Honored

Chapter 5: Welcome Home

I opened my door to the main living area to see Lok standing by the table staring at my door. Dan was next to him in clothes very similar to the ones he wore when we left the village, except they looked a little too even to be true village clothing. I could also see the pommel of a sword showing under his brown cape.

"What is all this for?" We still had three more days here, or at least I thought we had three more days.

"Liv, today is the day you are leaving. Didn't Cat remind you last night?" Lok said in that bland tone that reminded me of why I was so very glad I hadn't seen him in a month.

Had she said anything? I remember hitting the bullseye with the compound bow, shooting one of those single shot pistols, and then firing off ten rounds from the fancy magazine loaded pistol. And then after we finished that I had my ass handed to me in hand to hand combat before being ordered to go run around the training area until ordered to stop. Nope. No mention of leaving there.

When she told me to stop running I walked up to her. She shrugged and said, "You'll do okay." It was probably the closest thing she'd given me to a complement the entire time I was there. But no, no warning notice of, by the way, pack up your stuff, wear your damn exile outfit again, and prepare to go meet your fate.

I shook my head.

"Do ya need any help packing, I'm all ready to go. They'll give us our bags if we survive entering the city," Dan spoke as if this was a given.

Of course, he didn't know the city. He had no idea how they treated people there. What had I gotten him into?

I smiled out him, "Thanks, but I'm mostly packed. I just miscalculated which day we were leaving."

I didn't want him to realize I wasn't prepared at all. One month wasn't enough time. I had no idea how to be an awe inspiring leader. I wasn't someone that could stand up and make great speeches about fighting to overthrow tyranny. What was that speech, Liberty or Death?

"Well, mind if I keep you company while ya pack?"

I had no clue how to respond to that. I tell him yeah, sure come keep me company and he would see I hadn't packed up anything. Or tell him, oh yeah, I would prefer if you waited outside even though Lok is a terrible conversationalist.

And I also had to change. I had a good excuse. "I do have to change..." Not like plenty of men hadn't seen me naked before, but as I suspected he just nodded.

"I'll just wait out here then. Hurry up though."

With that agreement reached, fast packing was in order.

The truth was I didn't really need much. The bag they gave me wasn't that large anyway. The ten shot pistol from the bedside table and the single shot muzzle loader pistol went in along with the belt dagger, thigh strapped dagger, and boot dagger. The compound bow was strapped to the outside as well as a quiver of arrows for it.

I didn't really need much else. Maybe one practice outfit to change into. I'd come to realize that the exile armor really wasn't that practical. It was more for show than anything else. Some pieces might be good to strap over the practice clothing, but not the whole blasted thing that yelled, "I am the exile."

If I'd learned anything about revolutions with Emalda it was that the best way to win was to blend in. Once we started fighting, I would probably steal a uniform from a dead guard. To win we would need guerrilla warfare tactics. Blend in, and then kill from pre-ordained ambush spots. Have regular city clothes to slip into so we could slip away and blend in with the people.