XXII
Alex scratched his cuticles with his thumbnail, dead skin flaking off, his body humming nervously under his stiff exterior. Ino stood next to him, her observant eyes keenly scanning his reaction to the news she'd just imparted.
?Alex swallowed roughly. "You're sure of that? It could be a coincidence." he asked her.
?She gave a slight shrug and turned her head to watch out at the rain pattering around them as they sheltered uneasily under the pillared overhang.
?"I mean, he seems fine now," Alex tried.
?Ino wordlessly watched the horses as they petulantly sulked below a tree, snorting in envy that her and Alex's shelter was better.
?"You saw him yourself." she finally stated, pressing a meaningful glance his way. "I planned to keep her away from him for as long as possible once I realised, but I severely underestimated just how frayed his mind would be."
?"He's been worse than that." Alex grunted, thinking about the incessant mutterings and random bursts of subconscious conversation that James spilled.
Thomas and Fletcher probably brushed it off as a part of James' eccentricity and unconventional personality but Alex knew better.
Those habits reminded him of his mother and perhaps that's why it concerned him so much.
?Ino tilted her head at that remark. "I'm not surprised.
I have an inkling of what the king plans to do with him and he will only get worse if I'm right.
You better hope Eris keeps doing what she's doing.
It's no wonder she bites him so hard considering all the work she has to continuously do.
His hands shouldn't be that hurt under normal circumstances. "
?"You know who he is, don't you?" It wasn't a question more than a request for information.
?Ino held and admired her hair, ignoring him.
?"Can you tell me?" he pressed.
?Ino looked upward, regarding the cloud-darkened sky, saying nothing.
Alex sighed, thinking she was going to give him the silent treatment for asking.
James had obviously been from a noble family— one which was now dead, and he had some severe unresolved mental conflict from something, probably relating the scars on his arm, but he didn't know anything more than that.
?"I can't tell you." she told him, breaking into the insistent shushing imposed by the rain, willing them to be quiet.
?"Can't or won't?"
?"Can't." She was firm in her statement.
?Alex's body sagged against the wall in disappointment, he was tired of being kept in the dark. He'd been locked there his whole life— almost his whole life.
?Before then, he'd been locked somewhere entirely different.
?"I've said my piece." she declared, pushing off the brick and starting towards the door, parting with one last final warning, pointing her finger for emphasis; "Do not confiscate that sword from him, at any time, for any reason."
?Alex knew what would happen if James broke; the man would kill them all. Even if he'd become more familiar and comfortable around the assassin over time, James still scared the shit out of him. He was danger on legs.
?Alex grasped her sleeve in a rush to keep her there. She glared at the affronting hand and he carefully removed it, taking it back for himself.
?"Is there anything you can tell me?" he pleaded, "Anything at all."
?She pursed her lips in thought and looked him up and down, like she was measuring him, his worth.
?She took a step towards him and looked into his eyes. "You should respect him." she told him, seriously. "That's all I can say."
?Alex frowned, that was what his father said too.
?"And should I trust him?"
?Ino sniggered, clearly not expecting the follow-up.
"That's up to you, big boy, but I certainly wouldn't. He lies as easily as he breathes.
And if you want to try to rely on his empathy you should only do it when he hasn't got Eris.
" she paused, "Well, that's only if my suspicion is correct, of course. "
?On that note, she left, the door banging shut behind her.
?Alex ran a hand through his hair, leaving it there and tugging slightly in frustration.
If Ino was correct, he was going to have to completely readapt to James with different rules to follow.
He had no idea what was going to be in store for him now.
He hoped James wouldn't hold grudges; numerous times had Alex blatantly broken James' personal boundaries.
?He waved a hand towards the foliage and Thomas appeared from within the wilderness, looking wet and miserable. He walked up to Alex and quickly took shelter next to him, wringing out his shirt of water.
?"Did you hear any of that?" he asked Thomas, out of interest.
?Thomas shook his head, water dripping from his hair as he did so. "I didn't and I wasn't interested in seeing you attempt to flirt. I saw her walk away frowning." Thomas thought to himself for a moment. "You've never been lucky with women, now that I think about it."
