The Kingfisher

VI : Salo

Salo couldn't believe it.

He knew they weren't the only ones hunting the Kingfisher. Arden had warned him that there would be other travelers, criminals, and even royal guards searching for the heirloom. The palace of Seyal had sent trackers and hunters, and it couldn't have been more than a week that the artifact was missing. He had hardened his heart and was ready to fight anyone, for his sake and mostly his mother's.

But nothing had prepared him for this. He couldn't fight a princess.

At first, he had deemed himself stupid. The Princess of Light had no business in a peasant's dress. The newspapers were full of her deep sea-green eyes and her golden hair, and this one looked weak and fatigued. She looked like she could be dying, yet the resemblance was still there, alive and undeniable.

And still, through the weariness, Ailyn Lacard was the most beautiful girl Salo had ever seen.

He shook his head. Now's not the time for this! Yet he didn't know what exactly he had gotten himself into.

The alleged Zhao Koroka laughed, throwing his head back, holding his chest. Although Salo didn't recognize the face, he couldn't deny the name was disturbingly familiar. "How nice to know we have a common acquaintance! I'm sure he would love to see you, too," he chirped, mockery lingering in his tongue. Lacard stiffened and her almost hollow cheeks seemed to blush.

Zhao stepped around the desk, leaning towards its edge. "I must say, I am surprised. I didn't expect Her Highness and my dear friend Vera in the same building."

They know each other?

Salo turned to look at Arden for the first time. His whole body was rigid, his only movement being the slow rise and fall of his chest. The hard, silver eyes seemed distant, yet they were pinned on Zhao's face. His jaw was clenched and so were his fists, making the handle of his mysterious case look almost cracked. "Shut up," he muttered through tight teeth, making it sound like the vicious hiss of a snake.

"What," Zhao beamed, looking at all the confused faces surrounding him. "You haven't told your friends? How terrible."

Arden lunged at him. He seized his white shirt's collar and slammed his head on the nearest wall with the ferocity of a lion. Zhao blinked, his eyes rolling back in silent misery, yet he didn't resist. They stared at each other for a moment, both glares flaring with a flame that had been kept drowned for too long.

Salo was used to seeing his companion impassive, and the most emotion he had let show was mild annoyance. But it soon dawned on him, too, that he didn't know Arden, and he never had. With a bolt of terror in his heart, he realized his stupidity. He had trusted a complete stranger, a man who tried to kill both him and his family. He had followed him and joked with him and even slept next to him. All for a taste of money, for a glimpse of what being free actually meant. For all he knew, Arden could be Lephar Blom's long lost child. And that, for a reason he could not explain, made his heart sink.

Zhao grinned once again, but this time the rage behind his behavior was clear as day. "You can hit me all you want, fireboy." A slow trickle of blood painted his right temple. "I'll make you live that day over and over again. I can make it vivid, too."

As if someone had pressed a switch in his brain, Arden fell back, letting go of Zhao's clothes. He took a few steps backward, not breaking eye contact with the mysterious man before them. "You... What do you want?"

The room fell silent. The two girls standing above a couch looked terrified, to say the least. Ailyn's eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets, her face still red from confronting the receptionist. The little thief clutched the letters even tighter now, her nails tearing into their sides, and although her features betrayed little emotion, she stood stiff as a board.