A Rogue's Restraints

Chapter Eleven: From Here to There

My days are as mundane as they come. Backbreaking and soul crushing too, but I expected that to come with being a slave. They beat you till you don't look at them in the eyes and your shoulders hunch with the weight of humanity.

Best part of that day? We were the only ones in the evening Stagecoach. So, I could stretch out and pretend to sleep, therefore ignoring Adette. I didn't want to deal with thinking about the strangeness of my predicament.

But a man can only take so much "rest" for one day. And I was stir crazy. I was just glad my knee wasn't cramped. I took out a clean linen cloth that I'd taken from the Inn and started to clean my dagger. I'd waited too long, and the blood was crusted already. I tried not to think too closely about it as I cleaned it.

"You look sick. Are you alright?" Adette asked.

"Yes, of course." I said flippantly. She studied me too closely for my comfort. I looked up at her. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Are you—no, never mind. That's ridiculous." She said waving her hand dismissively. Unfortunately, I thought I knew what she was going to say. I must've looked guilty because her eyes widened. "You are? Dark daemons Seb. You're queasy around blood?"

"I'm not as bad as I used to be." I said defensively. "Only a callous psycho wouldn't feel completely undisturbed by blood."

"Well, I suppose your right, but there's disturbed, and then there's intolerant." Adette said.

"Obviously, I do tolerate it." I said, feeling more than a little indignant. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

"It's okay." She said. "We all have our things. I can't stand spiders. They're so creepy." She shuddered. I didn't know whether to feel validated or even more indignant from her sympathy.

"Look, it's nothing. It usually doesn't interfere with work, but it always hits me after a fight. That's all."

"Did it interfere that night in Bellamy?" She asked, looking out the window.

"That's none of your business." I said sharply. This was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

She nodded and shrugged. "I snuck in and saw the aftermath. It was horrible. I was just curious."

"Don't ask me questions about that. Ever." I said firmly. Just thinking about it was going to make me keck all over the seat. The dead bodies, frozen and rotting. Guards bleeding out, dead by my blade... I had enough nightmares as it was, but I wasn't about to tell Adette that.

An uncomfortable silence followed. With the mood I was in, I would have been fine with the silence, but Adette looked excessively uncomfortable. I sighed. "Do you have a plan once we get to Malou?" I asked.

Her lips pressed into an anxious line. "Yes." She didn't say anything more, so I pressed further. I wasn't going to stumble in blind. As it was, I barely knew Adette. She could betray me at any moment, should she choose to do so.

"What's the plan then? We're in this together right?" I scooted across the bench, so I sat across from her.

She nodded. "I know someone who can help us, but I'm not happy about it."

"Who is it?" I asked.

"My brother, well, my stepbrother. Thatcher, he's...well I guess you'll just have to meet him. But he's a crime lord in Malou. A greatly feared one." She looked down at her hands. "He's a Blackheart too."