I sat across from Maya on the opposite bed. She had assumed the same pose Rowan had previously—feet hanging off the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Just like Rowan, she spoke first.
"Kai," she said softly.
I looked at her and responded, "Yeah?"
She didn't move, still staring at the ceiling above. "I-" she stopped cutting off her words before taking a second and continuing "I'm scared."
At first, I was shocked. My mouth opened wide at these frail, fragile words coming from the strong, confident girl I had become so accustomed to. Then I remembered—underneath all that power and confidence, there was still just a 12-year-old girl without any place to call home.
She wasn't reincarnated like me or weirdly mature for her age like Rowan. She was simply a young girl who had suffered one unfortunate event after another and used her overwhelming power to mask how scared she really is.
My expression softened before I responded, "I-I know. Me too."
I took a beat and continued, "But I swear we're gonna be okay. I'll make sure of it."
She still didn't move from her position and simply responded, "Thank you, Kai."
I didn't say anything more and let the conversation idle until Rowan finally got out of the bath.
"You weren't kidding, Maya. I feel like a whole new person," he grinned while walking towards us. Suddenly noticing the tense atmosphere, he squinted his eyebrows. "Did I... interrupt something?"
I sat there, trying to think of exactly what to say, but thankfully, Maya spoke up.
"No, nothing. What do you guys say we go downstairs and eat? I'm starving."
She started to stand up, and Rowan chimed in, "Now we're talking. I could eat a horse right now."
I smiled and stood up with them, and we made our way downstairs to get some food.
We sat at the bar and ordered simple beef stew and waters. Thankfully, the service was quick, and they didn't take too long to get us our food. Before we knew it, we were stuffing our faces.
"Oh my god, I'm in heaven," Rowan said while shoveling the stew into his mouth.
I didn't want to ruin the mood, but I knew there were some things we still needed to discuss. So I spoke up.
"After we eat, I'm going to buy a sword, and we should get some new clothes and armor. Then we'll visit Lilia and give them their cuts. And tomorrow, we should wake up early and take one more job before leaving town."
Maya dropped her spoon in the stew and looked at me, shocked. "Another job already? After what just happened?"
I was about to retort, but Rowan cut in first. "We don't have the luxury of time right now, Maya. We have to keep moving until we're at the capitol."
Her expression faded into slight sorrow. "I know, it's just..."
She was having trouble finishing her sentence, but she didn't need to. I knew what she was trying to say, so I offered my best attempt at comfort.
"It's gonna be okay, Maya. We're gonna be okay."
Her expression opened back up a little, and she gave me a nod.
We finished our stew, paid, and started to head to the shopping district to get everything we needed.
The weight of our recent experiences hung in the air—unspoken but understood. We were three children thrust into a world far more dangerous and complicated than we should have ever known. Yet here we were, surviving, protecting each other, moving forward with a determination that belied our young ages.
As we walked, I couldn't help but feel a mix of fear and hope. Fear of what might be hunting us, of the unknown dangers ahead. But hope—hope that we would make it to the capitol, hope that we would find safety, hope that we would survive.