Kings and Thieves

Chapter 19

**hi guys!! I'm so excited bc the semester is over in a month and then no more classes til fall. I might even start posting twice a week when I'm out of school, who knows ;) **

Chapter 19

They thanked Susie and Jeckel for their time and headed back downstairs with, Lyla suspected, not many more answers than before.

Lyla wasn't sure what to make of the previous conversation, determinedly contemplating the wooden banister as they walked back the way they'd came, though she felt Aveline and Ari's gazes on her.

"You're allowed to ask questions, Lyla," said Aveline gently. "I'm sure you have some."

Lyla flushed. "That woman, she... she was a courtesan, right?"

Ari lifted a shoulder and then dropped it. "More or less."

Lyla quietly looked at her hands. "I'd never seen one before."

"She's a friend," Aveline explained. "Jeckel's in the smuggling business, and he houses some of the girls for free. He knows how difficult that life is."

Lyla felt a rush of sympathy for the tough-looking woman upstairs, mingled with some guilt.

Aveline nudged her. "It's not your fault. No one can help the station they've born into."

"Jeckel and Susie aren't suffering," Ari assured her. "They've made an alright living for themselves. Not to mention, people like them have eyes on the inside. They help us sometimes when we're on a job. If anyone knew anything about your prince, it would be them."

They opened the door back to the bar, boisterous noise rushing back to greet them. Eli and Jamie had come inside, Lyla saw, and Eli was flirting with the barmaid while Jamie sat leisurely on a bench and scowled at her shoes. They glanced up at the others' approach.

"I told you two to wait outside," Ari said, annoyed.

Eli shrugged. "It was cold out. Also, that took way longer than ten minutes-"

"We found out what Tristran's clue means," Jamie cut in.

"What?"
"We asked around." She sounded almost smug as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs at the ankles. "Apparently 'Benodet' is the name of a small village in Eastern Mauviri."

Lyla recognized the second name— Mauviri was a small kingdom that made most of its money by the fishing industry. Most of Apreuna's exotic fishes were imported from there.

"I knew that," Ari snapped.

"Truly?" Jamie twisted her lips in amusement. "Then why didn't you tell us before?"

"You know, I'm tired of these wild goose chases," He complained in place of responding. "Dashing from kingdom to kingdom... and all we've found is a dead body."

"This could be where the royals are being held, Ari," Lyla pressed. "Tristran left us that note for a reason."

"Whatever. Fine." Ari made a dismissive gesture with his fingers. "I'm hungry, and it's late. I say we go back to the ship and have supper before we do anything else."

--

The ship's cook, who Lyla was beginning to love, made honeyed chicken with green beans and bread for supper. Aveline spread out a large parchment paper on the dining room table while they ate, and scribbled thoughtfully on it with a quill pen.
"It's a timeline," she'd clarified. "So we can begin piecing together the events." Occasionally Ari stole the quill from her to make his own edits. This was what they had so far: