The Orphan of Saint Olette

Twenty-three

The trio were reunited early the next morning. The torrential downpour that had accompanied the storm had turned the already muddy ground of Karasti into a churned up mess of mud and rain water, and it had fallen upon Shay to rescue Aoife from a particularly deep bank of mud that had caught her foot so tightly that her shoe was almost wrenched from her foot upon exiting it. After that, it was decided Shay would carry the young woman until they were away from the worst of it, something that did little to keep Rin's mood turning sour. The Oracle had pointed them on their way, giving Shay another quiet warning about the crown looming behind him and thanking him for everything he had done—including advising her where to get the best price for her golden chains in Olmaea—and then they were on the road again, and the Oracle was already in the past.

Rin, knowing that they were going to be forced to venture near Olmaea, had made a point of requesting they visit the city briefly, so that he might finally have a chance to withdraw some of his savings and provide for them better sources of food and shelter, but Shay was dramatically against the idea, even going to far as to suggest they take a longer route purely to avoid the place. He hadn't exactly made a secret of his distaste for his home city, but it wasn't as if they were going to be in the city for long.

Shay didn't have any idea how long it would actually take for the valley boy to obtain some paper money, and while he didn't imagine it would take long, it was too long for his liking nonetheless. A minute spent in that city would be a minute too long. The battle seemed to be a losing one, especially since Aoife seemed hellbent on taking in every available sight on their way to wherever it was they were supposed to be going, but that slumdog charm of his came into play as usual.

He got on Aoife's good side—not that he was ever on her bad side—and launched of barrage of compliments and flattery at the young woman until she was like clay in his hands. And when she was malleable and impressionable, he fabricated tales of seeing Eturian police heading for Olmaea, and of talk spreading around the city of a young orphan girl that had heartlessly murdered her friends and guardians. He chose his words just carefully enough until the young woman was convinced she would be arrested if she even so much as thought about setting foot in the city. Convincing her had been the difficult part. He knew Rin would never be able to deny those pleading, doe-like eyes of hers, and lo and behold their trip to Olmaea was nipped in the bud, just as Shay had intended. Of course, when questioned on the matter by the valley boy, he denied all involvement. They both knew he was aware that Rin didn't believe him, though.

The silver Rin had liberated from the Oracle hadn't lasted as long as the Westerner had hoped. After their diversion away from Olmaea, and more funds in the process, the three had managed to get by on Shay's awful hunting alone. As they neared the Midlands, and by extension the Riverlands, the wildlife became more plentiful. They had passed a few shrubs on their journey, which Rin was certain were home to the last of the season's blackberries, but they had decided not to risk picking them. The last thing they wanted was for one of their party to die of poisoning halfway through their journey.

They were surviving on Shay's rabbit a day, but it wasn't leaving them satisfied. Unlike Shay, who was more than used to tiny meals and going hungry, Rin and Aoife had lived far more pampered lives by comparison. At his grandfather's, and at the Cathedral, there had always been food on the table, no matter how thinly stretched their guardians were. They had never known hunger, at least nothing beyond a few skipped lunches, anyway, and that only made the gap between Shay and Rin increase. For the pampered little middle class twat to complain of hunger when he had enough food to keep him going only managed to grate on Shay's nerves. There had been months in the slums where neither he nor his mother had been able to eat for weeks, and even then what they managed to scrape up was little more than table scraps. Rin had no room to complain about hunger, he had never experienced anything like it.