The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 5: the Chase

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She swerved around shopkeepers sweeping their steps and children getting in their way, weaving through the crowd of sailors and workers. She could still see him, but he was moving quickly, much more familiar with these streets than she was. And sometimes she would lose sight of him for a moment as he was hidden by the shifting of people between them, and it would take time to locate him again and try to catch up.

Her mind was racing with possibilities. All the other rebels had also thought him dead. Had they been acting, or had they too not known? But how could he be alive? She'd seen it happen, every bloody moment of it seared into her mind. The roiling courtyard, the shouts and screams, Nali and Stubbe racing for the gates while Jan fell beneath Joshua's sword.

Alive? He couldn't be. But he was.

The glimpses she caught of his face weren't questionable. It couldn't be anyone else. But she didn't call out his name. She was shocked, and breathless, and full of questions, but she knew better than to draw attention from a man who had pretended to be dead for a reason she didn't yet know.

The streets were less crowded now, good and bad news. It was easier to keep sight of him but with every moment she worried he would turn around and see her.

She would find out where he was going, she decided. It was probably home, since it was the end of the day. And once she knew where he stayed, she could go home too, and begin to plan what she would do. She couldn't take the risk of approaching him, but surely she couldn't ignore the fact that he was alive-- that he was alive, and he had tricked them.

When he ducked into a shadowy lane and around a corner, she stopped short. She was almost positive that this was an entrance to what the map labeled as the Maze, a tangle of alleys that were true to their name. If she went in and lost Jan, she wasn't sure she'd be able to find her way out.

Cursing, she put her hands on her hips. Maybe this was intentional. Maybe he had noticed her following and was trying to lose her. If that was true, should that make her more determined, or be a warning to go home? Maybe he was waiting right around that corner to demand of her why she was following him. Or maybe his home was on one of these streets. Maybe it wasn't even far in enough for her to get lost. But maybe she shouldn't risk it.

Or maybe Jaden, the man who had always seemed to know everything, had sent her here to find him.

Desperately aware of how much time he'd had to get ahead, she ran in after him.

It took a few wrong turns and some backtracking, and more than likely a good amount of luck, to find him again, and then it took every lesson she'd ever had to stay silent ten feet behind him. Lingering behind corners as she waited to make sure he was far enough ahead, listening for his footsteps when she let herself get far enough behind that she lost sight of him. The Alleys were narrow and crooked and darker than it seemed they should be, and they passed few people. But luckily they weren't there for long. Jan took the closest exit out of the Maze, and she couldn't see any reason for him going in in the first place, except to lose people like her. Did he expect to be followed, or was she just not as covert as she thought?

One minute more and it began to dawn on her that going into the Maze had been completely useless. They hadn't been going deeper into the city. Jan had used it to make a very wide turn and end up almost back where they'd started. It had to be to lose followers.

She almost backed out then, but she remembered the note again. If Jan was the man Jaden had described, she couldn't lose him.

Night was falling now. Heat rose off the sun-warmed stones of the streets and buildings but there was coolness in the air and a faint moon hanging in the sky. There weren't many less people, but it seemed quieter, as though the entire city was a little worn out. Jan crossed the street and pushed open the door to the Fire-Bird, melting into the buttery glow of the lit fire places inside.