SoD - Caught

Caught
Another yawn stretched Jeen’s jaw as he glanced up towards the sun.  Noon had come and gone, the afternoon was wearing on and he had been on that branch the whole time.  He really hated watch duty.
Whiny from below prompted a roll of his eyes.  As useful as horses were for crossing distance, silence and patience were concepts they did not appear to understand.  Might as well get them food and water to shut them up.  Besides, Naarwyn would kill him if anything happened to her precious Rawb.
Descending down through the branches, Jeen scanned the forest floor for possible sources of the equines’ agitation.  Nothing out of place met his gaze until he noticed the water buckets.  They were empty.
These thinks drink way too much, he grumbled silently as he dropped lightly to the ground.
Each horse was individually tethered to a separate tree around the small clearing they had chosen as their base of operations.  A short ways back further into the trees was a small brook, hardly big enough to be called a creek but large enough to fill a bucket in, and that was exactly what Jeen was going to have to do.  Still grumbling, he made a circle around the three, picking up each of their buckets and doing his best to ignore the fiery glare his own steed gave him.  Apparently the lack of water was being taken as a personal insult for which Jeen was responsible.
It was a matter of moments to fill each bucket, but once topped with water they were too heavy to carry back at the same time.  Water sloshed over the rims as he lugged the buckets back up to their respective owners, liberally soaking his legs.  Dan’s horse greeted the arrival with a powerful and enthusiastic shove of its head into the pale, dousing Jeen once again and nearly bowling him over, while Rawb snorted as if it were about time he received the service he deserved.
Jeen’s steed, on the other hand, greeted his approach with a dangerous and challenging light.  Cautiously the young man approached, meeting the beast’s eyes with a flat stare he normally reserved for battle with Shailon soldiers.  He paused just out of reach.
“Listen,” he muttered.  “You don’t like me and I sure as night don’t like you, but if something happens and we have to fight we’re going to have to work together to get out of it alive.  So how about I give you the water and you try not to get me killed.  Deal?”
The horse snorted and pawed at the earth with a front hoof, before seeming to duck its head in silent agreement.  Slowly moving closer, Jeen set the bucket down within its reach and watched with tensed muscle as the horse dipped its nose into the water and began to drink.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Jeen strode past the horse.  He was not sure what it was, maybe a sixth sense, maybe a suspicious twitch viewed out of the corner of his eyes, maybe a quiet nicker, but, whatever it was, a split second later he was diving into a forward roll on pure reflex.
He came up facing back the way he had come, an ache flaring just above his right kidney.  No real sign of what had attacked him, until the horse turned its head and a malicious glitter sparkled in its black eyes.  Growling, Jeen rose to his feet.  No truce.  If he had reacted a split second slower that kick could have done some serious damage.
Muttering curses under his breath, the young man began to ascend his tree once more.  He hated watch duty, but he hated the horses oh so much more.

