13 THIRTEEN

What now?

No one said those two words, regardless they seemed to echo all around them. Celeste gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the sword. She could hear Will panting. She felt cautious of every little sound. They had Fry, but they were still outnumbered. It was still too early to let their guard down. It would be a miracle if they made it out of this alright.

"Fry," Will broke the heavy silence. "You sound like a reasonable man. So, let's make a deal"

Any man that wants to kill us is most certainly not reasonable, Celeste wanted to point out.

Celeste wondered how Will had sounded so calm, surely he should have been freaking out. He should have been trembling, he was holding a dagger to a man's throat after all. He could take a life in a blink of time. But Will seemed so collected, so in control, one would think he had done this before.

"A deal? " Fry grunted.

"Yes, a deal!" Will snapped. "We let you go, in return you let us go. Fair trade right?"

"No" Fry snapped. Will tightened his grip on the dagger, his knuckles turned white.

"Will," Thomas said slowly. Will met his eyes.

"Okay, let's try again" Will breathed out.

"Still no"

"You do know I'm holding a knife to your throat. And I've already proved I don't mind having a little blood on my hands" Will hissed.

"Oh I know boy," Fry chuckled. "You've got guts in you. I like that. You bunch probably have more guts than all my men. So I'll propose a deal eh? The horse and the cart. You get to leave with your lives and the rest of your sorry belongings. We'll leave you alone, we won't bother you anymore. You won't have to worry about running into bandits anymore. Fair trade eh?"

"No," Will said. "We're not giving up the cart!"

"Help an old man out will you?" Fry snapped. "Even if I agree to let you leave with it, my men won't. They'll call me a wimp for not looting you. And you could always kill me, but what about the other eleven?"

Everyone silently worked out the odds.

If only for once, they would be in their favor.

"How do we know you're not lying? What if we let you go and you order your men at us?" Thomas demanded.

"I swear," Fry said in a bored voice.

"Your promises mean nothing!" Celeste stated.

"Why?"

"Are you seriously asking that question?" Karen hissed.

"I may be a thief, but I swear on my mother's grave, I am not a liar. Now boy, just take your hands off me and I'll call my men off"

Will and Thomas stared at each other for a few moments before both nodding. Will suddenly let go of Fry who massaged his neck and gave Will a dirty look. The eleven thieves made to attack them but Fry held up his hands to ward them off.

"Now boys! I struck a deal with the kids here. We get the cart and the horse. They get to leave with their lives and belongings!"

"You can't let them leave!"

Rick protested.

"Are you questioning my decision?" Fry barked loudly.

No one protested again, though no one looked happy about it.

Thomas slowly made his way to the cart, hastily grabbing the two bags that were all they had, and came back. All of them had their sword raised. They were all waiting for an attack. Nobody moved.

"Go," Will said to Celeste and Karen.

They didn't protest, instead they rushed through the trees.

The boys kept their eyes on the band of thieves as they slowly backed away too. Then they were running , anxious to leave the scene behind.

Celeste kept stumbling over rocks or shrubs, her mind was in a daze. She had just escaped death again. Her breathing was slowly growing more frantic. The cheek where she had been slapped was aching.Her breathing became more labored.

She could still feel Rick's breath on her.

Her eyesight was getting blurry.

They had almost died.

They could still die. It wouldn't be grand or honorable or something like that, they could be killed by anything. It could be a particularly poisonous spider or some new enemy. Either way, she could die here and no one would hear about it. And all those people who sacrificed their lives for her, it would all be in vain.Celeste couldn't take it anymore. She sank to the ground and leaned against a tree for support.

She could hear Will and Thomas call out to her, but she couldn't make the words out. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her breathing grew more labored. She felt a tight pressure in her chest, it slowly increased. She could still hear the bandits, their laughter. She could hear Karen scream. She could hear Will and Thomas shout. She could hear Sir Bran crying out to her.

She opened her eyes to see Will's face hovering over her.

"Celeste," He whispered.

She stared into his grey eyes, opening her mouth to speak but no sound came out.

"Count down from ten," Will said. She almost burst into tears again.

Celeste slowly nodded her head and tried to even her breathing.

