Summer was so glad she had the presence of mind to go back and erase their tracks. The heavy rain helped. By the time she had gathered some berries and edible plants, it was midafternoon and the rain had stopped falling.

She went back to the river and drank as much water as she could. Maybe the poison wouldn't kill her after all, since she was still alive. But it was making her weak. She needed to flush it all out.

She found wide-leaved plants, cut one and used it to bring water back to Leon. The process was exhausting and slow, but he also needed to drink as much as possible.

She ate. Then she crushed berries and leaves and put them in Leon's mouth, washing them down with water. He swallowed.

He still looked gray. She was debating whether to light up a fire or not. It would be a hassle to find enough dry leaves and branches, but she would manage.

The decision was made for her, however. Because before the night fell, they came.

She had just made Leon a blanket of large leaves. It wouldn't hold the cold at bay, but it was better than his soaking clothes.

The sounds of the forest changed. Summer cocked her ears. Something was out there, something that didn't belong. All her senses were primed for survival, so she caught the sound of steps and hushed voices in the wind while they were still far off. She hurried out, dragged some fallen branches and dead bushes until they concealed the cave's opening. She then went back and erased her tracks, snuck through the slight opening she left for herself into the cave, then rearranged them so they covered the entrance entirely. She was now thankful their shelter was small.

Summer stayed absolutely still. The sky had darkened. With the thick clouds there were no beautiful sunset colors. Only an oppressing gray.

At first, she hoped against hope that it was Al and Ida who'd come looking. She hoped it was help. But these men were not acting like they were searching for someone to help. They were trying to be quiet. They didn't call for anyone, and when she saw them, she was convinced they were friends with the gang they had slaughtered that very morning.

One of them passed right next to their dwelling. Summer held her breath and put a hand over Leon's mouth. With her luck he would wake up and scream with the men right next to them.

"How do we even know they're still alive?" one of the men asked. They were so close.

"We'll check and move on," another replied. "The boss wants to be meticulous."

"The one who dropped in the river probably didn't have the artifact anyway," the first one said. "And if he did have it, it would be somewhere deep in the river by now."

"Stop complaining. The boss sent people to town where the rest of them escaped to, but with the guards and everything it will take us time to get to them."

"Why can't we-"

"Would you be quiet!" the man snapped. "If he's hiding somewhere he'll have heard your ass screaming by now."

"I wasn't screaming!" he hissed.

"Damn right, you were-"

They moved on. Summer laid down and curled next to Leon in relief. It was so cold. She shivered. But if she could just sleep a little bit. Just a tiny bit.

Her mind blanked.

The next time she woke it was because of teeth chattering. Her own. Her body was almost frozen solid. It took her three tries to uncurl her fists and sit up.

Pitch black. It was night. And the cold was unbearable. Summer touched Leon's cheek, but she could feel nothing through her frozen skin. She listened a little, no one was out there. If she didn't light up a fire, they would freeze to death.

She threw up twice in her quest to find dry tinder and wood. She hoped it was poison leaving her body and not something else. It took her twice as long as usual to bring a flame to life and nurse it to a decent fire.

Her hands were torn and bloody by the end of it. But the fire was worth it. She built it right outside the cave and moved Leon closer to it. If she'd built it inside she would have suffocated them to death and put them both out of their misery.

Summer took off her pants and spread it next to the fire with all their other clothes to dry.

"Am I naked?"

Summer looked at him. She was sitting by his head with her knees drawn up to her chest and her hands over the fire. He was staring at the fire, the flames playing in his eyes.

"Yes," Summer replied. "You're also alive, so stop complaining."

He mumbled something.

"What?"

"I said, not complaining," he said. "Fire is nice."

Then he passed out again. Well, then. It was a nice, short conversation. Summer fed the fire and curled down next to Leon. Hopefully the flames would hold on a bit longer until she slept some. Hopefully it wouldn't rain tonight.

Leon's body was warmer. Summer pressed against him, borrowing his warmth. It was a small reassurance that he was still alive, and that she wasn't alone.