?Alex promptly changed the subject. "I don't think he's going to run," he told Thomas, "so you don't have to hide anymore. Just keep an eye on him for me, yeah?"
?Thomas nodded, then frowned. "Wish you made that decision earlier." he sniffed.
?Alex shrugged.
? ? ? ?
"So, James, why did you decide to become an assassin?" Fletcher asked, leaning forward in a dark interest.
?All four of their travel party sat on the altar room floor on top of pillows and blankets, the rain outside heaving over them with furious force. It wasn't safe to travel through and it had only got worse over time, so they were having to stay the night.
?James liked Fletcher, the kid was a little wet behind the ears, but his enthusiasm was not something to scoff at. It was nice spending time with someone unthreatening.
?"It wasn't really something I sat down and thought about." James told him, wryly. "It's a pretty shit career, it's down there with being a knight."
?Thomas rolled his eyes but Alex was strangely quiet, not reacting to any barb James threw at him. He was being careful, his expression unchanging and untelling. James couldn't figure out what had changed to make him that way. Yes, they had fought, but they did that all the time anyway.
?"I mean, Jay has been killing for a long time, hasn't he, like twenty-something years?" Fletcher went on, unperturbed by James' avoidance. "How old are you, twenty something?"
?"Twenty five." James answered automatically. "And, yes, that's true."
?He didn't even particularly enjoy his job, he just knew that if he didn't do it then others would. James slept happily at night knowing he wouldn't take a dying scum's bribe for life where others would. He was raised into it, it was the only job he'd ever known.
?"Jay is a succession of people." Thomas mentioned, "That's what Alex said anyway."
?Alex didn't confirm. James couldn't tell if he hadn't heard or if he was just ignoring the conversation.
?"So, how long have you held the title?" Fletcher asked, eyes wide in intrigue.
?"A decade." James mumbled, his attention drifting to Eris in his hands. Just holding her was enough to keep him calm and collected, he wondered why he'd made such a fuss before.
?"Ah, so did the previous Jay do that to your arm?"
?James was hardly registering the conversation anymore, but he bristled in defence of his mentor. "Of course not." He pulled his sleeve further down to cover the evidence.
?"Well, it looks about ten years healed."
?"It's not. It wasn't Jay."
?Fletcher looked up in thought, he seemed unmoved by James' snappiness.
?"Must be older then." Fletcher theorised. "It must have been hard to survive on the street with an injured arm, how old were you, again? Ten?"
?James didn't like the tone of voice Fletcher was taking. It was smooth and innocent, too smooth. James stared him down, trying to get a glimpse of guilt from the man in the dim light. Fletcher didn't shy away.
?"What are you up to?" he asked, lowly.
?Fletcher shook his head like he wasn't sure why James was asking such a thing. James knew better, Fletcher wasn't being headstrong, he was collecting information.
?"Just thought it would have been hard, is all." Fletcher shrugged. "Fifteen years, eh."
?Not a single muscle betrayed James, keeping his unimpressed facade in place.
?"Alex," he barked, "get the kid to shut up."
?"Do it yourself." Alex grunted, still lost in his own head.
?He was getting pretty tired of being ignored. "Are you sure you want me to do it?"
?He saw Thomas nudge the man with his elbow and Alex's eyes slowly eased back to life, widening as he realised the situation.
?He regarded James for a moment, scanning his face for some kind of answer.
James had been in Alex's company enough to recognise the look; it was when Alex wanted to know something but couldn't bring himself to ask.
He wasn't sure why Alex always held himself back instead of directly asking; perhaps he wanted to spare himself from James' bad temper?
But, if he kept tiptoeing around James like that, he would never find out anything at all— if not for their little game.
James wanted him to ask, consequences be damned, he would've respected the man more if he did.
He waited to see if Alex would give in to the temptation.
?"Fletcher, let's go for a walk."
?Not this time, apparently.
?Fletcher allowed himself to get dragged up and away by Alex, going down to the library without exchanging a word. Ino was coming up from the stairs the same time they went down, dodging each other with a murmur of an exchange that James couldn't make out.
?James would rather talk to Thomas than Ino, but it didn't seem like he would have a choice in the matter as Ino made her way to sit down next to him.
?"What?"
