Nicko pulled her half mask up her face as she walked with purpose to the market place. The torches were few and far between, making Nicko feel even more uncomfortable. Her blonde ponytail moved around behind her like it had a mind of its own and she resisted the urge to cut it shorter with Ardis. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her trousers, bare arms exposed to the warm weather despite it being after dark.
Her soft footsteps on the cobblestone street was the only sound to be heard. She walked quickly to the market place. The torches were becoming more frequent and better quality and she could see the tops of the market stalls through the side alleys.
She cracked her neck before entering the market place. It was almost the same as last time, the torches casting an orange kind of light onto the stalls and their owners. Posters that captured Nicko's face as well as Jack and Faya's likeliness were still on the walls surrounding the stalls. People still milled about like before, buying and selling what they either had or needed.
But it was not the same as last time. Not all was well.
As Nicko turned her head back and forth she noticed the little details that were the evidence of trouble in her home. Stall owners were always scanning the crowd nervously, as if something would pop right out of the shadows. No children played around the market stalls. Normally the sound of their laughter would fill the gaps left by the stall owners calling out their stocks. But not even the stall owners raised their voices. The few people that milled through the stalls were quiet, hiding their faces and jumping at every little noise. No one went through the alley ways, normally one of the safer ways of getting to and from the market place.
Nicko hurried over to the produce stall, for one she needed apples from there, and secondly she knew the stall owner since she had been a child. She swerved her way through the street, at least that hadn't changed in the past month. Her eyes searched the poles above the market place for the one with the basket and sprouts. No one bought the sprouts and the stall owner had always just put them above his stall. For they stank too.
She found the stall quite by accident. To be more precise she ran into the stall owner, who of course didn't recognise her.
"Sorry miss! Someone's in a hurry." The thin stall owner said, pulling Nicko away from his bony frame. She looked up at his shoulder length light brown hair and dark red eyes and sighed in relief. She panted a couple of times, pulling her half mask down with one hand in the air. Thankfully he didn't move, probably rather concerned if he had injured the young blonde before him.
She stood back to her full height, her stance confident, and their height nearly exactly the same. The stall owner looked straight at her, his expression thoughtful. Nicko rolled her eyes before subtly moving her blonde fringe from her right eye. The stall owner's eyes widened before he practically dragged her to the back of his stall.
"Nicko what are you doing here?" He demanded, his voice rough and soft.
"Nice to see you two Joshua." She said, her hands on her hips. "What on earth is going on here?" Nicko said before Joshua put his hand over her mouth and pushed her head downwards and out of sight.
An older couple walked up to the produce stall and nervously asked for some vegetables. The man stood behind his wife, eyes scanning the crowd as if he was guarding her. The woman stuttered out a thank you as Joshua handed them their order and Nicko could see her hands were shaking as she handed over the appropriate amount of coins. Joshua thanked them before returning to his stool, just in front of Nicko. He turned his head to both sides before sliding off the stool and down under the table where he had pushed Nicko.
"What is going on?" She hissed at him. He sighed and fiddled with the gold ring on his left hand before he spoke again. He spoke at a soft whisper, so soft that Nicko had to ask him to repeat what he had said. He rolled his eyes, grinning all the while.
"Since those posters went up, the guards have been coming at more frequent patrols than before." He said, his voice hushed and his body language screaming out the tension. His red eyes were half closed as he thought about what to say next. Nicko raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yea that is to be expected, that has been happening for years, but that doesn't explain why everyone is gone." She said, shifting her feet out from underneath her and hugging her knees. Joshua stroked his goatee, a nervous habit he had before he spoke again.
"Everyone that is ever has been around you or been associated with you has had to flee. The Kings' guards are under the orders to arrest those who know you. Some people have already been taken to the Seasonal Fortress for questioning. I might even have to close down and go into hiding until this is over." Joshua said quickly. Nicko had to double take and replay his words over in her mind, unable to grasp that this was really happening.
Alan.
She gasped. How could she have been so stupid? Alan would have been the first to be hunted down.
"Zeus almighty what did you do Nicko?" Joshua's voice brought her back to the produce stall.
