Abel sat there, eyes going to Cricket the moment she sat down. As expected, she ate as if it were the last meal she would ever have, just like he did when he was found nearly dead many years ago.
He was in dejection, refusing to eat his bowl of stew while Cricket devoured hers. Abel knew there would be problems with what he did. Yes, Cricket was an outsider who shouldn't be trusted. Yes, he led her to their hidden base of operations and now it was problematic to send her free. Ironically, he may have sealed her fate by bringing her. If she were suspected of being problematic, there would be no hesitation at all for the band to decide she needed to be cut down.
Maybe it would have been better had he not interfered. She would have been taken away, gone through whatever protocols Nadia goes through, and been tossed back into the kingdom begging for coin. He was sure she would have preferred that instead of death.
Hm?
Abel blinked a few times, not realizing that Cricket had asked him something. Her bowl was empty and she watched him as if she were waiting for him to answer her. It didn't take long to piece together, his low spirits lifting a little with a brief laugh.
"Here."
Abel pushed the bowl over to her, along with a large piece of fluffy warm bread. "I'm not very hungry."
She didn't hesitate to accept the food, taking the bread and bowl offered and eating it with the same rapid pace she had previously
His bandaged fist went to rest on his cheek, watching her eat more of the food.
"If you eat too fast, you're going to end up coughing it back up. Take it easy." He warned, his smile creeping along the corner of his mouth.
"Where I come from, you either eat fast, or your food could get snatched. Or worse, you could end up tasting what you're eating." Cricket spared a look around the campsite, at the line formed by the cauldron full of soup, as well as the multitude of people enjoying their meal. It seemed the camp operated under a different sort of philosophy.
The astounding speed of her chews and swallows had made others leave the table, leaving much more room around them than before. She really was starving.
Cricket did slow down and allowed herself to enjoy the beef stew--only now realizing it was beef. It felt warm in her belly, and she offered Abel a shy smile before taking a bite of bread.
"Do you have any family? A place to go?" Abel asked, his smile fading at the question. He likely knew the answer to it but he figured that this was his own way of interrogating her.
"What will you do? When will you leave? I know you've been handling things on your own...I'm curious. Did you have a plan before any of this? Do you have any plans now?
"No family." She offered up, but didn't appear too forlorn about it.
It didn't come off as a surprise to Abel. The world was brutal for those without support.
"I planned to get as far east as I could. I heard that there are port cities along the coastline that have boats that cross the whole ocean. Sounded as good a plan as any." Cricket gave a little shrug.
"That's funny...I'm from there." Abel replied. "There are port cities and boats that are used for trade. But that was so long ago, who knows what it's like out there now."
The idea that Abel was from the very place she intended to go caught her attention. A thousand questions thought to escape from her tongue but she offered something simple.
"What about you? Why are you with mercenaries?" Cricket asked curiously.
His eyes widened a little at her question, looking away from her with a scratch of his temple.
"Me? Well. I lost."
It was embarrassing to admit that he didn't join the mercenaries of his own accord. "Thorne and Gael found me fighting against a gang of bandits and Thorne in particular seemed to have been pretty impressed. But they didn't appreciate my attempting to steal their valuables. Thorne challenged me to a duel and if I won, I'd leave with all the spoils. If he won, I'd be claimed and serve under his banner. For life."
He looked over to Cricket, shrugging with a smile.
"That was six months ago. A couple of wolves dislike me because of that. Velstadt especially. I heard from other people that Thorne had never really shown interest in someone out of the blue like that. Velstadt feels that nobody like me just shouldn't have been given the light of day. I'm warming up to a few here though. Even him. And Gael is probably the kindest soul you'll ever meet." He shook his head, changing the subject.
"Also no family. Not anything, really. One day I just woke up. Bloodied, injured, and lying at the edge of a shore with broken bones and no memory of anything before. An old fisherman found me, nursed me back to health, and found out I was good with a sword. Really good with one."
He remembered the man fondly in a way.
"He helped me hone my skills for four years. Then he tried to sell me and was killed by his customers. Then I was taken. Owned by a bandit queen."
It sounded like they both had a lack of connections in the world. But Cricket respected the man who'd saved her enough not to bother with anything as terrible as pity.
