Chapter Ten

Ariya froze, her feet rooted to the ground as sure as any tree. After being reminded to stay close so many times she had gotten annoyed, she had gotten separated from Lusya. Now Ariya was alone in this strange place, surrounded by countless bodies in a city that stretched to the horizon. She might never find Lusya again in a place like this.

The diverse crowd that had been so wondrous just seconds before was now terrifying. The new and interesting people had become cold, unfeeling dolls that marched past without a care in the world for Ariya. Someone bumped into her from behind as they walked by, then someone else shoved her aside, nearly knocking her to the ground, where she was sure she would be trampled if she fell.

“Get out of the way, brat,” the person said as they continued on their way.

Ariya did not look at them, and any details about the voice were lost in her terror. Her legs slowly started to carry her forward with the flow of the crowd in slow, mechanical motions. All the while her eyes scanned the street in vain for any hint of Lusya.

It seemed her pace was still not fast enough as people continued to go around her or push past. Her eyes burned with forming tears and she shook as she tried and failed to contain her sobs.

With a wail, she broke into a run, half-blinded by tears, and darted into a nook she had spotted ahead. Once she was there, she stopped and curled up on the ground, knees pulled to her chest and back against the wall. She buried her face in her coat and allowed herself to cry, soaking it in tears.

She didn’t know how long she sat there. It felt like a long time, but the sun hadn’t started to go down or anything, so it must not have been that long. Her tears started to dry out and her sobs to weaken. And somehow, she felt better. It was like she had wept her sadness right out. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, wiped the last of her tears onto her dress, and stood. It would be okay. Lusya would come find her. She hoped.

Ariya looked around, taking stock of where she had ended up for the first time. She had thought it was just an indentation in a wall, but it was a narrow passage between buildings instead. The buildings in Whitehill and that other village Lusya had taken her to had been too small and far apart to have anything like it, but she had heard of this before. She was pretty sure it was called an alley. It was even paved with the same stone as the street.

Deeper into the alley was a sharp turn, formed where the building on the left met a third behind it. Ariya started walking toward it, but hesitated. It was kind of dark and scary in that corner and it would be harder for Lusya to find her. But, on the other hand, there was more shade over there and it looked nice and cool. Not that it was hot outside, but with the sun on her and her heavy coat, even with the buttons open, it was a little too warm to call comfortable. Plus, going over there would take her farther from all the mean people walking around in the crowd.

Her decision made, Ariya nodded to herself and walked toward the turn. She only got about halfway there, however, before three men rounded the corner and started walking toward her. She stopped in place as they drew near. Something about them made her want to turn and run, but she ignored that. They looked kind of weird, but maybe they were nice. Maybe they could help her find Lusya. If that were the case, she didn’t want to be rude. Like Mama said, you only got one first impression.

They moved closer in a sort of triangle formation, with one in front and the other two behind and to the sides. Each had a sheathed knife at his belt. She wasn’t sure what kind, but they were too big to be called daggers and too small to be swords.

“Told you the crying was coming from over here, Imir,” the man on Ariya’s left said.

“Give me a break,” the leader said. “Things echo in here. Last time we trusted your ears, we didn’t get shit for it.”

The man on the right crossed his arms and scowled, but said nothing.

The leader, Imir, walked forward and looked down at Ariya. He gave her a toothy grin. She really wished he wouldn’t, his teeth were all crooked and yellow.

“What are you doing in here, girl?” he asked. “This is no place for a child.”

“Um, I got lost,” she said. “Can you help me find my friend?”

Imir gasped. “How horrible. But I’m not sure I’ll be of much help.” He looked back at the other two. “What about you two gentlemen?”

She wasn’t sure what to think about Imir. The other two wore white shirts and brown pants, similar to what Papa sometimes wore into town, but way dirtier. Imir, though, was dressed like a prince from a storybook. A dirty prince, but still. He had a red shirt—or maybe it was a coat—one of those kind with two sets of gold-colored buttons and the stringy shoulder pad things. His pants looked like they might have been white at some point, though now even the less visibly sullied parts looked more gray.

