I collapse against a chair at Robin's bedside. I need to go. There will be only greater danger should I stay.

Curtains billow from beside the window as I glance outside. The deep night is giving way to the violet of a coming dawn. The moon is ending its nightly quest across the sky and the sun will soon begin its own.

I rub my eyes, then look down at my blood splattered hands. I can’t tear my eyes away. This innocent girl. Attacked in the streets at night and almost left for dead. Why didn’t I subdue her dog sooner so that I could check her over? I suppose I was certain she would tell me if they hurt her. But would I tell someone I had just met?

Mayhap she wouldn’t be in this if I’d only asked or checked her myself sooner. I unhook my mask from the hood in order to draw deeper breaths. Why I kept it on the last few hours is beyond me.

Healer Jenson walks in with a bowl and a cotton rag.

“You did very well, my dear. I suppose I should not be surprised, considering all you do for your sister. How is dear Jill?” He smiles as he washes my hands with warm water. I’m tempted to pull away, but it’d be too much work. Exhaustion pulls at me.

“She had another seizure two days past. Jens, I honestly don’t know what we are going to do.”

He pauses. “Has she woken?”

“Yes. She’s back to herself... for now.”

He lets out a relieved breath, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Good. If you have need of me, you know I’m just a pigeon away.”

“For that, I thank you. But you know as well as I it wouldn’t help anything.”

He grunts. He’d been out to see Jill at least twenty times. Each instance he came away shaking his head, not the slightest bit inclined to the knowledge of what was behind the sickness.

“I am sorry, Aria. Perhaps if I was just a bit smarter or had a better inclination for these things...”

“No, don't say that. You did everything you could. You are one of the most knowledgeable healers I have ever met. Didn’t even charge us for coming out, as I know you should have. You have a family to provide for.”

He just waves a hand as if shooing a fly. He wipes the last of the blood from my hands into the bowl, then rises with a groan. “I’m getting too old for this.”

I give a half-hearted chuckle.

He lays a hand on Robin's head, mumbling to himself. With a soft sigh, he grips her wrist, listening to her heartbeat. He sets her hand down gently on her chest and smooths the covers.

“I sent one of the serving boys to fetch Robin’s mum and da. They’ll be here soon.” He gives a pointed look at the mask dangling on one side of my face.

I nod in thanks as I retie the mask. “Can you handle it from here?”

“Dear, I haven’t been a healer for thirty years for nothing. She’s in good hands.”

I shake his hand, thankful to know this kind man. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Aria, if ever you have need of me, you know where to find me. You have become quite the lady, inside and out.”

The hood mostly hides my blush. “Thanks. Where does this window lead?”

He raises bushy eyebrows. “If you can survive a three-story drop, you would find yourself in an alley behind the house.”

“Perfect.” I nudge the window shutters further open and cling to the seal.

The warm breath of air from outside speaks of warm bread being baked not too far from here. I draw in a deep breath as I scope out the area. The dawn is close, helping me see the large buildings around us. Even in Upper, there are seedy back alleys and even seedier folk.

There beneath me is an alley twice the size of most paved walkways in Mid. Between here and there are many balconies where people throw wastes and the like into the large troughs below where a water system flushes the wastes periodically. The houses are what one would call run down from this vantage. Not surprising, as most will see them from the front only, thus they only whitewash what will be seen. Back here is left to deteriorate, even if the stylish swirls and rounded windows are still pretty, just not kept up.

I climb upon the small sill, holding onto the sides of the window. Behind us, the door opens. I glance back to see two people and a knight. The knight gives me a nod. The man and woman with the knight look at me with wide eyes, darting between me and the bed. The woman stares with the emerald eyes of her daughter. She walks to the bed, checking Robin and kissing her cheek before turning back to me. The man has anger in his furrowed brow. He draws the sword from his waist.

The knight makes a grab for the man and commands him to stop. The healer places himself between me and the angry father.

“Sir, she saved your daughter.” He tries to reason with the man.

“She looks like a wraith to me. I’ll not allow it to take my daughter from me.”

Ouch. That hurt my feelings, you bugger.

Way past time to go. I look down. I was just going to climb, for there are many handholds and trellises on the way down. But now... the thin air calls to me. Terrifying, yes. But also freeing.

“What are you...?” Healer Jenson begins, his eyes growing big and beady behind his spectacles. I smile. “Doing?” he finishes faintly.