"Well, at least you're a man of your word. Nothing terrible in that. And there are worse places and people to be enslaved to, I suppose." Cricket offered up before going for another spoonful of stew. "This world's a hard place to end up in."
"I was born in the Capital. Had parents, but they died early--our part of the city was quarantined off when the plague hit. The city's attempt at keeping the wealthier residents safe, I guess. They didn't make it, I did." It had happened so long ago, when she was so terribly young, she no longer even held the memory of the pain of losing them.
"I fell in with a few other kids with similar situations, spent the majority of my youth pick-pocketing and begging until-"
Cricket was interrupted by Abel extending his cup of water to her realizing that she didn't get a cup for herself. She took the offered cup and downed half the water in a single gulp.
"Not nearly as exciting as amnesia, bandit queens, and bands of mercenaries I'm afraid."
"Exciting isn't the word I'd use, but I get it." Abel laughed, deciding not to press her. "I'd be much more against being here if I had some sort of purpose. But I don't. So that helps." He joked, leaning back into his chair. "Money and power go a long way. Thorne believes taking on these jobs for Morya will give us exactly that."
He looked down, the guilt rising in his chest.
"Listen, there's something I have to tell you." Gray eyes went to cricket, not wanting to mention it to her. But it was better for him to tell her than to find out from the others.
"I've complicated some things bringing you here. The others think there's a possibility you are a spy or something. And even if you weren't, they don't plan on simply letting you go."
His eyes fell into thought. "You'll be with us until we're done here. And Wars take time. Could be a few months. A few years."
Just like that her plans for traveling to the coast had been put on hold against her will.
"I'm sorry. I just...didn't think things through. You're my responsibility now. I'll be blamed for anything you try to pull."
There was something odd about being told as such. Thorne told him those very words yet...it seemed like he was trusting Abel's judgement rather than scolding him directly.
"Nadia's got you on the run. Perhaps fighting back isn't such a terrible idea."
"So I'm a prisoner here?" Cricket asked. She looked inwards, trying to determine how she felt about it.
He was quiet, unable to look at her. But it was true, she was a prisoner here until things were settled between the two kingdoms.
There wasn't any outrage. No terror or sincere feelings that she would be harmed. This was a military camp, to be sure--but the attitude of the other residents seemed civil enough. Everyone seemed more preoccupied with their own work than trying to figure out how to cause their neighbor any pain. Might not have been homey, but it wasn't a cesspool of depravity either.
If she felt anything, it was concern. And it wasn't for her.
"Abel...you and your friends aren't going to want me to stay here. Not if you want your campsite to remain secure." How the hell was she going to explain this?
"Nadia isn't going to stop hunting me down."
Being denied someone's freedom was enough to bring out all kinds of unpleasant emotions but Abel caught that there was something else on her mind.
His brows furrowed at her words, not really understanding what she was trying to convey to him. Surely she wasn't a spy, the encounter on the cliff and her malnutrition convinced him otherwise.
But before he could open his mouth, Velstadt sank his curved knife into the wooden table between them with a loud bang causing Cricket to jerk back in alarm. Maybe she had overestimated the amount of security that would be present at camp. They were mercenaries after all, and even if Abel seemed decent--it didn't mean anything about the rest of them.
Velstadt's boot came up to rest on the table's seat, posting up next to Cricket with a wide smile.
He was in a good mood.
"Ah, yes. The knucklehead and his fair muddy princess." He teased, the grin on his face as wide as ever. Finally, there were consequences for Abel's bold actions. And he was loving it. "I sure hope you're enjoying the food and clothes young lady, because tomorrow you and Abel are under me."
"What?" Abel shook his head in disagreement. "She can't come with us out there. She's—"
"You misunderstand. Both of you are being trained." His grin somehow grew wider.
"You think I need to train?" Abel glared at Velstadt in disbelief.
"Yes, to be an obedient mutt." Velstadt laughed at his own joke, ripping his knife from the table. "Last time I checked, you lost to both Sophia and me. OH! And Thorne. You lost to him too. And we all saw that."
"Tch!" Abel slumped slightly in his chair, knowing he didn't have a comeback for what was being said.
