Villain's Assistant

by Carley Hibbert

  “Would they have talked about where the Lieutenant lived?” Rebecca’s face scrunched in skepticism, but she gave his idea a fair chance before she flatly rejected it.

  Benjamin saw movement in the tall grass near the barn. A perfect hiding place, he thought. He pulled Rebecca down. A small hare sprinted to the barn and disappeared.

  Benjamin released Rebecca’s arm and stifled a yawn. She rubbed her arm and rolled her eyes. Fatigue seeped through him as he closed his eyes. Rebecca was probably right. The brothers were undoubtedly safe, and he was hungry. She jarred Benjamin out of his self-pity with an elbow to his ribs. Rebecca stared wide-eyed down the road toward the sound of an approaching horse’s hooves.

  The two thugs they saw yesterday slid off their horses. Rebecca squeezed Benjamin’s arm so tightly he thought she’d snap it in two. The thugs approached the house while looking over their shoulders at the barn.

  Benjamin gasped when Denny exploded out of the little house. The men jumped back, startled. Rebecca twisted Benjamin’s sleeve. His cheeks burned. Thankfully, Denny was yelling so loudly no one would have heard his faint outburst.

  “What do you want?” Denny scowled at them.

  The tall man lifted his chin, not caring that he wasn’t wanted there. The thickset man sneered at the young man, amused. “We came to see if you’ve finished mending our gear,” said the tall man.

  “Hmm. That garbage?” Denny strode to the barn, kicking up a small cloud of dust behind him. He returned with a heavy burlap sack, pulled out a few harnesses, and shoved them back into the bag.

  The short one snatched the sack and inspected the harnesses. Benjamin recognized the dull look in the henchmen’s eyes. Idiots. He’d seen enough of their type. These fools wouldn’t have lasted a single day at the academy.

  The short idiot nodded, and the tall one handed Denny some coins. Denny counted the coins and weighed them in his hand. The men nodded curtly and mounted their horses. Odie peered out the door, unresponsive to the men’s jibes. The thugs rode off, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

  Smiling, Rebecca turned to look at Benjamin, who couldn’t help but smile back. Mutual loathing was a good sign. Mouthrot’s men were obviously ill at ease here and too stupid to suspect anything.

  Benjamin suggested they wait until the brothers had cooled off before approaching, but Rebecca just rolled her eyes at him and climbed out of the bramble.

  “I’ve humored your paranoia long enough. Let’s go while dinner’s still warm.”

  Knowing they were so close to real food, his resolve quickly crumbled away. His stomach pulled him toward the door, but he stood behind Rebecca as she knocked. Swear words erupted. The door opened. Denny raised an axe over his head and then froze.

  Rebecca’s face went white, and Benjamin was very glad he was so very dehydrated. “We should have waited,” Benjamin muttered into Rebecca’s ear.

  Denny stood there gaping like a fish, unable to speak.

  Odie appeared, wielding knives.

  “D-Denny, it’s me,” Rebecca said.

  The brothers took a collective breath and lowered their weapons but then moved their curious eyes toward Benjamin, meeting their gaze to prove he wasn’t scared out of his mind.

  “Is the Lieutenant here?” Rebecca asked.

  That snapped the hulking figures from their shock. They stepped back, letting the two refugees in. Benjamin hesitated at the door until Denny placed his axe on the ground. Denny blinked silently and rubbed his hands through his hair before he could look Rebecca in the face.

  “I thought I was seeing a ghost.” Denny let out a long, ragged breath. “We heard rumors of a prisoner matching the Lieutenant’s description at Shreb’s.”

  Rebecca collapsed onto a bench and dropped her head on the kitchen table. Benjamin melted into the bench beside Rebecca. With a glance, Denny measured the distance between Rebecca and Benjamin and then rubbed his face.

  “I wasn’t really worried about this Mighty Shreb before. He seemed like a bit of fluff.” He shook his head in disbelief. “What happened?”

  “Well, it was actually Mouthrot, his assistant.” Benjamin nearly choked over Denny’s hostile look. Benjamin refused to be intimidated; he sat up straighter. “We think his men took the Lieutenant while we were out.”

