The inside of the city wall was just as dismal as it appeared from the outside.  Many shops off the main road had the windows boarded up.  It was the same with the homes.  Raven wondered the streets of the city, getting a feel for it.  Going deeper into the residential areas, away from the town's main road, she passed a whole street that looked as if it was haunted, with no living soul other than a pack of street cats. 

This is Ermad? She thought.  This doesn't look anything like the city she had visited seven years ago.  Ermad was suppose to be one of the two largest cities in the Isle, home to the King's Second.  It was certainly big enough, with a three towered castle that overlooked the city on the East, but there wasn't nearly as many people as there should be. 

She stopped at a fountain in a residential neighborhood to decide her next course of action.  She wanted to make sure the rumors were true before she went looking for her brother.  The best way was to stay in town a couple of nights and decipher reality from the growing legends.

The four women washing threadbare clothes in the large fountain's bowls were staring at her.  The handful of street children playing in a branching alley also stopped to stare at her.  Raven adjusted the pack slung across her back.  The guards at the city wall had practically leered at her, and she had noticed a guardsman in the city blush at the sight of her.  Did she have leaves in her hair, or was it that strange to see a girl traveling alone?  She was fourteen, and in her mind capable to taking care of herself.  She glanced at her clothes.  Her shirt peeked out from her blue bodice.  Her arm guards were laced up over gloves, her belt sat right.  Her pants were properly tied and tucked into boots, just over her knees.  Maybe it was that her boots went up so high, or that her bodice wasn't boned, or perhaps that she carried a staff.  What were they all staring at?

“Lady are you lost?” A child had come up during her pondering.    “For a copper I can take you to an inn.  For three, I'll take you to clean one.”

Raven looked him over.  He wore a long shirt with a rope belt tied around his waist, and pants that showed ankles and bare feet.  He was all skin and bones.  He couldn't be older than eight.  “When was the last time you ate?”

The boy smiled a gap toothed smile.  Raven kept her face straight, and hoped that the missing teeth were only baby teeth.  “This mornin' Lady.  You must be new to town, or you'd know no one goes hungry in Arzdiw.”

“Really now?  And stop calling me Lady.”

“Yes Lady.  As for eating, with Ronib of Owod givin' aid to them whats been hounded by Lord Rowds, and Lord Rowds knowin' that Ronib gets more supporters when he's mean, I can usually get a bite when I really need one.”

“Ronib of Owod?  I've heard of him a bit.  I'll take you up on your offer.  How about you take me to the clean inn, and in exchange for what you know about Ronib of Owod, I'll get you a real proper meal.”  She tucked her staff under her arm and clapped her hands together.  When she opened them, the held three copper coins.

The boy looked at them, and her.  “That's a neat trick, Lady.”  He snatched the coins from her hands.  “Follow me.”

She sighed.  “I'm Raven, not Lady.”

 
This was definitely not what she expected from following a boy who only took three coppers.  She guessed that the proposed meal had more to do with the quality of the inn than the money she gave him.  Either way, he took her to a relatively busy tavern that doubled as an inn called the Goosefeather.  The building was freshly painted and on a street that was more lively than any she'd seen so far.  The sun had set into the forest past the city wall by the time they reached the place, and the two had to settle for stools at the bar because there wasn't a free table in the house.   Apparently this was the place to be after a day's work.

The barkeep gave a sharp look at the boy as he settled onto the stool, but gave a longer look at Raven.  “My friend here tells me you have a decent bed for rent,” she said.  “And I'd also be interested in a meal for the two of us.”  She dropped a couple of silver coins on the counter. 

He picked up the coins “I'm Hontyan.  What am I getting you to drink?”

“Water for the mite, ale for me, thank you.”  Hontyan smirked at her, telling her he didn't think she was that much older, but pulled two wooden mugs from under the counter. 

Raven turned to the boy, “I haven't gotten your name yet.”

“Aaron, two As,” he answered.  “My da taught me that afore he got picked up.”

“What he get picked up for?”

“Hunting in the forest,” Aaron answered.  “Only Rowds's men can hunt.  Them and Ronib of Owod.”

“Ah, we're back to that,” Raven said.  “I'm a professional player and storyteller, so I have some high standards.  You better give me a good story about him. ”

“What story are you seeking, miss?” Hontyan asked as he sat down the mugs. 

“He's going to tell me about Ronib of Owod.  I haven't heard of him beyond a few songs.”  Interpreting the innkeeper's look, she added, “I've been traveling a while and haven't picked up much news upon returning to the isle.”

“You left the isle?” Aaron asked.

“Went to Silulon seven years ago, to train as a tumbler.  I've only just returned four months ago.  But the story of Ronib of Owod, that's what I want to hear.”

“It's said that he's been wanted by Lord Rowds for longer than I've been alive,” Aaron said.  “He lives in the forest, hidden by magick and cunnin' so Rowds can't find him and his outlaws.  Those in his camp are all wanted for defying Lord Rowds.  He captures the rich men that are loyal to Rowds as they go through the woods, and takes all their money, and leaves them on the road with just the clothes on their backs, and that's only in the winter.”

“This isn't much of a story.  It needs more,” Raven interrupted.  “What's his full name?  Does he have one?”

“Yes Lady, it's on his wanted posters.  Da read it to me once before.  Ronib Lancolf of Owod.  I heard whispers once that he was related to the Lord Owod,” Aaron was in a fine froth now.  “Once, they were going to hang a man for printing pamphlets of Ronib stories and then not being able to pay tax for his print shop.  Ronib made it so a building at the edge of town started to burn.  When everyone and the provost's men went to put out the fire, the printer disappeared from the gallows.”

“That's better,” Raven said.  “How are you sure it was Ronib of Owod?”

“'Cause Ronib of Owod is the only one what can cut a rope with an arrow, being so far away so he ain't seen,” Aaron said this as if it was common knowledge and Raven just proved herself the village idiot.  “Of course.  Also he's the only one that can light a whole building on fire with just one arrow.”

“And who was going to hang the printer?”

“The Lord Provost, with the Commander of the Kings soldiers, and Lord Rowds himself.  They were there to watch the hanging too, and they were the only ones that didn't run to put out the fire.  They saw the rope cut with an arrow, and had arrows shot at their feet to keep them from picking up the printer again.”

Hantyan chose just then to set down two steaming bowls of stew.  Raven immediately picked hers up and took a mouthful of broth and whatever else went in.  Aaron watched open mouthed.  When she put the bowl down, the boy took up the spoon Hantyan offered.  “And they say I have no manners,” he murmured.

Raven swallowed and gave a small smile.  “It's been too long since I've had real stew.  They eat some crazy things in Silulon.  They also eat them in crazy ways.  I haven't seen a proper spoon in years.”  She took hers up and shoveled the food in her mouth almost as fast as the half starved boy.

“Why are you so interested in Ronib of Owod, if you don't mind me asking?” Hantyan asked. 

Raven thought it over as she chewed on a piece of meat.  “I like stories, and I live on telling them.  I need to learn and relearn the stories here.  And his name struck me as familiar.” 

“And what do you do, miss, that you are clothed in such a manner and travel around when you should be getting a husband?”  He nodded to her pant covered legs and tall boots.

“Is that why people have been staring?  It is such an odd thing for a woman to wear pants?  It didn't seem that big a deal seven years ago.”

“It's the fashion put forth by the Ladies of the realm,” Hantyan answered.  “From what my wife told me, 'It's scandalous of a woman to show any limb, and only women of loose morals would dress in men's clothes.'”

“That's dumb,” Raven said.  “I'm an acrobat and a player.  A skirt would hinder me too much.  There were plenty warriors of the realm that were women.  I seem to remember guardswomen and lady smiths too, before I left to Silulon.  As for a husband, it would be too boring to settle down now.  Besides, I plan to find my brother before I make any real plans.”

“You're seeking your brother?”

“Yes, but I don't think he's in this town.  It's too desolate, and he's too lively.  If he did stay here, I'm sure he would have wound up imprisoned by now.  But on business, what's the rule on street performing in town.”

“The guards don't like much excitement in the back streets like here,” Hontyan answered.  “But they're a little more lenient near the main road, especially in the market.”

“I'll go there tomorrow then,” Raven said,  “Master Aaron, would I be able to hire you away to lead me there?  Or is your schedule too busy for me in the morning?”

“I'll be here the first bell after dawn, Lady,” the boy said.  He was still eating. 

Raven on the other hand, had already downed both stew and ale.  “Good, good.  Master Hontyan, may you direct me to a room where I can lay my body on the first real bed in far too long.”

 
Early the next morning, Aaron knocked on the door to Raven's room.  The girl opened it, clad only in pants and shirt.  Her bodice, gloves, and boots rested on the small table in the room, along with six knives of various sizes.  Raven shut the door behind him.  He went straight to look at the knives.

