Husling City was busy - too busy, for Zalyne's liking. As the carts below thundered past, clogging the air with dust and curses, she couldn't help but feel painfully exposed.

Zalyne and Luka had come this way by cart, smuggled between crates of onions. Melia the innkeeper had forced them into leaving Aitma the morning after she'd cleaned and bandaged Zalyne's shoulder. Had it not been for Princess Scirocca, Zalyne suspected that she would've reported them.

"Zalyne."

She turned. Luka, who'd taken it upon himself to find food every day, stood in the doorway, clutching a parcel.

"Thank you," she said. "Really - tomorrow I should go get food - "

He shook his head. "I can blend in - there are tons of Pebble Islanders here. You're too noticeable. And with that shoulder...."

She sighed, both exasperated and amused. "I've told you already - nobody will know - "

"Wrong. The Lion Queen's men came up this morning. They put up posters all over the place. Everyone's talking about it."

She ran a hand through her hair, her eyes closed. Damnit. I thought we'd be able to make it to Little Bay. Now everybody'll know about oure scape.

Luka was still standing by the door.

"You can come in, you know," she said.

He blushed. "It's not...it's not proper manners for me to enter a woman's room. It's just tradition."

She resisted the urge to laugh. How can someone so fearless fear stepping past my door? "Do you have enough to eat, though?" The money Scirocca had given them had almost run out, and, despite his stoic silences, Zalyne knew that Luka was skipping dinner and lunch every day.

"I'm not hungry."

His stomach growled.

She rolled her eyes, opened the bag, and passed him an apple and what looked like a wrapped pastry. "How are you going to run if you're starved to death?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but -

Boom.

Both of them froze.

Downstairs, men began shouting, their voices rising above the shattering of porcelain. And then silence.

Zalyne glanced worriedly at Luka. "I'm gonna go – "

"No - you stay here." Luka crept around the corner. "No, stay!"

"For the Lightgiver's sake," she snapped, "I'm not a dog." Ignoring his protests, she shut the door behind her and locked it. "Let's go."

He sighed, then shook his head and followed her down the stairs.

A young man - sixteen or seventeen, by the looks of him - stood in the center of the hall. A pot of gravy had shattered on the ground at his feet, and the liquid dripped down his face and hair, pooling over his scrawny shoulders. A mob of men raged around him, clad in purple, swords in their hands.

Zalyne frowned. There was something about the man...something familiar....

"Let me go - let me go!" shrieked another man, as the purple-cloaked men seized him and shoved him to his feet. "I didn't mean it, 'kay? I - "

"You threw a pot of gravy at a prince!" screamed one of the men. He wore an armband of pale purple, like the rest of the gang around the so-called prince.

"He's no prince!" shouted the kneeling man. More and more patrons were beginning to gather downstairs. "He's a lord at best, and the brother of a traitor, too!"

In the blink of an eye, the guard slit his throat.

Zalyne's hands flew to her mouth as the inn broke out in chaos. Women and children fled the scene; the brown-garbed peasants began hurling food at the lord's men; the men fought back, slashing them down -

"Come on," Luka said. "Let's get out of here - "

But then the boy turned, his dark eyes finding hers. His mouth fell open in recognition. Gravy dripped down his hair, soaking through his clothes.

Zalyne broke from her trance as the boy turned towards the innkeeper. He knows me. He knows me.

"Do you know him?" Luka demanded, yanking Zalyne away from the stairs.

"N-no," she said, "but he's Elsking - he's Lady Astnorden's brother."

"Oh, no," he muttered. "Come on - we have to leave. If they want lodgings here - or worse, if he wants you as a hostage of some kind - we can't stay."

"Maybe he can help us," she said desperately, but he shook his head.

"He's sympathetic to Lleona and he was just kicked out of his home. He'd probably try to ransom you for a place with in the Lion Queen's court."

"He wouldn't - "

"Desperate men know no limits. Come on!"

They raced back up to her room. Zalyne bundled all of her clothes, medicine, and food into the sack Melia had given her.

The fight was still raging. Elsking was nowhere in sight. Zalyne swallowed down the fear in her throat as she headed down the stairs, Luka right before her. For the first time since they'd come to the inn, she was glad for his presence.

"Young lady."

They spun around as a man laid his hand on Zalyne's shoulder. Her stomach flipped as she recognized the innkeeper.

And behind him stood Elsking, still drenched in gravy.

Zalyne's mouth fell open. Up close, Elsking looked sickly and pale, his clothes dusty and torn from traveling. hands twitched nervously as he stared up at her with eyes too big for his face.

"I need a word with you," Elsking said, his voice low and urgent. "Now."

"Just her?" Luka demanded, moving to Zalyne's side. "No."

"Fine, then." He glanced at the fight behind them. "Both of you. P-please."

He doesn't look like a lord, Zalyne thought, as the boy scampered down the stairs and around the corner. No wonder Lady Astnorden kicked him out....

A door stood at the base of the stairs. Elsking pushed it open, revealing a storage closet, and headed inside. Zalyne and Luka followed, Luka wrinkling his nose at the dust.

Mops, brooms, and empty pails stood at the back of the room; Zalyne stood much closer to Elsking than she would've liked.

Elsking took a deep breath. "I need your help," he said.

"Oh?" Luka said. "Well, you're not getting it."

He turned back to the door, but Zalyne laid a hand on his arm, pulling him back. "Come on - we should listen to him."

The lord of Valchtnallan bit his lip. "You think I'll ransom you to the Queen," he finally said, "b-but I won't. We should work together."

"Well," Luka snapped -

"Sorry about him," Zalyne said. "He tends to...run his mouth. What do you need?"

Elsking took a deep breath. "I-I want passage to the Nightfire Isles," he said.

"Do we look like boats to you?" Luka retorted.

"Will you shut up?" Zalyne snapped.

Elsking began wringing his hands. "N-no, I was just thinking..."

"Spit it out." Luka glanced at the door. "In case you don't know, we're fugitives. We're on the run."

"Y-yes. I know that. I-I tried to k-kill my sister, a-and the Nightfire Isles don't take sinners unless two innocents vouch for t-them - "

"Innocents?" she said.

"S-strangers who haven't sinned."

"We escaped the law," Zalyne said. Luka was still glaring at Elsking. "We're far from innocent."

"N-no, but I'm talking about the law of the gods. No killing or trying to kill, no hurting family, that sort of thing."

Luka laughed bitterly. "There are tons of men out there who'd do your bidding. Why us?"

Elsking took a deep breath. Heavens above, can he do anything without gulping and stammering? "B-because i-if you don't do what I say," he said, "I-I'll give you to Queen L-Lleona."

~~

I am literally so close to finishing all these chapter separations. Also...we don't get to see a France-England match for the World Cup! I was low-key rooting for Belgium, since they seemed pretty strong this year, but now all of my teams are out. :(

Anyways, please let me know what you thought of this chapter! What do you think of Elsking? Do you think Luka and Elsking will help him? 

As usual, please vote and comment! Thanks for reading!