"Of course there's a change of plans. You let Finn get involved." Riley looked up from his search and rolled his eyes playfully. She huffed in mild irritation.
"You two know each other?" Kristoff asked Finn.
"Yes, I do happen to be acquainted with the most irritating man on the planet." Finn teased. Honestly, Kristoff could give Riley a run for the title after being so condescending to her earlier. "Let me introduce you. This is Corporal Riley, son of Ashmayne, last holder of the Valor Sword."
"Could have left that part out," Riley chided. "Making me seem like some pretentious up-and-comer. You're the real hero."
"Hush, you, I'm nothing of the kind. Now, as Kristoff was about to explain," She took over the interchange lest Riley embarrass her further, "we're going to switch up the search pattern and move to the oldest known parts of the tunnel system first. We're going to focus on anything ancient, having to do with roots, or mentioning the Sorcerer or Sorcerer's will, as well as anything that might have been left behind when Rhone was driven out hundreds of years ago."
The men of Riley's team stared at her blankly. When had a civilian woman been put in charge of two teams of peacekeeping officers and an army corporal?
"You heard the woman." Kristoff pulled a folded map from a satchel and spread it out on top of a box.
The teams studied the map to figure out which areas were oldest, zeroing in on a section far at the back of the city towards the mountain. The city had slowly expanded outward towards the walls over time, and the tunnels snaked along underneath to follow. Some passages led all the way into the mountains as an escape route.
Finn felt a little dizzy as she watched the men discuss the map. It looked hopelessly complicated to her. The lines were drawn in different shades of darkness, apparently representing the depth of the specific tunnel depicted. Spatial reasoning was not something she was talented at and she realized that getting separated and lost down here might mean she would never find her way out again.
The older tunnels particularly had apparently been largely guessed at, as to direction, depth, and grade. Though the more modern tunnels were fairly well regimented, straight, and parallel like a grid, the ancient ones ran like a haphazard spiderweb.
"I think it best we start this tomorrow," Kristof said. "It's late and we're all in need of fresh air and a good night's rest after all day in these tunnels."
Is it really that late? Finn wondered, but followed the men out of the tunnels. They took her to a different, closer exit than the one she'd come in through, and she was grateful to be spared walking through that first, very narrow tunnel.
She blinked hard against the sunlight, even though it was nearing dusk. The officers dispersed to their residences, leaving Riley and Finn standing there.
"Welcome to the search team," He said with a lopsided grin, "We're glad to have you."
"Quiet you. Don't waste time talking to me, I know you're dying to go see Ashley without my interruption." She winked at him, and he... turned red? Riley could blush? "I need to get back to the Shermans' for supper. I'll tell Mayra you said hello."
"Thanks. Have a good rest! See you tomorrow!" He waved and took off, leaving her in a fit of laughter. She knew what that eagerness was like.
Her gaze slid to the horizon. She hoped Roland was all right, wherever he was.
____________
Riley arrived at Ashley's house quickly. He was slightly out of breath as his walk had become a jog somewhere along the way. He raised his hand to knock at the door and had barely rapped it when it opened wide.
"Bear! Right on time, I was going out for my evening stroll," Ashley breezed past him in a smart walking gown. "Since I'm not allowed to proceed about the city by myself, it will be a pleasure to have your company."
He grinned easily and ignored her jab. She pretended to resent him telling her what to do, but since it was for her safety and nothing else, he didn't think she actually minded.
She walked quickly, but as Riley's legs were far longer it was almost a casual amble to keep up with Ashley.
"I trust your day was pleasant?" He spoke for the first time.
"Well enough, thank you," She replied. "I found time for embroidery and baking and all manner of purely feminine pursuits." She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"That must be a welcome change after your extended stay amongst the male of the species," He offered graciously. "Men can be intolerable."
"Indeed." She clipped.
"I'm sure you felt quite the range of emotions while trapped amongst soldiers... Scared. Anxious. Delighted. Curious. Euphoric. Terrified." As he listed the adjectives she'd used the day before, her face grew red.
She spun on him to hit him on the shoulder with her fan.
"I told you to forget all that!" She squeaked at him.
"And I told you I wouldn't." He didn't bother deflecting her blow this time, as he continued walking. She quick-stepped to catch up with him.
They were silent for a time, her face flaming red, his unusually calm. She hated it. He was patiently waiting for her to speak and she was fuming at him for bringing up her feelings.
"Well??" Ashley demanded at last, thoroughly exasperated with her walking companion.
He raised an eyebrow, expressing mild surprise. "Well what?"
"Say something!" She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. The frustrated gesture caused her to miss seeing a loose cobblestone, and her next step landed slightly awkwardly.
She had barely begun tripping when Riley caught her and set her upright, dropping his hands immediately when she was steady. She wished he hadn't, then felt embarrassed that she wished so.
"What would you like me to say?" He asked with a serious tone. "You didn't want me to talk about feelings, so what topic of conversation would be acceptable?"
"I didn't want you to bring up MY feelings," She said, exasperated, "Yours are perfectly within the realm of what you may discuss."
"That seems a bit one-sided, doesn't it?" Riley tilted his head with a quizzical tone.
"The world isn't fair, Riley. Nothing I can do about it." Ashley shrugged.
"You called me Riley," He responded.
"And?" She asked.
"You don't, normally. You call me 'Bear' or 'Supreme Officer Corporal Riley,' but rarely just my name. I like it." He smiled at her warmly, and she blushed.
"Why is that?" Ashley ventured softly.
"It does funny things to my heart. Makes my stomach do a little flip. I'm not exactly sure why." It was Riley's turn to shrug.
"Tell me more about that," They walked onward and he contemplated the request.
They came closer to the city gate, and he recognized the place where he'd run into her upon his return to the city. Currently, a group of evacuees were being escorted through the gate before it closed, but they turned the other direction and headed to some designated location the soldiers guided them to.
Riley paused so that they would have the entire road to themselves, with Ashley beside him. She glanced up at him and he looked pointedly at the alley she'd dragged him into for that first private conversation they'd had.
She apparently recognized it too, from the way she ducked her head and averted her gaze.
He looked around, and seeing that the evacuees had moved on and no one was looking their direction, grinned and strode directly into the shadows between the buildings, leaving a staring Ashley in his wake.
Realizing she was now standing completely alone in the middle of the street, she chased after him. As she strode into the shade of the large building, it took her eyes a moment to adjust. She peered around and couldn't locate Riley, then suddenly found herself pulled deeper into the shadows.
She squealed in mild fright as she came to a stop and looked up at Riley's wide grin.
"I couldn't resist," He said. "You've done that to me more than once now, I wanted you to see how it felt for a change."
"I'll never do it again," Ashley promised, trying to bring her heart rate down from the frantic pace it adopted when he'd startled her.
"Don't say that," Riley frowned. "Wasn't it even a little fun?"
"Maybe a little," She allowed in the face of his disappointment. He grinned his lopsided smile.
"That's a brave former soldier," He encouraged, and she smiled warmly.
His stomach did a flip in the wake of his little prank as he realized how closely they stood now in the narrow alley.
"I suppose I should escort you back home," He said to fill the quiet, and offered his elbow to his companion.
Emboldened by the dim light, she took his elbow with both her hands, then used the leverage to pull him down and herself up. He leaned down obligingly, as she acted as if to whisper a secret in this ear.
Instead, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.