“I thought you just had the staff,” he said.  “I didn't expect a girl to carry more knives than--” He had turned while talking, and the sight of Raven stopped him cold.  He was on the floor, laying on her stomach, with her legs spread out in a straight line going from one side of her to another. 

She looked up at him.  “Than what?”  She smiled at his open mouth expression.  “Never seen a person stretch this far.” 

“Don't that hurt?” he asked.

“I could get you to do it in a week,” she said.  “C'mere.”  She reached out to grab a foot, but the boy jumped back. 

“I won't let you bust up my jewels,” he said.

Raven laughed.  “I wouldn't expect you to do this on the first day.  I've been doing this since I was seven.”  She sat up and stretched towards one leg then the other.    He watched silently until she got up.  “You're young yet.  The tumbler masters like beginners better when they're young.”  She produced four copper coins in her hand and flipped them to Aaron.  “Get us some breakfast.  I'll be down in a bit.”

When the acrobat came down without her staff, Aaron was halfway into his porridge.  As she sat down, he said, “I may just stick with you, lady.  I haven't ate so well since me Da was taken.”

“What about your Ma?” she asked. 

“I see her around, but it's better for both of us if I rummage for meself.”

“This is a rough town if a Ma can't take care of a kid.”

The Innkeeper sat with them.  “Many of the women whose men have been taken wind up hurting for work.  Once the kids get to where they can tend themselves, the kids do.  None of the Mums want it that way, but it works out.”

Raven shook her head and delved into her bowl.  Again she amazed Aaron on how fast she could eat, because she finished by the time he did.  “Stars bless that's good,” she said.  She laid down a silver coin and six coppers.  “Here's for another night.  I'm off to work.”

“Good luck to you miss.”

 
The market was just a dead as the rest of the town.  There were the usual hawkers, hagglers, and dealers, but everything had a hush to it.  There had been some markets in Silulon that Raven could have sworn were heard in Gamic, but here, criers only sounded as loud to sell their wares to those who passed.  Also she noted a retrained rush on those who shopped.  People rushed from stall to stall, making their purchases quickly.  Raven was at least relieved to see that those shopping weren't all spending their last pennies.  There were a few servants of the resident nobles.  She did note that all the women wore skirts that went down to their ankles. 

The performer had Aaron take her around the open air market once before settling at a small fountain between two of the busier streets of the market.  Unlike the washing fountain of yesterday, this one was dry and held a statue of a man holding a set of scales, balancing stone coins against stone grain.  After instructing Aaron to pull his hat off to gather coin, she pulled a small wooden pipe from her belt and began to play.   It was early still, so she just sat on the fountain's rim and played.  By the time the bell on the tower at city square chimed the third hour after dawn, she had drawn a crowd, mostly of children, but still a crowd.  She rose up to her feet and picked up the tune she played until her feet matched the jig she played.  When she got out of breath, she ended the song and bowed to her crowd.  They applauded and two servant women threw coins to Aaron's hat before going off to their own errands.  

Aaron looked into his hat.  “You make a living doing this?” he asked.  There were only ten coppers in the hat.  Raven frowned at it.  That more than anything told that the people of this town were getting choked out of money and livelihood.  In a prosperous town, she would have three times that amount.

“Usually it's better,” she said.  “I also do private performances for rich people, merchants and nobles and the like sometimes.  This is more for fun and practice.” 

Again she sat at the fountain's basin, but this time, wound her hair into a braid.  Then she stood and proceeded to bend backwards until her hands hit the ground, making a bridge with her body.    Then she kicked her legs up until she was standing on her hands. 

“That's really impressive,” a man said.  He didn't sound impressed.  Aaron ducked behind Raven as she came up from her hand stand.  She took a moment to look the man over.  He stood a couple of inches over her.  He was lean, nearly a straight pole, clad in brown pants and a simple yellowed shirt.  His hair was shaggy and cut close to his head.  He had a thin beard that barely covered his jaw and lacked a mustache to go with it.  Both his hair and beard were dark brown, an exact match to the tumbler's.  Aaron stared at him openly from behind the girl's back.  “Is that what you've been doing the last seven years?”  His voice was terse, like he was trying not to be angry and failing.

“Yes it is, brother,” she said.  The easygoing countenance that Aaron was now familiar with was gone.  She stood braced, as if ready to run or fight in a moment's notice.  “It took a while, but I found something to do with my life.”

“You should have sent a message or a letter,” he said.  “Something more than a scrap of parchment with your terrible handwriting to tell me you were running away.  I thought you were killed or had eventually died, Varen.”

