The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 63: Planning

Ok so this is a super short chapter that I'm only posting because I don't want to let too long go without posting, so just... sorry it's really only like half a chapter. I swear when break comes I'm going to write like five super long chapters to make up for this nonsense.

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We arrived at the end of our journey in the same state we had started it: ready to kill each other. But I had to admit, our nighttime skirmish on the deck had worked some tension out of me. Attempting to kill Joshua would do that to anyone, I figured. It helped that we were now on the verge of rescuing Kay and the others. Soon this brief, annoying interlude would be over. Joshua would go back to the Assassin's Court, I'd go back to the rebels and everything would go back to normal. Or as normal as they'd been since the night I'd left the capital.

At any rate, Joshua had promised me some answers when this was all over, and once he'd helped with this rescue I'd be free to beat them out of him.

That thought helped me relax cheerfully, my feet up on the table and my chair tilted back, as Joshua slapped a rough map onto the table.

"The bad news is that your friends are imprisoned in a border fort near Englescroft, which means there's guards all over the place."

"Does that mean there's good news?" I asked, ignoring his attempt to push my feet off the table.

"Yeah. The commander of the fort is one of our mutual friends."

"I don't believe I have any mutual friends with you."

"Luca Laycreek?" He jerked the table back, making my legs drop and my chair slam down on four legs.

Recovering from nearly being flung out of my chair, it took me a moment to process. "Luca?"

"Oh good, you do remember him."

"He killed Jaden!"

"For God's sake, not everyone in Solangia killed Jaden!"

I glared at him. "He might have killed Jaden."

"I sincerely doubt Luca has the guts to kill anyone."

"Then why would they make him a fort commander?"

"To give him the guts to kill people."

Fair enough, I admitted to myself. If there was anything I'd learned in a few weeks of what could barely be termed a romance with Luca, it was that everyone saw potential in him except himself. He was one of the better fighters I'd faced, and he maintained a grim, distant attitude to anyone who didn't know him, but the only thing he focused on was his family. I wasn't sure why, given his strained relationship with his father and the fact that everyone admitted Irina was better suited to provide for the family than he was, but he was willing to risk his life and reputation by fighting duels at the match house — and he harbored a deep hatred for Jaden, who's father had been responsible for the Laycreeks losing their fortune. It had been shocking to discover, after finding a genuinely sweet and funny personality beneath his mask, that he had a bitter edge to his personality.

It made me wince, thinking about it. I had liked Luca a lot for those few weeks. But Jaden had been a mentor and almost a father to me. I couldn't reconcile Luca's irrational hatred for him with all the reasons I had almost loved him.

I took a deep breath and let my thoughts go, realizing Joshua was watching me impatiently. I couldn't let this regret distract me from our plan.

"So Luca being in charge will help us?"

"Right. As I mentioned before, this means I can walk right through the door. There's no way news from the capital got here before us, so no one here thinks I'm dead yet."

"And I can..."

"Find another way in."

I shrugged. That shouldn't be too big of a problem. "Does this plan of yours have any more details?"

"Surprisingly, yes. But it all rests of both of us playing our parts."