The Lizard King

Part 16: Time to Leave

The shop stayed quiet until nightfall. Marlana went about her duties, dusting and sweeping in the same old rhythmic motion she always has. At last it was only when she looked up and saw that light was fading fast that she got to work on dinner. Salted meat and some bread. No berries again. The best you could get were the ones growing on the edge of the forest, and only when the rangers weren't looking.

But instead of only one plate being made tonight, Marlana had two. One of them she took over to the back room. Opening the door, she found Kayla sitting in the same place she had first set down in hours earlier. She didn't seem to notice the door opening or Marlana setting the plate down on the desk. She just stared. Stared nonstop at the lizardling skull in front of her as her fingers turned the scale over and over again.

She should have known. She should have seen the signs. Kayla's rules broke down. She trusted someone she shouldn't have. No, she thought, not even someone. You trusted something. The instinct to hunt. To find food. To kill. They were there all along with him. Riptheil may be smart, but he was still an animal.

"Kayla," Marlana started. "Why don't you give it a rest and eat something?" Kayla didn't respond. "You do realize that moping here won't help-"

Kayla leapt up and threw the scale at the wall. "Leave me be!" She snapped. "Don't you get it! I messed up Marlana! I thought for maybe once in my life I could actually connect with someone but...gah!" She sat back down again and held her hands in her face, holding the tears back as best she could.

"Kayla, I-"

"Don't Marlana," she said, "You hate everyone. You wouldn't know what it was like."

Marlana stood there for a moment, looking Kayla up and down. "Did I ever tell you..." she began, "how I ended up here in the first place?" Kayla looked up and shook her head. "When I was a bit less than your age, my father made the decision to sell me to a neighbor's son. He was handsome...and vain...and cold, too cold. I knew he didn't love me and I didn't love him. So before the marriage happened, I stole a horse and ran.

"I rode day in and day out, living my own adventure, finding my own path. But then I had my accident..." Marlana's hand patted her bad leg. "I made my way here, but there was no real healer back then so I had to set it myself. But I messed it up. I took over this shop and carried on as best I could but eventually I stopped being nice. I got bitter. And I thought that I would never find something or someone that I would actually care about ever again."

Marlana set aside her cane and took Kayla's hand in her's. "Kayla. We all have our dark places. We all face our own demons. Riptheil just has more than most. If he were here right now, I think he would thank you for helping him this far. And I am so happy and proud that you've proven me wrong up until this point."

Kayla looked up at Marlana. She suddenly didn't look like that cranky old bat that she first met when she was a little girl. No, old bats don't smile like that. They don't have that twinkle in their eye. She didn't know what it was, but that didn't stop her from hugging her.

The two stayed together for a few seconds before Kayla finally heard, "Okay, that's enough. You're gonna break my other leg."

"Sorry." Kayla said, her eyes still watery. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay. What now?"

Marlana grabbed her cane again and stood up. "If what you say is true, then these men won't stop until he's dead. They'll only leave if he does."

"What are-are you saying that he has to leave?" Kayla was a little shaky still, and this sudden impact didn't help.

"I'm sorry girlie. But these bozos probably do have weapons capable of killing him. If he leaves, he at the very least delays that, and he also gets rid of the rangers for us."