by Bell, Hilari
“Where did you get this?” Just half of that purse was enough to keep me for over a year, if I was reasonably frugal with it.
“They paid me off as soon as Dalton identified Roseman’s body. A reward.”
He made it sound like a pile of rotting offal, instead of a well-deserved payment for saving the whole United Realm from a bloody war—but then, Michael was always a little bit crazy. I gathered up the cool coins and tucked them into a corner of my pack. I could feel the contempt in his gaze.
“If you’re so cursed upset about it, how come you’re keeping yours?”
“I’m going to buy the chandlery, for any of the orphans who don’t have someone to take them in. They’ll never have to kill again.”
“They didn’t have to kill this time,” I pointed out. “They chose to.”
“Because I gave them the chance!”
“Well, that’s more than you gave me.” I fastened the last buckle on my pack.
“What do you mean?” He was honestly confused, curse him. “Who did you want to kill?”
“I didn’t want to kill anyone. That’s the point.”
“I didn’t want to kill,” said Michael, still missing it. “I wanted justice.”
“Which would have left Jack no less dead. And for once, just this once, I got what I wanted—even if I had to go behind your back, and risk getting us both killed to do it.”
He frowned, still puzzled, still too furious to care. I picked up my pack.
“I separated our goods. I’m taking Tipple, too. I’ve earned her.”
He was so angry I thought he might object to that. But his curst, knight-errant generosity got in his way.
“Fine. She’s yours. Just leave me Chant and True.”
“Oh, the dog’s all yours. With my blessing.”
I threw the pack over my shoulder and walked out. I half-expected him to call after me. On the rare occasions when Michael loses his temper, his anger never lasts long.
If I waited a few days, probably even a few hours, he would apologize and have me back—and spend the next two years trying to convince me to worship justice and principle, as he did. So I kept walking, feeling sad and empty…and strangely light. It was time I moved on.
Michael had some right on his side, for he’d betrayed his precious principles to save me. Just as I’d betrayed Jack to save him…and then betrayed him to save Jack.
If he’d been able to see this, Jack would have laughed his head off. He had been right about something, too. Living with Michael was making me…not soft, but dependant. Too willing to compromise, to obey, to abandon my choices, my way of looking at the world, in exchange for friendship.
I had actually become his squire.
Oh, yes. It was time to move on.
Hilari Bell writes SF and fantasy for kids and teens. She’s an ex-librarian, a job she took to feed her life-long addiction to books, and she lives in Denver with a family that changes shape periodically—currently it’s her mother, her adult niece and their dog, Ginger. Her hobbies are board games and camping—particularly camping, because that’s the only time she can get in enough reading. Though when it comes to reading, she says, there’s no such thing as “enough.”
Chapter 1: Michael
Chapter 2: Fisk
Chapter 3: Michael
Chapter 4: Fisk
Chapter 5: Michael
Chapter 6: Fisk
Chapter 7: Michael
Chapter 8: Fisk
Chapter 9: Michael
Chapter 10: Fisk
Chapter 11: Michael
Chapter 12: Fisk
Chapter 13: Michael
Chapter 14: Fisk
Chapter 15: Michael
Chapter 16: Fisk
Chapter 17: Michael
Chapter 18: Fisk
Chapter 19: Michael
Chapter 20: Fisk
Chapter 21: Michael
Chapter 22: Fisk
