Kings and Thieves

Chapter 29

**Happy Tuesday!! I'm in Florida rn. BE JEALOUS lolol it's my reward bc the semester sucked so much ;)**

Chapter 29

Simon's threat had its intended effect. Aveline froze mid-punch, and Ari's opponent took advantage of his rigid distraction to seize his arms and yank them behind his back. A rigid quiet settled in the square, like musty fog in the air.

"Jamie!" Eli shouted.

"Get off of me!" Jamie's close proximity with death only seemed to enrage her; she kicked at Simon behind her and struggled in his unrelenting grip.

"Your problem isn't with her," Ari raised his head, his voice oddly strained. "Let her go."

"I don't think so," Simon grunted, tightening his hold on Jamie. "I'm getting that reward money. This is your last chance- tell us what you know."

"Just tell him!" Eli cried. "It's only money!"

"Shut up, Eli." Aveline shifted her grasp on her prisoner and addressed Simon. "You won't be able to save the royals. We're the only ones who can."

Simon's teeth flickered white and predatory in his mouth as he spoke. "What makes you say that, sweetie?"

"Ari and I know what we're doing," she insisted. "You don't. The royals are in danger- let us go."

Lyla's head frantically whipped between the three of them. Simon looked as if he was about to argue when the man holding Ari suddenly jumped away with a screech, jerking his hand back from the struggling pirate.

"He bit me, sir," he exclaimed in dismay.

Simon paused. "Gross. Really, Captain? You don't know where his hands have been... what?" He broke off. "Don't let him go, idiot!"

But Ari had twisted out of reach. His captor reached for him with two grubby hands, but he was big and clumsy, and in one swift movement Ari had ducked under a beefy arm and grabbed the man's greasy hair with one fist. He yanked his head backwards, one hand poised around his throat.
"Perhaps we should make another deal," Ari purred. "Let us go, or we'll kill you."

Simon blanched. "Careful," he warned, digging the point of his dagger a bit tighter into Jamie's throat. "Somehow I don't think you want this pretty thing here to die."

"Ari," Aveline urged. "We have an audience."

A small crowd of villagers had gathered to watch, their faces equally pale and expectant in the cloudy sun.

Ari must have decided he didn't care; his knuckles tightened convulsively around his gasping prisoner.

It was a stalemate; and Lyla was beginning to worry that lives would actually be lost here. Simon obviously wasn't going to give up so easily, but there was a slightly frenzied look in Ari's eyes that reminded Lyla of how little qualms he had with breaking necks.

Lyla looked around wildly- she was the only one who wasn't either being held a chokehold or grasping someone around the neck. She had to do something. But what could she do?
Her fingers brushed and tightened around cold metal in her pocket. Oh. She'd forgotten about Aveline's pistol.

Lyla shut her eyes tightly and forced herself to inhale through her nose. In and out.

"Hey!" She rose her voice- it was shaky, but loud and piercing in the air. She whipped out the pistol and waved it over her head.

The silence returned with a cold snap, save for a nervous murmur among their bystanders. Simon's confidence faltered into pale unease as he caught sight of Lyla holding Aveline's firearm.