Other than that, though, he didn’t look the part at all. His long brown hair was so grimy and greasy that it was plastered to his head and he had a tangled, scraggly beard to match.

“Just send her on her way,” the man on the right said. He looked a lot like Imir, but his hair was a couple shades darker and his eyes were brown instead of green. “There’s no point in playing games.”

Imir gave a hearty laugh. “That’s pretty rich Simin. Didn’t know you had a soft spot for kids.”

“If you want to think I’m soft, I’ll be glad to slip a dagger in your ribs tonight,” Simin said. Ariya wasn’t sure why he would want to do that, especially his friend. It sounded painful. Maybe it was a game of some kind? “I just don’t think there’s much sense in robbing the girl. You can’t rob someone who has no money.”

They wanted to rob her? Well, that was no good. Maybe they were just bad guys, like in her stories. Mama and Papa said there were real people like that, but there hadn’t been any back home. Or nobody ever taught them some manners. Either way, she knew robbing meant something bad, so she started to turn and walk away.

A strong hand gripped her arm and yanked her back. She let out a short shout and another hand clamped over her mouth, painfully tight. She tried to scream or talk, but she could only let out muffled nonsense into the hand. She looked up to see Imir looming over her, holding her.

He twisted her arm and she whimpered, tears spilling onto her cheeks again.

“Quiet, or I’ll break it,” he said. “Got it?”

She let out a sob and nodded. He released her mouth, but kept holding onto her arm. At least he loosened his grip a little.

“Now, girl, Simin here says you probably don’t have any money,” Imir said, leaning in close. His breath stank of rotten meat.

Simin sighed. “Who trusts a kid with more than a couple coppers, Imir?”

“I don’t have money,” Ariya said. “Lusya doesn’t give me any. Can I go now?”

“Lusya, huh?” Imir said, pensive. “That your friend? So, she carries the money. Maybe we can help you find her after all.”

“Really?” Ariya asked. She was getting very confused on whether or not these guys were nice.

“Look at her clothes,” Simin said. “They’re almost as filthy as ours. I doubt the friend has anything worth the trouble either. You know the Sacred Knights and the nobles are looking for a chance to finish the job.”

Imir frowned and glared at her, like she was the one arguing with him. He ran his free hand through his beard and grunted as he yanked his fingers through a tangle they had gotten caught in. “You might have a point.”

The man on the left shook his head and clicked his tongue. His hair was blond and he was a couple inches taller than the other two. “You’re both looking at this the wrong way. Her clothes might be dirty, but they’re pretty nice. I’ll bet we can bring this friend or her family to us and get a nice chunk of coin out of the deal.”

“She probably stole that dress,” Simin said.

“No I didn’t!” Ariya shouted with a stomp of her feet. “Mama bought this dress and this coat for me.” She couldn’t let them tell nasty lies like that. These were some of the nicest things Mama had ever gotten her. “It’s not my fault they got dirty.”

Lusya had not bought any extra clothes for Ariya at that village and either did not know how or did not want to do laundry. Ariya knew Lusya had at least one change of clothes for herself, since Ariya had seen Lusya wearing two outfits under her cloak, so Ariya wasn’t sure why she didn’t get any. She had never thought about it before.

Simin groaned and rolled his eyes. Ariya wasn’t sure what was wrong with him. Imir and the other man exchanged a look with big smiles. They looked happy, but somehow Ariya got the feeling she had messed up.

“All right, girl,” Imir said. “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to wait with you for your little friend, and we’re going to take real good care of you until she comes to get you. And all we want is a little reward in return. Okay, girl?”

“My name is Ariya,” she said with a glare.