The young woman twitched at he use of her name.  When was the last time she heard it, the last time she used it?  She'd been Raven for so long, since before she had started to perform.  Since she had learned about the bounty before going to Silulon.

“You tought me to survive the forest, Ronib,” she retorted angrily.  He stiffened at her use of his name, and looked around to see if anyone had overheard.  He walked closer to her.  She snorted a laugh.  “It's  true, then.  It's all true.  You really took over that band of vagabonds we met in the forest.”  She shook her head.  She didn't pay any attention to the people trying not to notice them.

“You don't understand,” he said.  “We have to go.  The guard will come soon.  You've brought enough attention to yourself--”

“That's what I do!” Varen spat at him, nearly shrieking.  “That's how I make coin.  I perform and bring attention to myself and I look after myself.  I was tired of being the bloody little sister seven years ago, Ronib, and I didn't come back to let it happen again.  Or to become a wife in a skirt that can't take care of my children.”

“You there!”  The yell caused both sibling to look at its source.  A squad of ten guards were coming at them.  Ronib looked at the other end of the street and swore.  Another squad of ten were coming up behind them.  “Ronib of Owod you are surrounded.  You have no where to run.”  The man in the front of the main squad, the one that was yelling, had a badge of black crossed swords over a star on the chest of his red tunic.  He was wider at the waist than the shoulders, with stick legs that impressed Varen with their ability to hold him up.

“Stars cursed Provost,” Ronib swore.  “This took too long.”

“You came into town with no disguise when they know your face?” Varen asked.  “Have you become simple in the last seven years?”  She was looking for an escape.  She could make it to the roof of a stall and then onto a building's roof.  Then she felt Aaron against hr back.  The little henchman clutched her shirt tails.

The Provost had come closer.  The shoppers of the market had long taken shelter behind stall and in shops.  The Provost studied the two.  Then he smiled big.  “Stars bless me, It's Varen.  Varen Lancolf of Owod.  It's been a long time.  You don't recognize me?”

The acrobat glarnced at the man, mild amusement on her face.  She put a hand on Aaron's head behind her.  She turned to look at the boy.  “Run,” she said.  “Now.  And don't come out until they forget about you.” 
“Lady, are you really---?”

“GO NOW!” she roared.  She pushed him to start him running towards the Provost's squad.  He got the hint and took off running.  When one of the guards reached out to grab him, a knife sprouted in his thigh.  He fell to the ground as the boy ran past.  In no time, he was gone. 

“You'll need all your focus just to talk to me,” she said.  She held a knife in both hands.  “As for recognizing you, I don't know why you would expect me to recognize your fat arse anywhere.”
The man's round face went pale then red.  “Four golds to the one you takes her down!” he bellowed. 

The girl sent the first man sprawling into the ground as the second took a knife into the shoulder.  Ronib dodged a charging guard, tripping the guard's feet from under him.  A look back showed that the second squad were about to enter the fight.  “I think we should run,” he said.  He shoved past another guard and ran down the street.

“No argument there,” Varen said under her breath.  She ran after her brother, catching up quickly.  “This way,” she said, turning sharply into any alley.  They ran down the length of it, the guards' hard leather boots echoing between the buildings behind them.  Another quick left turn, followed by an immediate right put them out of sight of their pursuers.  Varen got ahead of her brother, and instantly spun around to shoulder him into a building on their right.  Ronib fell over a low window ledge into an empty warehouse, wheezing a curse at Varen.

“Be still and quiet,” she said.  She ran on, turning into another alley just as the guards came around into the street.  She turned again, making sure the guard saw her just as she turned another corner.  Then she jumped onto a window ledge.  Off that she jumped onto the high fence that the alley dead-ended at.  With a whool and a summersault, she went over the fence just as the guard entered the alley.

 
Ronib sat at the small table in her room at the Goosefeather when Varen returned, sliding in through the open shuttered window from the building's roof.  He was startled when she dropped in behind him; he'd been watching the door.  She scowled at him and put away the knife she palmed before entering the room.  They stayed still a moment, both scowling at the other.

Varen broke the silence.  “So why should I know the Provost?  I spent only three days around Ermad, and barely half a day actually in town.”

Ronib snorted and gave a dry laugh.  “He was the head of that pack of vagabonds I stayed with, as you so put it.  The day after you left, he turned us all in to Lord Rowds and received the office of Lord Provost of Ermad.  He had a neat four bounties in that camp.  Five if you had stayed.  That's why I though you dead for so long.”