“Well I think that went rather well,” Dan chuckled, standing before the table and eying the sword lodged in its center with the attitude and posture of one examining a piece of furniture for sale to see if it complimented the living room carpet at home.
“It could have gone a lot worse,” Naarwyn snorted, collapsing into a chair and sighing explosively.
The meeting had ended minutes earlier on a rather successful note.  There were still one or two that had not wished to back them, but contracts of silence from those dissenters had been arranged.  There would be dire consequences if they talked, and rewards in the end if they did not.
“You did fine,” he assured, reaching out and wrenching his blade free with one hand.
“You don’t think I overdid it?” she smirked, propping one booted foot up on the now swordless table.
“Nah.  I would have snapped long before you did.”
“Well negotiation isn’t exactly something you’re specialized in.”
“I have a mother older than I can ever hope to reach and three siblings all of the same age,” Dan laughed, wrapping his blade in his cloak to conceal it once more.
“…point taken.”
“I thought so,” he grinned cheekily.  “Now, as we seem to be the only ones left, do we make our own exit or wait a bit longer?”
Dan had been impressed by how quickly the meeting had dispersed once adjourned.  When thinking of any gathering of people, he had always assumed it impossible to part quickly.  Someone always wanted to chat or make scene.  The organization of those gathered shattered that preconception.  Within a few minutes each representative had left, either alone or in a group consisting of more than just fellow reps, and all in manners designed not to garner attention.
“Give it another minute,” she yawned.  “You and I are the most noticeable.  Best not be seen leaving at the same time as everyone else.”
A polite knock at the door snapped Dan’s head up and around.  Naarwyn did not even twitch, going so far as to closer her eyes.  Seeing her relaxed posture, Dan took this to mean such a knock was not unusual.  Moving to the door, he opened it and came face to face with Gwehr.
“Refreshments, Miss Jaina,” the manager inquired, tilting his head to see passed Dan as he stepped past the young man and into the room carrying a tray upon which perched three glasses of water.
“Please,” Naarwyn answered as she looked up with a lazy and grateful smile.
Dan stood at the doorway a moment longer, struggling to keep from suspiciously checking the hall for listeners before closing the door.  He was not exactly sure what was going on, but it had been growing more and more obvious since the day began that this was not the first time Naarwyn had participated in a clandestine meeting in this particular tavern.
“How went the auction?” Gwehr asked, passing the smuggler a glass and sliding one towards Dan as well once the young man had taken a seat across the table from him.  “I notice you still have the item.”
“It went well enough,” she answered casually, almost dismissively, as she took a sip of her water.  “I’m just not handing the sword over until I see the money for it with my own two eyes.”
“I see.  Well I hope the sum you reached is satisfactory.  Business has been good today.  Only one incident and not serious enough to report to the authorities fortunately.”
More code?  Dan noticed that Naarwyn’s calm air seemed to tense for just a moment at the mention of an “incident.”  It appeared reading between the lines was going to be a skill he was going to have to develop very quickly in order to understand everything going on.
Dan blinked, returning to the here and now as Naarwyn caught his eyes.  He shook his head slightly, clearing it of the thoughts that had so recently occupied his attention.  Smiling apologetically he rose to the feet as the smuggler bowed her head towards the tavern’s manager.
“Well we should be going,” Naarwyn intoned.  “Thank you for housing this little event, Gwehr.”
“You are most welcome, Miss Jaina,” Gwehr replied, rising as well and offering her his hand.  “The Harp and Hearth values your kind patronage.”
“I and my business value the harp and Hearth,” she answered, shaking his hand and turning towards the door.
Dan followed Naarwyn as they strode down the hall and across the main floor.  “Incident” was playing on his mind, and he could have sworn he could feel more than one pair of eyes upon his back as they made for the door.  Naarwyn seemed anxious to go as well, which did nothing to assuage his suspicions.

There they were, and in a bit of a hurry too!  The young Shailon soldier grinned, rising from his table in the tavern and nodding to his three companions.  He knew they had been up to something!
“Breakfast engagement with mother indeed,” he snorted under his breath as he and his fellows strode out of the tavern close on the tail of their targets.
The young shoulder had been “idly” watching the hallway to the back ever since his return to the bar.  The time was well passed noon before people had begun to emerge, and none of them could possibly have passed for the woman’s mother.  He had them!
Up ahead the pair turned off onto a street back towards the city gates.  Leaving all ready?  The road they were taking was not as crowded as the young soldier would like for his public arrest, but best capture them now rather than give them more time to escape.  Picking up his pace with the others in tow, he closed on his keys to promotion.
“You two!  Shen and Shaela Chenson!  Shailon commands you to halt!”

“Gonna talk our way out of this one?” Dan whispered as he and Naarwyn turned to face the voice of the younger watchman from the gate.
There were four soldiers this time, and a few seconds before they came close enough to hear what they were saying or really notice their lips moving.  It took only one look into the eyes of the young man who lead them to see that there was no way to simply weasel out of this one.  The young soldier was convinced he had caught something worthwhile, and unfortunately he was right.
“Not this time…”