The Courier’s Collection

Chapter 17

17

“Have I done something to hurt you?” he asked. When she didn’t answer he continued, “Since meeting you have I treated you in a way that’s causing you to distrust me and think ill of me?” Jak stood there with his arms crossed.

Rasha saw where he wanted to go with this. He’d rescued them in the woods and after some playful banter perhaps he thought they should be ready to begin some kind of relationship. She had other plans. A little huffing and puffing from him wouldn’t intimidate her. Rasha rolled her shoulders back and placed her hands on the swords at her hips.

“I don’t have any reason to trust you, and a million reasons not to. I don’t care if the Universal himself says you’ve been sent from the stars, I’m not going to let you pull me into whatever this is.” Rasha waved a hand between them.

“This,” he repeated her hand movement, “is called friendship. I’m surprised you don’t recognize it. If you need help in the future, I’d be glad to point it out, except I doubt anyone would bother if you treat them all this way.”

He was right. She kept people at a distance and she didn’t show herself to anyone. But she had reason not to let anyone in. That discussion could wait for another time. For now, she only had to remind him of one thing.

“You’ve been tracking us since we left Sidoa and you still haven’t told us why. I’m supposed to take it on faith that a trained tracker and courier is helping us?” Her voice had risen an octave.

Jak grabbed her left arm, and she drew Cutter and held it steady at his neck.

“Whoa!” He dropped her arm. “I wanted to put something in your hand.”

Rasha sheathed Cutter and nodded for him to reach for his pocket. He took a deep breath, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his communicator. He scrolled through until he found the document he wanted, then he scrolled to the bottom and showed it to Rasha.

Thunder rolled in the distance. The weather outside grew ominous, the sky filled with dark rain clouds.

“What is this?” Rasha asked as she stared at the order. It had an official Adalu royal seal.

“The king of Adalu hired me to track you all the way to the first kingdom,” he explained.

“Why didn’t you say that before?”

“It’s confidential. I’m not even supposed to know. The reason I do is because I did some back-channel checking. I learned that the king of Sidoa had hired not only a group of illegals to transport his daughter, but also bounty hunters and trackers to make sure she never made it,” Jak said.

“I see.” Rasha understood this was more about the wealth of Sidoa and less about his daughter’s potential marriage to prince Bashir. “The tenth king wants to honor his promise to the royals and hold onto his wealth.”

Jak nodded.

“You’re here as backup in case something should happen to the original couriers.” Rasha said.

“You weren’t supposed to track me while I tracked you, it’s jeopardized the entire mission. Besides that, I thought your pride wouldn’t like it very much.”

“Don’t concern yourself with my pride.” Rasha clenched her fists. “What do you plan to do now?”

Jak was expecting something, but not that. He blinked twice as if he needed a moment to register what she’d asked. Rasha didn’t understand at all why he hesitated. It wasn’t a crazy question. He’d admitted what his mission had been and to breaking the rules of engagement. She only wanted to see how far he’d go now.

Instead of answering he grabbed the back of the neck and kissed her hard on the mouth. She felt her lip hit her teeth. Rasha struggled against him but his mouth melted against hers, demanding and needy at the same time. She couldn’t catch her breath. She had to push against him with both hands as she gasped for air.

“I—” Jak stammered. Something in his eyes went dark, and he turned and stormed out the door, leaving it open behind him.

What in the world was that? They’d been fighting, arguing about the princess and then he’d kissed her. Rasha shook her head as Chiza came in.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Rasha replied.

He was a fantastic kisser, that she would concede. Her wobbly legs forced her to sit down on the edge of nearest bed. She hadn’t been kissed in a while, she thought. That must be it. Then she remembered the boy from the bar. She decided that didn’t count since she only did it for spite.

Lu left her a written message on her communicator. He’d discovered a route they might take if things got more complicated. Though she did wonder how much more complicated things would get. They’d already lost their licenses. Lu was pining for the princess who was promised to the prince. Bands of assassins, trackers, and bounty hunters were chasing them. Jak had kissed the brains out of her. Things were beyond complicated.

Chiza turned in while Rasha sat in the chair looking out at the night. She wondered what it would be like to kiss Jak again. He wasn’t bad looking. He had a dark look about him that brightened when he smiled. His laugh, she had to admit, was contagious too. He was a skilled fighter, and he had a beautiful voice. She preferred songs that didn’t revolve around her. Rasha held two fingers to her lips, remembering how his lips felt.

It was from that moment and vantage point she saw the men coming for them. They filtered out from the trees like hungry insects on a neglected plate of food. Dressed in black, they were almost invisible against the dark sky. The cloud cover diminished the light of the two moons.

Rasha watched them for a moment, counting. When she got to twenty, she leapt from the chair to wake the princess. The door flew open before she reached the bed.

“We’ve got to go, now,” Lu called, moving toward the princess. Chiza heard him and scrambled out of bed.

“I’ve got her,” Rasha said. “Go to the stables and get our beasts to the spot you showed me on the map. We’re on our way.”

“Where’s Jak?” He asked.

“He’s not with you?”

“No, he never came back. I assumed you were still together.”

Rasha didn’t want to let the comment bother her. What did it matter anyway? Lu didn’t care one way or the other, so why was she so annoyed by it?

“No, I’ve been here with Chiza the whole time.”

Lu gave her a strange sidelong look before he turned to leave. Temi, now too big to fit inside of the carrying pouch, scampered behind him.

Chiza stood at the ready, her own bag in hand. Rasha grabbed her cloak and ran down after Lu. But instead of going out the back, she took Chiza through the bar and out the front door. Both of them were cloaked. Rasha put a chummy arm around Chiza and stumbled out singing and swaying. Chiza got the idea. She couldn’t imitate the singing but she pretended to be half carrying Rasha. The two walked out past the first row of men. They weren’t assassins. Rasha stole a few glances and noticed one man who had pink hair from the ninth kingdom of Vol. There were several others in varying colors, but the Buku from the eighth kingdom and the Winakans from the seventh she recognized.

They made it as far as the edge of the woods before they were spotted.