?Ino shook her head and tutted, clearly irritated by James' harsh tone.
?"I thought you'd be stewing in trying to remember that boy's face, or his name." she murmured.
?James shrugged, he didn't feel like doing that just then.
?She stalked every twitch on his face, much to his displeasure. Ino had a smug air surrounding her that only came with knowing something that the other didn't. Normally James was the one giving that look to others, he didn't like being the recipient.
?"I might have an idea who he is." Ino offered, cocking her head and narrowing her cold eyes in further scrutiny. "If you describe what he looks like I might be able to give you a name."
?It wasn't a bad deal. If the boy was high class enough to be his brother's friend, it was possible he had been written about at some point by Sofus.
He touched his lips in thought, trying to remember the kid's appearance, but his brain remained widely blank.
He struggled a little more, his brows knitting together, but he couldn't conjure an image.
It seemed the mental barrier he had broken earlier in the day was back again.
?His efforts were interrupted by a low humming noise that Ino let out. She nodded to herself, like she'd proven something.
?"Why are you so invested anyway?" James asked. Ino didn't strike him as the kind of woman that would help someone without getting something back in exchange, despite her status as a saintess. Moira followers were quite different from the holier-than-thou Adeia supporters.
?"Call it a scholarly interest." she sneered sarcastically.
?Despite not understanding what they were talking about, Thomas had dedicated his attention to the entire exchange. James wagered that Alex had put him up to it; watching to make sure he didn't flee.
?"If you're going to run away, you should do it now." Ino advised him, as if on the same page, much to the panic of Thomas.
?Ino was right. He had Eris in his hand and only one guard to get past. It would be easy.
?"Do you think that's what I should do?" he asked curiously. She knew better than anyone what situation he was in.
?"You should." she stated, no hesitation. "You'd be an idiot not to."
?Thomas slowly shifted his legs so he could stand quickly if needed and put a hand on his weapon, waiting tensely to see if that's what he would do.
James could see the quick pulse of his heart in his throat.
Thomas was a pretty good looking guy but his neck wasn't nearly as nice as Alex's, it was too muscular.
Alex's was a lot more balanced, defined but smooth. That was besides the point though.
?James' instincts certainly agreed with Ino's conclusion but there was something stopping him. All the anger he'd felt earlier had drained out of his body, but the skeleton of it remained in him deeply, a skeleton he wasn't aware had been there before.
?He thumbed Eris, but got the sense she also wished for him to flee. It was rare that James would ever hesitate when it came to his friend's intuition, but he also knew he had resigned himself to follow through most of the way before he'd gotten her back.
?Thomas and Alex would try to stop him if he tried and both were very dedicated to their job, it would be a fatal fight. For some reason, killing Alex wasn't something he felt like doing.
?He vaguely shrugged in response, not knowing what to do himself.
?Ino stood, brushing the dust off her dress. "Alexander Chamberlain isn't like other nobles." she told him, "If this is something you plan to pursue, I'd recommend you start making allies now."
?James raised an eyebrow at her, his voice laced in a bemused humour. "And you're saying Alex should be one of them?"
?"There's more to him than meets the eye." she tapped a finger against her head, "He's got a lot of loyalty but no one worthy of receiving it."
?"And why do you care?"
?"I'd be excited to see you stir up the establishment." she said in smooth Ashadi, grinning. "Don't forget about us little guys, okay? I was always a big fan of your work."
?Thomas stared between the two of the suspiciously as she sauntered away. James sighed and waved a dismissive hand at him.
?"I would've run already if I planned to. You're more annoying than Alex, it makes me want to change my mind." At least Alex was only cautious of him when he needed to be, James wasn't a fan of constantly being treated like he was a disorderly actor of chaos.
?"I don't trust you." Thomas reasoned.
?"Like I care."
?James laid down on his back, wedging a pillow behind his head and kept Eris locked into his hands, like he had done every night for the last fifteen years.
He listened out to the white noise of the storm outside, the groaning of wood and chilling echo of stone under the wind.
As he drifted off he tried to imagine Jay was there lying down next to him, just like when they used to take shelter in a stranger's barn.
?He thought he heard the low grumble of his mentor fondly calling him an idiot.