Ageless

Chapter 17

"Ko'sa, you're awake!" I took a step closer towards her, then stopped. She still didn't look quite like herself. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and her face, usually tanned from the sun, was as pale as a sheet of paper. She looked even thinner than the last time I saw her, if that was even possible. Her legs seemed to be trembling slightly, wobbling at the knees, either from shivering or from effort to hold her up in their weakened state.

"How long have we been here?" she asked.

"A couple nights." I offered a hand to her. "Here, sit down and eat something."

"I can eat on the road." Her tone was firm and left no room for argument. "Pa is waiting for me." She glanced towards the table where we had sat two nights ago. "Where's my pack? Let's pay up and get out of here."

I heard Hugh snort from behind me. "You mean you haven't told her 'bout your financial situation yet?"

Ko'sa's eyes snapped back and locked onto me. "What's he talkin about, miss? Where's my Pa's money?"

I began to sputter. "Ko'sa, I don't know how to say this....I didn't have a choice..."

"You're broke kid," Hugh finished for me, with about as much subtlety as a blow to the head from a sledgehammer. "Didn't even have enough gold to buy you a second night's stay. She's working it off now."

I saw a range of emotions as they passed over Ko'sa's face. First disbelief, as her eyes, still locked with mine, widened. Then she read the pain written all over my face, and her shoulders sagged as she realized that Hugh was telling the truth. Finally color flushed back into her cheeks as anger took control. For a few agonizing moments, she struggled to piece together the right words to express her indignation.

"You didn't...miss...you spent all of it...how could you..."

"Ko'sa, I'll pay you back, I promise. I needed to borrow it."

"You needed to borrow all of it? And how exactly do you plan on paying me back? What can you do? The toddlers back in the village have more skills than you."

"Please Ko'sa, it's just money," I pleaded. This was, apparently, not the right thing to say. She snatched the glass I was cleaning from my hand and threw it as hard as she could against the wall. I ducked as it shattered against the fading yellow wood, raining jagged shards of glass down on the naked floorboards.

"Oi!" Hugh yelled. "You plan on paying for that?"

"Don't worry," Ko'sa snapped. "Jill will pay for it. It's just money." She rounded back on me. "So what was so important that you had to spend my month's haul on? Well?"

I felt my hands start to tremble. I was a terrible liar, and the truth was so hopelessly lame that it made me want to crawl out of my own skin. "Please just listen to me. There was a man, he said he knew a way for me to see the King, for a price."

"The King again!" She threw her hands into the air with animated ferocity, then began to mimic me. "Ko'sa, what's the King's favorite color? Ko'sa, who does the King really love? Ko'sa, what does the King think about that bush over there?" She was steaming now. "You're obsessed with the bloody King; he's the only thing you ever ask about. You...you're just another fanatic, aren't you? Think if you can just see the King once he'll wave a magic hand and cure you of all the terrible shit you've done."

"You know that's not true-"

"I don't know what's true. I didn't think you would steal my Pa's money, after everything I've done for you. I thought...I thought we were friends." Her voice dropped. "Friends don't matter to them King's supporters though, all they ever worry about is the King first, and everyone else can go to hell."