"I'll have to explain later. Can I just get a bag of apples please? And do you know if Alan is still around?" She said, her words tumbling out almost on top of each other. Joshua raised an eyebrow at her, probably because of the contrast of her requests. He shrugged before getting up from his squat, grunting all the while. Nicko fiddled with her black thumb ring while she waited for him to collect the apples for her.
Just his hand came back down from above the table, the bag of apples obviously heavy as the veins in his tanned arms standing out from his arm. She quickly grabbed the fabric bag and emptied the apples into her own leather bag. His hand was still there and she put the bag and a silver coin in his outstretched hand. Quickly his hand disappeared on top of the table.
Nicko was just about to get up from her sitting position under the table when she heard the sound she had been dreading.
The clanking of armour.
Her chest stopped functioning and she couldn't breathe all of a sudden. She shook her head before forcing herself to breathe normally. The clanking of the guards' armour stopped close by and Nicko decided to risk it and lift up a corner of the tablecloth. She slid so she was lying on the ground before lifting the table cloth ever so slightly and slowly.
She froze as soon as she had lifted the cloth enough to see.
For what she saw terrified her.
"Have you seen this girl lately?" A voice from above greeted Nicko's ears. The greeting was no welcome though and Nicko slowly put the edge of the table cloth back down, covering the sight of those silver armoured feet. She lay down on the ground, struggling to control her breathing as the conversation continued above her.
"Aside from on all the posters that have been put up lately I've never seen that face before. Why?" Joshua said, his voice smooth. Nicko breathed out a little, relaxing slightly at the confidence that was in Joshua's voice. Her diaphragm was still tight as the conversation went on. Her instincts were screaming at her to move, to run, too slip out between the guards' legs and run. But that would first off get Joshua into a huge amount of trouble, while her reputation would also be changed from a strong person who stands by others to a coward.
"You know why stall owner." The guard said rather accusingly. Nicko saw Joshua shift on his feet nervously and she prayed that the guard didn't see that tick. She heard more clanking of metal, first still at the table, but moving away from the table and therefore the stall. The lung-full amount of air she had been holding finally was released and she seemed to almost melt into the floor, her shoulder bones protruding and resting uncomfortably against the stone ground.
Joshua's head dropped down and his red eyes were full of concern. He pointed to the back of the stall. Nicko nodded before running in a crouch to the back of the produce tent. Joshua followed after placing a piece of wood with writing on it on a hook at the front of the stall. He hurried after her and pulled the tent flaps closed again behind them.
"I don't know if Alan is still in town, so go straight to his forge. Is there anything else you need from the markets? I can get it for you and leave it up the back and you can collect it when you are going." Joshua offered. Nicko nodded, too busy worrying about Alan before she realised Joshua was waiting for an answer.
"Um... just some more meat jerky, and some bread if you can find it?" She asked, her eyes not quite meeting Joshua's for her anxiety was building.
She glanced back at him in time to see him nod at her. She leaned in and hugged him, quite unexpectantly too. Joshua stood there, arms by his sides for a minute, not sure what to do before Nicko pulled back. He closed his eyes for a long moment and when he opened them Nicko was already gone.
**********
The torches were few and far between as Nicko sprinted down the cobblestone street. The forge was just a few streets away and Nicko's breath came in short pants. Her long blonde hair was flowing behind her, her hair elastic fallen out long ago. The night was still young and people still wandered around the streets, although their faces were hidden and their body language tense.
Her boots slapped against the rocky cobblestone but she didn't care, her mind was racing faster than her feet could carry her.
She spun around a corner, the forge now in sight. No smoke billowed from the chimney and her chest tightened. She practically ran straight into the wooden door. It resisted her entrance and she smacked herself in the forehead. Pulling her bag around, she practically tore it open, sifting through apples, bandages, a sketchbook and a bunch of coins in search of her key. Her fingers found it finally and she shoved it in the key hole, wrenching the door open and falling into the forge.
