21. Aiden

Chapter 21

Aiden

“To the best shot in Aquinon!” Maz announced.

I chuckled as Ruru’s ears turned red with embarrassment.

We tapped our mugs together over a table at The Weary Traveler. Nearly every table was full, and no one paid us any mind.

I sipped my Sunshine while Ruru messily gulped his watered-down ale.

Maz laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Look at the boy! So proud he can barely drink past that grin!”

Ruru wiped his chin, wincing a little at the burns on his hands.

“I’ll put some hornleaf sap on those as soon as we get home,” I assured him.

He beamed. “They don’t hurt much.”

Maz ruffled his hair, and the two of them began to reprise every moment of our evening at the Temple. I was proud of Ruru for working so hard, but always, there was a stab of fear. For getting him involved. For asking him to take such a risk.

He’d wanted to. Begged me to let him help. And if all went according to plan, he wouldn’t be too much in harm’s way.

But when did anything go according to my plan?

A pair of honey-colored eyes teased my mind.

Gods, had it only been this morning that I’d seen her at the bathhouse? It felt like an age had passed. How quickly that beautiful thief stole my thoughts, my peace. I’d thought of little else all day.

The change of clothes had been an excuse to follow her. At first, because I was worried about her on her own so soon after recovering. Then, when I saw her soaking in the steamy water, I didn’t want to leave.

I’d given her space over the past few days, letting her recover, letting Maz and Ruru bolster her spirits with theirs. I didn’t want to add my tormented feelings to her own.

Instead, I’d focused on preparing for the heist. I had everything we needed now—guard and servant uniforms, a wagon with horses, and false-bottom barrels. Melaena had procured Asher’s seal to get us through the gate, as well as a crude map of Asher’s house.

All the while, I’d wondered how Kiera fared beyond her wounds.

Nothing distracted me from my work. Nothing. Distractions ended in death.

But I couldn’t resist her.

When I’d knelt to hand her the soap and she’d looked up at me, the water lapping at her bare shoulders, everything else faded away. My previous torment evaporated like the steam around us.

When I undressed to wash her hair and she gaped at me with raw desire, my own desire shone hard and bright, as if it’d always been there. Waiting. Until the clouds of fear and distrust shifted away.

But what had truly unraveled me was finding those scars on her back. Seeing her in such pain over that monster, Korvin. Holding her shivering body in my arms until she calmed.

She hadn’t told me why she’d been punished in such a way. Probably over some small infraction in her life as a personal guard—fell asleep on duty or looked at Weylin the wrong way. Whatever it was, it certainly didn’t warrant Korvin’s whip.

Perhaps it’d been foolish of me to share what I did about the mine and my scar. From the moment I met her, she’d carved my secrets from me, piece by piece. But this time, I wanted to let her. I wanted her to see more of me. I wanted to know what she would do with it.

When her lips had touched my scar, it made my heart twist with agony. Because, for the first time in a long time, I wanted to let someone else in. But my heart knew I didn’t deserve the kindness she showed me. She didn’t know what I’d done to earn that scar. Or what I’d done since then.

Soon—too soon—it wouldn’t matter. She’d be gone with her gold, and I... I would disappear as well. One way or another.

“Well, look who it is!” Maz’s loud voice roused me from my thoughts. “Hey there, lovely!”

My gaze latched onto the very object of my distraction.

Kiera had frozen in the middle of the crowded tavern. I drank her in, from hood to boot, pleased to see my sharp little gifts strapped to her waist.

But she looked at me as if I were the last person she wanted to see. My smile fell.

Oblivious, Maz waved her over, yanking another chair to our table. “Come, come, sit. Hey, Iris! Some Sunshine, if you please!”

Kiera trudged over and sat down next to me. Even though she angled as far away from me as she could get, our knees still brushed under the table.

She nodded a greeting to Maz and Ruru, but avoided my gaze with her head lowered. Iris appeared between us with a full mug of Sunshine, which Kiera seized with thanks. The mead sloshed over the rim.

I frowned. Was she trembling?

She took several long gulps of mead, eliciting raised eyebrows from Maz.

“Where have you been?” I asked, rougher than I meant to.

Her shoulder twitched next to mine. But she kept her chin tucked. “I... I just finished a task for Sophie. It was nearby, so I thought I would stop for a drink.” Alone , was what she didn’t say.

“An errand without me?” Ruru asked, his mouth bent in a frown.

Kiera drank more. “I waited, but Sophie said it was urgent. Medicine for the pregnant wife of one of the guards.”

“You went to the barracks?” I demanded.

She nodded.