  At the mention of Mouthrot, Denny went ashen. He looked at Rebecca, who could only nod a confirmation. She clenched her skirt in both fists. The room went silent. Benjamin wondered why Denny would consider him a threat. Does my evil genius show?

  “Well, this is bad.” Denny paced next to the table where the pot of stew sat steaming. “The first thing we need to do is get you far away from here.”

  “What? I’m not going anywhere. The Lieutenant is sitting in a dungeon right now, not far from here. I’m not going to run away, and I’m not going to sit around waiting for something horrible to happen.” Rebecca stood up in an attempt to look Denny and his large brother in the eyes.

  “Move her?” Benjamin chimed in. “They’ll be searching the roads for sure. Staying close for a while might be the safest thing.” He eyed the pot hopefully and wondered if he could shift the conversation toward dinner yet.

  “Who is this guy?”

  “Benjamin. He’s just some kid the Lieutenant picked up right before this all happened.”

  “Really?”

  Rebecca turned and looked at Benjamin for a moment with new eyes. She obviously never thought to suspect him, but at Denny’s suggestion, it seemed obvious, even to Benjamin.

  “Hi. Listen, I’m trying to help her—”

  Denny grabbed a fistful of his shirt. His eyes flicked between Rebecca and Benjamin.

  “When was it Benji showed up again?” Denny pressed his face so close to Benjamin’s that they were breathing the same air. Denny’s blue eyes blazed.

  “The Lieutenant met him on the way to check out the interviews Shreb had announced a few weeks ago. He felt sorry for him.”

  “Well, isn’t that convenient.” Denny folded his arms across his chest and squeezed his sizable biceps.

  “No, actually it wasn’t,” Benjamin said through gritted teeth, holding Denny’s gaze. “He completely sabotaged my chances for the villain’s assistant position.”

  “Really? Interviewing for the enemy?” Denny looked at his brother, who gripped a rope in his mallet-like fists. “Well, that is interesting.”

  TEN

  Benjamin could barely breathe. The ropes that bound him to his chair were excruciatingly tight around his chest. His hands were tied down to his knees. Odie was handy with rope and knots, Benjamin observed, as well as metal. Benjamin was too tired and hungry to think himself out of this one. He looked imploringly at Rebecca. She frowned.

  No one said anything. The brothers looked back and forth between Benjamin and Rebecca. Benjamin’s stomach growled. Finally, Rebecca began to ask questions.

  “Why did the Lieutenant bring you back with him?”

  “I’m pretty sure he told you. Mouthrot saw me with him. I was as good as dead. So he offered to bring me home with him to keep me safe…like I am now,” he added, nodding to his bound hands.

  “Yeah? Why were you seen with him, huh?” Denny leaned in, and Rebecca nodded enthusiastically.

  “He hijacked me along the road and tormented me the whole walk there. But I don’t think he was expecting to see Mouthrot, so he offered me a job.”

  Rebecca glared at him and then looked at Denny and Odie.

  “Well,” Denny seemed to consider his story. “It actually does sound like something the Lieutenant would do. But a job? Did you bump into him on the road?”

  “He was waiting for me on the road.” Benjamin cleared his throat. “And considering that I just graduated head of my class at the Villains’ Academy, a job offer seems completely likely to me.”

  Denny gasped. “Did you know that? He grad—from Vill—”

  Denny and Odie exchanged looks. They gathered around the table and discussed him. Ben
jamin used an incredible amount of self-control to keep from rolling his eyes at all this. Yes, he had to admit that it was perfectly logical to suspect him, but he hadn’t forced himself into this party or even gained anything from this venture.

  Meanwhile, he just sat quietly, hoping that he might at least convince them to loosen his ropes so that he could take a decent breath of air. It wasn’t much, he thought, but it’s good to have goals. He focused on shallow breaths to keep the ropes from pinching. An occasional glance was thrown his way, but he just looked ahead, trying to forget about the hunger gnawing in his gut. They broke from their conference to address him.

  “Rebecca said that you helped her avoid capture and that for some reason, the Lieutenant trusted you. But I do have one more question for you: have you ever met the Lieutenant before? Think about it. Perhaps he was disguised?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure I’ve never met him before. Look, could you loosen the ropes enough so that I could breathe or possibly eat something?”

