The day after the prisoner had been caught, Aurelie came outside to notice a rather large ring formed around the inn's grounds. It was a pink sort of powder that had been scattered around in a large heap. Whoever made it had clearly done so, intending to let her know that she had both made a mistake and that they wanted her and everyone else at the inn to remember it for a little while longer, her mind jumped to Orken. Several sources confirmed that it was him indeed. The two of them were on good terms now, and it seemed like he had found a way to quarrel with her without actually doing so in person.
With or without the line, the prisoner's cackle reached her from all the way inside. She would not have forgotten the extent of her mistakes even if she wanted to. It woke her every bloody morning.
By the fourth, she had to spend time outside, looking at the trees and listening to the birds, or, to put it simply, she would kill him. And perhaps that would have sounded like an empty threat, considering every single person at the inn had threatened to do so at least three times since his arrival, but Aurelie was quite adamant that she could end his life with one look, so angry had he made her.
A twig snapped behind her. It was a quiet sound that a light breeze would have muffled if one were to pass. Aurelie, however, was so annoyingly in tune with everything around her that she had snapped her head backwards that very second and caught Leila mid-step, sneaking up on her.
Leila's shoulders sagged.
"Damn it," she said, her mouth curved to the right in an innocent smile. She looked lovely now that she had regained her health. Colour and puff had come back to her cheeks, and her yellow eyes were brighter. "Got me."
"Got you." Aurelie didn't really know what to say to her these days. Their interactions were short and meaningless. Being around her was difficult because Aurelie couldn't stop thinking about how she came to be at the inn.
"You alright?" Leila asked.
"Yes. You?"
"Good." She nodded, wrapping her arms around her chest and turned briefly to look at the inn to break the awkward glance they had to share.
"Aurelie," she broke the silence after a minute, "can we do something this evening?"
"What do you mean?"
"I want to get out for a little."
Aurelie cocked her head. Leila had shifted a little and stood right in front of the sun. It made a dark halo around her. "Out?"
"Yes, away from this bloody place." Leila looked at the inn again but with much more disdain and aggravation. "I can't stand it anymore, Aurelie. I can't. That bloody old man is always shouting. That woman thinks she's my mother. They're all so . . ." she paused, turning to Aurelie teary-eyed, "so terribly witchy, it hurts. The little ones tried to cleanse me the other night."
Aurelie blinked, confused. "They tried to bathe you?"
Leila's eyes widened with expected exaggeration. "I'd have preferred that." Her voice turned a pitch higher. "They enchanted a brush to clean me with their stinking wizard soup. It smelled like grass trotting, sweaty feet. It hurt too." Leila lifted her dres' sleeve to reveal several red marks that looked like a mild carpet burn had caused them. "You'd use that spell on aniâ" Her voice broke. "They do it to clean animals, Aurelie, not people. They're horrible, Aurelie. I hate them. I'm sorry to say it, but I hate them." Leila shrugged and shook her head.
She wanted to start laughing until she saw the bruises on Leila's arms; instead, they made her see red. "Don't say that," Aurelie said, standing up to comfort her. "I'll talk to them. In fact, I'll do much more than talk to them. It isn't right. Make every one of those little brats drag their knees along the concrete floor, begging for your forgiveness."
"I don't want you to do anything," she said and sighed loudly. "I just want to get out of here for a bit, clear my head, be a little mad, you know?"
"They're good people, Leila . . . I don't know whyâ"
"We're all a little bad until we find someone to be good for. They've clearly found you, me not so much."
"Is it safe?" Aurelie asked, finally giving in. She wanted to fix this. She wanted Leila to look less sad.
Leila made fists and shook them in frustration. "No, but who gives a damn? Have you done anything worth remembering except recently? What have we done? I need to get out. I need to." Her eyes widened. "Please. I just can't."
"Where do we even go? The townâ"
"I know exactly where we'll go."
*****
Aurelie could not recognize the place they stopped at right away, but once she saw the woman with hair wild and orange like fire, Klo, pushing out a thin and wobbly drunk, Aurelie knew that they had arrived at the inn that Hilton had taken her too.
"Take him home, Laund."
"Charge the usual, ma'am?"
Klo shook her head. "No, his poor wife can't afford it. Just drop him by the gate and hurry back, Toriel. There are a couple of others that I want to get rid of soon."
The man met her halfway up the stairs and took the man around his waist, helping him while he moaned in gibberish and attempted his very best to keep his wobbling head steady. "Come on, ya, old nut, let's get you home."
The man tried to turn. "No, not . . . to thatâI want another drink." He lifted his index finger. "Damn it, man! I don't," he yawned and tried to wiggle out of Toriel's arms, "want to go."
Toriel shoved him into the back of the cart and threw a heavy brown back atop him. It landed with a thump and knocked out his breath.
Leila laughed and lowered her head, trying to hide it while Laund struggled under the weight as the cart left for his house with Toriel at the front with the donkeys.
They were close to the steps now. Aurelie felt her heart tug with worry. Would Klo remember? She looked different now, bathed and finely dressed with combed hair. They had only met briefly, but Klo showed Aurelie that she knew exactly who she was the last time. As much as Aurelie hoped she'd forget it, there was very little chance of that happening.
Klo hung around on the steps a moment, then turned to the door. She stopped, doubled back and glanced directly at Aurelie.