Frantically her grey eyes searched the forge for Alan or his doberman Kellen. There was no sign of either, and both Alan's coat and hat were gone. Kellen's water bowl was bone dry, as Nicko discovered when she put her hand to the inside of the bowl. She rubbed her dry fingers together before spotting the chest in the corner, in front of where Alan's weaponry room was.
She raised an eyebrow before opening the big wooden chest. Like everything in the forge it was covered in a layer of soot and ashes. There was nothing important in there, a few miscellaneous objects that Nicko guessed were of sentimental value. Her lips formed a tight line as she moved to one side of the chest, pushing against it with all her strength. Her arms strained against the wooden chest and she grunted as she moved it.
Her lungs had only just recovered from her sprint and caused her to pant hard for the second time in a few minutes. She ignored the pain in her chest and pushed the soot coated door open, not caring that her hands were now black and just wiping them on her brown trousers. The soot joined the multitude of stains that were already on her trousers.
The weapons' room was eerily empty, save for the pieces of a blacksmith's work on the walls. Nicko bit her lip as she walked around the room, searching all the nooks and crannies for Alan. Even the very intimidating Kellen would be a welcome face at this moment. Her throat began to contrict and she coughed, making something flutter out to one side.
Nicko whipped her head around, hoping for it to be the friendly face of Alan, but it was just a piece of paper moving. She raised an eyebrow before picking up the piece of paper. Then her still soot coated hand went to her mouth.
For her name was on the very dirty piece of paper. She coughed before she dared to unfold the paper.
"To my dear Nicko." She read out loud. Her eyes already tearing up and her voice cracking.
"If you are reading this that means that I have left Romanka for fear of my safety. As you probably have learned by now, the amount of guards and their vigilance has increased dramatically since you and Jacky-boy escaped from the King.
"I have fled because of something new the King has introduced. Anyone who knows anything about you has been captured and taken in for questioning. Rarely do they come back." Nicko choked on the breath she had tried to take. People were being hurt because of her... She should have expected that from Azmar. Her rage only grew stronger as she read the rest of the letter.
"The people of Romanka are afraid, disheartened and need a leader. I believe that you can lead them to fight with you, against the King and maybe even save us all. I have gone to the dwarves in the Unnatural Mountains. I learnt much of my craft from them and I am certain they will provide me with sanctuary.
"Hope to see you soon. Alan." She read, sitting down to take it all in. Her hatred for Azmar had somehow managed to increase. Alan and countless others had been forced to flee their homes because of him, some of them might even have lost those whom they loved.
She stood up and put Alan's letter in her trouser pocket. Alan had also thought that there was a battle coming and she would be the one to lead it. Her walk was filled with confidence as she strode out of the weapons' room, closed the door and pulled the soot coated door closed behind her. She pushed against the chest easily, her arms reinforced by her fury.
She slammed the door of the forge closed behind her, almost forgetting to lock the door. She turned the key in the lock before making sure the door was locked. Nicko nodded before walking briskly and with purpose back in the direction of the markets. She hoped Joshua had everything she needed already. For there was an urgent matter she needed to discuss with Jack and Faya.
The torches were once again growing in frequency and quality as she hurried back to the markets, her bag close against her body. People were becoming less common but the night had only just begun to grow older. Nicko shook her head. This was a town that needed motivation and a leader. She was determined to be that person.
Her footsteps were soft as she jogged back to the market stalls. Her blonde hair covered her face so she didn't bother to put her half mask back on. She spotted Joshua's produce stall almost immediately and hurried to the back.
She silently thanked Joshua as her eyes were greeted by the sight of a large brown paper bag and another, smaller bag beside it. Moving quickly and with practised ease she put the larger one in her bag, picking up the smaller one.
Walking as if she belonged there she emerged from behind the stall, her face downcast into the brown paper bag. A loaf of bread and a medium sized wedge of cheese was in the bag and she smiled. Her pace was brisk and confident as she made her way back to the abandoned house on the edge of Romanka. She couldn't wait to eat the bread, but most of all the cheese. It had been months since she had tasted cheese.
There also was much she needed to discuss with Jack and Faya. The night wasn't over yet and there was much to talk about.