The Court - Finished!

Krissy:

When I woke slowly, my heavy slumber lightening as the sky was. I loved the feeling of the grass beneath my hands and Daniel warm arms wrapped loosely around me. I could feel where Maria had been was empty and cold. She'd been up for a while now, leaving them to do who knows what.

Maria had always been a wandering soul, restless. She always wanted to move, fight, do something, anything at all. I opened my eyes slowly, the edges of my vision blurred with grogginess. The risen sun shining brightly in a crisp blue sky, a few clouds breezing by. Slipping out of Daniel's slack grip, making sure I didn't wake him, I stood up. I stretched, popping a few bones and I felt refreshed.

I hadn't slept so well in the longest time, always plagued by guard duty, noises, nightmares or just plain paranoia. Here I felt so safe, I never wanted to leave. But I had a promise to myself to keep. Today I would make my plans to infiltrate the city and begin action against the Rogue.

I laughed to myself. I knew exactly how to start.

Maria

I watched the sun climb higher in the sky. I fingered Grayson's dagger. It was still against my waist, next to mine. He probably wanted it back. Eventually I couldn't sit there anymore, got up, and walked into the forest.

I wandered around for a while, in the general direction of the clearing, but I took my time. I knew Grayson probably wasn't there, but I liked that clearing. It was quiet.

After a while of walking I came to it.

Daniel
The sudden chirp of the birds and the whoosh of the wind in his ears made him wake up. He felt he was ok, at least had a good night's sleep, something he hadn't had for days or months. It felt good, besides, it was something he was needing. His body felt relieved and strengthened after it.
He woke up slowly, taking in every smell that surrounded him. But he noticed he was alone, Krissy and Maria were gone. Great, he thought. Well, that's what happened to him every time he slept so good. quite a bad habit, he thought of it. Then he heard a very low, but very beautiful humming. Krissy, he thought. And in that instant he got up and went to look for her and her humming.
"Good Morning, Missy" he said when he found her.

"Good Morning lad" She said turning to him and kissing his cheek.He noticed she was strangely happy today, quite gleefully happy.

"YOu're too happy, today" He pointed out.

"Well, I have reasons to be happy...." She paused, making him eager. "A great plan"

Krissy:

"Am I allowed to be informed of this plan? Or is it confidential?" Daniel said, mockingly.

"Hmm. I'll make an exception for you. Just this once!" I replied.

"Okay enough of your witty bant'r, you'll fry my poor brain. Now what's this plan I hear of?"

"Well, quite simpl', Daniel love, a tease." I said, a mischievous grin on my face.

"A tease?" Daniel looked at my quizzically.

"To the Rogue silly!" I said gleefully.

"Ah! I understand. Are you going to share?"

"Not 'ntil Maria come back. I need some more time to think it through." I said, pulling out parchment and ink.

Daniel kissed my cheek with a smile before heading out to clean the fire pit we'd used the night before.



****I'm going to be sharing the infiltrating the city, it doesn't have to happen yet. I think they should do it soon because the timing is great from killing Hodge but the suspicious that he isn't the leader of the murder plot. It could cause quite a ruckus, no? Go to the discussion thread or PM me with any ideas, questions, suggestions etc.****

GRAYSON

Maria was already there when he reached the meadow. Grayson laughed a little, startling her.

"I see you kept my dagger safe," he smiled, walking towards her. "Thank you."

Grayson was actually very grateful. That dagger meant more to him then his own life. Not that his life was all that important. This dagger was Miguel's, the very one that had been lodged into his heart by Krissy. She had taken the knife from him and Miguel died from his own dagger.

Grayson kept the smile on his face friendly, though it hurt him. He had been thinking of his friend too much today.

Maria shrugged a little. "I thought that you might want it back," she told him.

Grayson nodded. "You plan on staying again today?" He asked, smiling. "We don't have to kill each other yet."

Maria

I handed it to him, holding the blade in my own hand so he would be grabbing the handle. "Yes, I'll stay a while. I've been needing to talk to someone for a while. Krissy tries to listen, but the girl's head over heels in love, and doesn't hear much of what I say."

Then I realized what I had said. Oops.

