Kim shot a glare Baylen’s direction. He ignored her and climbed into the cart. Kim followed close behind, unwilling to leave the woman alone with him for even a minute. Even though Braun acted like he understood, he never really could. Not the fear, not the helplessness. What did Braun know about being smaller than every man around you. What did he know about training your whole life, being better with a blade and bow than most of the mercs she’d ever met, only to still know that ninety percent of them could kill her outright if they grabbed ahold of her. That she could keep up with an intense training regimen for the better part of fifteen years, just for most men to still be stronger than her. He couldn’t know, how could he know. Braun worked hard, Kim worked harder. Braun trained often, Kim trained more. Braun was very good with an axe, Kim was a master with a bow and an expert with a blade. Braun was at times a slave to gambling and his silver, Kim smoked her pipe occasionally. Kim could beat Braun if the conditions were perfect, Braun could kill Kim if they weren’t. She knew these thoughts weren’t his fault inherently, they weren’t really his fault at all, but part of her hated him for it.


    They’d known each other since the orphanage, but Kim had been there her whole life. Braun had shown up one day at 10 years old. His dad had died in a war when he was young and his mom shined herself to death a few years later. From the moment he showed up they’d connected in a way Kim had never connected with anyone. He was like the big brother she’d always needed. In actuality he was a year younger than her, but Braun had always been big, and more than that, it had always felt like Braun had wanted to be her big brother. He’d never pursued more with her, he’d never so much as made her feel uncomfortable. But he hadn’t always been there, and even once he was there he couldn’t always be… there. Shaking her head clear of the thoughts that were intruding she looked down at the sleeping woman next to her and placed a soft hand on her shoulder.


    “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”


    Those words flowed out in a whisper as she slid the woman’s dagger into the hand that wasn’t clamped to the book. Pushing back some of the blue hair from the woman’s face, she traced her cheek ever so softly. Keeping her hushed tone she spoke to the unconscious woman.


    “You really are beautiful… What were you doing out there all alone? Why were you crying like that?”


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The woman’s words rang in her head, hearing her wail the way she had, had brought back memories best left buried.


    “Who was the master you were referring to, and why did he leave you?”


    Tracing her fingers softly down to the woman’s chin just below her lips.


    “Who would leave you? — I would never leave you.”


    She heard herself say it before she could pull the words back in. She’d always been this way, attaching to beautiful women too quickly for her own good. And this woman wasn’t even awake. Shaking her head again she pulled her hand back to her lap and laid her head back against the wooden wall of the cart. She eyed Baylen for a moment and then looked around for something to take her mind off the thoughts eating at the edges of her mind.


    The inside of the cart was about forty feet by twenty. The walls inside were twelve feet tall and the back wall of the cart opened outward for loading and unloading the goods or for entering or exiting the room. Most of the goods were stacked in the center of the room to keep them safe in the event of rain. The top of the cart was a waterproof canvas but of course rain rarely dropped straight down, and Baylen refused to get the cart''s top fully covered because in his words it would scare off potential customers if they couldn’t see into the cart. Maybe he was right, what did she know about selling goods? The front of a cart had a seat built into it, which functioned as an overhang inside the room with a six foot ceiling. Baylen kept his bed under the overhang as well as any goods he deemed particularly valuable.


    In her robbing days Kim would have killed Baylen without a second thought for his cart alone. Now though, she knew they needed him. But she’d seen his glances, she’d felt the staring when he thought she wasn’t looking, she was always looking, always aware, she had to be. It had taken five years before she’d truly felt safe sleeping with Braun next to her, before she’d believed he wouldn’t hurt her at her most vulnerable. Mostly believed at least. Most nights she felt safe with Braun watching over her, some nights were worse than others, some nights Braun had to take a chair and sleep outside of a locked room they had rented in whatever inn they were staying at. Kim had always offered to pay his half of the cost whenever that had happened, Braun never so much as blinked. He knew more than she gave him credit for if she was being honest, even if he didn’t know. He knew enough, she didn’t know where she’d be without Braun, not because she particularly needed his protection or skills, but she did need the sanity he provided her. Her little big brother, she needed him.