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━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━
KAELYN WAS WOKEN by the wagon hitting a ditch, shifting her against the broad shoulders of the men she'd come to call her new family over the years. Just how she'd met them, they travelled in the back of a wagon, pulled along the road, flitting between towns on and off the map. It had been five years since the brunette had departed from her home and found her place with them, and she had never once looked back.
The girl could hear the chatter from outside as the wagon rattled into their most recent endeavour, and she immediately grew giddy, desperate to stand up and move after being cooped up with the men for so many hours. As Ajax – their leader – had said all those years ago, they had become her new family, as much as that were possible for a group of bandits and young girl.
The wagon cloth was finally pulled back, and light beamed in. They had stopped in the courtyard of the town, the cobbled stone paths crisscrossing every which way. Kaelyn stood up first, and was helped down by one of the men who'd been manning the wagon for the journey. To the side, Ajax was talking to a local. Kaelyn stood steadily, eyes raking the town. She wondered what the plan was for this place.
As the rest of the men piled out, Ajax approached, clapping a hand on Kaelyn's small shoulder. "Men!" he shouted, and they all stood to attention, their leader and their greatest weapon in the centre. "We start tomorrow. Until then, get your bearings of this place and be back at this motel no later than midnight."
Some of the bandits gave scattered cheers, and the motel sign behind the wagon blinked in the sunlight. As Kaelyn made to move, Ajax's grip tightened, holding her back so he could stand in front of her. "Buy yourself something nice," he told her quietly, and Kaelyn tried not to flinch too heavily at his hand placement.
"I will," she said, unable to look him in the eyes and instead staring blankly just past the side of his face.
"And remember to be back in time for our meeting," he added, lowly.
She swallowed thickly. "I will."
"Atta girl," he said, grinning and pulling away. Kaelyn gave him a weak smile as he left, her whole body relaxing at the absence of his presence.
The rest of the men had scattered from the motel, going in all their own directions and in and out of shops and stalls. This village, to Kaelyn's knowledge, was on the map, and had some wealthy residents they were likely going to attempt to swindle. As she wandered off from the wagon and the motel that would serve as their base for however long they stayed here, she was unaware of curious eyes watching her.
Kaelyn was not an idiot, she knew the only reason she had not been killed by the men upon discovery all those years ago was her abilities, the magic flowing under her skin she had so often been told was bad and forced to hide. But now it suddenly made her desirable, and kept her alive and gave her a family to fall back on. She was valued amongst the group because of what had driven her from her last home, and she loved it.