  Denny nodded to Odie, and with that, he was set free. Two bowls of rabbit stew were placed on the table. Both brothers watched every bite of food that he took. Obviously, they weren’t completely convinced, but at the moment, he didn’t care.

  He was eating.

  ELEVEN

  The stew was warm, if a bit bland, but that didn’t slow Benjamin down. He only looked up once to judge if it was safe to ask for seconds. He sipped at his apple cider after sniffing for poisons and then dared a glance at Rebecca. She did not meet his gaze, choosing instead to remain intent on her own bowl. The brothers continued to take turns watching him as they ate their dinner. No seconds were offered, but his tumbler was filled a number of times.

  After dinner, the brothers worked on fixing this or that while taking turns playing old tunes on a battered flute. Benjamin drooped in his chair and looked for a comfortable corner to lie down in. There were a few doors off the kitchen, but he dared not even think of a bed. He stood up and stretched, noticing that Rebecca was nodding off in her chair too. Denny also noticed.

  “Rebecca, you’re about to fall out of that chair. If you want, you can have Odie’s room.” Denny glanced at Odie, who nodded as he put his tools away. “He sleeps out in the barn with Rina anyway.”

  “What about Baldo?” she yawned.

  The brothers dropped their eyes and started kicking at loose floorboards, as Denny muttered something unintelligible about his taking a job. Rebecca didn’t notice as she stumbled to Odie’s door.

  Benjamin wondered where Baldo worked. Obviously, somewhere that the brothers weren’t comfortable admitting. Was Baldo working for the king? The bedroom door clicked shut behind Rebecca.

  Denny glared at Benjamin. “Pushed her a little hard, didn’t you? I hope you didn’t forget that you’re traveling with a lady.” Odie joined his brother’s glare.

  “She’s safe, isn’t she?” Heat throbbed in Benjamin’s cheeks.

  The brothers frowned, unsatisfied.

  “No one could force her to go slower or faster than she wants!”

  Denny shoved him against the door, his face inches from Benjamin's. “You can sleep in the barn with Odie. He’ll keep an eye on you,” he said in a low voice that chilled Benjamin's bones. “And Rina will let us know if you decide to so much as pee too far from the barn. Got it?”

  “It’s nice to know I’ve got someone to keep an eye on me. I’ll sleep soundly tonight.” Benjamin choked the words out, holding Denny’s icy-blue stare. “But who’ll keep an eye on you?”

  Denny dropped him, sending a shudder through his body as he hit the ground. Denny stepped back so Odie could usher Benjamin to the barn. Benjamin smoothed out his jacket and met Denny’s glare with a shrug. He refused to be rattled.

  He followed Odie’s hulking white shirt to the barn, his heart pounding in his ears. Odie threw him a dirty saddle blanket and pointed out his pile of straw. It wasn’t cold yet, and the straw was itchy, so Benjamin threw the blanket on top of the straw and lay on top of it. He sighed and watched the giant boy and the goat snuggle around each other before settling for the night. Rina rested her chin on top of Odie’s knees so she could stare at him through heavy eyes.

  Odie was far noisier asleep than awake. Incredibly, not a single snore was alike, the unpredictable pattern making the ruckus impossible to ignore. As a result, Benjamin spent the night never wholly asleep. Halfway through the night, Rina nuzzled into him, pinning his arms against his chest.

  As bright pinks and oranges pushed the purple from the sky, Odie finally rolled over into silent slumber. The goat got up, stretched her legs, and wandered back to her friend. The new quiet weighed Benjamin down and quickly dragged him into sleep.

  He jerked awake when Denny called, “Breakfast!”

  Odie shuffled off to eat, but Benjamin was far more tired than hungry. He rolled over, pulling the filthy saddle blanket over his head.

  Rina butted him in the back. Benjamin ignored her through gritted teeth and even tried to shove her away, but the abuse stubbornly continued. He finally sat up and opened his eyes. Rina bleated happily and sat. As soon as his heavy eyes sagged shut, a hard head bumped against his leg. Soon she pressed him into a standing position and out into the daylight. He flinched and wrapped his arms around his head to block the sun. Who would have thought that goats were such morning animals? He stumbled half-blindly toward the house, under the guard of a goat.

