Azure bonds - Kate Novak [145]
"I'm sorry, Olive," Alias whispered.
Ruskettle glared at her for a moment, then announced, "I'm going to try to get into town. Get some gear for us, see what rumors I can pick up about Meander's people and all your other 'pals' down here."
Akabar broke in, "I've been to Westgate before. I think I might have better luck getting past the gate guards."
"You're decked out in borrowed halfling gear," countered Ruskettle. "They won't take you seriously. I'll get something suitable for you to wear. And, no," she waved aside Alias and Dragonbait, "I work better alone. Especially considering you two are probably wanted by someone or something in Westgate." She strode to the door and then turned back, looking at Akabar.
"One more thing. If I can get a healer to come out here, I will. There's no sense in you living with the pain until he gets enough beauty sleep to fix you up."
She left the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Was it something I said?" Alias asked Akabar. "What's gotten into her?"
Akabar remembered how annoyed Ruskettle had been by the saurial's deception. Apparently, it would take the halfling longer to overcome her anxiety.
Dragonbait hissed at the closed door, and the scent of freshly baked bread wafted from his body.
*****
Ruskettle strode east from The Rising Raven, her short legs still complaining about the earlier long walk to the city. If the dragon had crashed to the north and west, then the guards would be at their weakest at the south and east. The river gate would be her best bet.
The halfling's ears burned, and she was positive that her "friends" were talking about her in the warmth of their warehouse apartment. She had been the one to provide their shelter, yet everyone still fawned over Alias, fought for Alias, and chased through the nine hells for Alias, while she, Olive, had been abandoned with a dragon. And for what? It wasn't like they got any money for what they did.
And to top it off, Alias was so bloody perfect. Like a doll. You wound her up and she rescued people or slew monsters or sang perfectly beautiful songs. And her luck was incredible. Not even a halfling had that kind of luck. She'd been kidnapped by a god- a god, for god's sake!-and she'd escaped, and Akabar and Dragonbait and the dragon had slain the god for her.
The lizard-paladin was another problem completely. The halfling's thoughts wandered back a number of years to an ugly incident in the Living City. She'd been at a bar when some holy fighter, a human paladin, rose unsteadily to his feet, pointed a worn knuckle at her, and shouted, "Thief!" No one doubted him; no one believed her. The fact that she had another's purse in her hands did not help her situation, but she had managed to escape. Since then, she walked carefully around such beings, beings who could look into a person's soul and tell if he was good or evil. That scared Ruskettle. It wasn't fair. And now it turned out that one of these snooty law-and-order types was a member of their party. She felt the saurial's eyes on her all the time, judging her and weighing her worth.
Olive ground her teeth. Now she was going shopping for the warrior-woman, her pet paladin, and the mage. Even Akabar had a tendency to treat her like a child or a thief. He was the hero of Alias's rescue, his spells made the difference, while it had been the lizard's skill in battle that had recruited Mist in the first place. But she, Olive, had been useless. And Akabar would have left her on Mist's back, left her to die, when he flew off to rescue the paladin.
Part of her mind refused this interpretation, knowing full well that everyone had good reasons for doing what they did. But the small part of her mind was easily ignored. What difference does it make? she thought. Sooner or later, Phalse's friends were going to show up and take Alias away.
"I