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He looks annoyed with my question, but he answers it all the same. “You must prove you have a place to live, ties to the city, and a way to provide for yourself. If you are a woman, you must also show proof of marriage, or have a guardian sign for responsibility.”
“So can my aunt come sign for me?”
“The guardian must be male.”
“Of course. Heaven forbid a woman has any rights over her own life.” I can’t seem to help the quip. While women of noble birth are seen as parallel to their male counterparts, as evident by the princess being heir to Felshan’s crown, the lower born don’t have the same privilege.
The guard eyes me up and down, his patience clearing fading. I undeniably just went from a forgettable nobody, to a notable, and irritating, somebody.
He puts a hand on hilt of his sword just as I hear a familiar voice in front of us.
“Oh my beautiful girl, there you are!” says Otto, rushing toward me. His face is painted with genuine excitement, wrapping me in his arms, bumping the guard out of the way in the process.
I was the last of our group to cross— Aiden, the captain, and Otto passing through before me. Luckily, these guards don’t seem to pay much attention to the patrons passing through the gates, at least the unmemorable ones.
Thank you, old man, for keeping your mouth shut better than I ever seem to.
“Hello, Uncle… Stewart,” I say.
“Yes, yes. Your uncle has come to rescue you my girl. Come here. Your aunt—”
“Fiona,” I whisper rapidly.
“Your Aunt Fiona is waiting down the road!” He sells it enough that the guard hands me atemporary residencepaper, Seneca Smith smeared across the top, and sends us on our way. I don’t know which comes first, the relief that we all made it through, or the disturbing idea that I would need a man to obtain permanent residence in this city.
Captain Montgomery meets us a few paces down. Otto runs ahead, and a brief whisper passes between them.
“Cousin! So good to see you!” He runs up to me and picks me up in a strong embrace. I stiffen as both his arms remain wrapped around me. His warm breath settles against the side of my face, my hands reaching around to the scruff on his neck.
“The guard is still watching you,” he tells me softly through what sounds like a smile.
Of course I get the thorough guard. I smile wildly, pulling both my arms tighter around the captain, then lean back to lightly peck his cheek. If the guard was close enough, he would see that both mine and the captain’s reaction to that intimate gesture wasn’t in line with family that had known each other their whole lives.
He releases me almost instantly, and my feet thud back to the ground. The captain leans back, his joyful features hiding the search in his gaze, his eyes questioning my own. I’m unsure what to do next so I plaster a smile on my face, hoping we will be able to still pass as long-time-no-see cousins.
Otto breaks the awkward tension. “Come on, you two. Fiona will be wondering where the hell we’ve gone if we dally any longer.”
He doesn’t break character for even a moment until we are far out of sight of the gate and its keepers, asking me about my travels and even taking the reins of Prue to give me a rest. He must have actual cousins this has played out for in earnest, or witnessed enough reunions to commit it to memory.
Everyone seems mostly unscathed. Aiden had apparently been detained when a patrol saw his sword, questioning his weapon and what he was doing. He sold the story of being a Palace Guard on leave, going west to visit the sea.
“You don’t think that raised suspicions, Aiden?” an uptight Captain Montgomery asks, looking around our immediate vicinity.
“What else would you have me say? I needed a reason to have a sword within the city walls, none of them would recognize me from the Fort Lowsan Guard so that was off the table, and I figured they’d be less likely to question a guard from Turin. One look at the steel of my blade, and I was released.” Aiden’s explanation only earns him an eye-roll from the captain.
It was quick thinking on his part, Turinian steelwork is hard to miss. I give Aiden a little pat on the shoulder to shove off the captain’s disapproval, earning me a hint of a smile.
After searching Fort Lowsan for most of the day, we stop to feed our aching stomachs at a local tavern on the outskirts of the city.
The old man and Aiden aren’t the messiest eaters I’ve ever seen. However, the captain looks as though he’s taking supper with the king himself. Not that I’ve ever eaten with the king, or learned proper etiquette for that matter. But watching his careful bites, the precise breaking of his bread, the evenness with which he drinks his water— it’s almost disconcerting.
“Are you trying to impress the bar maids?” I ask the captain. His brows kiss as he scans the room for the maids before returning his gaze to me.
Instead of explaining myself, I mimic his movements— sitting up straight, gently sipping my water, breaking off a tiny piece of bread that I chew at least twenty times before swallowing. I glance side-long at his raised brow before bringing a reasonable spoonful of soup to my mouth.
His face relaxes as my meaning sinks in, but the scowl never leaves his face. “I’m not an animal, so why would I eat like one?” he responds, more a statement than a question, before turning back to his meal. My shoulders square as I raise my chin a little at his clear annoyance.
“This might be the best stew I’ve ever had. No offense, Otto,” Aiden mumbles through a mouth filled with food.
