Winged Secrets

Strike of disaster - part 2

"Are you serious?!" Leo whispers.
And I thought I got up early. Maybe they were to uncomfortable to sleep. I got the bed last night while Roman, Leo, and Mason slept on the floor. Apparently this is the part of the house Mason, and Leo sleep in. It's separate from the rest of Roman's home. I roll over and I start to listen to their conversation. They haven't noticed I'm awake.
"He came in and woke me up this morning. Dragged me into the main house and showed me." Roman says.
"How much are they saying?" Masons voice chokes a little.
Mason is sitting at a small table. Leo is tensely standing up next to Roman, who looks frustrated.
"100 gold coins for us."
He looks in my direction. His eyes meeting mine.
"150 for her."
"For me?" I sit up quickly.
What do they mean for me? Wait-
I look at Leo and Mason, then back at Roman.
"Are we wanted?" I ask, though I already know the answer.
"Look at you go." Mason rolls his eyes and looks back at Roman.
"What are we gonna do we can't stay here. Shit, there's a high chance your dad turns us in Roman." He points up toward the ceiling.
Romans dad is just above us in the house.
"I know that. Let me think." Roman says rubbing his hands over his face.
"We could just turn her in. Tell them she forced us to join her?" Leo raises an eyebrow.
Mason looks at me as if he's considering the option. Fuck. Is he considering the option? My heart starts racing. Hes been looking at me for only a few seconds but it felt like a life time. If they decide to turn me in I won't refuse, but I would rather them not. He continues to hold my gaze.
"We won't be doing that."
He turns back to Leo and I take a deep breath.
"She may be a pain in the ass but we can't do that. Plus who in their right mind would believe three guys got bossed around by her?" He moves his head in my direction.
"Woah, woah, I boss y'all around all the time? I tell you what to do where to put things-"
"Yet you couldn't make me stay to watch Orpheus." He smirks.
"Well maybe if you would have stayed this wouldn't have happened?" I retaliate.
Leo's eyes grow wide at my comment. Masons face drops and he swiftly turns away staring down at his hands.
"Maybe-" he starts but is interrupted.
"Don't say that Evie. It wasn't his fault it was mine. Let's figure out what we're gonna do before we start pointing fingers. We don't even now how the fire started." Leo looks at Roman who had his hands cupped around his face.
"Any ideas?"
"We have to get the fuck out of here first." He turns around and faces me.
"You want adventure, well here we are. We need to get some stuff to last us a good long trip. You need to go get some food that will last from the tavern. Bread, cheese, anything that will last." He turns to Roman and Leo.
"Y'all pack survival stuff, keep it light though you need to be able to move quick if something happens. It's about 1 am, meet up where we left Orpheus hidden, before sunrise. That's when the guards search's will begin again."
The boys node at him as they get up. Leo leaves, Roman following close behind, but Mason stays. I get up out of the bed, stretch and then stare at Mason who's packing up some stuff from a drawer. I walk towards the door, but I stop before I pull on the handle to get out.
"Mason I'm sorry for what I said." I turn towards him.
His back is towards me.
"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Bad things happen you know?"
"More than you know." He says still rummaging through his things.
I pause for a moment longer.
"What kind of bread do you like?"
He stops rummaging and just stays still for a moment, but then turns to me.
"Sour dough. My mother made it for me when I was younger." His voice is calm. Not angry or upset. Just calm.
I nod, open the door, and head out to the tavern. One sour dough bread. Coming right up!

I walk up to the tavern door. I put my hand up to knock on the door.
"Eve."
Shit.
I turn to my left where the voice came from. There's a little alleyway there that has a door that leads to the kitchen. From the alley my sister emerges.
"What are you doing up?" I ask her.
"Couldn't sleep. Especially after seeing wanted posters for you everywhere."
"They put them up quickly didn't they?" I say in a joking tone.
She pulls me into a hug. She's still in her green dress from earlier today, which means she never even tried going to sleep. While still hugging me she asks,
"So what are you gonna do?"
"We're leaving to go on the run."
She pulls me back.
"How did I know." She smiles and walks back into the alley.
"The boys were gonna turn me in but decided against it. Frankly I have no other choice unless I wanna blame it on Orpheus but I don't even know if that would work. I'm also not will to try that method. I've spent so much time protecting him it would be a waste -"
"To just give him up like that. I know" she says coming back out.
She hands me a bag. The bag I used a while back to carry Orpheus when I first got him. It's packed full, looks like it weighs a lot, and when she hands it to me I can tell it does.
"It's got food that can last you about a week. I put in a jacket but that's all the clothing I could fit. It has that book you love, and it also has my book. It has some gold but not a ton, maybe 20 coins? And some other survive stuff you may find useful!" She smiles at me, handing me the bag.
"Your book? The one you've been writing about plants in?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Don't get me wrong I'm sure knowing plants will come in handy but I'm not sure-" I start but she cuts me off.
"It has other stuff too, about survival. You were the first in the family to want adventure. I just came to my senses soon enough to not have to go on the run." She laughs but it's nervous.
She pulls me into another hug. She wraps her arms around me tight, as if maybe it would make this all go away. I forgot about how scary this is for my family, me being wanted means they can't contact me and I can't contact them. They will have no way to figure out if I'm alive. I can tell she's holding back tears as she begins to talk.
"I promise I'll convince him your innocent." She says.
"I know you will."
"I won't stop until they believe me."
"I know you won't."
"I-" she begins to choke on her words.
"Ok dramatic I have a favor to ask."
I pull her away from me. Tears have started to fall, but she's smiling from my dramatic comment.
"Well maybe calling me dramatic wasn't the best start to your request, but what is it?" She says wiping her eyes.
"Can I get some sour dough bread to go?" I smirk.
"Of course!" She says taking off inside.
I look up into the sky. The sun is peaking over a little bit, just enough to shed a little light. My indication I need to get going soon. Maise steps out of the kitchen with the bread in hand.
"It's not fresh but it's good!" She hands it to me wrapped in a cloth. I take it from her.
"Thank you sis. I'll see you- at some point. I love you!"
"I love you too!" She stands there.
I know she wants to hug me again, but I start walking instead. If I hug her this time, she may never let go. I put the bread in my bag and head towards our meeting spot, taking in. Everything. I don't know the next time I'll be here, and to be honest. Im not worried about it. I know I will soon, but I'm going to relish this feeling of being free. Like Roman said. I wanted adventure and now I've got it.