She was tired of him calling her “girl.” Lusya never called her by name either but Lusya wasn’t…okay, Lusya was kind of mean sometimes, but not like these guys. She never hurt Ariya. Plus, Lusya was also nice sometimes and had brought Ariya on this trip, so it kind of evened out.

“Fine, Ariya then,” Imir said, with all the annoyance of someone asked to move a mountain. “Where can we find your friend?”

“I don’t know,” Ariya said. She was getting the feeling he wasn’t very smart. If she knew where Lusya was, she would be there.

“I’m sure she’ll come looking,” the other man said, then he shrugged. “If not, we can try to send out a message. And if she still doesn’t show, we can just sell this one. There’s some sick bastards buying slaves, parents who don’t care where they get an orphan to adopt, and someone always needs cheap labor or housework.”

“I think you’re one of those sick bastards, Yeno,” Simin said. “Or you were, when you had the money to be.”

Imir snorted. “You backed the Demon King, same as us. Don’t act all high and mighty now.”

Simin sighed and shook his head. “Fine. We’ll wait for the friend to show up.”

Yeno nodded and patted the knife hanging at his waist. “And we’ll be ready in case she decides to pull anything stupid.”

“Right,” Imir said. He looked out toward the street, then looked at his friends and jerked his head back. “We’re too exposed here, let’s head back and lie low while we wait.” He smiled at Ariya again and started pulling her toward the turn. “Come on now, girl.”

Ariya planted her feet and pulled back with all her might. Going with him was the last thing she wanted. But it didn’t matter. She slid along the smooth stone ground anyway with a scraping sound that was much too quiet for her desperate struggle. She was slowing him down, but she wasn’t strong enough to stop him.

She was about to scream, but then Imir let out a frustrated growl and snarled down at her, and the sound died in her throat, replaced by a soft whimper. He raised a hand to strike her. The only person who had ever hit her was Jak and he had gotten in big trouble for it despite claiming it had been an accident and Ariya believing him. She flinched and clamped her eyes shut, bracing herself for the hit. It had hurt before and Imir was a lot bigger than Jak.

“There you are, child,” Lusya said. “Unhand her.”

Ariya opened her eyes and craned her neck to look at the entrance to the alley, where the voice had come from. Sure enough, Lusya was there, walking toward the group. Framed half in the shadow of the alley and half in the bright midday sun, with her cloak trailing behind her and rustling in the breeze, its hood shading her face, she looked every bit the part of the heroes in Ariya’s storybooks.

“Lusya!” Ariya exclaimed.

A smile stretching from ear to ear grew upon her face. She didn’t think she had ever been so happy to see anyone before. She looked to Imir again and giggled.

“You’re in trouble,” she sang in the same tune she would to Jak when he did something wrong.

Imir squeezed her arm, but even that didn’t bring down her mood. She knew Lusya was going to take care of things.

“So, you’re this girl’s friend?” he asked. “We’d be happy to give her back. For a price.”

“Maybe we should change our plans,” Yeno said. “This one’s grown and a looker. We could definitely get a good price for her.” He grinned at Lusya. “Unless, of course, you’re willing to pay enough for this girl to…compensate us for lost profits.”

Lusya’s eyes ran over the men and she tilted her head a tiny bit. It was almost imperceptible. If Ariya hadn’t been learning to look for those little things, she might not have noticed.

“Sympathizers who do not recognize me,” she said. “You are worthless and I have no tolerance for your petty schemes. You have already been warned once. Your own ignorance and impotence are to blame for what transpires now.”

Lusya reached them and grabbed Imir by the wrist. She squeezed and twisted, and she must have been doing it pretty hard because Imir screamed louder than an angry bear and let go of Ariya’s arm. Ariya could have sworn she heard some gross cracking sound too. Lusya pulled his hand back, then she yanked his whole body away by the wrist and threw him back. He landed on his back behind the other two and tumbled along the ground until he smashed into the wall behind him. Simin and Yeno looked at Lusya in shock, then rushed over to Imir, who lay on the ground coughing like he had caught the world’s worst cold.

