he’d just wanted some time away from home and his mother. Yes, he’d considered the most dangerous option and the possibility that Fitzy had been kidnapped. But wishful thinking had led him to be foolishly blind. Especially since he hadn’t even realized he’d been followed by a group of three people, and Mel. He shook his head, looking down at his hands.

  “I could use your help. I got in a lot of street fights in my city, but I’m not thrilled to be dealing with a kidnapping group. Do you have any… suggestions? You seem to know more than me.” And he almost wondered how she did. But Fitzy was her brother, so maybe it made sense.

  He would have to deal with the people who were following him. Tonight, if at all possible. Elsaben was up in his room, and he couldn’t have them breaking in and slitting their throats while they slept. Already, he scanned the bar to search for anyone else who looked suspicious. How many weapons did they have? How strong were they? How experienced? Martus had his new knife, and Hal knew some defensive magick, but for well-trained criminals, that might not be enough.

  “They’re staying across town, some sort of abandoned house they must have set up as a base until you leave town. While you were stopping to have a nice meal, they got right to work. We need to take anyone useful and go over there if you want to make it through the night.” Martus raised his eyebrows at Mel.

  “You really think they’ll kill us straight away? No one was even supposed to know I was coming after Fitzy.” He scratched his neck, eyes shifting around even though Mel had told him they weren’t there. The inn didn’t feel safe anymore.

  “Listen, I know these people. Know of them, at least.” Mel rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fitzy’s owed them money before, and they’ve come after him. Usually he just borrows money from Mum and doesn’t tell her what it’s for. I don’t know how they found out you were coming after him, but they don’t mind killing innocent people. Trust me, I know.”

  Mel looked angry, and Martus couldn’t blame her. If someone tried to hurt Elsaben, even if she did owe them a debt….

  Well, he hadn’t exactly had positive reactions to her being in danger in the past. Just knowing someone had wondered after her was bad enough.

  “I’ll get Hal, um, my friend. He’s upstairs with my little sister, but I can leave her here, if I lock the door. We’ll meet you back down here and you can show us where exactly these people are staying.” Martus frowned, his brow furrowing as he did his best to see the outcomes of his plan. It wouldn’t be his first choice to leave Elsaben by herself, but it hadn’t been his first choice to bring her along.

  They just had to work with it for now.

  “Fine, I’ll be here finishing my drink. You two have weapons?” Mel found a ribbon in her bag and started tying her hair back.

  “I have my dagger. Hal is very good with magick.” Martus never really found a need for weapons. His fists did him well enough, and when they didn’t, he’d never fought anyone with anything more than his dagger.

  “That’s not enough.” Mel sighed heavily. “I usually use two swords, and I have a backup. I’ll give them to you two and keep one for myself. These people are very good. I can’t stress this enough, you need to be prepared. So does your friend.”

  They weren’t prepared, but Martus felt no need to point that out. Instead, he nodded and rose quickly, taking the stairs two at a time up to their room. Silently, he prayed Elsaben would be asleep already. If she were asleep and they locked the room behind them, it would be easier than trying to explain why it was so dangerous for her to leave.

  It was dangerous for her to stay too, with someone looking for her. But all he could do was weigh his options and decide she’d be safer in a locked room than in the middle of what could be a full brawl.

  HALF AN hour later, they were halfway across the small town, hiding behind some crates outside the dilapidated house Mel had led them to. There were certainly candles glowing inside, the sounds of horses stomping their hooves and whinnying, not things he would expect to see around a house that looked like it’d been abandoned for a few lifetimes.

  “What’s our plan? We can’t just run in… can we?” Hal looked distinctly awkward with a sword in his hand. Although, to be fair, Martus could imagine he was just as ridiculous with a sword on his hip when he’d never held one before in his life. It was an easy concept. Poke enemy with pointy end.

  Repeat until bloody.

  “Absolutely not,” Mel answered before Martus had a chance to, and he was silently grateful. He was good with his fists, great at running away from people. Strategies and planning, those were not his forte. “If we walk in the fro
nt door, they’ll know we’re coming from a mile away. We aren’t outnumbered, but we are absolutely outgunned. Their weapons aren’t better than ours—I made all of these swords myself—but they know how to use them better than you two. The only chance we have of coming out of this alive is with the element of surprise. We wait until one of them comes out by themselves. They’ll check on the horses soon. You”—she pointed to Martus—“have a dagger. Sneak up behind him, slit his throat.”

  “Hang on a second, we have to kill them?” Hal glanced over at Martus nervously. Unfortunately, Martus really had no words of encouragement for his friend.

  “If it’s them dying or us, we may have to, Hal. I’m sorry. I wish you weren’t even involved in this.” Martus rested a hand gently on the other boy’s arm, waiting for his expression to clear before he turned his attention back to Mel.

  “You’ll have to have a stomach for it. With these people, it’s kill or be killed. If we leave them alive, they’ll go after my brother again. I’m not letting that happen.” Mel’s face was hard, and she left little doubt that she was serious about this. “After the other one doesn’t come back in, the two inside will be suspicious. We have to all go straight in. You two through the back and me through the front. Let me get their attention and get a few hits in, and then you come in when they can’t hit you as well. You can barely hold those swords, let alone use them to block against some of the most skilled swordsmen I know.”

  “You know?” Martus narrowed his eyes. Was Mel leading them into a trap?

  “That I’ve seen. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, I just misspoke. I still need your help with my brother. After that you can die if you want.”

  At least she was honest.

  “I wasn’t accusing you, I’m sorry.” Making an enemy of Mel was obviously a bad idea. Besides, between himself and Hal, they had enough enemies.