Mendax stood waiting that night, as he had since Caenum had been dealt with.
He leaned forward against the railing of the roof. This was another location that Nix used for leaving letters for their people. The only one he knew of for Fluentem. Although from the last letter he'd gotten, it sounded like the entire system was being reorganized.
So far, no letters had come. He could only hope it would stay that way.
At this point, it won't be a letter that arrives.
The conundrum Mendax found himself in was that he had deserted. At least, that was how Flos would see him abstaining from an order.
The Lord of Nix wouldn't look kindly on it either.
Explaining that his duties of protecting the people and serving them didn't include killing his younger brother's embarrassing ex-fiancées wouldn't go far with them. As they saw it, his duty was to obey them.
Between the mess of the slavers, Mendax had tried to think of a solution. Perhaps he could try to trick Flos and buy time.
But at any moment, Nivis would be able to destroy that story if he so desired.
Nivis was not something Mendax would bet his life on. Aureum's cloak still hadn't been sent from the time Nivis bought it in the auction, despite his brother's promise.
Lying about doing his task would sign his death warrant for certain.
If he fled, Aureum could die. If he stayed without sending any letters, Calces was sure to send someone after him. If he sent any letters to Calces, the men under Flos would be sure to notice.
The best tactical option would be to flee far and fast. What had first seemed absurd, leaving Nix, now seemed like the obvious choice. What reason did he have to stay? He would be seen as a monster by strangers? He was used as a monster by his father! He had no way of life outside Nix? All Nix offered him was ways to kill others and slowly kill any integrity he managed to cling to!
What had begun as a mix of spite towards his brother and mercy towards an innocent was quickly becoming very reasonable. Or perhaps Mendax was excellent at lying even to himself, as Nivis had suggested.
But if he could let Aureum die, he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
He had completely tied his own hands.
He could only wait for whoever would show up first. A man sent by Calces, who may have secret ties to Nix, as he had, or someone directly sent by Nix.
Any connection of Nix would have to be snuffed out as soon as possible, but if the mercenary came from only Calces, Mendax might be able to leave Aureum.
From what he understood of her situation, Aureum was not high enough priority to keep trying to kill her if she was out of sight and difficult to target.
Still, the distance and the reorganization of communication were likely all that bought them this much time. Even that was running out. Her situation might not be important, but this much silence on it would call for more action.
Explaining the situation to her was another option, but it wasn't the easiest task either.
The second he came out and told her the truth, his credibility would be in flames. He would be surprised if she believed any warning that came from his mouth.
It was possible she could return to her family out of concern, which would only draw Caducus' attention. Or worse, maybe she'd just want to tackle the problem directly.
No, Mendax thought. Even Aureum's not that crazy.
Still, the problem remained.
Yes, Aureum, I was sent by the man who was nearly your father-in-law to watch and potentially kill you, but I'd really gotten sick of being such a tool for him, so I decided better to not, if you hear me? You still need to watch your back, though. Best of luck!
Mendax groaned and rubbed his face. It always itched.
Even if by some fluke she believed him, his soul drew thin just thinking of telling her.
He had to admit it. He liked being near her.
He was uncertain if he liked the way she treated him with indifference despite his actions and face, or if he enjoyed watching out for her.
Maybe it's just the little game of house we've landed ourselves in.
Despite everything surrounding it, these past weeks felt like peace to Mendax. The guilt that kept him from looking out of the corner of his eyes had finally cleared, and he found a gorgeous open sky waiting for him.
This only made things worse. It would all come crashing down eventually. Like a house of glass, shattered by one small rock.
Whether it was when Aureum learned the truth of what he'd tried to do, or the fact that a deserter of house Nix would draw Caducus' ire down upon them more than any reason Aureum could have, this delicate relationship would fall apart.
Yet I can't leave until…
Until what?
It had been nice to dream, but all dreams have to end.
Dear goddess of Bonum, at least give me enough time that she isn't still throwing needles when I have to go.
There was no assurance given by the open sky or by the stars. He stood there from night into the early hours, with a weight upon his lungs that kept him from taking too deep a breath.
