Our break quickly came to an end as Marten called us back to the wagon to finish the remainder of our travel for the day. We rearranged the back of the cart to better accommodate all of us being awake, stacking the crates along the outside edge to create a main thoroughfare down the center with unstacked crates for seating on either side. When we were finished, Lia and I sat down on one side, facing Hana and Marin on the other.
“So,” I started, “there’s something I wanted to talk about with all of you.” My eyes locked with Marin’s as I continued. “Specifically with you, Marin. You know that it wasn’t our original intent to bring you with us, but given the circumstances, I certainly couldn’t leave you there. Now, though…” I trailed off, leaning my chin onto my interlaced hands, “...there’s a decision to make.”
“Wait!” Marin shouted. “I need to say something first.” The sudden outburst surprised me, but I gave her a nod to proceed, curious about her thoughts. “I know you have reasons not to trust me because of my sister, but I don’t have anywhere else to go. If I go back to my family, the guards will kill me before I make it into the city. I don’t have any money, I don’t have my things, I don’t have...anything.” Her face fell, and she sniffled softly.
“Given that the guards saw us leave in a packed wagon, I doubt Virram will order the Corells’ house to be watched. It would be a few days of travel on foot to get back there, but you could return for your possessions,” I replied. “There’s a good chance everything is still there, exactly where you left it.”
“A chance, maybe, but what if you’re wrong?!” she challenged me. “I would either be walking back into a trap with nobody to help me, or stuck in Yoria with nothing! I can’t go back there.”
“And if you come with us?” I countered, speaking gently. “You’ll still have no possessions. Granted, the Kaldan military won’t be a concern anymore, but you’d be in a foreign land with nothing except the clothes on your back.”
“Not if I stayed with you!” She looked around the wagon for support as she continued. “Give me a chance to prove that you can trust me! I’ll do anything if you just let me stay. I’ll help Marten with his business, I’ll cook and clean and do yard work, anything! You won’t even have to pay me!” She leaned forward and grabbed my hand in hers, looking up to me in desperation. “I just need a chance to live.”
I raised my eyebrows at her, slipping my hand out of her grip. “Well, I was going to suggest that you continue with your original business deal with Marten once he gets everything set up again, but I’m sure the Corells would appreciate a free maid.” I looked to Hana with a devious twinkle in my eye. “What do you think?”
“Oh, that would be lovely!” she said as her ears perked up excitedly. “If I didn’t have to cook and clean, I could get so much more knitting done!”
“It’s settled, then!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands for emphasis.
Marin’s head whipped back and forth between Hana and me, a dumbfounded expression on her face. “Wait, what? No! What?!”
Lia cackled beside me. “Alright, I’ll admit it. That’s pretty funny when it isn’t happening to me.”
Marin glared at her, then poked a finger into my chest. “You were planning on letting me come with you the whole time?”
“Of course I was,” I answered. “They tried to kill you, Marin. If I hadn’t sent you out to talk to Savitz, they would never have known you were with us. That’s on me, and it’s up to me to make it right. Regardless of the fact that the men who did that are dead, if there’s even a one percent chance that it could happen again, I wouldn’t let you stay in Kaldan.”
She jumped up from the box and stomped her foot. “Then why did you try to convince me to leave just now?!”
“I didn’t want to convince you to leave, I just needed to make sure you were serious about coming with us. Leaving your old life behind isn’t something you should take lightly. You won’t be able to talk to your family if you come with us; whether you believe your sister is truly innocent in all of this or not, anything you send to her or your parents would most likely be intercepted by the King’s men.” She screwed up her face and stared at me through squinted eyes, then sat down on her crate with a huff and nodded begrudgingly. “Plus,” I laughed, “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to give you a hard time after your offer.”
“That’s not nice!” she sulked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Next time you make a decision like that, tell me beforehand instead of stringing me along, please!”
“Duly noted,” I chuckled, “but it isn’t actually my decision to make. It’s what I’d like to see happen, but it’s up to Marten if he still wants to work with you. Next time we stop, we can—”
“Do you think this cloth is soundproof, Lux?” Marten called out from the front bench, giving the cloth wall between us a hearty shake. “I’ve heard every word you’ve said all afternoon!”
“Well then, speak up!” I shouted back to him with a grin. “Do you want Marin to stick around and help you with your business, or not?”
“I’m going to need all the help I can get to rebuild my business, and I get the feeling you and Lia won’t be sticking around very long. I can’t imagine I’ll be able to pay what