It was Varn's turn to laugh.  She relaxed from her rigid posture and started to stretch her arms, pulling one across her chest.  “I didn't even realize I had a bounty until a couple of month after I left you,” she said.  “Apparently a bounty was put on our heads for surviving the crown sanctioned murders of Ma and Da.”  She shoot her head in disgust.

“That's why you have to go with me,” Ronib said, “Why you can't go around like a cross dresser and bring attention to yourself.”

Varen stopped stretching.  The scowl was back.  “Get out,” she said.  “If you think you can come in here and think I'm still little Varen that Big Brother Ronib will look after, you are wrong.  I haven't been that Varen in years.  I'm Raven now.  I am a player, a tumbler, and a storyteller. I'm not here to go back into hiding, put on a skirt and have children I can't feed.  Get out.”  As she talked, she walked to the door and opened it.  “I ran away when I was seven because I didn't want a future of hiding behind you.  I'm not gong to come back to a life of hiding because of you.”

Ronib got up and went to the door.  “That doesn't matter anymore, because they know you're here now, and they'll be hunting you like they hunt me and those that follow me.”  he left the room.  Varen slammed the door behind him.  She sat down on the ground behind it, and banked the back of her head on the door.

When she left Silulon, it was becaue she missed her brother.  She had finally run far enough and long enough to be free of him.  She had grown into herself, found herself an identity as Raven the acrobat.  At least she had though so.  Varen banged her head on the door again.  She had missed being called Varen.  Learning that she had a bounty had scared her when she learned about it when she was nine.  So much that she didn't use her own name in a different country.

She got up and began to pack her things back into the pack she had carried.  She had to leave before the Provost found her.  She would just travel around and perform at the towns around the Isle to make money, and not return until the Provost forgot what she looked like again.

 
She went down the stair into the tavern, ready to apologize to Hontyan about leaving so quickly.  Instead she ran into Aaron, literally.  He rammed into her legs.  He'd rushed through the crowd to get to her.  “They took him!” he yelled over the din of voices.  It was silent in the pub.  “They took Ronib of Owod at Farmer's Gate, trying to leave the town,” Aaron said, “they tried to hide it, put him in a cloak and gagged him, but I saw it.”  His eyes searched her.  “Lady, you have to help him.”

Varen put a gloved hand over his dirty face.  “You'll start a panic,” she hissed at him.  Already she had seen a handful of people rush out of the tavern.  “As for him, he's got followers.  They'll get him free.  I'm leaving Ermad.” She said this to both the boy and the innkeeper, who'd come to see the commotion.  “Good evening to you.”

She went out the front door and into the night.  The boy ran after her.  “Lady are you really his sister?”  Varen didn't answer.  She walked faster.  Aaron stopped in the street.  “Fine!” he yelled, “You just go on doing your dancing and twisty things.”

Varen ran.  If she just went west, she would get to the gate and back to the main road.  Ronib had his own followers.  He'd chosen his life.  He'd wanted to choose hers.  She was Raven the acrobat, not Varen the outlaw.  But she had wanted to become Varen the acrobat.  To be herself.

She screamed her frustration.  She found a closed vendor's stall, the table cleared of whatever wares it held during the day.  She jumped onto it, then to the top of a post that held the stall's awning during the day.  Now the cloth was folded and put away.  A rope was tied between the post and the roof of the closest building.  Varen ran across the rope and onto the roof.  From there she had a whole new set of roads available to her.  And it wasn't hard to find where the most likely spot where Ronib was a from high on the roofs.  There were only four large sources of light, clusters of lamp and tourch light.  The rest of the town was gathered at taverns or hiding in their homes.

Varen sighed.  She wanted a talk with her brother.  If she was going to be Varen the acrobat, she'd have to be Varen the outlaw.  And by the Spirit and the stars, she was going to do it her way, the provost and her brother be damned.  She ran to the first, closest cluster of light.

 
It was the third cluster of light that she found her brother.  The group of guards with the cloaked prisoner had moved away from the main road and made their way towards the castle to the East through the nicer, less abandoned residential neighborhoods.  These houses were far apart from their neighbors, with stone walls around them ranging from three feet high to eight feet high.  Small lanterns burned at the gates of the taller walls. 