With every number, she felt calmer. Her breathing returned to normal and so did her eyesight. Will stared at her intently, slowly raising his hand to touch the bruise on her cheek. He hastily pulled it back when she flinched. She saw the anger in his eyes, the guilt... She saw how they turned to amusement in the blink of an eye.

"Your face looks even uglier with the bruise" He grinned. Celeste managed a little smile.

"Likewise," She said.

"Blue!" Thomas exclaimed suddenly fussing over her as well. "Gave us a bloody fright you did"

"Thomas" Celeste nodded." How's the nose?"

"Still prettier than Will's, " He said smiling.

"That was wicked!" Karen suddenly burst out. Her face was lit from excitement.

"We almost died," Will said dryly.

"I know" She exclaimed. "It's the adrenaline. It'll probably go away. Any way there's no use running. They're not coming after us. We need to catch our breath. And you boys need to cut those cuts and bruises cleaned".

Will hissed as Celeste drew the wet cloth back from his cheek.

"That hurt woman!" He said dramatically. Celeste huffed.

"Don't be a wuss Will" She said half-hardheartedly. The cut near his eye was still bleeding a bit. He also had a bruise at the corner of his lip. He was thankful there was no more damage on his face.

"I'm not a wuss". Will argued.

"You are. A very ugly wuss" Celeste retorted.

"You're just jealous you can't pull this look off" Will chuckled.

Celeste pressed the wet cloth to the bruise on his face.

"This look? Oh, you mean the 'I just got the crap beaten out of me ' look?"

"Does your's hurt?" Will said suddenly.

Celeste pursed her lips.

"Not more than my pride. I've never been slapped before you see," Celeste tried to joke. Will mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I said I shouldn't have let that arse hit you"

Celeste frowned at Will.

"There was nothing you could have done Will. You were being held. And besides, I don't expect you to look out for me. It's my fault we've even gotten into this mess, we've lost the cart," Celeste said quietly.

"Don't say that" Will cut her off.

"Well, it's true" Celeste exclaimed looking at Karen clean her brother's bruises as they kept bickering back and forth.

"You told me to leave it alone. You told me it could be a trap. I was so obsessed with playing a hero that I didn't even think it through. It's my fault you're hurt. I made a mess of things," Celeste was embarrassed at how weak her voice was.

"It wasn't your fault Princess" Will snapped. "I only guessed that it was a trap. It could've been someone in need of help too. I was ready to run away. You were ready to take the risk. So don't! Don't apologize for being a good person"

Will looked away from her as if embarrassed.

Celeste found a genuine smile on her face as she raised the damp cloth again. Will hissed more loudly.

"Have you ever done this before?" He said scornfully.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Celeste said.

"What? Was cleaning wounds a part of princess training?" Will snorted.

"No," Celeste admitted. She focused on the wet cloth.

"My brother, he used to sneak out of the castle sometimes. And sometime's he'd get into fights and get a bruise or two. He always sneaked back to his room and got me to help him out. He couldn't exactly get a servant to do it, if anyone found out he would be in a hell lot of trouble," She was thankful her voice didn't waver.

She felt Will's stare on her as she held the cloth to the bruise. Celeste hadn't talked to anyone about Gabriel before. It hurt too much.

"He's just like- I mean you remind me of him. He could be pretty reckless too," Celeste admitted.

"If I remind you of him, he must have been awesome," Will said quietly.

"He was," Celeste's voice caught up.

"He was my best friend. Well, the only friend at the castle"

"That sounds lonely,"

"It was," Celeste shrugged. "But I had my sword and I had my books. And I had Gabriel"

They sat in silence for some time, both lost in their own thoughts.

"What about you? You have any siblings?" Celeste regretted the sentence the moment it came out. Will's expression changed at once. His eyes darkened and she saw his shoulders stiffen.

"I have Tommy and Karen," He said, his tone carrying a hostile undertone. Celeste decided not to press the subject further.

"You and Thomas seem pretty close," She changed the subject subtly.

"We are," He said, still a little stiffly.

"We've known each other since we were eight. We grew up together, got into mischief together. We used to sneak into town, having the time of our lives. Though Tommy never liked the pubs much, wonder why?"

Celeste chuckled.

"We may not be related by blood," Will said glancing at Thomas. "But he's my brother. He has my back, I have his,"

I do understand what you mean, Celeste wanted to say. Even though I've never had someone like that.

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