The rain finally let up a day or so later. They had sat under the outcrop, in a comfortable silence most of the time except for Daniel’s whistling. Estelle expected it to grate on her nerves, and it did, but it was more of a fond exacerbation. It wasn’t dissimilar to how she felt when her sisters did something annoying back in the Conmunis.

And wasn’t that something.

They were making their way to the next town as quickly as they could. Estelle had foraged some sage, which she mixed with a small amount of tree sap and Daniel applied it to her back. It would have to do until they reached the town.

While she didn’t yet have a fever, she was experiencing some fatigue and more pain than usual. That was annoying. Estelle was no stranger to pain, but this was unrelenting and inescapable. Not to mention, she couldn’t stand anything to touch it. The wounds hurt and clothing and hair stuck to her inflamed skin. So she changed from her stolen leathers into a stolen dress with a low back and tied her hair up with a scrap of cloth that she hadn’t yet sold. That meant her ears were uncovered, but they hadn’t passed a single traveler yet.

She spoke too soon.

At the next crossroads, there was an ambush. She and Daniel drew their swords and fought back-to-back, fierce, and unyielding. Estelle was proud of how well she did considering her wounds.

She pulled her sword from the chest of the final bandit. There were six bodies surrounding them. Estelle glanced at Daniel. “Highwaymen?”

“Of a sort,” Said Daniel, bending and pulling a pendant from one of the bodies. He tossed it to her.

She examined the symbol imprinted in the metal. “They’re…”

“Former rebels, I’d wager,” Daniel said, still searching the bodies. “Abandoned their rebellion to make some quick silvers… Aha!” He pulled a coin pouch from the boot of one of the fallen men. “This will get us some medicine for your infection.”

“I was almost looking forward to stealing it,” Estelle joked halfheartedly. In truth, she was pleased that they could pay a healer. She tried to steal from the wealthier citizens, and never took more than she needed. She was no saint, but she had her own code. And she had found that many healers in Melize were altruistic and helped the needy as best they could.

She scanned the bodies and grimaced. Estelle was not fond of killing, but it couldn’t always be helped. Now, these bandits would not kill anyone else. That’s a good thing, she reminded herself. But she still felt vaguely ill, so she turned back to Daniel as he finished searching the bodies.

“Not an abundance of wealth,” Daniel said. “But it should help us buy passage. If we work as crew hands as well, we may be able to afford it.”

“I have no experience as a crewmate,” Estelle said. She blinked rapidly and shook her head, her vision blurring. Daniel did not notice.

“It’s easy enough to learn,” Daniel said. “And depending, they may use you more for muscle and lifting heavy weights. Loading the cannon, moving kegs, that sort of thing.”

She just nodded and tried to stay focused. What was she doing again?

Daniel turned to face her, and his smile fell. “’Stelle?”

“I’m fine.” Estelle was not fine. She tried to take a step forward and collapsed. Daniel scrambled to her side and smacked her cheek several times.

“Estelle!” He snapped, more serious than she had ever seen him. “Look at me!”

She tried to obey, but darkness was clouding her vision. The world was spinning. Has it always been that way? She wondered. Surely not. She had the vague notion that something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

The last thing she heard before she passed out was Daniel yelling her name, or a version of it at least.

Stelle!