Varen counted twenty guards, and had seen the unmistakable form of the Provost at the lead.  She was sure that the cloaked prisoner was Ronib; she had seen him when he tried to twist free once.  The hood of the cloak had fallen, revealing his angry red face, with a strip of cloth tied into his mouth like a horse's bit.  She was also sure that the mob of angry townsfolk, the first light cluster she visited, would cross the guards' path soon.  If they freed Ronib, they would make themselves outlaws.  They would wind up taken by Lord Rowds like Aaron's father, and their children and wives would suffer, like Aaron and his mother.

But they made a good distraction.

The mob of villagers blocked the path of the guards.  The guards stopped twenty paces before them.  Varen checked the straps on her pack, and readjusted the fit of her gloves.  The guards rushed forward to flank the Provost, leaving two behind with Ronib. 

“What is the meaning of this?” the Provost yelled.

“We demand to know who your prisoner is,” a man in the mob yelled back.  Varen couldn't make out who had answered in the flickering firelight.  “It is our right to know who you've arrested and why.”

Varen gripped her staff with both hands and left off the two story building she'd been waiting on.  She hadn't even needed to hide on the rooftops: no one looked up.  She landed on one of the guards with Ronib, both going to the ground.  She rolled over her shoulder and back to her feet.  The guard didn't move.  In a fluid motion, she swung her staff into the knees of the other guard, sending him to the ground with a tinkling of mail armor.

“Stop her!” the Provost yelled.  The mob let out a yell and stones began to fly from behind the front ranks of the towns people, pelting the guards.  “Arrest them all!” the Provost roared.  The guards ran in all directions, more running to arrest the mob than to stop the girl.  The mob started to disperse, the townsfolk running to avoid arrest.

Varen held her staff on handed and drew a dagger from her belt.  In two swift motions, she cut he ropes and Ronib's wrists and his gag.  “Running now,” she said, already hopping into a run away from the mob and fray.  They kept running, this time North to the nearest city wall.  Close to the wall they came to a street empty except for a small familiar boy.  Aaron waved at her.  Varen grabbed Aaron's arm and swung him up on her back as she ran past him. 

“Lady, You can do some crazy things,” he said. 

“Hold on to me, and we'll do some together,” she told him.  She could hear the boots of the guard chasing them.  She and Ronib had gotten a good head start.  they turned another corner.  “We need to get above the streets,” she called to Ronib, “or we'll be caught soon enough.”  He nodded.  The houses here weren't as fancy as where the small riot had begun.  They weren't individual homes, but tenant housing.  They didn't have high walls, but small stead gardens in small courtyards.  Ronib climbed up a trellis and scrambled onto a roof.

“Where you goin'?” Aaron asked from her back as they passed the trellis Ronib used.  He was too light; Varen forgot she carried him.

“You need to eat more,” she told him.  “I have my own way up.  Now really hold on.”  She had spotted the perfect spot.  She heard guards coming from two different places now.

Ahead was a cart against a low building, the stood alongside another, taller building with a clothes line on the roof of the low building.  When Varen came to the cart, she hopped onto it, the jumped onto the roof of the low building.  Aaron clung to her neck and shirt while wrapping his legs tighter around her waist.  She jumped it like she was hopping over a puddle, like it was nothing.  She hopped again, landing one foot on the clothesline.  She hopped again and she was on the roof of the second story building.  She kept running along the sloped edge of the higher roof. 

“How did you do that, Lady?” Aaron asked.

“I'd like to know that too,” Ronib added before Varen could scold the boy for calling her Lady.  Ronib was soon next to her, running as well.

“Practice,” she said, “And don't call me Lady.”  She jostled her load to signify she was talking to the boy.  “I'm Varen Lancolf of Owod.”  She looked to Ronib.  “What's the rest of the escape plan?”

“Run to the forest,” he said.  “Follow me.”  He got in front of her, making her notice the billow of the cloak he still wore. 

Running across the roofs made for a quick journey through the rest of town to an area where the town wall stood close to the forest.  Unlike the castle wall, the town wall was a single layer of stone, and unmanned. As Ronib dropped down cautiously on the other side, Varen stopped to put Aaron down on the ground. 

“You want to go into the forest?” she asked him.

“I can't,” the boy said.  “My mum would have a fit.  I'm not old enough she says.”

“Well, I don't want to distraught your mum,” Varen said.  “You'll see me soon enough.  And if I was you, I would stay hid for a bit longer, my little henchman.”

“Very well, La-- Varen,” he said. 

“Good.”  She winked at him.  Then, as easily as she jumped onto the buildings, she hopped right over the wall, easily clearing the top, and leaving the boy agape.