"As for you, princess, we're going to find out exactly what you are good at. Whether it's with a blade or not." Velstadt laughed almost gleefully, removing his foot to stand properly beside her. "Everyone here pulls their own weight. And those who simply weigh us down always end up buried. Whether it's the wolves burying them or when they are finally challenged on their shit out there." He pointed behind him with a thumb, knowing both of them knew what he was talking about.
Cricket eyed the pair of men as they spoke of subjects she wasn't familiar with, learning a little something about both of them. Specifically; that as much as Abel had been able to take on wolves, he apparently wasn't skilled enough to take on most of the Wolves. And also that Velstadt was a dick.
"Don't call me princess," Cricket said, staring up at him from her seat, not bothering to rise as he stood next to her. "And you don't want me out on your front lines."
"I'll call you whatever the fuck I want until you prove your value," Velstadt said, smug, but starting to seethe at the response he'd been given. "You think all the shit you've been provided comes without a cost?"
He spared a glare back at Abel, where easier pastures lay. "This is what you put your neck out for? You want to know what words are already being spread about you?" He grinned once more.
Velstadt cursing at Cricket left a sour taste in Abel's mouth. He stood up, his glare burning a hole through Velstadt's temple as the man smugly watched Cricket. Abel was calm for the most part. It was likely why he and Velstadt butted heads. Velstadt was used to over-the-top reactions as an excuse to kick the shit out of someone. Especially someone new.
"All the shit that was provided was on me. Whatever cost you have in mind, you take it up with me." Abel maneuvered himself around to stand beside Cricket, Velstadt finally looking at him with some anger.
New information for Cricket. The clothes and food hadn't really been charity from the camp--but rather charity directly out of Abel's pocket. Though it had her wondering about his exact position in the group. He'd been bought and sold, but had enough money in his pocket to make a statement that, 'all the shit that was provided was on me.' Curiouser and curiouser.
"And whoever has words to spread regarding either of us, tell them to come around and tell me myself." Abel looked over to Cricket, noticing that he was starting to lose himself to Velstadt's mind games. He told Cricket without a word that he was leaving the table and that she should come with, turning and walking away with some finality.
Cricket barely gave Velstadt another moment's consideration. And as Abel walked away, she remained his ever-present shadow--still walking slightly behind him rather than at his side.
"He's a lot more annoying lately." He voiced out, not even sure Cricket was there. "If you pay him no mind he's a little tolerable." He joked, still angry. "Whatever plan they have for us tomorrow, it's best to rest up for it. Knowing him, it'll be early in the morning."
"I've never been trained to fight before." Cricket said to his back. She wasn't sure if training with Abel was a good idea. It could lend itself to feeling a connection with him, and she was already starting to like him. If she accidentally bonded with him, they'd all be fucked.
Abel traveled down until he reached his small tent, folding his arms when he realized something.
After thinking for a few seconds he turned to Cricket. "You can have this one." He offered, a little flustered.
Cricket gave a small and silent nod. Just like with anything else, she accepted whatever was offered without complaint or resistance. She wasn't exactly in a position to turn down food, or clothes, or shelter.
"I'll use this one. Across." He pointed, not even letting whoever was in there know he was going to be sleeping there.
"And don't dwell on fighting too much. Learning to defend yourself is good for many things, not just war."
He walked backwards for a moment, a hand going up to signal he was leaving.
"Sleep easy, if you need anything, just visit."
The tent he would sleep in was just several yards away, ducking inside to see a familiar face.
"Wha? Sophia?! Weren't you on the other side?"
The sleepy redhead sat up, barely able to see him. "Morya troops have it, I had to move to this one. Are you finally trying to be a man?" She teased, grinning as she lay back down with her back to him, warm in her patchy blanket. She was a fierce and fit woman in her late twenties who regularly fought alongside Abel since he had arrived.
"Haha." Abel laughed with sarcasm and took a spot at the corner of the tent. "I suppose Velstadt spoke with you. You'll be up too?"
"You know him so well! Yes! I'll be assessing your new friend." She pouted playfully, turning her head a little so that he could see her face.
Abel scoffed at her, unbuckling a few harnesses and armor so that all his gear sat beside him. Lying down next to it, he sighed. "Let's just get some rest."
"Not in the mood. Gotcha."
She turned her head from him to rest comfortably on her pillow, and eventually, the sound of night bugs and light wind filled the night.