How odd. She had been alone most of her life, and never truly had a problem with it. But over the last few weeks she had grown used to being around people. She'd grown used to taking part in conversations, of sharing jokes and laughter, of the simple joy of feeling people around her. People who didn't cringe at the sight of her. People who didn't spit on the ground after she passed them by.

The joy of belonging. No matter how delusional that made her. Because after all, she was just a criminal they were escorting to the capital to meet her fate. Still, it felt nice to belong for a while.

The dry weather held for the night. At the break of dawn, the fire at her back was cold. Summer opened her eyes and met Leon's gaze. It was lucid.

"We're alive," he said.

Summer rubbed her eyes and sat up. The fire was reduced to mere glowing embers. She yawned. "We're also cold, hungry and injured. So we might not be alive for much longer."

"Optimistic." His voice was raspy and weak. But at least he was speaking.

Summer pushed away the leaves covering his torso and checked the makeshift bandage on his side.

"Shit, you're bleeding again."

The blood had soaked through the scrap of clothes. She had to change it. Then she would clean it and let it dry to use it again because they didn't have any more clothes to spare.

First she had to cauterize the wound. She quickly lit up the fire, put Leon's dagger in to heat up.

Leon watched quietly as she unwrapped the bloodied bandaged and cauterized the wound. He didn't wince or curse, but she knew he had to be in pain. Summer then cut bandages from his dry tunic and wrapped his wound.

"Ever worked as a nurse?" he asked. She glanced at him as she finished the bandages. All the usual intensity and sharpness in his eyes was focused on her.

"No, Boyd taught me how to get by on my own," she said.

"I'd like to meet this Boyd," he said. "It seems like he knows everything."

Summer smiled and covered Leon with the leaves again. "Well, if your wound gets infected and you die, you'll meet him. I'll try my best to keep you alive, though. Al would torture me into a slow painful death if you die and I live."

"Ah, glad to know your reasons for keeping me alive are purely selfish ones."

"Exactly." She grinned. "So don't think I care. Don't move, and close your eyes for a moment."

Leon glanced down at her bare legs and complied. Her undergarments covered all the essentials. Her arms and mid thigh down were bare. She pulled up her pants. Her tunic was all bandages now, so she had to stay that way. Rose would have a fit if she saw her now.

After cleaning the bandages, she got more water and food for Leon and sat down to eat. Her stomach was still raw, and her body burned with a slight fever. But she felt better than the previous day. Even the sun broke through the cover of clouds and warmed up the air.

"I'll go hunting in a little while," she told Leon, her mouth full of wild berries. He was eating his one at a time. Swallowing was painful for him.

"Hmm."

"They came yesterday, when you were asleep." He looked at her. She added, "Al and the others have gone to the closest town, apparently. They were looking for us in case we had the artifact because Al and Ida were surrounded by town guards."

"They'll probably be back." He glanced at the fire. "The man recognized you yesterday."

Summer sighed and spread her arms. "I have no idea who he is."

"He clearly did."

A flare of anger ignited Summer's temper. All it took was the word of a stranger for her to become a criminal again. It didn't matter what she did; she would always be the thief.

Summer took the dagger and stood up. "Right. He knows me. I'm one of them. There, happy now."

She stalked off, feeling the weight of his gaze on her back. He could rot in hell for all she cared.

*** ***

Leon watched her go with a heavy heart. He hadn't meant to doubt her, he was simply wondering why the man would recognize her.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was doubting her. After everything she did, after all this time, he doubted her. He was a piece of trash.

She was stronger than he could ever be. She basically brought him back from the dead. He was still in danger, though. His body was burning, his veins were on fire because of the poison, and his head was dizzy. He was too weak to even speak out loud. He hated staying idle while she took care of everything, but getting up now would only make it worse. He had to recover as fast as he could.

He forced himself to eat more berries. The tangy juice wasn't his favorite, but beggars couldn't be choosers. And for all his royal titles, at that moment, he was less than a beggar.

Al would send out a search party and would ask for help. It would take them some time to be dispatched from the neighboring areas, but in a couple of days the forest would be swarming with people looking for him.

His stomach tightened. He dragged himself away from their camp and emptied his stomach. His injured rib was lighting his side on fire from all the heaving. The world turned around then went dark.

