The Emerald Thief

The Emerald Thief - 11 - The Last Village II

"What were you thinking?!" my brother was more frustrated than angry, but he was building up to it.

"I wasn't," I sighed.

We were in room 3, 'talking' as he had put it to the brothers. This was really just a chance to yell at me for being an idiot.

"Es we are leaving in three days, back to Tsuna," he started pacing. "You know there is no way we can stay here."

"I know that," I snapped.

"I never should have let you take this job-"

"Hey!" I stood up. "You are my brother Draven, not my keeper, I took the job because I saw that these brothers needed help. You couldn't have stopped me if you tried."

"I could have at least tried," he looked at me seriously. "You know that we are parting from the brothers in three days right. You can't be with him."

"I know," I sat back down. "It really isn't as serious as you think. This is just some summer infatuation, I'll get over it on the way back."

He stared at me for a while longer before sitting down.

"I saw the way you two acted around each other," he sighed, more like he was talking to himself than me. "I saw the way he started looking at you once we got off the ship... but I never thought you would act on it. I thought you were smarter than that Esmaria."

"Don't." I said quickly, looking around as if we weren't alone. "You don't know how thin the walls are."

"Sorry," he nodded.

It wasn't just that. I knew that saying my real name was dangerous around here... but it was the emotion that hearing my name brought that I wanted to keep away. I remembered how softly he said my name, how it used to make butterflies swarm in my stomach... I nearly touched the silver chain, then caught myself.

Draven looked at me and my slightly raised hand with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head.

"Just thinking about something," I stood up. "Never mind."

"Alright," he stayed seated. "Where are you going?"

"To get Nix and our bags," I said, going to the door. We agreed that Nix would be sleeping on our floor tonight.

Not waiting for him to say anything else, I left the room and walked down the hall to theirs. I knocked and waited. Ryder opened the door with a small smile

and handed me two bags, then let Nix out. I saw Tyce in the room, but didn't meet his eyes.

"Thanks," I told Ryder and went back down the hall with Nix in tow.

I let him into our room, dumped my bags and went to the stairs.

"Es?" Draven came out of the room. "Do you really think it's wise to be alone?"

"I'll be fine," I let the dagger in my sleeve slip so he could see it. "I need some fresh air."

"Okay," he nodded, then shut the door.

I left the inn, walking out into the sunset. There was a stunning view of it from where I was at the edge of the village. I walked out to the last row of houses and sat by the river. It was a crystal clear river that ran around the east side of the village then up through the forest.

I hadn't really thought about how we were going to get over the boarder yet because I was dreading the moment when I had to pass into that place. I knew that the guards there were trained to recognize my appearance, so I had to be very careful. I'd created an information link with the North Nation spies as soon as I became established in their world, so I knew what to expect.