Elias woke up to an empty room and a swell of panic. 

He threw his covers aside and scrambled out of bed at the sight of Cassian’s bed—empty and perfectly made. A stream of curses flowed steadily past his lips as he hurried to get dressed before rushing out of the room. Eliass was in such a hurry that he nearly crashed into a young woman who, by the looks of her, worked at the inn. 

“Sorry,” Elias said, pausing just long enough to make sure the woman was fine. 

“Oh, if you’re looking for your friend, he’s downstairs,” the woman hurried to say before Elias could leave. That was enough to bring the thief to a stop. 

“Downstairs?” he questioned, surprised Cassian would still be around, and received a nod. 

“He was up early setting up the wards for the town. Last I saw, he was eating.” She sounded pleased at the mention of the added security to her home. Elias was just glad Cassian hadn’t made a run for it. 

Once he finally made it downstairs and spotted the familiar mess of white hair, Elias felt relief flood his body. He took a moment to let the tension flow out of his body before making his way to Cassian. The necromancer sat in a table tucked away in a corner—very much the sort of thing Elias expected of the reclusive man. 

When he spotted Elias approaching, Cassian’s expression twisted into something like displeasure. It was hard to interpret the look with his cheeks puffed up from the food he was still chewing. Definitely lessened the viciousness Cassian was likely trying to project. Elias couldn’t help but grin as he sat across from Cassian, leaning back in his seat and looking at the necromancer with a rather smug look. 

“What do you want?” Cassia asked, charmingly brusque as always. Elias didn’t really mind at the moment. 

“I thought you weren’t playing along with my act,” he said, and watched Cassian’s dark eyes narrow. 

“Well, someone had to show at least a shred of decency and it sure wasn’t going to be you.” Elias was mildly concerned at how used he was getting of hearing Cassian speak about him with such disdain. He didn’t think that was good for his self esteem. He might have said something about it if Cassian hadn’t shifted uncomfortably in his sea. “And I suppose I hold some fault in all that’s happened. After all, if I’d not broken the staff and scattered the pieces without care, the people of this town wouldn’t have had to deal with such trouble.” 

It was a strange thing, to hear Cassian express any sort of contrition. He was a haughty creature—stubborn and petty, from what Elias had seen. Certainly not the sort of person he’d expect to find hunched over a half eaten meal with a look of remorse. A better man might have said something comforting. Perhaps they would have insisted Cassian wasn’t at fault—that it was Ethelred who’d pushed him to take such drastic actions. 

Elias was not such a man. 

“I guess you’re right. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to fix whatever trouble you’ve caused wherever the other pieces might have fallen,” Elias said cheerily. He rejoiced in the glare Cassian sent his way, especially as it was tempered by guilt so evident he had to wonder how the necromancer didn’t drown in it. 

“And scam everyone you come across in the process, no doubt,” Cassian retorted, quick to insult Elias even while wallowing in guilt. 

“At least I’ll help them before I scam them,” Elias shot back shamelessly. 

For a moment, Cassian looked like he was about to cast the most vicious curse he could think of Elias’ way. It was enough to have the thief preparing to dodge—maybe even run away if he’d ended up pushing the necromancer too far. But then, Cassian seemed to deflate, his shoulders falling and the glare on his face slowly falling away. 

“My condolences to anyone who has the misfortune to run into you,” Cassian muttered in a voice that was free from the sharpness it suddenly carried. Maybe that was why Elias ended up feeling somewhat bad for the necromancer. 

“You could always make sure I stay somewhat honest,” he said, watching Cassian morosely stir his cooling meal before looking back up at Elias. It was amusing to watch the necromancer’s face twist in distaste at the idea. 

“I’m not traveling with you,” he insisted. Then, for a second, his expression faltered. “But I’m not going to just sit by and let others suffer for my actions.”

“So you’re going after the other pieces?” Elias asked, doing his best to keep from sounding too excited. From the look on Cassian’s face, he failed. 

“It’s the least I can do,” he said grudgingly, glaring down at his meal before looking back up at Elias. “But I’m not traveling with you.” 

“Oh, come on. Why do you have to be so stubborn? I’m not that bad, am I?” 

Cassian simply stared at Elias with a supremely unimpressed look on his face. Elias sniffed, offended despite having expected no better. 

“Even if you weren’t the worst person I’ve ever met, I wouldn’t want to travel with you.” In Elias’ opinion, Cassian didn’t need to be so rude. “This was my doing.” 

Elias couldn’t help but groan. Leave it to Cassian to be so self-righteous at the most inconvenient time. Some part of Elias couldn’t blame him—even sympathized with him, if only a bit. That still wasn’t enough for him to simply give up on convincing Cassian to work together. 

“Look, I get it, you feel responsible for screwing over so many people and your blackened husk of a heart somehow works just enough for you to want to do something about it.” Elias wisely ignored the withering look Cassian sent his way. “But wouldn’t it make sense for us to work together? You can doubt me all you want but I can be pretty damn useful. We did alright last night and we barely had a plan!” 

Cassian was clearly mulling over Elias’ words. It was obvious by the look on his face—like he’d eaten something particularly foul and was about to throw up. That was enough to tell Elias just what sort of conclusion the necromancer was coming to. Holding back from grinning in a smug show of victory was a very difficult thing for the thief to do. 

“If I try to go on my own you’ll likely stick close like the leech you are,” Cassian grumbled. Elias was glad he was smart enough to realize that much. 

“A very useful leech,” Elias corrected. 

Cassian let out a sigh so deep one would think he was resigning himself to some unimaginable horror. Elias was starting to wonder just how much of the necromancer’s dramatics he would have to endure. 

“If you’re going to insist on meddling then you’ll have to get a better weapon than that poor excuse for a dagger you have.” 

“Oh, and you’re a weapons expert, are you?” 

“I don’t have to be an expert to know you’ll get yourself killed going after Ethelred with that thing. Unless he just laughs himself to death.”

“It’s a perfectly good dagger,” Elias ground out. 

“If you’re looking to kill a rabbit,” Cassian said with a gleeful gleam in his eyes. “That thing is worthless.”

“It has sentimental value!”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so? I’m sure the power of sentimental value will be more than enough to finish Ethelred off.” 

Elias was starting to wonder just why he’d bothered to convince Cassian to travel with him. Unfortunately for the both of them, it was too late to change their minds. The thief resigned himself to having to endure Cassian’s sarcasm for however long it would take to find Ethelred and finish him off. 

He took a calming breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly to keep from stabbing Cassian. All the while, Cassian calmly finished his meal, his gaze fixated onto Elias and his lips curled almost imperceptibly in what looked to the thief like a positively wicked grin. 

“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “Any ideas on what I should do about it?” 

Cassian finished the last bite of his food and then gave a nod. 

“There’s somewhere we need to go before we try looking for the other pieces. It’s likely we’ll run into more of Ethelred’s tricks. We need to be prepared.”

That, at least, was something Elias could agree to. 

They left town not long after, only staying long enough for Elias to get some food in him and collect the payment they’d been promised. Much to Elias’ chagrin, Cassian had been quick to take their reward and stow it away with a look that just dared him to do something about it. 

This is going to be a long trip, he thought as they left the town behind and followed the winding path that cut through fields and forests. In spite of Cassian’s poor attitude, Elias couldn’t help but be glad he’d agreed to work together. 

Most of all, Elias was glad to no longer be alone.