XII
"Were you uninterested because you're married?" James asked suddenly.
Alex seemed nonplussed by the question and, as always, decided not to answer when he didn't know what James was saying. As the air dampened with the lowering of the sun, James had lost his patience after so many hours.
"I said she had a friend..." James elaborated for him.
The moon overhead was barely brighter than the sky, James always found its gentle glow comfortable and familiar. He often relied on it when travelling in the dark, especially as a child.
"I'm not married." Alex said, curt.
James had taken note of the cranky silence after Alex realised he couldn't pry information out of a tipsy James. James drank enough that he would have been dead a long time ago if he wasn't a careful one. It was entertaining for James to watch Alex borderline sulk when his plan didn't go so well.
"I'm surprised, how old are you? Late-thirties? You're practically an old man."
"I'm thirty one." Alex snapped.
James grinned, he got a kick out of being a pain in his arse.
"Sorry, you look older though." James said, not a shred of apology in his voice. "Must be all the frown lines from being so grouchy."
"Shut it."
James tutted. "So testy."
For good measure, James poked a finger between Alex's furrowed eyebrows. Alex quickly slapped it away in a panic, glaring.
"Stop touching me."
"Does it make you anxious?"
The muscle in Alex's clenched jaw makes a familiar appearance and James has to resist poking that too.
"Wouldn't you be anxious?" Alex growled, deflecting the question.
James slowly grinned. "No. I would cut that person's hand off."
"Like that's an option for me."
"It could be," James bargained, "what could I do about it? Fight back? I want my damn sword."
"I have never had a prisoner try to convince me to slice off his hand before. You're making a compelling case for me."
"Well, I'm unique." James shrugged, resting the back of his head into hands.
Alex didn't say anything more and James pulled back for a few minutes, allowing for Alex to regain his composure. This verbal assault required a push and retreat, otherwise Alex really would snap. That would ruin the fun.
"So, how come you're not married?" he asked later.
Alex side-eyed him. "Even if I was married, I wouldn't tell you about it."
"Yeah, but you're not."
James could tell. He couldn't point to what exactly made it obvious, only that it was.
"I don't understand why you're interested in that."
James thought to himself for a moment, wondering why indeed.
James used his fingers to count his reasons. "Well, you're a noble, a high one at that, and you're already thirty-one." he dropped his hand. "Most nobles get married as teenagers, especially first-born sons. I suppose you're the younger brother then?"
"Yes and no."
James' eye twitched. "That doesn't make sense."
"It does." a small smirk tugged on Alex's lips.
James chewed the information in his mind, but he didn't understand.
Something caught his attention suddenly.
He snatched the reins from Alex and pulled them back, stopping the horses, unsure what caught his attention but urgently getting his brain in gear. Alex tried to protest but James slapped a hand over his mouth as he listened and looked.
It wasn't so dark that it made James' vision particularly poor; he scanned the forest, his ears listening out for something among the wind-touched leaves.
Alex didn't try to protest a second time, nor did he complain about the physical contact. The way James was behaving, his senses alert like an animal, signalled to Alex that it was serious. James was useful to have around if he was on your side.
James let go of him and then jumped down, walking up the path quickly but as stealthily as he could. He cursed the chains that rattled as he walked. Chains weren't as easy to untie as a rope.
He rounded the corner in the path. There.
Inbetween the trees he could see shards of glowing light, if he strained to listen he could hear the indistinct murmur of conversation and laughter.
Now that he knew what spooked him, he relaxed a little. They were far enough in the distance that it was unlikely to be a problem just yet.
He turned around to look at Alex, expecting to see the man fuming at James' loose leash. However, Alex had climbed down from the bench himself and watched after James, his gaze one of importance. James was grateful Alex trusted his judgement.
He backed away and got closer to Alex, keeping an eye on the direction of the camp at all times.
"It could be nothing." Alex whispered to him and James nodded.
It, indeed, could be nothing, but James was too careful to believe that right away.
"After hearing about those bandits I wouldn't take a chance with it." he murmured back. James didn't want to sound paranoid so he didn't mention that he would have been this careful even without hearing such rumours.
James looked at Alex, who looked back. He doubted Alex would willingly give him a sword if he asked, but James also knew that there was no other path they could take. They'd have to go all the way back to Bullmar to take a different route. Then, a neat little plan formed in James' head.
