sparrow and lion

Chapter 8: touch

This wasn't the first time Leo had been in jail. It wasn't the second either. Which was why, of course, she was so annoyed to be there.

Annoyed, but not surprised.

It was hard to convince a constable you weren't a bandit when you were freely consorting with bandits. It was even harder to convince a constable that you had only met the bandits last night when you were personally in possession of dozens of items reported stolen by bandits over the last several months. It was hardest of all to convince a constable that you were innocent of banditry when you were found huddling over a bandit leader's corpse with the rest of his bandit clan while in possession of dozens of items reported stolen by bandits. And the constable had appeared just as Leo had poked the body with a stick.

She had tried to explain, of course, that she was only trying to get her dog's bright pink bow out of the blood. But the constable had an even harder time believing in her innocence after that. Which annoyed Leo even more.

Only one of the bandits had ever been in jail before. And that was only once. He'd had two eyes at the time and too much to drink. And then he'd seen the herd of pigs and mistakes had been made. But this was far more serious than that had ever been. And the bandits, all unemployed peasants who had only turned to banditry to take care of their families, were frightened.

So, while Leo stood with her hands on the bars and yelled at the constable's men, the bandits sat on the floor and wondered if their families would starve. Their fear made Leo even angrier. She yelled louder. The constable's men all had wives and mothers whose anger was scarier than any man's, so Leo's rage frightened them, too. None of them had ever arrested their mother or wife. Maybe they shouldn't have arrested Leo either.

Imagine their surprise when the door swung open, a deep voice said "Behave" very quietly, and the jail descended into silence.

Leo looked at Wren.

Wren looked at Leo.

Leo smiled.

"That is your girl after all, I see," the constable said.

Wren nodded. He had told the constable as much. They had been three streets away at the time. But Leo had been yelling quite loudly.

The constable looked at Leo and then at Wren. "You're sure she's not a bandit?" he asked. He pointed at a table of recovered items. "She had these stolen items."

Wren considered this. "She might be," he admitted. "But only since yesterday."

The constable said something in reply, but Leo wasn't paying attention. She was too busy beaming at Wren.

Coins were passed. A key was turned in a lock. The door of the jail cell opened. Leo stepped out, still grinning.

"Thank you," Wren said to the constable. And then he picked Leo up and sat her on his shoulder. "She won't cause you any more trouble." Leo waved cheerfully as they walked out the door.

The jail was in the middle of the market. It was an unusual location, but a useful one. It also meant that everyone who entered or exited the jail was subject to very public scrutiny. But that didn't matter. Even if they hadn't just come out of the jail, everyone still would have stared at them. The giant, glowering man with the cheerful, tiny girl perched like a bird on his shoulder.

It wasn't every day that one came across someone seven feet tall. It was equally rare to see a person whose height was only four a half feet. Seeing them together was understandably disconcerting. So, of course, everyone watched.

Leo didn't mind at all. People always stared at her.

Wren minded immensely. People always stared at him.

He had long legs. It made the walk to the inn where he had rented a room go much faster. He closed the door and moved one of the beds in front of it. Then he set Leo very gently onto the other bed. Wren took a step back.

Leo looked around. The room had no window and one door. Wren had planned very carefully to keep her from getting away. It was rare for an inn to have a windowless room these days. Leo smiled at him. "You worked hard," she said.

Wren sat down on the bed in front of the door. He looked at the floor. Silence.

It wasn't the easy silence like when they had been young. It was cold and hard. It had been this way for two years now. They both felt it. They both hated it. More than anything, Leo wanted Wren to open up again. She wanted to be loved and trusted like when they were kids. But Wren couldn't. That part of him was locked away.

It broke Leo's heart. But Wren's heart was a mystery.

There was no noise for a very long time. If there'd been a window, they would have watched afternoon fade to evening. "You came," Leo said. She stared at his face as hard as she could.

Wren looked at the floor. "You knew" was all he said. But he didn't need to say more. She understood. She knew he would. She knew he had. She knew he was always right behind her. The silence between them was cold and hard, but it wasn't empty.

Not yet.

Not until the wedding. Not until she left the household to live at her new husband's estate.

Leo leaned forward.

Wren leaned back. "You should get some rest," he said. And then he buried himself under the covers.

Leo waited. She listened. Hours passed before Wren's breathing became even. Leo climbed silently out of her bed and tiptoed across the room. She burrowed beneath Wren's blankets. His breath startled into wakefulness. His body stiffened. Leo pressed herself against him. Her fingers found his and curled tightly around them. She squeezed his hand.

Wren squeezed back. Once. Lightly.

And then he carried her back to her bed and left her there.

Neither of them slept that night.