GRAYSON

He grinned. "Good," he smiled. "It's good to talk to someone. And the other girl's are mad at me because I apparently ditched them. And talking to the Rogue...well, you know."

Maria looked a little embarrassed about something. Grayson laughed a little.

"Well, whether I like Krissy or not, it's good that she found someone," he nodded.

"Have you fell in love with anyone?" Maria asked, then bit her lip as if the question left without her permission.

Grayson laughed. "Me? Yeah right. I don't do that silly courting stuff. Why would I want to court some girl that I don't like. Most girls I meet are the same. Vain, conceited, pompous little brats who expect everything to be handed to them."

Maria raised an eyebrow. Grayson shook his head, smiling. "It the girl's who fight who see the real world Maria," he told her. "I don't see you as vain or pompous."

"Gee, thanks," she rolled her eyes.

Maria

"And what about you Maria?"

I stiffened in surprise. I swallowed. "What about me what?"

"Have you ever fallen in love?

I bit my lip, unsure if I should answer. Then, after a moment... "Remember that someone else that I told you was killed when I was taken to the Rogue?"

Grayson nodded.

"That was him."

GRAYSON

Grayson instantly dropped the foolish grin on his face. "I'm sorry. Shouldn't have asked," he mumbled.

Maria only shrugged. Grayson sighed. Well, he only lived once and his life might be cut short because he had a feeling Maria might kill him if she didn't like it.

He put a hand on her shoulder gently. "Look, Maria, why do you act like nothing bothers you? You're always shrugging things off. There is being tough and being to tough. You act too tough. You can't just not talk about it."

Maria

I was startled when he touched my shoulder, but I found that I didn't really mind. I sighed. "I don't know... I guess I just got so used to hiding my feelings when I was made to serve the Rogue that I got too good at it and too used to it."

I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes. I could see the scene clearly in my head. "They killed him right there in front of me." I said quietly. "I had to watch him fall on the floor, bleeding and barely alive. I was right there when the life left him completely..." Tears were beginning to come to my eyes again. Just remembering how his eyes had faded... "Oh God, I'm doing it again..." I wiped my eyes and looked down. I didn't want Grayson to see me cry again.

Jas

Kayla and I trudged down the street, exhausted. We had been running around the city since 4 in the morning, hunting for leads on the gold mine and questioning people on the street as discreetly as we could. No one seemed to know anything, although we had found three counterfeited gold coins. Lorraine had gone to the city jail to see if anyone had been arrested for using counterfeited coins, and Kayla and I were heading back to the Rogue's headquarters to update Grayson and check on the Rogue.

"It's weird," Kayla said suddenly as we cut through a narrow alley, "that we always get stuck working together even though we hate each other."

"I don't hate you," I said quietly, and she looked at me, surprised. "At least, I don't think I do anymore. A couple of months ago, I couldn't stand you, but now... We're kind of the same, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, not looking at me.

"I don't know," I said. I couldn't believe that we were having a conversation about feelings. "We both have that... drive that the others don't. We care about the Rogue. Sometimes I think we care too much. Grayson and Lorraine, they'd die for him too, but it's not the same."

"No," Kayla said softly. "It's not. Everyone else is loyal, they're great fighters and I love them, but in the end, when it really matters, we're going to be there, not them."

"Exactly." We stood aside as a horse drawn cart careened down the street, melons rolling off the back.

"I'm scared," Kayla confessed when the man driving the cart was out of hearing distance again.

"Me too," I said. "Not for myself, but for the Rogue. For the Loyals. There's this gold mining thing, and I still don't think that those girls are dead. Our enemies are closing in on all sides, and it's only a matter of who's going to strike first. And if something happens... We'd die for the Rogue. We both know we would. But is it worth it? Is he worth it?"

"Of course," she said. "He's completely worth it."

But she didn't sound so sure.

** Word Count: 35866 Woohoo! I've organized it in a document on my computer. We finish, I promise to edit it over the Christmas holidays and post it here (As in the Advance Critique forum).**

Krissy

I smiled to myself as I etched out the citywalls on the parchement, watching my plan take structure in front of my eyes. I marked down crosses for the important points, blocks for buildings and circles for the entrance and escape routes.