He woke up in a puddle of his own vomit. His stomach lurched again. He dragged himself up, dry heaved a few times, then cleaned his face the best he could and dragged himself back near the fire.

He was shivering uncontrollably despite the fire and the sun shining down through the trees. His son's face flashed before his eyes. He missed him with an ache he didn't believe was possible. How he wished he could see him now. If he ever got out of here alive, he would do everything in his power to be the best father.

That was how Summer found him by noon. She came back. And she came back with a rabbit. Skinned and cleaned and ready to be cooked. She was a wonder, this woman.

She looked less angry than before. He could even swear he saw concern in her eyes when she saw him. But his mind was too muddied up to make sense of anything.

She knelt next to him. The shirt she was wearing was almost see through, but given their current predicament, modesty wasn't a priority. He, himself, was naked under the leaf blanket she fashioned him.

Her hand was cool against his forehead. An unladylike curse escaped her lips, then she added more wood to the fire until it was a roaring sun next to him. She disappeared and came back with water in those giant leaves.

She made him drink, then went back to the river for more, and made him drink. Again and again. He lost consciousness at some point, but was somehow aware of her moving around him. A cold cloth wiped down his face and neck.

Her unusual violet eyes, bright and clear, were the only thing that pierced through the layers of pain and heat clouding his mind. Darkness claimed him again.

*** ***

The smell of cooked meat wafted to his nose, rousing him from deep sleep. The sun was setting, its beams sneaked through the trees making everything they touched a beautiful golden color. Summer's face came into view.

"You're up. Good."

Her face disappeared, then a hand raised his head while another held a water filled leaf to his lips. He tried moving his hands but was too weak. So he drank, the cool liquid a soothing balm to his sore throat and stomach.

"Can you keep down some meat?" she asked after he was through drinking. He blinked, meat sounded better than those berries. He nodded.

She fed him. Later, he would feel embarrassed by how helpless he was. But now he was too weak, and he was too busy trying to keep the soft meat in his stomach. He needed food to get better.

"Thank you." He turned his head away when she would have given him more. She ate it instead. She, herself, didn't look well. Her skin had a gray undertone, her lips and her under eyes were almost blue. She was lucky the arrow only grazed her. What little poison her body consumed was taking its toll on her.

"They're combing through the woods again," she said. "I almost ran into them earlier when I was hunting. I don't know if we should keep the fire."

"Are you sure they're foe?" he asked.

She nodded. "Same voices as yesterday. The good news is they're moving away from here. But we don't know when they might decide to double back."

"Let's douse the fire tonight," he said. It would be cold with only half torn clothes, but cold was better than dead. He was in no shape to fight, and Summer alone wouldn't be able to hold off more than one person in her current condition.

She nodded and stared into the fire. "I kept you alive," she said.

Leon wasn't sure where she was going with it, but he nodded.

"You owe me, then."

He nodded again. She took a deep breath. "If we get out of here alive, you'll return the favor."

Smart woman. "Fair enough. What do you want?"

"Take care of Rose and her son." She surprised him. "Her son is sick, I'm sure that you know that. But she's too kind for her own good. Promise me you'll take care of them until the day you die."

He stared at her. Here she was, hurt and cold and hungry, but she was still thinking of someone else. "Why not use the favor for yourself? You could ask to go free."

She shrugged. "It's not in your power to do it. It's not fair to burden you with something you don't have power over. Besides, Rose has a son, a child who has his whole life ahead of him. He's more important."

He had a feeling that even if Rose hadn't had a son, she would have chosen her over herself. "I understand."

She glanced at him. "Do you have any children? You seemed fond of Reed."

He stared up at the tall trees. The sky was turning a light purple. Soon it would be dark and cold again.

"A son," he said. "I have a son."

"How old?" he heard the smile in her voice and looked at her. She was sitting with her back to the fire, her arms hugging her legs to her chest. Her arms had more muscle than the average woman.

"Seven," Leon replied, taking his eyes off her bare arms. "He's turning eight in a couple of months."

"So young," she said. "He must miss you."