———————————————————
The next day, a knocking rang out on the inn door. Aureum opened it, expecting Mendax with Vitreum or Aquila, only to see Lacuna at her door.
"Lacuna!" Aureum said. "What brings you to me?!"
She hugged the taller woman. Lacuna was a bit stiff but loosened up quickly.
"I wanted to know what kept you from me!" Lacuna spoke with a bashful smile.
"Oh!"
Aureum realized with horror that she hadn't checked in with Lacuna.
My promise!
She hadn't contacted her in the middle of the most recent mess to keep Lacuna out of it; this was true. That excuse was harder to say in front of the woman herself.
"I've been busy," Aureum said.
"I know, Sitis told me," Lacuna said.
"He did?!"
He was the one who suggested not telling you!
"Don't get mad at him, I asked him first! I figured something was up when he was busy these past couple of weekends. But I didn't know you were in the middle of it! After everything, are you all right?"
Aureum winced.
It was our arrogance thinking we could keep her out of the loop.
"I should have come to visit you, I'm sorry. But come in! I'm not gonna keep you out in the hallway to talk."
In between moving a chair for her and clearing the little table of clutter, Aureum gave a hasty rendition of events.
"I kind of picked up the kid that tried to bully you," she said, putting the fairytale books into Vitreum's bag. "But I was caught myself and escaped." She took an offending dirty dress and shoved it in her own bag. "And, after all that, Mendax beat the slavers who kidnapped me…"
Aureum's words dropped off as she looked at yesterday's lunch, which she hadn't finished or cleared. The embarrassment heated up her face.
"Aureum, you don't have to tell me anything if it makes you uncomfortable. I didn't visit for that. I wanted to make sure you were all right. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Lacuna only had concern as she spoke. She'd misread Aureum's silence.
Aureum relaxed a little. If Lacuna wasn't offended by the state of things, it wouldn't do to worry about it.
"You don't need to do anything for me," Aureum said. "I don't need anything, but tell me how you've been?"
Lacuna, soft and sweet Lacuna, made a face.
"It's been fine," Lacuna tried to cover up over it.
"That bad, huh?"
Lacuna rested her forehead on her hands. Aureum felt a mixture of concern and amusement.
"How bad is it? You're making me a little worried here."
Lacuna raised her head.
"Oh, it's nothing serious. It's just my parents, or well, my whole family. I can't believe I'm complaining about feeling loved… but I also feel smothered."
"Of course, your family would want to smother you. They haven't seen you for years, and you're you!"
"Even my friends want to smother me."
This soft admonishment cut Aureum to the heart worse than shouting.
"Hey. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Tell me if you want to be told about something dangerous next time."
"Tell me!" Lacuna said, her eyes flashing. "Tell me and let me decide what to do with that information!"
The dark woman stilled, taking the time to choose her next words. Aureum was shocked into silence.
"I'm glad you're all in good health and care for my well-being, but still tell me. I might have been able to help you."
Aureum closed her eyes for a moment.
"Yes, next time I'll tell you," she snapped them open. "But back to this smothering business, what exactly is going on?"
"Oh, I guess it's normal. To them, I'm still that little girl who was scared of the dark. I just haven't been able to convince them otherwise."
"It's not your fault you can't change their mind. If they don't open their eyes to see, what can you do?"
"I suppose. And they don't seem to like Sitis either, which doesn't help, but… the saddest part is, I'm more comfortable with him than with them. This is all trivial compared to what you're going through."
"Hey, let's not compare tragedies. Besides, I think my most recent one is behind me."
Aureum tried to make light of it, but Lacuna's face didn't ease in worry at all.
"We can hope. It's difficult to stay frustrated at my own family either way. I'm certain things just need time."
"Aw, you're not gonna give me any juicy details?"
Lacuna smiled.
"It's really not that interesting. Sitis said you were taking care of Vitreum?"
That's a no.
"Well. I did mention kidnapping, right? See, I kind of kidnapped Vitreum."
Lacuna waited, blinking. Then she waved her hands in Aureum's direction.
