Elina

The sounds of the cart wheels turning. The silence of the morning. Her gentle breathing.

I glanced back and she had curled up into a ball, her hands drawn to her chest. With her eyes closed, she almost looked like a normal human girl. Almost. Her hair was still silver. Like an angel. Maybe she could sprout wings too.

Like a chicken.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

To think she'd cut right to the core of the matter. Maybe she wasn't as dumb as she seemed. Maybe she was actually smart, cunning even, but pretending to be carefree.

I should be more careful around her. There's more to her than a sharp tongue and a carefree smile.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

I heaved out a deep breath. Deliver Elina. Collect payment. Use payment to hire a doctor for Yulia. But can I make it in time? She looked fragile when I left her in Merkelborough. Pale. A weak cough.

Elina said she used her medicines to keep the people of Altheim alive. Maybe I could strike a deal with her.

Hah. Hah.

I could never tell her about my sister. She'd kill Yulia before healing her. To get revenge.

It was best to keep Yulia's existence a secret.

She might look like an angel when she was asleep in the corn, but when she was awake she was the devil.

-----------------------

I stand corrected. She wasn't the devil when she woke up. She was something else.

A yawn. A drawn out sigh. The squealing sounds of stretching.

She said, "I'm hungry."

She was a glutton.

I glanced back. "What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Then eat something."

"We should have lunch."

I pointed to the back with my thumb. "Plenty of food there. Corn, corn and more corn. Help yourself."

"But we had corn for dinner and breakfast."

"It's good for lunch too." Then I added, "It's either that or fresh air."

I could almost hear the wheels in her mind turning. Searching for the words that would help her get her way.

She said, "Fine."

Didn't expect that. I figured she'd push back. Bemoan my lack of manners. Treating a lady like a dog. Use every word in her arsenal to nag me.

Then she said, "You still haven't told me why you are in such a hurry to make lots of money."

"Why are you so curious?"

"There has to be something you really want. Something you so desperately desire, that you will risk your life like this."

I felt her silver eyes on my back.

She said, "I just wonder what could push a man to go this far. What could be worth more than his life?"

She was smart. Too smart. Yulia meant the world to me. Far beyond what my measly little life was.

I said, "I'll tell you someday."

"But not now?"

"Not now."

"Do you promise?"

Whatever. It'll never come to it anyway.

"I promise."

-----------------------

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Elina didn't try to escape.

She didn't talk much.

But every now and then I felt her eyes on me. Which felt weird. Usually when witches looked at me, they'd try to kill me. But so far she did nothing.

Which was even stranger.

If I was in her position, I'd try to escape by all means possible. She knew she was wanted alive, but nothing good could come from being taken prisoner by the Church of Deliverance.

She knew that I couldn't harm her. She could try to kill me without risking injury.

Why didn't she do it?

By the time the sun set, I was looking for a place to make camp. Then we passed by a travel inn. Several horses were tied up outside. Those horses looked odd.

"Can we stay here?" Elina asked.

"No, too expensive."

But then I saw something.

Those weren't ordinary horses. Those were war horses. Covered in armor.

That armor carried an insignia: a hand holding a single lit candle. The insignia of the Church of Deliverance. My client.

Elina tugged at my sleeve. I looked back at her. There was a smile in her eyes.