The Contract

Cold air stirred Lysandra. She woke near the crackling embers of last night’s fire, and underneath her head, Rex slept. His heart thumped a steady rhythm and his breath blended in the breeze. She kept still, hoping he’d stay asleep for a few hours more. A few hours more of selfish comfort.

Dawn took its time rising, but unfortunately, it still came. In the horizon, hints of orange dyed the sky—lifting the night blanket.

A footstep crunched on the morning frost. It was her dad, returning from the surrounding forest, cradling dry sticks. He was careful not to disturb the others sleeping, as he placed new kindling and wood on the embers. Lysandra kept her eyes closed and relaxed—in case he felt talkative.

Her dad squatted beside her and blew into the fire. “Good,” he mumbled. Then, he sat on the dirt and poked the fire. “I know you’re awake,” he whispered.

Still, Lysandra didn’t move.

He spoke quietly, “I see. I hope you’ll forgive me then.” After shuffling around, he placed something in the embers. “There’s still a little time before contract selection.”

As the air sweetened, Rex’s chest rose, and soon after a hand brushed Lysandra’s hair. “Morning.” His voice was light.

“Morning,” her dad said, “Lysandra’s still sleeping. Best not move too much.”

Rex nodded. The rhythm in his chest hastened and Lysandra fought the urge to peek.

Her dad placed more items in the embers. “Are you going to miss us?”

“Hm?”

“Once you’ve gathered enough, you’re stealing her away. Kaer told me.”

Rex whispered back, “I am.”

“Good. There’s nothing for you two here anymore. I’m not sure Neoreus will be around by the time—” her dad inhaled sharply. “By the time we’re gone too.” He placed a caramelized root in front of Lysandra. The sweet and earthy scent smothered all others. “This should wake her,” he said.

Rex moved it away. “Not yet.” For a minute, his breathing stuttered, and he wiped something off his face. He spoke so quietly, that even her father didn’t hear. “What if I don’t want to be a Steelbrite?”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing. Let her be. I’m not that hungry.” His stomach bubbled then churned.

Lysandra faked a morning groan and stretched out. Blinking, as if the light blinded her.

“I must’ve woken her,” her dad said.

Lysandra nodded. “It’s alright. How long now?” She pushed herself off Rex and took the root on the ground, unwrapping it.

Her dad pulled more roots from the embers. “Not long. He should head over.” After letting it cool, he handed it to Rex.

“Can I take her, will they allow me?” Rex asked, rolling up from his position.

“Yes.” Her dad pointed to a wooden shack. At night, it wasn’t visible, but now it stood out as the only solid structure.

As they walked, Rex nibbled on his inner lip. The closer they got, the more he chewed. Lysandra touched his shoulder, traced his arm to his hand, and folded hers in it.

The top of the roof peaked at twice their height, and from the peak—it slopped down to their hips, making most of the shack’s walls. When they approached, the door opened, and a woman stood in the doorway, welcoming them in.

After massaging her hands, she spoke, “Unfortunately, we haven’t received much as of late.”

Inside the shack, a single table was placed on the farthest end, and in between, tacked paper lined the wall.

“Seems plenty,” Rex said, pulling Lysandra to with him. When he read some of the postings, his eyes widened.

Lysandra skimmed a few. Each one, worth less than a month’s harvest.

One of them paid twenty taelmarks, for a month guarding a caravan travelling near Emy, in Sherster – it would take another month just for Rex to reach the caravan. Another, fifteen marks for escorting Shone troops just north of Soneley in Bramphian.

Lysandra searched for more, but didn’t find any worth noting.

Rex pulled one from the wall. His hands trembled, and his eyes bounced back to the top, to read it again. After he finished, he held on to it, and scoured through the rest of the contracts.

Reaching the end, he groaned, “This can’t be all there is.”

“What did you grab?” Lysandra asked.

With a grimace, he handed it over to her.

A kill contract for three bandits. Five thousand Taelmarks. Four other papers were attached to the back of it—three facial sketches, and a report. On the report, it stated their whereabouts—last noted near Dunmouth’s surrounding woods—wanted for killings, theft, and various kidnappings. Authorized by Shone’s Prince—Cylar.

The contract keeper walked over. “That’s one of the few that we received last night.”

“Why does it pay so drastically?” Rex asked. “These—” He gestured his palm at the other contracts. “These are worthless in comparison.”

The woman responded evenly, “We’re not the ones who set the price, we just post the terms.”

Rex sucked his teeth and continued to search for better options. He grabbed a few papers, stacked them on top of each other, and brought them to Lysandra. “I can do all of these at once.”

While she flipped through, Lysandra tallied the months Rex would be away. With all four contracts, he’d be away for a year, probably longer. “That’s not that long.”

He relaxed. “Alright, then it’s settled—”

“You can’t,” The woman stopped him. “We’ve had issues before. Issues with Steelbrites… going away, before reaching the next contract.”

“These are simple, they’re right next to each other too. I could probably do them all at once,” Rex said.

“So can four Steelbrites,” she replied. “It’s less hardship this way.”

Rex threw up an arm. “I can’t imagine any Steelbrite grabbing these contracts.”

“Well,” she said, “they haven’t. We dispose old contracts, but after some time, they’ll reappear with slightly higher pricing. But again, we haven’t received much lately. The ones worth taking, are gone within the hour. We usually keep a week’s worth for the Ironrite, unfortunately, it hasn’t been as… consistent as before the blight.”

Rex paced the room, checking to see if he missed any contracts. Lysandra touched his shoulder. “It’s alright.” Lysandra said. “We can— we can find some work traveling.”

He shook his head. “Lys, last month was Sahva’s last harvest. We’d be traveling through the winter with our family’s storings.”

“They wouldn’t mind, I’m sure.” Lysandra smiled, hoping she could sway him.

“What if you fall sick? What if I fall sick? Where would we go?”

“Then we’ll wait till summer.”

“Then what—” His fingers pressed into his eyes, “I could take two, maybe three contracts till then, but it’d be enough for travelling stays, but we’ve got miles ahead of us, miles to outrun to blight. Your dad—” His voice cracked. “I don’t want to just survive. We can take a riverboat down to Bramphia, but, we’ll need *serious *coin to get out of Corterra.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there.”

He said, “I’m sorry Lys,” grabbing her hand. “But, I can figure it out now.” Turning towards the Keeper, he waved the kill contract.

“I’ll take it.”

Their families were still laughing a storm at the campfire. Hearty rebuttals and jabs resounded like birds chirping in the forest. But the *real *birds that would usually hide in the trees stopped chirping—and they haven’t been heard in months. Lysandra pulled Rex back before they reached them.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Do you have to? Even something boring is fine, I—I can come with you.”

“No, I can’t. We’ll still have to come back after each mission. I mean, would you want that? Three months away, a day here to see our families rot, then another three months. Then what? There’d be barren fields with a house to tender empty loam, and then what?” He grimaced. “Do you think you could leave again?”

“We’ll be together at least. How about this one, then? I can join you—”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I can’t have you do what I need to do for me. I know how it sounds. I know it sounds like I’m being a stubborn boy, or a fool, to look good or be brave. But I’m not being foolish.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

Rex rubbed his eyes. “It—” His voice cracked. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be easy. This is the only way I can see us living, and not just surviving.”