“And what are you doing here?”
Zee turned. Behind her stood two strangers, both men. The lanky one had addressed her; his portly companion stood nearby with hand on his sword.
“Was?” she queried in her native tongue, blue eyes studying them. For all their cleverness any attraction was lost to her, for though they were well-built and held their arms with practiced ease, by their garb she sensed they lacked wealth.
“Your accent is strange. What brings you to Falton?” the man repeated with a smile. Zee glanced at Yana with a smirk and replied,
“Vat does eet matter to you?”
“I’m curious!” he said brightly.
Zee waved vaguely toward the chance tables. She’d only left them to fetch some more money. “Zis und zat.”
“I see. Do you have a permit?”
Zee looked him over. The empress had said nothing of permits; she would have offered one if they were necessary for a simple, homey night of gambling and gathering rebel intelligence. “Do you?”
He chuckled and whipped out a piece of paper. Zee recognized it as the check the empress had written when he turned over the rebel leader; she had been there. She smirked.
“I am in ze empress’s service: eef I need somesing you vill take eet up vith her.” She nudged Yana and muttered, “He’s bluffing us.” Yana bit her pink lips to hide a smile.
The man considered this as he jovially hid the paper. “Excellent, then! Have a fine evening!” He nodded to his companion, and they strolled away. Zee felt her coin purse. Still in order. She glanced at Yana with a small nod. The half-fairy smiled and adjusted her furs.
“Where shall we go now?”
“Just a minute.” Zee followed the pair with her eyes as they sauntered over to a group of three women. Gold glinted in their embroidered laps. Zee gasped and slunk through the scant treeline to sit behind them.
“Have you a treasure-hunting permit?” The tall stranger had them quite occupied. Wunderbar! This was an easier route back to the games of chance.
Zee crept beside one of the indignant women and inched a cunning hand forward. Her fingers closed around a hundred-gold bit. Her heart leapt, and, forgetting herself, she sprang to her feet and flew away up the hillside. Cries of “Thief!” pursued her. Gasping, she pressed on, legs pumping, lungs burning in the cold air, boots slipping on the long, slick grass. She clutched the money to her chest and shot a fearful glance behind; the lanky man followed swift in her wake. Her footing betrayed her in the wet grass; with a cry she fell headlong and slid painfully down the hill.
Footsteps thundered behind her. Whimpering, she curled into the fetal position and shoved the gold into the man’s hands. “Mercy!” She tried to get up and flee, but her aching legs refused to support her. She covered her head with her arms as the man’s companion and the three women surrounded her.
They would hang her for this!
The lanky man triumphantly nudged her with his boot. “Well, we’ve caught a thief! What should we do with her?”
“Kill her!” the women shrieked.
“Shall we kill her?” he asked, looking Zee over. She stared back with wild eyes as he unhooked a set of chains from his belt.
“No, make her an example! Take her back to Falton and kill her there!”
“No!” cried Yana, running up behind. Zee had forgotten her in the flight. Yana fell at the man’s feet and offered her wrists to the imminent manacles. “Take me instead!”
“What?” the lanky man said, fingering the cuffs. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Zee held her breath. She knew she’d need Yana sooner or later. It seemed the time was now.
“Because she’s my friend,” Yanna said breathlessly. “Please.” Her dark eyes bored pitifully into his.
He furrowed his eyebrows. “You know…” Zee caught his eye as he slipped the gold into his pouch with a wink. “I didn’t see her steal anything, did you?”
“No,” his companion replied. The women gasped and opened their red mouths to reply, but the lanky man waved them off and helped Zee to her feet. “I’m so sorry about all that, miss.”
“Ees alright,” she gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. She gave Yana a grateful look and the pair of them snuck into the safety of the forest.