I thought back to when I was 10 years old with Daniel, our first big robbery together.

Taking Daniel's hand I pulled him into the alleyway. The knight that was shouting and stumbling in the street outside the tavern is was our objective today. The glinting daggers in his belt was what we needed. As we got older, it got dangerous in these streets. I needed the daggers, badly. Just last night a girl my age had been killed by another urchin. I knew how to fight, but as the boys got older and stronger I would need daggers as a precaution. The world was tough as a street kid but I would overcome it if it was the only thing I could do. The knight passed by the alleyway hollering at a young woman.

"Com' on Daniel. Let's d' it."

We flashed out of the alleyway, knocking the knight over. As we went down my hand found our prize, his daggers came out smoothly. Skittering upwards, I hide them in my ragged tunic. Daniel stuttered an apology to the red-faced, shouting knight and we walked off casually. Half way down the street he began to holler louder than before, obviously realizing we had stolen his daggers. We turned around to see him running towards us, furious. Me and Daniel exchanged glances and took off sprinting, the knight was fast and drunk. We knew the nooks and crannies of the city, and we lost him quickly. We slipped between two walls where rocks had been spilled in. We rolled the big rock over and slipped into our little tunnel that led outside of the city walls. Our city streaked faces smiling brightly in the dark.

With a happy sigh, I pulled out my daggers. Still with me to this day. I'd gotten out of many fights as a kid with these. They were invisibly stained with the blood of hundreds, and they carried the darkest memories in them, but losing them would destroy me. Putting the daggers away I turned back to my work, finishing off the plan carefully. I couldn't wait to share my idea.

** Are we waiting for someone still? Dx
One note: If we finish it, I promise to edit it and if it's good enough try to get it published. Does that motivate you guys or what. PM me your email address if you want the document I created of the entire storybook so far. I'd send it to you when you ask me then again when the storybook is done**

*** That definetely motivates me! ***

Jas

The main room in the Rogue's palace was packed with various thieves, assassins, and thugs, all eating, gambling and talking loudly. Kayla's eyes immediately went to the food piled on tables at the back of the room.

"I'll find Grayson so we can update him on the search," I said. "Find us a table?"

Kayla nodded and started to weave her way through the crowd. I turned and slipped back through the doorway, heading for the Rogue's throne room. I hoped Grayson wasn't mad that he'd had to watch the Rogue for so long, but someone needed to do it. Besides, he spent half his time with the Rogue anyways.

There were only two guards outside the throne room as usual. Apparently the Rogue still wasn't taking the assassin plan seriously. I nodded to the men as I opened the door and walked in.

Five feet from the threshold, I froze. The Rogue was pacing along the far wall, looking preoccupied, and the rest of the room... was empty.

"Where's Grayson?" I asked.

The Rogue looked up. "Grayson? He left a couple hours ago."

"He left? Just... walked out?" I said, feeling a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach. The Rogue nodded, and I clenched my fists. "Sorry to interrupt, sir," I forced out, spinning on my heel and marching out of the room, my steps quick with anger.

I leaned against the wall in the hallway, a mixture of anger and betrayal racing through me. Grayson had left. He had promised to guard the Rogue, and he had left, just walked out like it didn't matter to him. Ditching me and Kayla, I could forgive. But leaving the Rogue practically undefended, when we knew that someone was determined to kill our master? That was unforgivable. We had trusted him to do his duty, and he had turned around and slapped us in the face.

I sighed and walked back to the throne room. I would guard the Rogue for the rest of the night, and when - and if - Grayson showed up, he was going to regret leaving.

GRAYSON

Grayson was shocked that Maria was crying. He shook his head and smiled softly.

"This is good," he assured her. "It's alright to cry. Especially considering your...story."

Maria shrugged a little, though she looked as if she felt a little better. Grayson smiled a little and put an arm around her shoulder. She tensed and looked up at him. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Relax, Maria," he told her, feeling happy and warm with his arm draped around her. "We don't have t hate each other. I mean, I don't hate you. You've...grown on me."

Grayson laughed again and Maria relaxed a little more, though he could tellshe was still a little nervous.