When Tahti said this to Ilo, his mouth fell open. She hadn't insulted him or yelled at him. At least not yet.
"Why will she need to wait?"
"Just tell her before she goes to sleep. When you get up tomorrow, come to my attinto. Bring your disguise."
Then she left. Ilo's mouth was as wide open as the doorway of the maravitu in which he stood. He brought his hands up to slap his cheeks.
"As you say!"
He ran like a foal in a new field up to the bridge and over the creek to Aija's attinto. When he found her, Ilo bellowed Tahti's request at the top of his lungs.
"TAHTI WANTS YOU TO WAIT! SHE WANTS ME TO BE AT HER ATTINTO TOMORROW MORNING!"
Aija gave an exhausted smile to him, welcoming the chance at extra sleep. So the next morning, Ilo gathered his errand girl's disguise and found the maravitu which sat highest up on the incline that led up to the Fortalezas. Tahti's attinto was on the second level.
For Ilo, it felt fairly like making a holy trek up a mountain as he arrived at her attinto and sat nearby. He made sure to place his belongings across from her and to make a clear path for anyone who might need to walk past.
Tahti looked up from a mending basket.
"Do you want a costume that actually works? The scarf and basket don't look convincing at all. You just look stupid. Especially when Gu is with you."
Ilo forced himself to stay quiet. The strategy worked with Jaugan it should work with Tahti.
"You can try looking like an ash collector. It lets you dress a a boy but we'll have to cut your hair very short."
She produced a pair of shears from the kit.
"Well?"
Ilo obeyed and stepped onto her attinto. The shears in her hand made him very uneasy, like seeing Jaugan's hand upon the pommel of his sword.
He sat facing away from her, leaving a respectful gap between the two of them. Tahti's knees bumped his lower back, obliterating the gesture entirely.
She then ran her hands through his hair and commenced with cutting. She was surprisingly gentle while touching his head and shoulders.
"How long do you plan to be Aija's butler?"
"Until she says not to. But she seems alright with it for now."
"As you say. Anyone can make sure she eats food and comes in by sundown."
"Then why hasn't she been helped before?"
"Everyone works hard here. Well, almost everyone. If anyone else came forward to help, Aija would tell them not to. Even if we begged, she'd be too damn stubborn to agree to it."
Tahti finished cutting his hair and set down the scissors. Ilo felt daring suddenly and spun around to face her.
She turned away immediately, blinking back tears. She did not meet his eyes again as she picked up his errand girl's scarf.
"This will go over your shoulders now. We have to rub ash onto your face and hair, make sure it looks really dirty. You'll need an extra shawl too it you're wanting to carry Aija's lunch around. Why are you doing that anyway? No one carries food with them in the Quebradas. Do you want to attract thieves from everywhere?"
"I hadn't thought of that."
"How can such a genius not think of something so obvious? Can't you think of doing anything that's not completely useless?"
"I'm not a genius! I never said I was!"
"Damn right. No genius would say they'd be someone's butler. No one else 'from the docks' in Coseira even has any butler anyway."
"Butlers and servants go on errands in the market all of the time."
"If you keep talking I won't finish your costume."
"It doesn't matter what costume I've got on. No idiot would confuse an errand girl or ash boy for a butler. Not even you."
It was no surprise that Tahti punched him. That's just what she did all the time.
He dodged a bit but still caught her fist on the back of his head. She shoved him off of her attinto for good measure.
"At least I'm not going to be kicked out by the Council! I heard Quron and Jeili talk before we left Three. Quron's going to tell the Council that you're not from the port. That you're going to get us all sent to the Velhanas. Aija will make you leave once they tell her to kick you out from here!"
Ilo imagined that Tahti would look happy as she said this to him. Her words certainly did the damage they intended.
By the time Tahti slumped back down upon her attinto, Ilo's head was reeling. His chest hurt as his heart slammed into his ribcage.
But all of this paled in comparison to the shock of watching Tahti cry. It wasn't a typical girl's fit of sobbing. He watched her fight and fight to blink her tears back again. But Tahti was forced to finally show her loss by viciously wiping them with her sleeve.
"You don't even care. The Paret Duke's men are all over the place. I've seen them looking for you."
"How do you know that?"
"There were never so many Academy men at the port before you came here."
"The cadets do other things at the port. Jeili even said they are enforcing quarantine more than ever on the trade ships."
Tahti glared at him. Ilo put his hands up in surrender.
"I'm not saying you're stupid or anything. But maybe with more of the duke's men at the port, no one will have to risk so much with the rescue efforts. The cadets are sending people to quarantine instead of the auction house, so there is less for Aija to do then."
"Capaytians don't protect us, they sell us. They'd never protect anyone in the Kappana Houses. That's why Aija will keep going on rescue, she knows the same."
Ilo sat across from Tahti. When he spoke, his voice reminded him of Casulo.
Ilo knew it was an odd choice to mimic the man that Tahti and everyone here clearly feared. But Ilo found that when he spoke like his brother, people tended to listen.
"Alright. So we plan. Come with me the next time I start out with Aija."
"What do you want me along for?"
"Because you've been wanting to come along all this time. Why not do it when she can't say no?"
"I have actual work to do, you know."
"Just tell Aija there's less chance of being caught by the Duke if you're with me. Tell her you're teaching me how not to look like a fool."
"That means I'd have to stay with you a long time."
"I'm not that bad!"
She gave Ilo a look. One that bid him to convince her otherwise.
Aija already juggles a dangerous life of hiding slaves from ruthless merchants. Now she finds herself caring for a young boy who turns out to be a runaway prince! If that were not bad enough, he is also the younger brother of the most ruthless man in the kingdom, the Paret Duke Casulo de la Cera. Are the dark rumors about the duke true? Can Aija protect the prince and still keep her own identity secret? With so many people relying on her, one wrong move can bring Aija's entire world crumbling down.
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