Leon smiled wryly. "I don't know. I'm not his favorite person. I haven't been since his mother died."

Silence. Then, "I'm sorry. Still, I'm sure he misses you."

"What about you?" he asked instead. Speaking of his son always made his heart wounds feel as fresh as new.

"Do I have children?" she grinned. "No, I don't."

He sighed. "I meant your family."

She shrugged. "I was found on the doors of the orphanage when I was an infant, grew up there. Mostly. No family that I know of."

"You're not curious?"

She bit her lips as she considered her answer, then smiled. "Sometimes I wonder about my parents. I wonder why they let me go. But there's no point in it, so I don't really think about them."

Leon wondered if it was as easy as she made it sound. He had grown up with the love of his parents as a given thing most of his life. He hadn't truly known their worth until his father passed away. Still, at least he had known what it was like to be loved by a father, and he still had his mother. He couldn't begin to understand how she felt.

"I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Don't worry about it. I probably would have done the same if I were in your shoes." She glanced away. "I'll take the carcass away. I don't want any wild animals to come sniffing for it."

He was half asleep when she was back. He could feel the fever coming again, his muscle spasmed and his skull pounded. She killed the fire and helped him move inside the small cave. It was more of a hollow under a formation of rocks, but it was a shelter all the same.

He watched as she moved around, erasing all traces of their existence, then she dragged branches and some loose bushes around until they naturally concealed the presence of the cave.

She moved on light feet, never making a noise. He wouldn't be able to tell she was there if he hadn't known. She moved like a creature of the forest. She was a true survivor.

She curled down next to him in the usual way she did when she slept, a tight ball. She pressed her back against his arm as the night darkened. Other than Ida, any other 'lady' he knew would be appalled to be found in this situation. He was so glad she wasn't a typical 'lady'. He would've been long dead otherwise.

"This is not very decent." he said and had the pleasure of hearing her light chuckle.

"Decency won't keep me alive. Warmth will."

He smiled.

"You're burning," she said. It sure felt like it for Leon. He could barely keep his body from shaking.

"I'm craving chocolate," he suddenly said. The thought of the texture and taste of the dark delicacy made his mouth water. He felt her shift against his shoulder.

"I've never had it before."

"Never?"

"Nope. Too expensive. And it's not a necessity. What does it taste like?"

"Like chocolate," he said. She snorted. "You'll have to eat it."

She hummed. Something about what she said nagged at him. His mind was going hazy again. What was it she said? Ah, yes. "What did you mean, it's not a necessity?"

She shifted next to him again. He looked at her. His eyes were getting accustomed to the dark. He could see her profile. She was looking up in silence.

After a few minutes she replied, "there was a merchant who brought all kinds of sweets and delicacies to town and sold them in the market. So I could've stolen some chocolate if I wanted. But it's not a necessity. I only steal what I need to survive. It's the first code Boyd drilled into my head before he taught me sleight of hand."

He was starting to think that this Boyd fellow was a god for her. "How many codes are there?"

"Two. First, to only steal what I need when I need it."

"The second?"

"To only steal from those who can afford it."

"And you've never broken the codes? Not once? Never been tempted?"

"Of course I was tempted, many times, I wouldn't be human otherwise," she said. "But the thing about lines is; if you cross one, there's no going back. Even if you tell yourself I'll only do it this one time, you will do it again and again. You will always find an excuse to justify it to yourself."

Silence reigned in for a moment.

"People will come looking for us. Friendly people. Probably guards," Leon said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, if I'm not awake," or dead, "you'll probably hear a specific whistling pattern."

"The one Al used before?"

"Yes," Leon said, then he whistled the tone to her. "It means an incoming ally. I know you don't care much for guards, but they'll keep you safe."

"Until they throw me behind bars," she said acerbically.

Leon sighed. "I promise I'll do my best to keep you outside bars when we get out of here."

No matter what she did in the past, Leon would not believe she was involved in a scheme that took dozens of innocent lives. He owed her his life, he would never let her life be taken away from her.

She turned her head to look at him. He could've sworn her violet eyes glowed in the dark cavern. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

--- ---- ---

Thoughts? 

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M.B.