"Hilton's girl," she said, her voice colder than the last time she'd heard it.
"Yes," Aurelie said, knowing all too well that Klo did not believe that. "Hello."
Klo looked up at the dark sky then her intense gaze dropped back to Aurelie. "You sure it's safe for the niece of a travelling vendor to be out this late or . . . at all."
"We've got the coin, and we're thirsty. Can we go in now without the hundred questions?" Leila interrupted, walking up the steps as she said it. She stopped halfway up and waved Aurelie up. "Come on!"
"I'll get you a table," Klo said.
"We canâ" Leila started to protest, but Klo interrupted.
"I'll get you a table."
She sat the two of them down in the far back corner of the inn, close to the kitchen and mostly hidden away from all the excitement. Leila sat with her cheeks so puffed that it looked like several bees had attacked her.
"How does she know you anyway, and who the hell is Hilton?" Leila asked once Klo left to fetch them some cider.
"He gave me a ride on his cart to Berillian."
"He knew who you were?"
"I think so."
Leila looked around for the first time since we got there, slowly scanning the area. "Seems fine for now."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Aurelie asked her as her eyes still traced their surroundings. They stopped scanning but didn't turn in Aurelie's direction.
"Ah," she cocked her head in the direction Klo had gone before, "here are our drinks."
Klo set a large jug down on the table and put a glass in front of Aurelie and Leila. "Perhaps something to eat first, ladies?"
Aurelie opened her mouth to say yes, but Leila shook her head. "We had dinner at . . . home. Thank you."
Before Klo had even had a chance to leave, Leila was already pouring the cider into her cup. She tipped hers over her mouth and sipped until it was all finished and then tipped the glass so that the last drop could roll over onto her tongue.
"Aurelie, come on!" She slapped the table with her hands and then pushed Aurelie's glass over.
Aurelie took a sip, struggling not to wince at the awful taste.
"Go on, finish it!"
"Leila . . ."
"Scared you can't?"
Aurelie rolled her eyes and then tipped the glass over her own mouth. It was sour and bitter, and she hated the taste. Aurelie wished she had eaten as she felt the cold liquid land in her stomach. Halfway into drinking the whole glass, she had to shut her throat and let liquid rest in her mouth for a moment before she could continue without throwing it all up. She put the glass down, gasping for air and looked up at Leila, who had just about the biggest smile on her face.
Leila wiggled her eyebrows. "Now we're getting somewhere."
Aurelie smiled and looked down at her empty glass. Just then, she heard Leila pour another glass.
"Leila, no."
"And why not?"
"Because . . ." A shadow came over the table. He had a thick, dark beard and eyes exactly the perfect shade of blue that you'd expect from Mr Tall Dark and Handsome. Her vision blurred from the effects of the cider.
"Hi," he said.
Aurelie bit her lip, caught herself doing it and separated her teeth to let her lip go.
Leila stuck her hand out to him, and Aurelie looked down at her hands.
"Hi," Leila said. "Are we dancing, drinking or are you leaving?"
"Leila!" Aurelie scolded, wide-eyed and embarrassed.
His expression darkened. Aurelie could see his cheekbones tighten as he bit back his tongue at her rudeness.
"I came over to introduce myself to your friend." He smiled again when he turned to Aurelie, and her heart fluttered. He had kind eyes.
"Johnicus." He held out his hand.
Aurelie ignored Leila's scoff and took his hand. It was warm and a little sweaty. They held on for much too long and parted very slowly. By the time she started to tell him her name, she was beaming. "Auâ"
"Auphelia," Leila interrupted. "And I'm Leila, how do you do?" She held her hand out again, her cheeks her with shock, fear or drink.
A hot flash ran through Aurelie. She straightened up in her chair while they shook hands and took a sip of her drink.
"Auphelia," he said. "Would you like to dance with me, Auphelia?"
"She absolutely would," Leila answered for her.
Aurelie turned her head in questions, trying to catch Leila's gaze. "I . . ."
"She'd love to," Leila said again, this time staring Aurelie down and rolling her eyeballs in Johnicus's direction.
Aurelie shook her head, smiled and then tipped the second glass of cider over her mouth. "Okay," she said, once she had finished that one too, and gave Michael her hand so that he could help her out of her chair. "I'll warn you. I'm not much of the dancer."
Johnicus laughed, leading her to the busy dance floor. "That's unfortunate; I was quite hoping you'd lead."
Aurelie laughed out loud, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand to curb the sound. He spun her around and pulled her as close to him as was possible. At the start of a new song, just as their hips began to move together, the door of the inn slammed, and the music was cut.
The dancers stopped, looked in the direction of the commotion and then began to split to clear the path for someone.
When the last person moved out of her line of sight, Aurelie met Kirin's ice-cold glare. His eyes slowly moved to Johnicus' hands that were around her waist, and his jaw tightened. He put his hand on his sword and held it there until Aurelie felt the places where Johnicus' hands were growing cold at the release of his touch.
Kirin looked betrayed, and for a second, she felt as if she had genuinely betrayed him. Just for a second, because after that, she remembered that he was engaged, and her blood boiled.
Leila strolled past her and casually stepped past Kirin, who had yet to drop his eyes from Aurelie. "Come on there. Daddy's waiting."