The two men looked away as they noticed Jason looking back, but it was far too late. At first, they sat together staring at the ground, doing their best to ignore the passing group. Jason continued looking back after they had passed as one of the men began shaking.
The other put an arm on him reassuringly and looked up, probably to mention that they had already passed. He caught Jason's eyes once again.
The man's face shot to the ground almost instantly, but Jason couldn't ignore the intense reaction. He stopped, causing Vanya to look back at him. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking with the massive help covering her face, but she was obviously confused.
"Hey," Jason called out to the men. "Can I ask you a quick question?"
There was a moment of hesitation before both men broke off sprinting away from Jason. "Wait!" Jason called running after them. He would be able to catch them easily, but not as quickly as Vanya.
She appeared in front of the fleeing men, sword out, and had begun bringing it down just as Jason screamed. "Vanya stop!"
Vanya hesitated long enough for the men to jump back and look for a new path to escape, but Jason was already there.
"We can't kill them yet," Jason said. It was nice to be able to make an all out sprint like that without even losing his breath. With effort he made his voice sound cold, and let his disguise fall away.
He shifted back into his tall, muscular, and far more intimidating form. He was almost certain that he knew who these men were. Vanya seemed to understand what he was doing, as she didn't attack. That or she was pleased that he had included the word 'yet.'
The men in front of him were openly shaking in fear at Jason's new form. Yes, he knew who they had to be.
He pulled out some rope that he had found in another abandoned wagon back in the mountains and tossed it to the men. It landed in front of them, neither of them making a move to catch it.
"Derek," Jason addressed one of them. He kept his eyes down to make it less clear that he had no idea which was Derek. "Tie up your friend for me real fast."
He did his best to maintain a nasty smile, though he wasn't sure how well it was working. The men would have probably been terrified even if he sang at them in falsetto, and despite his inability to see Vanya's face, he could have sworn she was rolling her eyes.
The man on the right's eyes lit up in shock at hearing his name. He was a few years younger than the other, and it wasn't until his companion gave him a little nudge that he picked up the rope and began tying him up.
"Nora, why don't you tie Derek up when he's done." He needed to make it seem like he was in charge here, and what better way than having Nora do the work for him. There was no chance of Vanya doing it regardless.
Jason hoped that neither of the men saw Nora glance at Vanya before doing what Jason said. It wasn't until Vanya gave a tiny nod that she acquiesced and began tying up Derek. She wasn't gentle about it either, he couldn't help but notice.
"Be careful," the sparrow said in his head.
"I know," Jason interrupted her. "They didn't do anything wrong, but I'm doing this to save them. Vanya would have killed them instantly if I'd done anything else. Besides, we need them if we're going to…"
"You do not need to explain it to me. I know what you are thinking."
Jason pushed her out of his mind. He knew what she was going to say. Something about slippery slopes, but couldn't she see that he was trying to do the best thing for everyone?
The two men, now with their hands tied tightly behind them looked up at Jason with terror. Jason had expected them to show some kind of defiance or maybe even fight back a little bit, but it seemed they didn't have any fight in them.
There was a small group of refugees coming up behind them, so they needed to get moving if they wanted to avoid notice. "You two, start walking."
He directed them ahead of him in the same direction they had been going, and they followed reluctantly. "What are you going to do with us?" the older of the two asked.
Jason still didn't know his name, but he ignored the question and kept them walking ahead of him. Vanya eyed him as she walked past him, but didn't say anything. She was going to trust him for now.
Vanya took the lead once again, with Nora behind her and the two men walking in front of Jason a little ways behind. He would have to nail this conversation to have any chance of keeping them alive and getting what he needed.
"If you try anything, I will kill you master and destroy your village without a second thought, so think wisely before trying anything."
He heard whimpering from Derek, but the other man nodded. Jason took a moment to replace his disguise before continuing. His clothes had grown uncomfortably tight and he didn't need anyone else seeing a world famous mass murderer walking down the road.
Jason took his interrogation slowly, but it was easy to keep them talking. A part of it was their fear, but he was also careful to ask only questions that should be common knowledge.
