Bandit Bride

Jack intently watched as Felix shaved in front of a mirror. No pressure, or anything. Just a pair of wide eyes examining every move as Felix held a sharp knife against his face. He eventually sighed and set the knife down, looking at Jack with an exasperated expression.

“Can you go somewhere else?” he asked.

“Does it hurt?” Jack asked, ignoring the request. “Scraping a knife against your face like that?”

“Only if I cut myself,” Felix mumbled, turning his attention back to the mirror. “Which I will, if you keep staring at me.”

“Sorry,” Jack said, sitting back a little to give him some space. “Just curious. That’s all.”

“It’s fine.”

“So,” Jack said slowly, “I guess Elisa likes you better clean shaven.”

“What?” Felix frowned. “I don’t know. I mean... did she tell you that? Not that it matters.”

“No, I’m just messing with you,” Jack grinned. “So something is happening between you two, huh?”

“No,” Felix said quickly. “We just get along, that’s all.”

“Have you kissed her?”

“Jack, enough,” Felix snapped. “It’s not like that.”

Jack shrugged. “Okay, if you say so. Oh. Hey there, Elisa.”

Felix jumped slightly, running a hand through his hair before turning. Elisa wasn’t there, just Jack with a smug grin on his face.

“It’s not like that,” Felix repeated. “Drop it. Or I drop you. Out the window.”

Jack rolled his eyes and got up from the chair to leave. Felix finished up the close shave, listening as the door opened.

“Oh, excuse me, Elisa.”

Felix huffed.

“I’m not falling for that one again-”

He turned and froze when he saw Elisa standing there, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Falling for what?” she questioned.

“Nothing,” Felix said quickly, wiping his face dry with a cloth.

“Sorry for barging in,” she said. “Lyle mentioned you had plans to fence the ring today.”

“Yeah,” Felix said. “I was about to leave.”

“Can I come?” she asked.

“What for?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I just want to come. For closure, I guess. Look, can I please just come?”

“Sure.”

She smiled, patting his cheek gently.

“You clean up nice.”

Felix was glad she walked off before she saw how red he had turned. He snapped out of the frazzled state and got changed. Most everything they had gotten from Elisa had been sold off already, save for some pearls and sheets of silk that had been taken from the wedding gown after they had taken it apart. It had been a strategy to avoid pointing out signs to where Elisa was, but as Felix examined the glittering diamond ring in the light, he wasn’t sure if the steps they had taken were far enough. It wouldn’t be an issue if they weren’t together, but eyewitnesses had already seen the crew together. Elisa was always with them.

He wrapped the ring up in fabric, pocketing the bundle. Lyle and Burns were taking care of the rest. He went down to see Elisa waiting for him outside. She seemed antsy, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet and eyes darting around.

“What’s on your mind?” Felix asked.

“Oh,” she said. “I didn’t see you walk up.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I’m fine. It just became... very real.”

“In a bad way?”

“No,” she said hesitantly. “I think this was for the best. I just hope no one was too hurt by it.”

Felix thought for a moment as they started their walk into town.

“Wait for the anxiety to die down a little bit, then write your family a letter to let them know you’re alright,” he suggested.

“Maybe.”

They both went quiet, and he caught himself glancing over to see if he could read her thoughts. Was she thinking about leaving? He found himself worried about whether she was considering it.

The thoughts were interrupted when Felix was suddenly shoved from behind. Elisa gasped softly and caught him before he toppled over. When he regained his balance he turned, dismayed at the smug face he saw before them. Melvin Sweeney looked about as stupid as he was, but he had muscles to make up for his lack of intelligence. He was a black market dealer that based himself out of Camsir’s seedy taverns. He didn’t have a lot of friends besides those who worked under him, and was notorious for getting into violent fights. Unfortunately for Felix, Anthony was no stranger to those fights. And he and Elisa were outnumbered with four of Melvin’s minions surrounding them.

“Look at that,” Melvin teased. “Our boy here has a nurse taking care of him now.”

“Beat it, Melvin,” Felix grumbled. “I have no business with you.”

“Don’t you?” Melvin questioned. “Because the last time you were here, your brother gambled himself into quite a bit of debt to me. And I’m still waiting on that money he owes me.”

“That sounds like his problem, not mine,” Felix said.

“No, there’s a problem with that,” Melvin argued. “Because I heard that your brother is somewhere in a shallow grave. And the way things go, I believe that debt passes on to you.”

The men surrounding them grunted in agreement. Felix pursed his lips, grabbing Elisa by the hand and trying to guide her in the opposite direction. They were blocked off by Melvin’s men. He tried going the other way, once again getting blocked.

