Yanking the strap, Lapis tightened Patch’s pack and hefted it onto the bed. Funny, how she and her partner had not used the room much since arrival, spending more time at the farm than in Ragehill proper.
And now they would leave it behind for the cold, dark interiors of forgotten tunnels.
She rubbed at her eyes as she exited the room and headed for the kitchen. She wanted sugar spice cookies and tea, something to warm her chilled fingers and, perhaps, soothe the rush of disquiet that coursed through her chest. After discussions with Lorcan, his advisors, and the emeritus historian, Charice, Tearlach decided to send an exploratory group that included her and her partner to the rediscovered corridors, searching for a way in that could accommodate the terrons. The tunnels were large enough, but no one thought the stair leading down could hold a lizard’s weight.
Charice, who had done her dissertation on the history of Ragehill, from Alba religious center to Taangis military base, believed that the place must have multiple entrances. All other Taangis-built underground environments did, as directed by empire law. Official entries large enough to move supplies were somewhere, and hopefully not blocked by cave-ins.
Lapis thought it odd that people so removed from Taangis proper followed the stricture, but Charice claimed that the empire experienced enough guerilla attacks on bases and Taangis-owned businesses that Taangins built multiple escape pathways everywhere. No one wanted the wealthy and influential to get kidnapped for execution or held for ransom.
Of course not. And the typical, non-influential individuals? What about them?
Frowning, she paused. Screams echoed down the hallway, high-pitched enough children made them. She passed the kitchen and strode towards the commotion, curious what caused kids to sound as if they witnessed a guttershank kidnapping one of their own. A rebel from the comms center peeked out of the room, then joined her.
“Did you see what’s going on?” she asked.
“Nope.”
They reached the nearest cross-corridor; to the left, a cluster of kids ranging from six or seven to older teens ringed Rin, who hunched over, arms curled over and protecting his head, while another, muscular teen hit him with meaty thunks. Another teen had her arm across Scand’s chest while her friend stood in front of him, arms out to the side, palms facing back, though whether they protected him or kept him from rushing to help, she could not say.
“Ty!” the rebel yelled, pushing through the group. Ty looked up; malicious fury twisted his lips, lit his dark eyes. What had Rin done to provoke him so?
He smacked Rin one more time before backing up. The rebel grabbed his arm and hauled him away as Rin straightened and stumbled.
“Got you.” Lapis’s arms snaked around his chest to keep him upright. She noted several stiff areas of his new black jacket where he kept small knives; good thing he refused to use them. Linz was an exceptional ‘keeper, but even she would have trouble cleaning up that mess.
She needed to ask him who bought the weapons for him because she didn’t think Caitria provided them when she gifted Abastion winter clothing to him and Scand.
“What are you doing? He’s a guest!” the rebel yelled, as the other kids evaporated from the confrontation and crowded together, heads down as if she tore into them, too. Ty snarled but said nothing as he yanked his appendage away from the woman. She snatched at his knee-length jacket sleeve, but he avoided her.
“What in the Pit, Rin?” Lapis whispered.
“Don’t blame me.” Embers of irritation rattled his tone, but he, as a street rat, knew how to keep emotions in check when he needed to. “He jes’ asked iffen I knows Caitria. Said I did.”
“That’s all?”
Scand trotted up and pressed against her side, a gleam in his eyes that promised pain for the wayward Ragehill teen. “That’s all,” he agreed, huffy and pissed. “All we wanted to do was look around. I don’t know what this group was doing, but they were already here, talking.” He growled. “Well, not really talking. The girls were pretty loud, but I couldn’t tell what they were arguing about.”
The rebel tried to snag Ty again, and he smacked her arm away, whirling to leave.
“You’re lucky.”
Lapis caught everyone’s attention. Good. Ty flipped his brown hair and eyed her, his mouth pulling down in a bitter grimace.
“Me?”