"Why don't you go deal with them and I'll stick with the carriage?"
Alex looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about? Do you think I'd trust you on your own?"
"Well, would you trust me more with a sword in my hands?" James retorted.
The pursed lips of Alex confirmed that, no, he wouldn't.
"You know as well as I do that there's no other path. You'll have to deal with them yourself. It could be nothing, but you need to decide which position you'd trust me more in."
James watched the cogs moving behind Alex's eyes, considering it.
"Okay," Alex said, making his decision. "I'll go check it out. You stay here and get the horses off the carriage. If things go wrong, we'll need them untied so we can flee."
James nodded, pleased his plan was working out well.
It was a race against daylight. Alex went into the back of the wagon and rifled through their supplies, taking multiple throwing blades and a bow.
James got to work releasing the horses from the harnesses, their tired eyes looking almost thankful. He gave them a pat on their necks.
Once Alex left, James got to work in raiding the wagon. He hadn't done it the night before because he couldn't see and Alex would have heard, but now he had a narrow window of opportunity before the darkness became too much.
He took as many small blades as he could hide, tying some under his trousers on his calves or on his body. He didn't risk any on his wrists, his shirt was short sleeved and he never knew what could happen to the jacket he wore on top.
Then, he started to hear the commotion in the distance, the shouting carried by the wind.
He had been considering cutting and running from Alex for a little while now, but couldn't quite make his mind up. On one hand, he'd have freedom up until he was inevitably caught again, but on the other, there was no guarantee he'd find Eris again. Though, he could certainly try.
So, he left the decision in the hands of fate.
He got out of the wagon and waited, listening. If Alex died, he'd go. If Alex lived, he'd follow.
He did feel a bit remorseful at the thought of Alex dying.
The man had grown on him over the few days they'd spent together.
Alex wasn't the corrupt ignorant knight he'd thought he was.
The man genuinely wished to help people it seemed, even if he was a humourless bootlicker.
Alex was just stuck in the constraints of his situation.
James sympathised, even if he did think Alex could have done things differently.
Still, James' life was his first priority; enough people died for it, after all.
Eventually, the screaming and shouting quieted down, leaving only the swish of wind and odd chirp of a bird. But, no footsteps. James sighed, thinking Alex was probably dead.
He took one of the horses by the reins, ready to leave, when he heard someone shout his name.
He didn't respond and stared at the path.
Then, Alex rounded the corner waving his arms.
"James!"
It seemed his decision had been made for him. For some reason, he felt a bit happy that he was okay.
"Yeah?" he called back.
"The horses!" Alex yelled. "Bring the horses!
James spurred into action, he jumped onto one of the horses' bareback sideways, both chained legs hanging down on one side.
The position was uncomfortable for both him and the horse, the beast complaining with grunts and a sidestep under him.
He held the rope of the other and cantered them down the path, holding his balance.
Once they reached him, Alex leapt onto the other horse before James could even pass the rope.
"What about the wagon?"
"We have to leave it." Alex said, quickly.
Alex was too rushed for James to ask why, so he simply followed to find out for himself.
Further up, the scene looked like that of a gory war painting.
Bodies were strewn around the path and the surrounding woods.
Blood red stained the trees and grass. One body had been roasting on top of one of many of their fires, a throwing axe sitting in the back of his skull. It was an impressive sight.
James made sure to get a good look of the carnage in front of him. Most had been killed by arrows and throwing knives, only some had the deep gashes caused by a sword. Alex must have watched them first, killing them from a distance only after confirming his suspicions.
It was obvious why they had to ditch the carriage, the bandits had numerous wagons blocking the pathway, it would have been impossible to get it past.
"This is nice work." James told him, seriously.
Alex looked disgusted by James' compliment. It was true, though. Competence was sexy. His opinion of Alex couldn't have increased more.
However, some weren't fully dead and were groaning on the ground; perhaps some even got away, which was the cause of Alex's alarm. Backup was inevitable.
The carriage at the very front looked greatly different from the rest, with many supplies stacked up in crates.
It looked like a real merchants' wagon, unlike the shitty excuse of one they had used before.
Even more strange, some teenager was sitting on the back of it, appearing stunned and traumatised.
"The horses!" Alex ordered him, not having to finish his sentence.
