Aija woke at an ungodly hour expecting that Ilo would give up on her. But she walked into the boat house to find him slumped in his seat with drowsiness. To her added surprise, Tahti was also there, handing him freshly packed food rations for their day out.
"This is too much, my Ilo. I would never ask you to get up this early, not even Utal would do this. No one should be doing this for me at any hour, much less before dawn."
"What you say makes sense."
"Then what, for sake, are you doing down here?"
"Though what you say makes sense, you still wake before the sun even thinks to do the same. And you still work all day and eat as little food as humanly possible. We know what you say makes sense. But we are here all the same."
Aija tried not to feel embarrassed but Ilo's efforts were certainly not helping.
He made her agree to give Pen and Tchukka their own attinto to sleep upon nearby instead of on her own. He also insisted that she eat in the boathouse and wait until Utal arrived to see her off in the morning. Sure enough, the old man looked impressed as he walked in and saw the packed food rations and her empty breakfast plates.
Aija had to admit, being well rested and well fed felt nearly as wonderful as being in Utal's good graces for a change.
Tahti and Ilo accompanied her as she roamed the kappa fields and spoke to the families, to the farmers and the haulers. She watched Shacir slap Ilo's back with pride and a smile. He rode away with cartwheels that gleamed in the sunlight, gloating about them to anyone who passed him by.
Once they reached the market distrect of Coseira, Gu had joined up to make them a gang of four. He escorted to the first of many blankets in the north end manned by elder women and young girls. Each blanket was covered in baskets and in each basket was a fresh haul of kappa candies.
Aija visited each group, making sure that they kept to four persons per blanket. This was to ensure that if one of them went missing, then the rest would know right away. She asked over and over again if there was any sign of the auction man but the elder women were carefree and certain of keeping their numbers.
As they headed towards the Quebradas, Aija began to stare at Ilo's hair. Or rather, the lack thereof. She had come to love his light brown hair which was cut back quite a lot now. She reached out to touch his head and then gasped in horror as her hand came away covered in ash.
"What's wrong?"
"My Ilo, what have you done?"
Tahti doubled over with laughter.
"That's my idea! He let me rub it all over before we came out here. He looks like a skinny dust storm."
The ash around Ilo's head formed a cloud plume that never quite settled onto his scalp. He really did look like a skiny dust storm. But Aija was not happy about it.
"Can we break on one of these blankets for lunch?" Ilo asked.
Aija paused and tried not to look scandalized by the idea. She asked one of the elder women for a bit of space and was gleefully allowed access to sit for a break.
She felt foolish for not thinking of the idea herself but then again this is why Ilo was with her. But for some reason, Tahti had now become very angry and she made a point of yanking the food rations from his hands and serving Aija herself.
This was strange to Aija but she knew that Tahti could be quite possessive. Aija was just about the only family that the girl had known.
As they finished and continued on into the Quebradas, the girl surprised Aija yet again as she let herself drift up to walk beside Ilo. Tahti even listened to his conversation with Gu and, once in a while, allowed a small grin to appear upon her face.
To say that she immersed herself in the boy's company would be a stretch. Tahti was more inclined to smack Ilo or give small shoves at his responses. But the two young people before Aija were certainly walking together.
Aija made a point to ask when she finally had Tahti alone.
"Are you sure you don't mind being with him today? He hasn't been away from me while I've visited the capitol yet. He could get anxious about it."
"For sake, I said I would watch him. I mean, he's just going to fix things the whole time."
"I'm just surprised. You seem to tolerate him more than you used to."
"Just to make sure he doesn't fuck it all up."
"So do you watch over him now? Like Gu does?"
"I mean he's practically an infant. If not for Gu or me, I think he'd fall into a hole somewhere."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"What's a bad thing?"
"Let us say Ilo did fall into a hole. Would you pull him out of it?"
"Hmph! I'm not the one on the hook for that. It's all his fault for not paying attention and falling in the first place!"
Tahti then went quiet a moment as she watched the dust cloud wafting behind Ilo's head. Something in her olive-toned face softened.
"But he did fix Shacir's cart. And Tchukka really loves him now. Then there's you, you're always talking about how smart he is. Alright, but only for you! For you, I would yank him out of the damn hole. But you'd really have to ask me before I actually felt like it!"
Aija felt something like pride as she smiled at Tahti.
They had all arrived at Two and Ilo was already looking at her with a hint of nervousness. Aija felt strangely nervous too, only she couldn't say why.
"Please stay here with Tahti, my Ilo. I'm afraid a butler would be far too strange to bring to the Council House."
"...You are going to see the Council today?"
"We meet often to make sure the Kappana Houses are in working order. There have been some changes that the Council has been wanting to discuss. This meeting is a bit overdue I think."
Ilo nodded, looking as if she had said something ominous.
"And you'll return here for me?"
For some reason, Ilo still looked very anxious. Clearly Gu saw it and swept his hand down from the top of the boy's head to his cheek.
"My ward, don't scare yourself so much. You get worried, you come find me at the port."
"Gu!"
Her friend laughed.
"Look at him, my Aija. How would anyone think to take him away from us with all this on his head? I tell you what, if you get worried and thinking anyone would want to claim you just hold your hand out like this."
Gu cupped his hand and held it just out from his body. Ilo did the same.
"Now, say 'coppers'."
"Coppers."
"There you go, the perfect ash collector. You do that anywhere you go, you will only chase away anyone looking your way."
Aija hated that Gu was even putting the idea into the boy's head. But she was thinking too much about what to say to the Council. How would she explain Ilo's presence among them all?
Then Ilo's hand claimed hers and she felt his fingers trembling. This time she let herself really study him as he nodded in response to Gu's words. The boy was truly afraid.
Aija took her mother's sachet and placed it around his neck.
"This was my mother's. It is her scent. Whenever I worry, I use it to comfort me. It is very dear to me. So you know now that I will come back for you."
"It will get dirty."
"You are dirty too but you are still mine. I will return."
"Before sundown."
"Before sundown."
Gu walked with Ilo through Two's open doorway, followed by Tahti.
All Aija could do was hold onto her promise that she would come back for him. For some reason, with the way he looked at her, Aija could not help feeling as if she had lied.
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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