The Charlatan

10. Biting the Bullet

Clara tore a piece of parchment pasted to the side of the building in front of her. Her party had arrived back in Dehi's capital, where Clara and Air had briefly stopped off at almost two weeks earlier. It was untouched. The fires of the western mining town were not known here. The road back would have been arduous, but luck managed to find them in the form of the woodcutter gentleman, whom they had thanked and seen off earlier in the morning. Safiya and Priyanka were being treated for their injuries and Air had wandered off without treating his.

Clara stared at her own face clearly printed in black ink on the parchment. The word "WANTED" in Dehic was stamped above it. There was probably a stamp for every language on the continent. What was she doing? She was a dangerous wanted criminal as far as Safiya and Priyanka were concerned, but now Clara had become responsible for them, and associated herself with them. Air seemed to have quickly trusted her, but the twins throwing themselves at her disposal was unlikely, maybe completely impossible. It would mean revealing the truth about the Charlatan, and admitting responsibility for bringing the army here. Clara mumbled curses under her breath as she ducked into an alley. A group of important-looking gentlemen marched past her and into the infirmary, likely to question Safiya and Priyanka. The woodcutter gentleman had probably reported their story to the authorities. Maybe he had even seen Clara's wanted poster.

What was she going to do? She knew she had been a coward for running away instead of standing up for herself. She had tripped over bodies, hundreds dead, a few days ago but still all she could think about was keeping herself alive. Clara had stopped her mind-rambling for only a moment on the way back into town and her heart had nearly beat out of her chest. No, Clara thought, I have to focus. Focus on redeeming herself, and on finding the real Charlatan. No more hiding.

A sudden crunching noise in front of her jerked Clara back to her senses. Air was walking towards her. He glanced at the infirmary before his eyes landed on Clara. He hesitated, then quietly whispered, "You're not going to smack me around again for bringing up your 'courier mission,' are you?" he paused but when met only with Clara's sigh he continued with more confidence, "Since your recipient is likely dead, the local courier dispatch should know, right? Especially since Velt's constabulary intercepted the message and attacked you back at the Citadel."

Dead. Dead dead dead. The word rung over and over again in Clara's head, and she could once again hear her own voice, her own screaming, while Air heard but silence. She had no time to contemplate her own lie being retorted back at her. There was only panic and swirling in her head, blurring of reality and vague nightmares.

Air moved closer and extended his arm. "Hey, are you—"

BANG! An enormous explosion brought both outlaws to their knees. Clara's ears were ringing, but her grip was now on the present reality. She heard Air mumble something, but she could not make out exactly what. There was dust everywhere. Had the infirmary collapsed? Had the Veltie forces moved on to bombing this city now? Were the twins safe? Is this war? Confused and dazed, Clara stumbled and crawled away from the debris crashing down around her.

She heard shouting both in Dehic and in Velte. She let her curses loose aloud this time. The constabulary had found them, somehow. As Clara exited the alley, she searched for Air. She only had time to scan the vicinity a few paces ahead of her before something was thrown over her head. She kicked and flailed wildly, trying to escape. She heard a grunt as her foot contacted something soft. Taking a chance, Clara pulled the cover off her head – it was a sack – and she fled without looking back.

Being small had served her advantage numerous times before, and again Clara used her stature strategically to nimbly escape her pursuers. She hid among freight carriages that must have toppled over in the commotion after the blast. Dehic shopkeepers scrambled about, trying to interrogate the constabulary about what was happening and how they planned to reimburse them for their lost goods, but they were pushed aside by incoming Dehic backup forces. As the crowd calmed, but did not move, a representative of the Dehic team who had been talking to the constabulary from Velt hopped onto a crate and called for attention.