Rags and Riches

Ch. 16: Something New - Shayne

Her hand was soft, very clearly indicative of her lifestyle of the royals: elegance, academics, and decorum. I couldn't help but sort of feel self-conscious of how my hands must feel. Rough, scratched, calloused, dry. What would a princess feel about that?

What I would have originally thought was disgust, revolt, maybe even hatred.

But her fingers gripped on so firmly to mine. She was warm, so warm, as she pressed her palm into mine and laced her fingers together between my own.

I wanted to say I didn't like it. I wanted to say that this behaviour was dangerous. You can't get attached when you're out here living in the world of thieves, criminals. Criminals like me.

But how could I say 'no'? Say no to the tight grip of a hand in mine. Say no to the deep, genuine, profound trust in me. Say no to the faith placed in who I am. Say no to possibly the very thing I needed.

Not just a friend. Not just an ally. Not some golden coins. Not a knife to grip onto.

A person to rely on. A person to turn to when it all goes to hell. A person who opens their arms and says, "welcome home".

Oh no.

We weaved through the crowd like it was a dance. I would have twirled her if it felt appropriate. But there was no music or clapping. Just the white noise of bargaining and footsteps.

Oh no.

The music was in my head.

She was no longer behind me, but at my side now. There were less people out and about now, mostly because people were inside for lunch, so there was enough space for her to walk along beside me.

I dared a glance to her golden head, and she had the most content smile on her face. It was like she was glowing.

Oh no.

I think.

I think I...

No, that's stupid. And illegal, isn't it?

I think I might be...

There was a flash of brown hair at one of the stalls. And a trademark brown coat that I can only recognize as one person's.

I must have slowed down because I felt the tug of Courtney continuing on without me. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I think that's Noah over there." I squinted as I felt my legs start to move by themselves to my friend.

"Noah?"

"Yeah, the guy at the bar where you first met me."

"Oh. Spectacles?"

"That's the guy; blind as fuck without them."

"I guess he looks a little familiar."

He seemed to be picking through some textiles as I approached him. "Noah...?" It was almost like a whisper as his name left my mouth. It must have been loud enough, however, because he whipped his head to me.

"Oh Shayne!"

He glanced at Courtney.

"And scary girl from the bar!"

His eyes traced down to our hands. "Who is now apparently in a relationship with Shayne!" He awkwardly made eye contact with me again. "Congratulations? That was very fast."

Our hands snapped away from each other in an instant. I didn't have to see it, but I could already imagine Courtney awkwardly rubbing her own two hands together. "Oh no, no," I managed to sputter as I stuck my hand behind my back. "Not together, just, uh..."

"Safety reasons!" Courtney chimed in.

"Yes, exactly, thank you."

"Uh..."

"Didn't you see how bad the crowd was today?"

"I guess..?"

I shook my head, trying to get out of the awkward moment as quickly as possible. "Anyways, what are you even doing here in the city? Don't you do most of your business near the villages and the forest?"

He put down the product that was being sold and quickly adjusted his glasses. "Well, yes. But, I have a contact I need to meet in the city centre near the castle within the next couple days. So, I thought I should get on there as soon as possible."

I didn't bother asking why, keeping with our pact of not associating our crimes with each other. "Oh, we're going to the castle, too." I tried to casually put in. "Want to join us?"

Courtney at first jumped at this comment, as she gripped my arm with some urgency. I stole a quick glance at her, and her eyes screamed, "No, what are you doing!?"

But I held firm in my statement. I've known Noah for years. He isn't like him to turn back on friends. Besides, more protection along the way is just better security. He didn't have to know exactly why we were going to castle, thanks to our pact, just that we were going there. We could split off at the end and pretend like nothing happened afterwards.

"Whoa, for sure?" He questioned. "I don't know, we don't normally travel together. You know why." He raised his eyebrows as he seemed to peer at me over the rim of his specs. "I know the risks," I nodded. "But this time we're not where our normal turf is. If people see us, they probably wouldn't put two and two together. Our thing is that we do things alone. If we're together, it would be weird and different. The city is a whole different world, we could help protect each other along the way."

"What about her then?"

I felt her perk up at my side when she was pointed out. "I'm coming, too." She seemed to say with great confidence. "But, why? I don't want to die because of someone inexperienced."

She crossed her arms. "A little dire train of thought, don't you think?" I could almost hear the raised eyebrow. "She can hold her own." I stepped in, trying to telepathically tell Noah to step off.

A few tense seconds passed by. I felt myself relax when he finally sighed and his narrow shoulders slumped. "Alright. You got yourself a deal, Topp... and girl I don't know."

"It's Brianna."

"Brianna, huh? Picked it yourself?"

I turned to her with amused eyes. She was a very fast learner.

"What kind of question is that?" She laughed.

Noah grinned. "A stupid one, I guess. Nice bandage, 'Brianna'."

"Thanks."

"Well," Noah clapped his hands together. "What are we waiting for?"

Haha I think the chapters are getting shorter and shorter as this story continues. But yes, hello! I have returned earlier than expected! Very sorry for the slow updates, but I hope this will tide the wait over for now. There is finally a new development in the story, and a new character to write about! I have big plans for Noah, so don't think I stuck him in there for no good reason. I just hope that my plans pan out the way I hope they do. Please excuse my nervous laughter. 

Also, sorry about Noah being a tiny bit mean! I'm just thinking about all the times he's accidentally snarky to people, which makes me sort of laugh sometimes. So, it felt fitting to put his (second) introduction like that. I swear it's not because he's inherently mean in this story. If he was, that would suck and very not true to the bean Noah we really have (speaking of, happy late birthday to Noah~)

I hope you guys liked this! I had some time to myself today and felt that it was a good time to write a new chapter. I wasn't terribly busy for once which was really weird for me. In any case, I wrote this in the matter of an hour, so hopefully it's good in terms of quality as well. 

Thank you all for your comments and support! You know I do love reading your feedback haha. 

See you all in the next one. :)

EDIT: Changed Courtney's fake name to Brianna for her character "Brianna Boho". Thought it would be more suitable and less obvious than "Court" lol