“Gods damn it, Kiera, look at me!”

Three pairs of eyes widened at me, but I only cared for hers. Shadows hovered in them, and her face was drawn and pale.

I tried to gentle my voice. “What happened? Is it your wounds?” My gaze darted from her head to her chest.

She shook her head. “I thinkI just overexerted myself is all.”

It wasn’t all, but I didn’t want to push her. And I’d frightened her by behaving like a gods-damned brute.

“Forgive me,” I murmured. “Are you hungry?”

An emotion I couldn’t name flickered in her eyes before she nodded and looked away. I rose and went to find Iris instead of Maz bellowing for her again. I also needed a moment to calm the protectiveness that seemed to turn me into a wild beast where Kiera was concerned.

I found Iris coming out of the kitchen, carrying two platters of food. I asked her for some of everything and to hurry if she could. After slipping a handful of silvers in her apron pocket, I headed back to the table.

Just as Maz was saying, “I believe he’s brooding over a woman, but he won’t tell me.”

Her eyes flicked to me. “How do you know it’s a woman?”

Gods damn it, Mazkull. I sat down with a glare.

He grinned and winked at me. “I always know when it’s a woman. I understand women intimately, you see.”

“Is that so?” I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Lorel.”

“Ah, yes, a beautiful woman with the biggest pair of,”—he glanced at Ruru’s rapt expression—“ah, eyes that I’ve ever seen. She adored me.”

“She burned your tent to the ground.”

Kiera laughed, and I instantly forgave Maz.

Maz waved his hand in the air. “That was an accident. She was merely trying to start a cooking fire.”

I smirked. “ Inside your tent. To roast you and... what was the name of the other woman? Bertha?”

“Bella.” Maz grimaced. “She didn’t know Bella was in my tent.”

I sent a laugh up into the rafters. “By the Four, she did. I also recall we moved camps quickly after that.”

“Call it what you will,” Maz said with a chuckle, “but all I take from that story is how much I’ve learned about women. To prove my point,” he added, dipping his head at Kiera.

She grinned. My shoulders relaxed. Perhaps we could chase away whatever demons haunted her tonight.

Iris arrived with a platter of sticky bread pockets filled with sliced beef, onions, and tomatoes. She also set down a pot of baked beans and a plate of biscuits.

“Gods, you’re the best, Iris, thank you,” Kiera said, already reaching for a bread pocket. “Did you three not eat yet?”

We all shook our heads and dug in like a pack of wolves.

With each bite, a few more of the shadows disappeared from Kiera’s eyes. She caught me studying her and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Our gazes linked in a way that felt like holding hands. Was it my imagination, or did she lean the slightest bit toward me?

“Tell us another story,” Ruru piped up, licking butter from his fingers. “From... from Dagriel ,” he whispered.

Maz grinned. “How about the time I blindfolded Aiden, tied his hands behind his back, and left him in the forest overnight?”

Ruru’s mouth fell open, and a soft laugh escaped Kiera’s lips.

“Now this is one I definitely want to hear,” she said. “I hope something worse than a spider hunted you when you were blindfolded.”

I grinned, nudging her shoulder. “How about a mountain lion?”

“What’s a mountain lion?” Ruru asked.

Maz guffawed and described the large, sneaky cat, then told everyone the story, embellishing a few details here and there. Kiera and Ruru gasped and laughed in the right places, and Maz glowed with the happiness of telling a good story. If not for the smoky tavern, we could’ve been back around a roaring fire in the mountains of Dagriel.

Soon, Maz. I’ll get you home. I glanced at Kiera and Ruru. Perhaps my actions would also make Rellmira a home worth having. Maybe then Kiera could come back .

I had to bring up her travel plans again. Skelly’s ship was nearly reloaded for his next run to Eloren, and Kiera would have to be on it.

But it didn’t feel like the right time to discuss it.

Over the next few days, it never seemed to be the right time.

Kiera threw herself into rehearsals as if making up for lost time. She stayed with Melaena most of the day, running errands with Ruru less. But she did practice pickpocketing with him late at night. She was already fairly adept at it—given how easily she’d stolen that key from me in the prison.

Ruru showed her a few more tricks for stealing a necklace from someone’s neck, and she quickly perfected them.

I suddenly hated how she was going to have to steal the vault key. If there were any other way...

The night before the heist was stiflingly hot as the four of us crowded together in my room. Ruru sat on Maz’s cot, playing with one of Kiera’s old knives. I paced the room while Kiera and Maz sat at the small table. She wore the purple silk scarf I’d blindfolded her with around her neck. She said she’d been using it to practice outside of rehearsal. It seemed strange that she kept it around her neck instead of in her pocket like I had, but I didn’t question her.

