The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 17: Kidnapped

Wow look... an on-time update! In first person! The world is right again!

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My first clue that my earlier conversation with Therese hadn't been as innocent as I assumed was getting kidnapped. It was awfully unexpected, extremely annoying, and I have to say I don't recommend it.

I woke up to the sound of the door being forced and scrambled for the knife beneath my pillow, just managing to untangle myself from the blankets as they burst into the room. There were five of them, dressed all in black, complete with masks and a red feather-shaped sigil on their shoulders. In the nighttime darkness they seemed to bleed into the shadows, barely indistinguishable from each other as my eyes adjusted.

"What a pleasant surprise," I said, trying to get my bearings as I backed away. I'm not sure I entirely kept my voice from shaking.

"No, not all that pleasant." Kay adjusted his mask and shot me a dark glare. "Ysmay wants to see you."

"Didn't we go over this yesterday? And didn't we agree we weren't going to do this whole kidnapping thing?"

"We did, before you cheated us. Plans have changed. Put the knife down."

I didn't. "You're being overly dramatic about this. I am willing to pay the rest of what I owe you any time, there was no need to interrupt my sleep."

"You're not the only one missing sleep," Lucian pointed out with a yawn. "So why don't you make it easier on all of us and do this the easy way?"

Assuming all three of them were here, I looked around and located Wes behind Kay's right shoulder. "Is kidnapping innocent travelers something Jaden taught you to do?"

"No. Why? Did he teach you to do that? Were you one of his students?"

"Maybe. Were you?" I already knew he was but it might be interesting to hear exactly what had gone on in his own words, though I probably wouldn't get the story of his leaving the capital-- considering I wasn't on the best terms with him and his friends at the moment.

"I... it's complicated."

"That's enough small talk," a fourth masked rebel commanded. "We're here for business, not pleasantries." It was a woman's voice, though in masks and black clothing each of them was distinguishable only by height and vaguely by build. I was still pretty certain that the fifth rebel was also female.

"And here I was, about to offer you tea."

She smirked. "I'd keep your smart mouth closed if I were you. If this takes any longer I'll let Ysmay know you were resisting, and she doesn't take kindly to troublemakers."

"Unfortunately, I don't think Ysmay will need to be informed of anything, as I don't intend to come with you."

"Equally unfortunately, your intentions don't matter. If you haven't noticed, it's five against one. We are quite prepared for a struggle."

She was right, of course. But I wasn't ready to close my mouth yet. "Really? You need five people to deal with one of me? Your combat skills must be even more underdeveloped than Lucian's trio's over here, if that's possible."

She bristled, but the girl behind her put one hand on her shoulder and answered with a cool smile, "One person to fight you, one to open doors, and three to carry your body. We like to be prepared, not knowing how heavy someone is ahead of time."

"I didn't realize murder was the plan tonight." I kept my voice as level as possible, but panicking was starting to seem like a valid course of action.