“Hey, Imir, you okay?” Simin asked.

Imir sat up with a strained groan and clutched at his injured arm, which had gone limp. He gritted his teeth and squinted like he was trying not to cry too, but the tears were already flowing.

“Bitch dislocated my shoulder,” he said in a strained tone. “Damn near broke my wrist too.”

With the others’ help, he managed to stand. He looked kind of silly with one arm flopping around like a wet noodle, though. They all glared at Lusya and drew their knives, filling the air with overlapping hisses of metal on leather.

Imir pointed his at Lusya, his eyes filled with ten times the fury of a storm. “Hope you enjoyed that surprise attack, bitch. Let’s see how brave you are with my knife to your throat and my—”

“Child, get behind me and close your eyes,” Lusya said. “Do not open them until I give you permission.”

“Yes, Lusya,” Ariya said.

She darted around and behind Lusya and shut her eyes as tight as they would go. Normally, she might have asked why she need to do this, but after the last hour, she was ready to listen to what Lusya said.

“You have one chance to flee,” Lusya said. “I believe you already know that I will not give you a second warning.”

“You’ve got a mouth on you,” Imir replied. “But it’ll be crying for mercy soon enough.”

“Miudofay.”

Lusya said that strange word and, despite the spring weather, Ariya felt cold. It wasn’t the same kind of cold she would feel from the wind or snow though. No, somehow, this cold was inside her, like there had been a flame in her chest that was now starting to sputter out.

“What the—?” Simin exclaimed. “Fuck this, run for it!”

Ariya heard their boots clamoring against the stone as they started to run. Then there was some kind of warmth against her skin, like she was sitting by a fireside. The alley went silent. For a moment, Ariya stood in darkness, unmoving and with only the dull chatter of the city to keep her company.

“You may open your eyes now, child,” Lusya said.

Ariya did. The men were gone. There was no sign of them, except for their knives and some kind of powder on the ground that they must have dropped, plus some kind of black paint on the floor and walls. Where had they been carrying that?

“What happened to those guys?” Ariya asked.

“I frightened them away,” Lusya said.

Ariya grimaced and couldn’t keep from gagging as a smell the likes of which she had never known invaded her nostrils. She plugged her nose, but even that didn’t keep the stench out in full.

“What’s that smell?” she asked. It seemed like it was coming from the powder, but she couldn’t say for sure.

“Perhaps they soiled themselves,” Lusya said.

That kind of made sense. Whatever it was, Ariya didn’t think it smelled much like poop. But maybe the people here just pooped different. Oh well, that wasn’t important right now. She knew her manners enough to know what was.

Ariya hung her head and glanced up at Lusya. “I’m sorry. I didn’t listen and I got lost.”

“I forgive you,” Lusya said. “I am at fault as well for not paying sufficient attention to you. I…apologize for losing track of you.”

Ariya looked up into Lusya’s eyes and smiled.

“That’s okay,” Ariya said. “You saved me and it all worked out, so it’s fine, right? Mama always says there’s no use complaining when everything goes well.”

Lusya blinked and nodded. “I suppose there is truth to that statement. That said, do try not to get lost again.”

“I’ll try,” Ariya said. She sighed and averted her eyes once more. “But there’s so many people and cool things. I get distracted and people bump into me. It’s hard.”

“I see,” Lusya said.

For a second, she didn’t say or do anything else. Then, she reached out a hand toward Ariya. Ariya stared at it blankly and cocked her head. Then, her face lit up in another big smile as realization struck.

“Are you saying I can hold your hand?” Ariya asked.

Lusya nodded. “I will permit it when we are in crowded spaces.”

“Yeah, woohoo!” Ariya shouted as she jumped into the air with joy. She grabbed hold of Lusya’s hand like it might disappear if she waited any longer and let Lusya lead the way back into the chaos of the city.