Maz was shirtless and sweating as he laid out his new darts and cleaned his whistler.

“Is this for the vault guard?” Kiera asked, reaching for one of the needle-like darts.

Maz seized her wrist before I could. “No touching, lovely. That’s a death dart.”

Her wide eyes blinked at me. “You’re going to kill him?”

“No,” I said, raking my sweaty hair away from my neck. “Maz has sleeping ones as well.”

“Like the ones you used in the sea cave?”

Maz nodded. “Skelly brought me both. See, the death darts have little red feathers, and the sleeping darts have little green feathers.”

Kiera studied them, biting her lip as if she were still concerned. “What happens if the guard wakes up or remembers who shot him with a dart?”

Maz waved his hand. “He won’t. Aiden will be in a guard’s uniform, and I’ll be in a servant’s uniform. We’ll drag him back to his post when we’re done and give him a half-gone tankard of ale to make it look like he was simply drunk.”

Tension simmered in the room like heat over the cracked clay buildings.

I ceased pacing and faced them. “Let’s go over the rest of the plan one more time.”

Maz groaned, but Kiera and Ruru nodded wearily.

“Kiera, after your dance, you’ll get close to Asher and steal the key.”

Her fingers tapped on the table. “Without him noticing, yes. Then I’ll meet you and Maz in front of the vault. After I unlock it?—”

“And you’re positive you remember which lock?” I interrupted.

Irritation flashed over her face. “Yes. After I unlock the vault, I’ll stand watch while you and Maz load up the barrels and cart them toward the servant’s entrance.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “And if you hear someone coming before we’re done?”

“I’ll knock on the door. After you two have closed the door most of the way, I’ll pretend to be lost until whoever it is leaves.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Remember, don’t close the door, or you’ll have to wait for me to unlock it again.”

My skin crawled at the idea of being locked inside a vault. “Trust me, I’ll remember.”

“Once you two are clear,” she continued, “I’ll return the key. Then I’ll go with Melaena to The Silk Dancer , where she’ll send me through the tunnel.”

“To the warehouse, where we’ll be waiting,” I finished for her.

“I don’t have much of a job,” Ruru muttered, flipping the knife end over end.

Maz looked up from his work. “You’ll be keeping a lookout on our escape, little brother. That’s extremely important.”

“Yes,” I said firmly. “We can’t have another incident like we did last time.”

Ruru glanced at Kiera, who was staring out the window. “I’ll make sure no one knows we’re there. Then I’ll take the wagon and horses back.”

“Good, good. Now?—”

“What if I get caught?” Kiera asked. She faced me, her chin lifted in a show of fearlessness I didn’t believe. “What if I don’t make it back to the warehouse?”

The air seemed to still, as if everyone in the room was holding their breath.

“You won’t get caught,” I told her. Then, more softly, “But I will come for you. If you’re not in the warehouse by dawn, I’ll find you.”

The scarf shifted around her throat as she swallowed. She tugged on it and went back to staring out the window.

Not long after, she and Ruru went to bed, shutting the door behind them.

Maz gathered up his darts and whistler and stowed them in his pack while I stretched out on my cot and closed my eyes.

“You should tell her,” he grumbled.

I didn’t open my eyes. “Tell her what?”

“Come off it, Aiden. Tell her how you feel. That you want her to stay.”

My eyes snapped open, and I glared at him. “Quiet,” I hissed, glancing at the door.

Maz shook his head and sat down on his cot. He lowered his voice to his version of a whisper, which was really just a lower rumble. “Tell her before it’s too late. You have enough regrets, brother.”

My fingers curled into fists. “I’ll tell you what I told her. I will not be the reason she dies. If she stays?—”

“You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

I shot upright. “No, I don’t, Mazkull. But I can’t—I won’t—” I stopped, the words for what I feared getting lost in a storm of memories.

His face fell as he stared at his boots.

“There’s already so much at stake,” I whispered. “Don’t ask me to add another life to that burden.”

After several long moments, Maz nodded, but his eyes pierced me across the room. “You’ve given up everything but your life for this, Aiden. I just want you to have something to live for when this is all over.”

With that, he laid down and fell asleep.

I sat in the dark, my mind spinning.

Could I ask her to stay? She seemed to love Maz and Ruru. She seemed to feel... something for me. But would that be enough?

No . No, it would be selfish to ask her to stay for me. To put her in further danger.

I had to protect her. And to do that, I had to let her go.