"Well? Explain! Certainly, you had a reason?"
"Ah, she was basically being neglected. And her brother pulled her into the middle of some real nonsense! I was completely justified, and I don't regret it! All right, I do wish I had planned things out a bit better."
"Aureum!"
"What?"
"You can't talk about how you wished you'd planned your kidnapping better. That's just not right!"
They both giggled a bit as they spoke.
"Why not? Maybe kidnapping kids in certain situations should be done more often, and I sure hope whoever does the job doesn't mess it up like I did!"
"Tell me you're going to return her to her family!"
"Of course, of course."
Lacuna's smile widened despite herself. Much of the awkwardness of the first few minutes slid off like a stuffy cloak after that. They resumed their acquaintance without its burden.
"I don't know what's going on with me," Aureum said. "I don't know how long I'll be in the city, but if your family is being too repressive, just come by here. Although Vitreum is usually here."
"They're not repressive," Lacuna said.
"Isn't that what smothering is?" Aureum said.
Lacuna didn't reply, but Aureum got the sense that no, to Lacuna, smothering was not repression. Aureum shrugged.
"Whenever you want, as long as I'm here."
"Should I try to get you to come over after you neglected me once? Now that I've given you a bad impression, I at least need to give my family the chance to defend their image!"
Aureum winced a little and chuckled at the end as appropriate.
"I'd still like to wait a bit until things die down," she replied. "You are one thing, but I'd hate to bring trouble to their doorstep."
"All right, shall I let you off for that one?"
Aureum nodded. There was a bit of a lull in the conversation, as both thought of what to say.
"Are you fine, rooming with Mendax?" Lacuna said.
"I'm fine. I'm comfortable."
It was a surprise to Aureum that she found these quick words to be true.
It wasn't a dream come true. There was one tiny room between three people, and all three of them could be pigheaded.
Still, she felt there were worse people she could have been stuck with than a spoiled eight-year-old and a murderous sellsword.
It was better than being alone.
"I see."
It seemed Lacuna didn't entirely believe Aureum, and Aureum couldn't blame her.
"Have you and Sitis made any progress?"
Lacuna's concerned expression gained an amused eyebrow raise.
"Neither of us have really had time for anything—
"Come on, I know you made time for him yesterday~."
"Oh, stop it! We've both been pretty busy. You're half the problem with him not having time for me anyways!"
"I'll straighten out my life immediately then, but I want to hear all about your dates!"
"I'd tell you, but how can I when we've barely got the chance for anything interesting to happen and you don't talk to me!"
"Let go of that last part already!"
Their conversation lasted until Mendax and Vitreum returned, deep in the afternoon before dinner. Lacuna had promised dinner to some other friend, so Aureum had to let her go.
During the scarce minutes Vitreum and Lacuna were in the room, Vitreum didn't get up to any trouble. Aureum wondered from her behavior if Vitreum remembered Lacuna at all.
A commoner bullied in the street may not have made much of an impression.
This made her wonder how much Aureum had improved with a bit of attention. Vitreum was no saint, but compared to when Aureum met her, she wasn't any heathen either.
With a stable home, how much better would she be?
Mendax left after dinner to who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what. Aureum didn't ask.
The two had agreed to leave training till tomorrow, which is why he and Vitreum hadn't returned earlier. This had turned out nicely for all in the end.
She watched Vitreum drag her ragdoll's arm for Snowfluffles to bat around.
She looks more relaxed.
Aureum felt there was a lot that Vitreum kept emotionally from her. Sure, she was a guardian-like figure for the kid, and Vitreum liked her well enough, but she wasn't her mother. She didn't come looking for her to bawl her eyes out to.
A relationship like that wasn't something built in a week or two.
Aureum took a moment to weigh her options.
I should just tell the kid what's going on to the best of my ability. The longer I wait, the more it's going to hurt when I drop it on her.
Still, it was one thing to break bad news over one's head without any ceremony, and it was another to tell it in a way that allowed the listener to prepare.
"Vitreum," Aureum began, "There are a few things I have to explain to you."