He learned that the current chaos had begun after the king was murdered along with his entire family. He and his line had been ruling Selevas not just as long as anyone could remember, but as long as written history itself.
The hero had taken the throne, but nobody knew exactly what he was doing. He had apparently proclaimed that the king had been murdered by his royal guard and had all but their leader executed. The leader had escaped into thin air and nobody knew where he had gone.
Now the nation was split between those who believed the hero and those who believed that the royal guard would never have killed the king. He didn't know how much he could believe out of what they said, but both men seemed sure that the faction against the hero was the considerably larger of the two.
Well, that would explain the riots and general chaos at least. He still didn't really know which side was which, but did it really matter? He just needed to get in and get out, and he had hopefully found his way in.
"You two are going to accompany me into the capital," he said. He emulated the mason's voice in the hope that it would make them more willing to help him, though perhaps that had been a poor choice.
"And what are you going to do to us afterwards?" Derek asked, voice trembling. "Are you going to kill us and our families?"
It was a brave question, even if he hadn't sounded particularly courageous while saying it. Still, it was one of the few things he had said since Jason had begun his interrogation. His companion had done most of the talking.
Jason ignored the question. "Once in the city, you will do exactly as you intended. You will speak to the hero and say exactly what your master told you to say, and we will accompany you. If everything goes smoothly, then I will allow you to walk free and return to your home."
He paused for a moment for dramatic effect. It felt stupid, but wasn't that what evil people were supposed to do? "If things do not go exactly as I hope, then there will be severe consequences."
They walked in silence for hours more before the sun began to set. Vanya found an increasingly rare bit of land that didn't have any improvements. It was a small patch of dry dirt surrounded by rock outcrops on all sides. The only thing growing inside was a large cactus surrounded by some pathetic shrubs.
They set up camp, tying the two men together in the middle. Jason had been far more nervous about this part than talking to the mason's apprentices. Everything seemed to be going well, but if he couldn't get Vanya on his side then none of it would matter.
Vanya ordered Nora to watch the men, and walked away from the camp with Jason beside her. She walked much farther away than he had expected, until the camp was just barely in view in the dim evening light.
Even so, she spoke in a rumbling whisper to him. "I'm…impressed that you managed to pacify them so easily."
Jason hoped that he had managed to hide his surprise at her reaction, but perhaps he hadn't as Vanya continued.
"I only hope that you don't get too attached to them before this is all over. I would hate to disappoint you." Her voice made it clear exactly how much she would hate that.
"Maybe," Jason said, feeling more confident, "you should start trusting me a little bit more. You say that I'm your people's only hope, so you may as well let me do it my way."
He turned to walk away, but Vanya stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "You give me some evidence that you truly are on my side, and then maybe I'll try to trust you."
She let her hand fall, and Jason walked away without answering her. Why did this all have to be so complicated? What did she want from him? He felt like he had done a pretty good job of following her along and doing what she said. Would it be too much to get a little bit of appreciation for it?
He walked back in a sour mood. He didn't like what he was putting these two men through. They were just barely men anyway. Derek didn't look to be much past eighteen. He didn't want to kill them, but it felt like Vanya wouldn't ever trust him if he didn't do something drastic like that.
"You are not seriously considering it," the sparrow said.
Was it a question or a statement? Jason didn't really know, but it annoyed him. "Just because I have thoughts doesn't mean that I'm actually going to do something." He intended to stop there, but he was slowly becoming angry.
"The world really is simple to you isn't it? There is always a perfect right thing for you. Do you never question yourself? Do you ever think that maybe you're the one that's wrong?"
He had to stop himself before he started yelling out loud in frustration. Vanya would be taking the first watch, so he laid back, closing his eyes. He didn't even feel like looking at the stars tonight.
He laid there with thoughts rushing through his mind unable to sleep. He needed rest, but he just felt so frustrated. Angry at the world, himself, and everyone around him. Eventually, though, exhaustion overpowered him and he began to drift to sleep. Just as he was falling asleep he thought he heard a voice in his head.
"I do wonder."