Alex disembarked first, rushing his horse to the harness. James followed promptly, trying his best not to get tangled in his chains as he rushed from the horses' front to the back.
Alex grabbed his arm suddenly and hauled him up onto the bench. If it was anyone else, James would have seriously taken their arm for doing that to him. Still, Alex was forgiven even if he didn't apologise.
He whipped the horses into a canter, fleeing the scene. The carriage creaked and whined as it jerked around from the speed over rough surface. These things were never designed to go so fast.
James looked behind them as they increased distance, incredibly impressed.
"Is it wrong that this entire thing made me horny? You're really impressive..." James murmured.
He looked back to Alex who stared at him in disbelief, his nose wrinkled and lips parted in revulsion. Blood had been splattered all over his clothes and onto his face; his trousers held marks where he'd tried to wipe it off his hands.
"You.. you're fucking sick. You're a psycho."
James shrugged. He inwardly admitted it was in poor taste, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Whatever, who's the kid?" James gestured behind him.
At that moment, the cart hit a rock and the guy in the back lost his balance, about to fall out of the carriage. Out of quick reflex, James reached back behind and caught him, stopping him from tumbling off.
"Shit." the guy said, holding onto James arm for dear life.
James gently yet firmly pulled his arm out of the stranger's paws, wanting his limb for himself.
"No idea." Alex said. "Found him locked up in one of their carriages."
James' eyes widened. "You fucking idiot. He could be one of them."
"He isn't."
"How do you know, knobhead?"
James jerked his head back around to swear up the guy, but then held his tongue. The teenager looked between them with large panicked eyes, his body shaking from fear. There was no muscle on the kid's body, just skin and bone.
James sniffed to himself. "Okay, yeah, he's not one of them... probably..."
"Should I feel insulted?" the guy asked, his voice wobbly.
"Probably."
It was that time in the evening where the sky looked deceptively light, but the ground was enshrouded in dark. It was in this kind of lighting that James' eyes began to impair. He couldn't even tell what the kid's hair colour was; just that it seemed too dark for blonde but too light for brown.
He knew that his irises would be red by tomorrow.
He'd noticed Alex glancing at them a few times throughout the day whenever James' hair was out of his face.
There was nothing he could do about it without the disgusting herb paste.
Still, he was in water too hot to have energy to worry about that.
It just put him in a really shitty mood.
"We should stop soon." James said; they had put some good distance between them and the bandits.
Alex slowed the horses, thank God, but hadn't stopped them. "We can't yet. I'm going to have to rely on your sharp senses from here on."
James snorted. Alex had no idea how useless James was at that moment. "That's not a good idea."
"You got wind of them earlier." Alex reminded him.
Yeah, that was before I went fucking blind, idiot.
"Do it yourself. I'm taking a nap."
Alex sighed, clearly losing his patience with him, but he didn't say anything more.
Instead of pretending to sleep, James turned around and looked the silhouette of the teenager up and down, measuring him. "Name?"
The teenager appeared a bit calmer than he had been before, a weak mask of composure had been steadily built up.
"I'm Fletcher. Fletcher Azues."
James inclined his head and narrowed his eyes. He thought that name sounded familiar.
"Cool. I'm Jaxon. What were you doing there?"
Alex gave him a look.
"Well..." Fletcher started, blinking once slowly, "I was abducted."
"Cool."
"Wait, Fletcher Azeus?" Alex suddenly said, glancing behind him.
"You know this kid? He one of yours?"
Alex ignored the latter part of James' question. "He's a professor in Lyechester, he's famous."
"He's a child."
"I'm twenty actually." Fletcher piped in.
Out of all things that had happened that day, this was the most shocking to James.
Alex laughed, abruptly. "Fletcher, thank you. This is the first time I've seen James lost for words."
James shook his head and pointed a finger to Alex's face. "Hold your tongue if you don't want to lose it." he threatened him.
"Um, why is he in chains?" Fletcher asked Alex.
"He's a prisoner," Alex explained, "I'm a knight. I was taking him to Lyechester before we ran into you."
"He's not dangerous is he?"
James chuckled cynically.
"Only to himself."
"And you, if you keep up with that." James told him.
Alex didn't look worried, but nodded an apology nonetheless. It was enough for James to sneakily return his knife to waist.
James thought pretending to nap was the better idea after all. He was too on edge to enjoy conversation. So, that was what he did.