The Kingfisher

XXIX : Nora

The sleeping people had it all figured out.

Nora sat there, slumped against the wall, slowly sipping some hot liquid that had been pushed into her hands. She had begun wool-gathering about some exotic island right after she realized the crowd accumulated in the middle of the room — rebels, as it was candidly revealed to her — didn't need her input. They had clearly discussed the team's actions thoroughly, even before they agreed to carry them out.

Who could blame them? They had paid for those actions. Nora shakily breathed in the steam lingering up the atmosphere as she strived to stop herself from crumbling the cup up. It is not Salo's fault, she told herself. He would grab the money along if he had the chance. Yet he did have the chance. Still, he never told them.

The spy's gaze strayed toward Ailyn. Abandoning her sullen attitude, she seemed awfully immersed in the Resistance's conversation. Was it because she wanted to ruin their plans? She had decidedly demonstrated that her hate toward Kage withered quicker than it had flourished. The princess called it forgiveness. Nora called it naïvité.

But the more Ailyn leaned forward; the more words she devoured like a famished wolf; the more ideas she blurted out, the more Nora realized her interest wasn't that shallow. It had grown roots far beyond the soil of betrayal. She wanted to help Ela, just like she had helped them before. A returned favor. A sense of justice she had veiled extraordinarily well.

"Two nights," Iona said. "We have two nights until the palace is open to the public. Canbar was right; the band is unlikely to be searched as thoroughly as the guests."

Ailyn nodded, her rugged nails pinching the delicate skin of her forearm nervously. "The gear could be inside the cases. Maybe behind the lining, if we want to be careful." A sour smile adorned her lips. "They will never suspect the musicians. They never have."

Nora pushed her body off the wall, letting the cup down. She knew what her job would be; evade the guards and find Ela. One day of ceaseless travel seemed enough time for a thorough explanation. Without a second glance at the plotting crowd, she thrust the door open and stepped outside.

Her eyes instantly searched for Arden. They found his frowning compatriot.

"What is it, Canbar?" she asked, her feet screeching against the wet ground as she paced towards the boy. His brows were weaved into an elaborate knitwork and his breaths created an obscure mist as they escaped from the slight gap of his lips.

Salo gaze slowly soared, meeting Nora's narrow eyes. There was still tension in the atmosphere; making plans behind their back and losing the payment for them wasn't something they could brush off easily. Yet Nora had found she had become much more lenient over those past weeks. When the silence between them stretched she sighed, stuffing her freezing fingers into her pockets. "If it's about the plan, don't—"

Her words of forgiveness were interrupted when Salo abruptly threw out his arms and tore Nora into them.

"Um—"

"Just shut up."

Nora reluctantly brought her own arms up and patted his back. What was this? They had undoubtedly grown close during the mission, but neither of them had ever expressed any desire for such closeness. Beneath her ear, she could hear his heart beating wildly. She could question his anxiety or his sudden need for an embrace. Perhaps it had something to do with Arden's absence.

Instead, she shut her lids and pressed her arms around his torso. There were many times she herself had needed someone to squeeze her out of her thoughts, to reassure her with something more than hollow words.  A hug normally didn't have much effect on the situation at hand, yet the way Salo's wrists trembled told Nora that perhaps it could today.