"Hold!" called out a soldier riding at the front of the group.

      Everyone stopped and watched as he dismounted and walked toward something on the path. 

     "What is it, Varden?" asked a soldier riding behind Thane and Leighton.

      Varden looked around and kicked the large tree branch laying across the road. He looked up and didn't see any sign it had fallen from the only tree within twenty feet.

      "Tree limb," he called back. "Be on alert."

      Leighton looked around nervously as Thane gripped his horse's reins with his own. When the soft sound of a bird song broke the eerie silence, he grinned. He looked at Thane and winked. 

     Thane squinted his eyes and glared at him. When he realized what was going on, he gritted his teeth and gave Leighton a subtle shake of his head. Before he could warn him not to do anything foolish, a yell came out from a man at the back of the group. 

     "Bandits!" the soldier yelled just before a dagger flew into his eye. 

     "Now!" Leighton commanded Thane. 

     He didn't wait for an argument as he kicked his horse into a gallop away from the sudden fighting. The reins of Leighton's horse were yanked from Thane's hand and he had to kick his horse to keep up. 

     "Dammit!" he called after Leighton. "You crazy bastard!" 

     He glanced back as the sounds of pain and clashing swords started to fade. No one was following them, and he shook his head in disbelief. 

     They didn't stop riding until they had reached the other side of the prairie. When it looked as though they truly hadn't been followed, they slowed their horses to a walk.

     "Friends of yours?" Thane asked with a huff. 

     He reached over to grab the reins again, and Leighton laughed. 

     "Not at all," he replied. "I've encountered them, though. I recognized that bird call." 

     Thane shook his head again as they nudged the horses up a short slope to another road. 

     "You know they'll get back and report you as an escaped criminal," he warned. "You've only made matters worse for yourself." 

     "Nah," Leighton replied calmly. "They won't live long enough." 

     Thane glared at Leighton at his callous attitude about the probable death of the soldiers. 

     "Don't look at me like that, precious," Leighton chuckled and laughed harder when Thane glared at his term of endearment. "If you cared so much, why did you come with me? Why didn't you go back to help them? Why don't you go back now to see if they're in need of aide?" 

     Thane sighed and shook his head yet again. 

     "Before you judge me too harshly, I didn't leave just to escape the soldiers," Leighton revealed. "That pack of bandits doesn't like me much. I didn't want them to catch me." 

     Thane looked at him and watched as he stretched atop the horse. He raised his arms, wrists still bound, and yawned loudly. The strawberry blonde locks of Leighton's hair fluttered behind his shoulders with each step. The part that wasn't bound at the back of his head reached his waist. When he turned and smiled at Thane, the officer gulped.

      "How do you manage to piss off everyone you meet?" Thane asked, trying to distract himself from his worrisome thoughts. 

     "A natural gift, I suppose," Leighton replied. 

     The flicker of something familiar in Thane's glance made his heart stir, and he knew he was right to break away from the others. 

     Thane only huffed in annoyance. 

     "What's the first thing you're going to do when we reach the capital?" Leighton asked. "Oh, I should say second thing. I'm probably the first thing on your mind, all those fancy inns and all. I'll let you choose where you'll bed me. I mean, where we'll bed down. For sleep. Where we'll sleep." 

     He laughed when Thane pretended not to pay attention. He quietly cleared his throat as he pondered how he was going to reach the part of the conversation he had been trying to get to for days. 

     "Tell me, does the brave, handsome Captain Ravenhall have a little woman waiting for him at home?" he asked, testing the waters of his suspicion they were on the same side of human attraction. 

     "No," was Thane's simple reply. 

     "Ah, that's right," Leighton prodded. "The officer has been seen a time or two emerging from a brothel. Any of them suit your taste more than others? A blonde? Red-head? Hair as black as yours? Tall? Short? Fat? Skinny? Young? Ol..." 

     "Shut your mouth!" Thane snapped angrily. "I would never bed a whore! The only time I've been in such a place was for a disturbance or to collect a convict like you." 

     Leighton softly chuckled. 

     "Of course," he apologized. "I hope you can forgive the assumption."

      Thane only looked over their surroundings. He wasn't convinced the bandits had simply let them go. They could have focused their efforts on their stronger targets, then set out to ambush him and the thief later. This was especially true if, like Leighton said, they had some score to settle.

      "Have you ever sucked a cock?" blurted Leighton with a grin.

      Thane suddenly reined the horses in and glared at him.

      "What in hellfire is wrong with you?" he demanded to know. 

     "I was only trying to make small talk," Leighton pouted. "If the question offends you, I won't ask it again. I am, however, curious if you would prefer to be the giver or the receiver in such a relationship."

      Thane grabbed the hilt of his sword and dared Leighton to continue. "I won't discuss my relationships -- past, present, or future -- with you. Not now, not ever. We're not that close."

      "In the five years I've known you, I've felt closer to you than even my own brother," Leighton admitted as they rode on. "I was only trying to ..."

      "Quiet!" hissed Thane.

      He stopped the horses again and looked around. A whooshing sound passed near him, and he turned in time to see a dagger land in a tree. Both men looked out into the meadow and saw several bandits jump up from the tall grass. 

     "Cut me loose!" yelled Leighton. "Hurry!"

     "Dammit!" Thane growled. He quickly cut the bindings and handed Thane his knife. "If you turn on me, so help me God, I'll do the executioner's job for him."

     Leighton didn't have time to respond as the four bandits were swiftly upon them. Both men fought for their lives against the bandits, who had been part of the group that attacked the soldiers. They had blood on them from that battle and three of them had fresh wounds. They were the first to be defeated. 

     The fourth lunged at Leighton after knocking him to the ground. Just as he was about to shove his dagger into Leighton's chest, Thane sliced his head from his neck.

     Leighton screamed as a fountain of blood gushed over him. Thane grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet as the bandit's decapitated body fell to the ground. He quickly sheathed his sword before seeing to Leighton. 

     "Are you all right?" Thane asked, his voice cracking through the fear of seeing Leighton almost die. 

     Leighton struggled to catch his breath and allowed Thane to pull him against a tree trunk to rest. His hands were shaking as he stared down at all the blood. 

     "Look at me," Thane urged when Leighton could only tremble at the sight of himself. 

     The thief's bright blue eyes glowed in contrast to the crimson covering his face. 

     "Come on," Thane said as he pulled Leighton up. 

     He led him to the horses and helped Leighton onto the saddle. 

     "It isn't safe to stay here," he said as he climbed onto his. "There's a lake nearby. You can wash off there." 

     He grabbed the reins and pulled Leighton's horse to a gallop beside his.