I leap from the window. The wind in my face feels amazing, drowning out the cries from above. Ran jumps from her perch atop a neighboring two story balcony. We meet midair in a seemingly well choreographed, if reckless, dance. I grip the leather about her neck and drag my legs over to clamp around her sides. I whoop as she scrapes her claws along the siding of a house, effectively slowing our demise and ruining wood, leaving a trail of jagged streaks in our wake.

We land in mud I don't think is pure mud, but remain unscathed thanks to Ran. I throw my arms around her neck from my place on her back, rubbing my hand on her chest. Her heart pounds to the rhythm of my own.

“Thank you, beaut.”

She turns to lick my hair. I giggle.

I turn my gaze back up to Healer Jenson and the others. They all crowd the window as if something crazy happened in the back alley of this uptown ritz. I chuckle to myself.

The Knight’s eyes are wide as saucers while the father shakes his fist at me. The mother looks on with a hint of wonder and daring herself. Her eyes shine with wonder, as if she wishes she were the one to jump from a window. Healer Jenson is as white as a sheet, but lifts a shaky hand in farewell. I lift my own before nudging Ran forward.

~~~

A bit later, I finally catch up to Sir Hans. He's been all over the city, according to Ran's nose. But the fact his supposed trail took us behind an inn who had just chucked out last nights stew and bread is telling.

Sir Hans is still in chain mail and night pants, which is quite ridiculous, but the surrounding officers obey with but a small word from him. The respect they have for the man is clear.

They gather in front of one of the expensive guard houses of Upper. A fountain plays in the round courtyard, sending bubbly sounds to soothe nerves. Steps lead up to a grand archway with the words honor, inspire, and protect written in stylized letters at the top. The door is made of massive mahogany that would cost two years' wages for a normal man.

I bid Ran to stay in the shadows. There could be guards with bows among the two and three story balconies. There are slits in the fourth and top floors that also appear just about right for a bow and arrow.

I wait in the closest alley until most of the knights are sent on missions.

I slip out. “Sir Hans,” I call out so that it won’t seem as if I’m sneaking.

Ran snorts. Then what was it you were doing a minute ago?

“Hiding. There’s a difference,” I shoot back.

I take careful steps and watch the guardhouse for any movement.

Sir Hans visibly relaxes when he sees me. “Guardian.” He waves towards the guardhouse a signal I cannot decipher, but decide I was right about my safety. Arrows always give me a creepy crawl up my spine like a millipede crawling on my neck.

Ran snickers in my mind, sending an image of a large bug crawling up my neck in a certain library I still need to revisit. I ignore her, even if the hair on the back of my neck tingles and stands on end with the remembrance.

The men around Sir Hans watch me with varying forms of distrust, humor, and respect. I count six, nodding to each as I make eye contact from beneath my hood.

“What’s going on here?” I inquire.

Sir Hans rubs his forehead. “Seems as if you stumbled upon a greater scheme than just a couple of drunks attempting to molest a girl.”

I startle. “Come again?”

“According to the man you caught, they were hired. They lured this specific young lady out. The wolf-dog, Jack, tracked them down and interrupted. You know the rest.”

My brain is struggling to wrap itself around those details. “Why did they want Robin?”

“Is she stable?”

I nod. “For now, yes. She’s with one of the best healers I know.”

“Best we can tell, two of her brothers work closely with the prince. They are in his royal guard.”

“They were kidnapping her to get to them?”

“That’s the theory for now. The drunk knew nothing of the plot itself, only who they were hired to capture.”

It makes me wonder... if I have stumbled across two such kidnappings in a matter of days, who have we missed? Who may be compromised with missing family I didn't come across?

Sir Hans rubs a hand down his face. "My city is going to Sixth in a handbasket. Guardian, if you come across any further kidnappings, alert me immediately." He looks around, minutely inspecting the shadows. He leans towards me, lowering his voice. "Where's the wolf?"

I grin at him.

I open my mouth to tease his fear, but my stomach chooses that inopportune moment to growl in protest of the little I had for dinner the previous night. My cheeks glow red as he gives me an appraising look, even if he keeps an eye on the shadows around the courtyard.

“You need food, apparently.” His own stomach growls. He looks down at the offending sound, then a smile cracks his lips. “And so do I. Besides, Jenny is expecting us.”

I smirk, an expression totally lost beneath the mask. “And we don’t want you in the pigpen.”

He winces. “That we don’t.”