Calorn AU - Red Queen Retelling

1 - Thieves

Kilorn POV

The good thing was that I would probably never have to gut a fish again. Maybe I would even see Shade at the choke. I smiled sadly at the thought at him. Mare had read his letter to me, just hours ago and I had marvelled at his ability to make jokes even though he was drafted for this useless war. He was way to clever for that, and he would have deserved to find an apprenticeship here in the Stilts. At least Shade had managed to get a job as an aide instead of serving as a human target.

Thinking of Shade was only a distraction from the truth, that my master was dead, that I had no job while I was old enough for conscription. I had only days before the officials would notice and come to drag me away, less if master's daughter decided to report me just because she wanted me out of her father's house sooner. It had been a poor replacement of a home anyway.

Mare told me that she had a plan and that she would talk to Will Whistle, the receiver of her stolen goods. He had to know a way out of conscription, she claimed. She'd mentioned this idea before, as on option fo herself, but my current trouble had awakened her fervour. I smiled at her efforts. I doubted Mare's conviction that the choke would be her death. She was much too nimble and devious to meet a quick end. The Barrows were a family of survivors, people who stuck together. I was jealous of them. Mare said often that she felt like an outsider among them, like she wasn't good enough. As if they were bothered by her. They were family, even for me.

Mare sidled through the shadows to meet with me. Her aisle was sneaky for everyone else, but I always knew when she approached me. I still played surprised and gasped. She grinned but It was forced. She patter my shoulder and sat down next to me.

"Plan is up. I met with someone who will get us away," she said smugly.

I frowned her tone. "How?" I asked.

"Well, there is this woman - "

"Not Whistle?"

Mare shrugged. "She knew what she was talking about, and she only asked a - a recompense."

"What kind of - "

"Don't worry," Mare interrupted me. "I'll get it for us tomorrow. And then we're off to see the world, Kilorn."

I wasn't convinced by her optimism.

Mare didn't get the coins. She hadn't even told me how much it would have been, not until I saw what our plan had cost us. Mare had persuaded Gisa to bring her into Summerton, to steal from Silvers as she hadn't had the chance for such an heist before. But she didn't get it today either. Some terrorist group, the Scarlet Guard it was called, had leaked a video claiming responsibility for an assault on the capital. But whatever they'd done, the news of rebellion had let all hell break lose in Summerton.

The Stilts didn't have another topic to talk about. Though people hardly dared to speak of this Guard, the many relatives and friends working in Summerton during the turmoil were enough to worry about.

I went to the Barrows once I'd heard of the trouble, to check on them. And I was right to worry, Mare and Gisa were victims of the enraged Silvers: Gisa's sewing had been injured by a gunshot. I didn't need to ask how, I grasped it the moment I saw first Mare and then Gisa, looking up to me as her mother took care of the ruin of her hand. I noticed the shame on Mare's face, the same I had to be showing, and after a rushed apology, I dashed off and Mare followed me. Together, we ran away from our guilt. Eventually, we stopped, panting, once we'd left the Stilts behind us. The road to Summerton lay before us, stretching into the twilight. I imagined a trail of blood flowing down the path.