Kin could see the hair protruding from the guard’s nostrils, as well as the thin veins webbing the whites of his eyes, so close were their faces. For a squat and hairy man in heavy padding he was as quiet as a cat, and Kin had been certain the coast was clear by the time he popped his head up from behind the bakery counter where he had taken cover. He was starting to think he had lost his touch.
Kin grinned sheepishly at the man, whose face was red and contorted with frustration.
“Stand down, boy, you’re under arrest.” The man growled, leaning over the counter. He brandished the crumpled King’s Ransom notice in his hand as if to illustrate his point. How Kin despised warrants of arrest! They took all the fun out of going to new places.
Kin backed up, lifting his hands in surrender,
“You got me!” He called out jovially, before darting to the left. The guard lumbered to catch him at the side but missed the feint. He may have been supernaturally quiet but Kin was much faster, doubling back and vaulting the counter before the guard could so much as turn to watch him go.
Kin laughed as he dodged past chairs, tables and patrons, hearing the man’s frustrated cry fade into the background as he burst out the door and into the street. All this fuss over a loaf of cheese bread and a book of bawdy poetry! Outside the bakery he narrowly avoided colliding with a staid old man, who attempted to trip him with his cane in a rather unsportsmanlike manner. Kin’s rushed shout of an apology certainly did not appear to do much good, for he could hear the old man pointing out his path to his pursuers as he turned a corner.
He paused for a moment before the house of a pretty girl he had made the acquaintance of a few days earlier, catching sight of her sitting in the window, brushing her hair. He took an opportunity to tease the guards.
“Alas, fair Lucy, I must be moving on now. I am deeply saddened I never got to know you better!” he shouted up to her as the guards turned the corner. She simply looked down her nose at him,
“Get away from me!” she shouted back, before shutting the window with a bang. Kin grinned and shrugged at the approaching guards. Squat-and-hairy had gathered two accomplices since they had last met: Kin mentally dubbed them Jowls and Lazy-Eye. He had a fondness for descriptive nicknames.
“Do you think this is a joke, boy?” Squat-and-hairy panted, slowing to a walk. These had to be the least impressive guards Kin had ever come across.
“I hadn’t decided yet. It certainly is funny like a joke.” He said to their general displeasure, backing away. He was about to recommence his escape when his back came into contact with something rather unexpectedly solid.
“Nice work gentlemen, but we’ll take it from here.” A deep and all-too familiar voice announced, accompanied by the feeling of two firm hands on Kin’s shoulders. Curse these bounty hunters; they were never far behind him no matter how fast he ran. When would he learn to stop drawing so much attention to himself?
Kin now considered himself thoroughly lost, but Squat-and-hairy was having none of it.
“Now, see here, this man is wanted under the King’s Ransom. As members of the King’s Guard of Gladstone he should be delivered to us and sent before the King to face judgement.” Squat-and-hairy jabbered, his whiskery face all a-quiver. Kin certainly didn’t blame him; he didn’t even have to look to know that behind him stood two of the tallest, broadest, meanest looking bounty hunters a person might have the misfortune to encounter. Kin’s crimes were not of the finest calibre, but the quantity had earned him quite the price on his head and these two intended to collect.
“Oh, don’t worry, he’ll be seeing the King alright. But he’ll be going to Tel Anar with us.”
“We’ve been chasing this bugger for months now, and I’ll be cursed if a bunch of flabby country guards are getting our ransom for an afternoon’s work.” The second bounty hunter said, stepping in front of Kin so he could see the man’s massive arms and back.