“So who’s this?” Melvin questioned, eyeing Elisa. “Street whore?”

“I am not,” she protested.

“All women become street whores if they’re offered the right price,” Melvin chuckled.

“Not this woman.”

“Alright,” Melvin sighed. “I have a new idea then.”

He grabbed Elisa suddenly, locking her against him and holding a knife to her throat.

“Give me the money you owe me, or this one bleeds out on the pavement,” he said bluntly.

Elisa struggled against him, but the brute was easily three times her size, His bicep alone was the size of her torso.

“Where am I supposed to pull money out of?” Felix argued. “Out my ass? Don’t be stupid, Melvin. Don’t hurt the girl for no reason.”

“I have a reason,” he said. “Money. I’ll wait as long as I need to, but the girl waits with me.”

Felix considered fighting, but with the knife pressed to Elisa’s throat and how outnumbered they were, it was hard to argue. He paused, then reluctantly took out the ring.

“Will this do?” he asked.

Melvin’s eyes widened hungrily when he saw the size of the glittering diamond and reached for it. Felix snatched it out of his reach.

“The girl first,” he said. “Or I run and throw it into the ocean.”

Melvin glared at him, moving the knife from Elisa’s throat and shoving her into Felix. Felix gave Elisa a look over to make sure she was alright. She seemed to be a little frazzled, but alright. He then gave her a different look, which she understood right away. She’d practiced all sorts of pickpocketing, and now it was time to put it to use. She turned, stepping back up to Melvin as he examined the ring.

“You’re going to regret attaching that ring to yourself,” she warned. “People are going to be looking for it.”

Melvin raised a brow at her, pocketing the ring and raising his knife in her direction again.

“Are you trying to- Hey. Are you... is she... gonna cry?”

Elisa had put on a show of making her eyes wide with concern.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” she said. “And I’m worried about you, and- oh, come here.”

She hugged Melvin suddenly. Felix resisted the urge to crack a smile. He understood the confusion of the men well. It took some getting used to. Not that they’d ever have to get used to it.

“Alright, there there,” Felix said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her away. “I know he looks big and squishy, but there’s no need for hugging. Apologies, boys. Really don’t know how to handle her sometimes. But you have your money now, so-”

“Just beat it,” Melvin growled.

Elisa and Felix turned on their heels and started to walk away, trying not to look stiff and suspicious. Felix glanced over at her and she gave him a brief nod as they turned a corner into an alley. She opened her clenched fist, and there sat the ring in her palm.

“I was worried he’d notice,” she whispered.

And then there was a shout.

“He did,” Felix grimaced. “Come on, we need to run.”

He grabbed her hand and they took off running, getting as big of a head start as they could before the brutes caught up. Felix wasn’t sure where he was going, weaving in and out of alleys and avoiding collisions with screaming people in the streets.

“Where are we going?!” Elisa yelled.

“I don’t know, we’re just going!” Felix yelled back.

She yanked back on his hand to stop him, taking the lead and entering one of the seaside buildings. A store of some sort. The people inside shrieked in surprise as they barreled up the stairs, climbing to the roof. It didn’t take long for Melvin’s boys to spot them, but now they were jumping from roof to roof. They scrambled to climb up the buildings after them, though they weren’t quite as agile and fast as Felix and Elisa were. Maybe all that brawn wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Felix and Elisa skidded to a halt when they ended up standing on a roof of a building overlooking the sea, about fifty feet above the water. They looked back to see the men still getting closer, and they had hit a dead end.

“We have to jump,” Felix concluded.

“Jump?” Elisa frowned. “From all the way up here?”

“We’ll be fine,” Felix promised. “They won’t follow us. They don’t have enough control over themselves to dive straight down, they could risk hitting the water the wrong way.”

“What if we hit the water the wrong way?”

“We won’t, you have to trust me.”

She paused a moment, then nodded. She grabbed his hand again and they counted down from three before taking a running leap into the water. It was a few seconds of screaming and freefall, and then they hit the water. Luckily, both of them were unharmed. Elisa was still holding his hand when they resurfaced, gasping and clinging on to his shoulder. He swam closer to the cliff, hanging on to a rock for support and listening. There were some shouts, but as he thought, no one followed them into the water. They’d be safe for a little bit. Long enough to get out of town, at least.

“Well, that’s that,” Felix said, panting.

“Can we go back to the inn, please?” Elisa said softly.

“I thought you said you wanted to go for a swim.”

Elisa didn’t say anything. He just got splashed in the face.