Chapter 17

The walk back to Farvale was going to take them at least two full days. They spent the first night at Jasper’s cabin, or at least camped near it, and the next day walking north, through the forest. They’d at least made good time, and Rowan thought they’d make it to the city just after dark the following day.

Osric thought that was probably a good thing. Considering how they’d left the city, the fewer people noticing them, the better.

The long walk did give Osric more time to think. Even though their quest was going well, and it looked like they were getting close to at least knowing where the other half of the document was, things between himself and Talia had not improved. If anything, the longer they walked without addressing it, the icier the space between them became.

When Rowan called a halt to camp that night, Osric stopped Talia short, so they could talk outside the earshot of the others, who’d begun to set up for the night.

“Talia, can we talk?”

“About what?” Talia asked coldly, folding her arms across her chest.

“I hate how things have been between us the past few days. I wanted to apologize for snapping at you the other night. It was uncalled for.”

“You’re right; it was uncalled for. There was no reason for you to act like that, no matter how tired you were.”

“It wasn’t actually because I was tired,” Osric admitted, looking away from her, to the ground near their feet. “I was upset because of how you were talking to Rowan, the way you were laughing and joking with him. And then when you said you and I were just friends...”

“We are just friends,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I know, but ... after everything we’ve been through together, I realized that I like you. Well, I think I’ve always liked you, but these last few weeks it’s ... I don’t know, more.”

“Osric, I like you, too,” she said, her expression finally thawing a little.

“I don’t mean like that, I mean...”

“I know what you mean,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “And I mean it the same way.”

“You do?” he said, honestly shocked.

“Yes,” she said softly, before quickly shifting her tone back to more direct and no-nonsense. “That doesn’t mean what you did was right. We’ve never talked about being ... anything, and you have no claim over me. To be mad because I was talking to someone else, when you and I have never even discussed being anything more than friends, was unfair to me. Now, I admit we’ve been a bit busy lately, what with all the life-threatening situations we’ve found ourselves in, but that isn’t an excuse either. I’m sorry if you thought I was flirting with Rowan, which I wasn’t. I was only being friendly. Even if I was, though, I’m allowed to talk to or flirt with anyone I want. If we’d discussed things or done ... anything that indicated we were more than friends, that would be different, but we haven’t. Which is why, when he asked, I said we were just friends. It was the truth. I’m not saying we’ll always be just friends, but you can’t start acting like we’re something we’re not. Do you understand?”

She put particular emphasis on that last statement, sounding frighteningly like Master Ironhand when he was lecturing Osric on some mistake or error he’d made. Not that she was wrong. He’d overreacted and been unfair to her and then been mad at her for being upset at his unfairness, which was also unfair.

“You’re right. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“Good, ‘cause I hated being mad at you,” she said.

“Maybe, sometime, we could talk about being more than just friends?”

“Maybe,” she said, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “But I think maybe it will have to wait until we aren’t constantly fighting for our lives.”

“That’s fair. When this is all over, then?”

“When this is over,” she agreed, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Osric’s cheek, her wild red curls brushing against his skin. “Until then, let’s just go back to being best friends, okay?”

“Deal,” Osric said, his chest feeling lighter than it had in days.

With a final smile, Talia turned and walked back towards the others and began to unroll her bedroll for the night. Osric watched her go, admiring the sway of her hips as she set about her task, thinking about the future they might have together.

The group timed their arrival in Farvale so they could slip into the city under the cover of darkness, taking a roundabout path Grace said she knew that would keep them off the main thoroughfare, hopefully to avoid much attention. While they’d made it out of town successfully the last time, after fighting Godfrey, it seemed likely that someone had noticed the group when they’d first arrived, especially considering the presence of Cinder, who would have stood out in a major city even more than he did in small villages.

The streets were quiet, far different from the bustling markets they’d gone through the last time. Even with that, Osric couldn’t help but worry that eyes were following them as they went, watching them.

His concern that the death of Godfrey would have been taken seriously by the town authorities was confirmed when they finally reached the outskirts of the main square and saw a pair of city guardsmen standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front of the mansion.

“That’s a problem,” Osric said.

“Could we go around?” Jasper asked.

“We can try, but I’m not sure how much good it will do us. I didn’t really put it together before, but I think he built that place to be hard to enter. We had to walk up those huge steps to get to the front door, and it looks like the bottom floor is all foundation. Look at the windows on this side of the building. They’re a little higher than even the second-story windows of the buildings on either side. We’d heard the man living here had set himself up in high style, so at the time I’d just written it off as wanting to be seen as important, above everyone else. Looking at it now, though ... I don’t know.”

“Look at how the foundation slopes outward slightly as it goes up. Maybe to make it harder to climb?” Rowan said, pointing at the base of the structure.

“So we’re stuck,” Osric said, disheartened.

“You all give up so easily. I can get us in. Follow me around back,” Grace said.

She darted down a side street, motioning for them to keep up.

Osric still wasn’t completely sold on the little thief, but she certainly was confident all the time. He and the rest hurried to catch up to her as they made their way around the rear of the structure. Thankfully, there weren’t any guards there, but there wouldn’t be, considering how the building was constructed. The closest entry point, a darkened window, sat well above their heads, out of any of their reach.

“Wait here,” she said, disappearing down another narrow alley.

While it was a big building, and they were well on the other side from the two guardsmen, Osric and the rest remained silent. If getting noticed was a bad idea, getting found lurking behind the house of the man they killed was certainly worse. As the minutes ticked by, Osric became more and more worried. Grace had made enough comments about not wanting to be on this adventure with them that there was every possibility she’d decided this was her moment to run. With what she knew about them, she could cause big trouble if she decided to try and sell that information, or even if someone like the Brethren found out she’d been with them and forced the information out of her.

“Did she just ditch us?” he finally asked, breaking the silence in frustration.