“Rin fights guttershanks and wins because he’s stellar at analyzing threats.” The rat did nothing as she reached past the open breast of his jacket and snagged the short knife he hid in the upper interior pocket; she withdrew it from its thin sheath and presented it to the wide-eyed group. Ty’s anger dwindled as he rubbed at his chest and regarded the weapon. Too late, to have it dawn on him that his opponent could have done serious damage if so inclined. “If he thought you were a danger, you wouldn’t have left this fight on your own two feet.” She smiled, as pleasant as Lady Lanth could be. “We realize Ragehill does things differently than the streets of Jiy. Thank my brother’s understanding, that you can walk away.”
“He’s not your brother,” Ty hissed. Her immediate gut reaction to snarl at him for the outrageous statement died quick because she knew he meant to taunt her. More than teen angst directed against a stranger drove him. What had Caitria to do with it?
“Yes, he is. Chosen family is as important as those created by birth. Rin and Scand know this. Surely you do as well?”
Edgy unease replaced Ty’s anger. He shifted stance, debating whether to run or continue the confrontation. At least three of the teens glared at him, proving they did not respect his petulance.
Scand nudged her. “Be nice,” he whispered.
Annoying rat! She was being nice!
She flipped the knife and Rin snagged the hilt and pulled away to re-sheath it, as blank as a pristine sheet of paper before Scand spilled ink on it. Her gaze lingered on the silent kids, the majority of whom regarded them with bulging eyes and hard-pressed lips, then cocked her head and nodded towards Ty. “I don’t know what began this fight, but if it happens again, be sure I will end it.”
“There won’t be a need,” the rebel growled. Lapis anticipated that Lorcan and Caitria’s sister Cawry would hear about the incident and have a chat with Ty. Good. She did not know how justice worked in Ragehill, but she would find out, if need be.
“You tell us to be nice,” Scand grumbled as he turned away. She pivoted, realized Dagby and a couple of other Abastion rebels watched from the crossway, and sighed.
“It’s polite to warn the other party of consequences.” Rin huffed at her explanation, and she slipped her arm about his waist and hugged him. “Especially with you two.” He hissed, and she relaxed her hold, guilty at causing him pain.
“Yeah,” Scand said. “If this were Jiy—”
“It ain’t,” Rin muttered.
Dagby looked behind them, and Lapis had the impression he kept his humor tightly bound. That annoyed her, but she found the other Abastion rebels shaking their heads in exasperated acceptance more interesting. The chaser joined them as they headed to the commons room, his satisfaction peeking through.
“They didn’t believe me, when I told them you were holdin’ back, Rin,” he said. “Now they want to know how armed you are.”
“Tis a dangerous place we’s goin’. No reason not t’ have ‘m.”
“Who bought them for you, anyway?” Lapis asked.
“Brander.”
That surprised her, since she expected him to name Patch.
“I’ll get you an ice pack,” Scand said, then took off for the kitchen.
“Well, I know what you’re capable of,” Lapis said. “And I’m proud of you for holding back. As a chaser, you need to assess situations and sometimes choose as you did. It’s not fun, but no matter how annoying, he didn’t deserve a blade between the ribs to end the fight.”
“You done ended it, showin’ m’ knife,” he grumbled.
“Like you don’t have more.”
Dagby chuckled. “That kid’s gotta be wonderin’, how many,” he said. “Why’d he pick a fight with you?”
Rin lifted one shoulder. “All he asked, were ‘bout whether I knew Caitria. Said I did. Then he hit me.”
“We need to ask Caitria about it,” Lapis said. “Until we find out more, you and Scand need to stay in the commons room or leave with company. That sucks, but I don’t want you to suffer more if he goes after you again.”
“Show ‘m yer knives, Lanth,” he grumbled. “Be fun t’ watch ‘m try ‘n talk his way outta that trouble.”
“I want a doctor to look at you, too. He hit hard.”
“Yeah, knows it,” he said, wincing as he moved his arm about.
Lapis firmed her lips as worry descended. She needed to scout the tunnels, but leaving Rin in Ragehill, anywhere near a violent teen, left a resinous dread in her heart. As easy-going as he was, he would not take a beating a second time. And if Ty went after Scand?
She needed to ask the terrons to keep an eye on the two, then see if Tearlach had something they could do that would keep them in the commons room under the pretext of busy. Even if they suspected otherwise, they represented her as her apprentices in Ragehill, and boring busy work was part of the job.
