Nada's Escape

70- Trust.

"I..." my voice is swallowed, piece by piece, by silence, "Have something for you." Darcell's head snaps to face me. The rest of his body remains poised in the warm-up, one leg just off the floor. After giving me a neutral, assessing glance for a second he lifts an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asks, stacking curiosity, suspicion and hope upon the word. He pulls his arms and legs back into an upright position in one, sweeping movement.

"Yeah," Each word feels a little less choked than the last, "As long as you can keep it a secret."

Darcell walks towards me, heels melting into toes across the floor. "Me? Absolutely." He articulates the words very deliberately, drawing my attention to his mouth. I force my eyes up to meet his, trying to convey the seriousness of the matter.

"Promise." I use a pressing tone. His green eyes, rimmed with curiosity, widen with mystery.

"Blood oath?" He asks, voice pitched low. There's a smile hidden somewhere under the expression but I can't pinpoint it. Is he being sarcastic?

"I'm serious!" I push his arm, rubbing the shoe with the letter in it against the ground. The letter hasn't shifted out of place, has it? It's impossible to tell.

He cocks his head at me, green eyes chuckling, "What's more serious than a blood oath? We are Huntsmen after all." My heart jerks in my chest. I'm not a Huntsmen!

I sigh heavily, rocking back a step, pulling away from the conversation. Maybe this was a stupid idea. Maybe I should just leave it in the Warrior Circle like Tanja suggested. Wrapped in a bubble of self-doubt, I don't notice Darcell move until his hand touches my arm.

"Hey, I promise I'll keep your secret," he says, gently. I stare down at his hand on my upper arm, squeezing lightly. Not a clashing touch while sparring. Friendlier. Familiar.

"If you trust me," he finishes, a careful question. I look up and his face is truly serious now. Worried, even. I hold his gaze for a second, balancing. Convincing myself to continue. I've come this far.

I break the contact gently by stepping back, balancing on one foot and slipping my shoe off, pulling out the letter. Its crumpled and grimy but safe. I hold it up to show Darcell, and he immediately reaches for it. I skitter back, keeping it out of range.

"You can't open it yet," I admonish. Darcell sticks his tongue out and makes a mime of reaching for it with his feet planted well out of range. My mood softens, not quite to the point to smiling, but enough not to be offended.

"Not until dawn in three days' time." I glance down at the envelope, calculating, "Or well, you'll know when." That's a whole day of us being gone before the note is revealed. Will that be enough time to obfuscate our escape?

I extend the envelope towards Darcell and give him a significant glance. His eyes flash in understanding and curiosity as he takes hold of one side of it. I keep hold of my side, stretching the paper slightly between us.

"May I ask why it has to wait?" He ventures.

"Well..." I mull over the question for a moment. It's better for the plan to give him nothing, but I'd prefer to take the edge off his curiosity, just in case he wants to take a peek.

So I stumble on, "Something has to happen before you can see this." My mind blanks out and I struggle to find the train of thought that leads to the next sentence.

"The gala. Well, I kind have to go with Finley," I say slowly, thoughts shuffling sluggishly between mouth and mind, "For appearances."

I've been avoiding thinking about that. The whole gala's a worm's delight and a fighter's demise. True but irrelevant, I berate myself, swaying to keep my body occupied. I search again for words that disappear as I try to speak them. I look down at my feet as I put my shoe back on, difficult whilst still holding the letter with one hand. Still, I feel Darcell's attention like a hand on my shoulder.

"But... Basically it's too difficult for me to say this right now. But it needs to be said soon. I guess you're the one who should know first and ... I trust you'll trust me enough to keep it secret until its time..." I finish without a full stop, waiting for the next words but they never come. Not the worst bucket of half-truths I've ever tried to sell but close to it.

So I look to Darcell, judging his response. He stands with one arm crossed over his chest; closed posture, open gaze. He nods once, in understanding. I switch my gaze to the envelope then, not meeting his eyes. I concentrate on that paper, a conduit for the tension, anxiety versus curiosity. I suck in a giant breath and relinquish hold of it.

"Okay. I look forward to finding out the secret." Darcell says softly. He flips the envelope, plain white, over in his fingers once, then tucks it away into the pockets of his shorts.

I hope you'll like it? I think bleakly, knowing that I've probably just made a major jerk move, teasing his curiosity like this. All for the sake of the plan, though, I remind myself.