  Benjamin slouched into the kitchen table. Rebecca eyed him oddly. The brothers seemed uninterested, as if someone always fell asleep at their table first thing in the morning.

  When the gnawing in Benjamin’s stomach finally woke him, his face was stuck to the table, a little puddle of saliva dribbling from his mouth. He sat up and wiped it away with his sleeve. Rebecca was muttering quietly with Denny, so thankfully they hadn’t seen him drooling.

  He rubbed his sore neck and glanced over at the tools and rope hanging on the wall. Stacks of buckets were piled in one corner. A pile of dirty clothes was shoved behind the front door. The murmuring stopped as Rebecca and Denny looked at him.

  “I kept some breakfast for you,” Rebecca said.

  She dished something into a bowl, set it down on the table, and then went back to her conversation. After a few minutes, his head cleared enough to feed himself.

  “Didn’t you get enough sleep? Or wasn’t the straw soft enough?” Denny sneered.

  Benjamin blinked a few times at Denny’s glowering face. He was too tired to care about Denny’s suspicions right now. He spooned the mush into his mouth, eating the overly thick breakfast thankfully. It was still a little warm. A mug of milk was set down next to his bowl, and he sniffed the creamy milk instinctively before pouring it over his breakfast, hoping to thin it enough to swallow. He licked the spoon clean and looked for more. He was a growing boy, after all. Rebecca and Denny were watching him.

  “Thank you for breakfast,” he said, unable to keep his eyes from drifting to the pot on the stove.

  Rebecca just rolled her eyes and refilled his bowl. He smiled. He would try to think more kindly of Rebecca in the future. The food helped strip him of the fog that he’d woken with. When he finished that bowl, Rebecca scraped the pot clean for him.

  “Finish the last of this so we can come up with a brilliant plan that will convince Denny to help us.” Rebecca set another partially full bowl in front of him, pouring more milk over it.

  “Help us?” Benjamin mumbled through sticky bites.

  “Rescue the Lieutenant, of course.”

  “You want me to spit out a plan right now? This very second?” He looked from Rebecca to Denny, scratching his head. “I was hoping to get a little more information first.”

  “Ah, the first smart thing you’ve said.” Denny nodded approvingly. “Fortunately or unfortunately, Baldo has taken a job inside Shreb’s fortress. I can talk to him, if you like.”

  “Baldo is working for Shreb?” Rebecca asked, nearly dropping her pitcher of milk.

/>   Denny frowned and picked at a spot on the table.

  “Just honest work,” he said. “Clever Baldo can do anything. I think he was a little bored around here.”

  Rebecca shook her head. Benjamin scanned the dingy shack again. He could see himself bored here. Denny went on explaining what he knew about the fortress. Benjamin scrawled the details in his book.

  Shreb’s men came and went at all hours, but they let merchants and farmers inside to do business in the mornings. The traffic had surged in the last month. Denny thought they were probably stockpiling weapons in the armory.

  “Now that they’ve got the Lieutenant, we need to send a courier to King Aldo.” Denny sighed as he raked through his pale hair. “Warn him, if nothing else.”

  “The king?” Benjamin laughed and closed his book, marking his spot with his finger. “What does the king care about the Thieves’ Plain? That’s why there is a Thieves’ Plain in the first place. We scheme and plot over here, and he leaves us alone.”

  “He cares about the Lieutenant!” Rebecca slammed her hand on the table. “Plus, with Mouthrot involved, that changes the usual business into something else altogether, don’t you think?”

  “Why would King Aldo care about Mouthrot or the Lieutenant?”

  Benjamin tapped his book on the table, no longer able to hide his impatience. He wasn’t optimistic about this planning session.

  Rebecca bit her lip as she exchanged a look with Denny. She closed her eyes, steeling herself. “Mouthrot is a nobleman—or was. A distant cousin of Aldo’s.”

  Benjamin raised his eyebrows, impressed.

  Rebecca glanced at Denny again, who nodded. She took a deep breath and locked eyes with Benjamin. “You’re wrong about the king not minding what goes on here. What do you think the Lieutenant does, exactly? He could be anywhere doing anything, but he’s here in this dust hole spying for the king.” Rebecca leaned forward, her gray eyes widening.