Chapter 32 - THIRTY TWO: A Wild Turn

"So.. tell me how you got yourself in this situation," Dash remarked casually as he and Kel both sipped unheated water out of clay mugs. Naturally, Kel had refused to give Dash any further victories, and so they were stuck with room-temperature drinks.

"Well…" Kel trailed off, cheeks reddening as she thought about the events leading up to the hectic chase.

After she'd nabbed the register from behind the counter, things at the surprisingly flat party had taken a wild turn.

Just as she was about to leap back over the bar, she'd been approached by an intoxicated man--too intoxicated, evidently, to realize that she clearly wasn't the bartender.

"Get me a couple more doses of Donie if you will," he commanded, leaning up against the counter.

Afraid of the man raising his voice and causing a scene if she tried to explain that she was merely another regular party-goer, Kel decided to just give him what he wanted..

The only problem was that she had no idea what 'Donie' was.

Based on the way he'd called for doses specifically, it probably was some kind of drug. Kel turned her attention to the shelf at the back wall, which appeared to be the keeping place for substances.

She had the tiniest bit of experience dabbling in drugs thanks to her early days on the street and a few unsavory missions as a knight, but the identical stacks of wrapped brown paper were impossible to decipher.

The first bundle she peeled back and peeked into, she recognized as opium. Is this what he wanted?

Wary of the actual bartender coming back, Kel hurriedly slid the package she'd inspected and the one beneath it across the counter.

"What's this," the man frowned, picking up the two bundles. "I only wanted two doses."

"Oh.. right," Kel hesitated. How was she supposed to know anything about drug doses?!

"I'm not paying for this!!" The man suddenly raised his voice, slamming one of the packages down.

"Shhh. I'm sorry, Sir," Kel tried to soothe the man as she noticed several pairs of eyes turning toward them.

The man gave her a sloppy glower before stumbling away and collapsing on a couch.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she snuck out from behind the counter and began tiptoeing toward the exit. Before she got far, however, she noticed the man from before angrily scanning the room.

Was he looking for her?

He was probably too far gone to recognize her in the sea of masked and hooded figures, but she still found herself ducking through the nearest pair of curtains.

"Oh my," came a giggle from behind. "Have you come to play with us?"

Bracing herself for a heinous scene, Kel slowly looked over her shoulder into the alcove she'd unwittingly stepped into.

She let out a small breath when she noticed it was a group of women behind her, all fully clothed, holding cards in their hands. Apparently they had come in here to gamble in private.

"Perhaps you were expecting a man," one of the women laughed, pursing her lips at Kel.

"Why don't you come join us?" another woman piped up, holding out a stack of cards. "As long as you have money, that is."

Kel rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, I don't have time anyway, so I'll be going now."

She had stepped only halfway out into the main room when she felt a tug on her cloak.

"Come on! Stay a little while!" The first woman insisted, grasping Kel's cape tightly.

"I-I really can't!" Kell hissed, gently trying to pry her cloak loose.

The struggle knocked the register free from it's temporary holding place in her belt, and it fluttered to the ground.

The women, along with the people nearby watching the scene, fell silent as Kel bent over and snatched the roll of paper off the ground.

"What's that?!" one of the women teased a little too loudly.

Suddenly, there was too much attention on Kel. She shoved the register into the more secure pocket inside her cloak and made a break for it, taking note of the bartender pointing her out to a pair of guards.

"You pretty much know the rest," Kel sighed, shaking her head as she finished her story.

Dash, who had been listening intently, finally spoke up.

"But what I can't understand," he said coldly, tapping his index finger against the rough tabletop, "is why you were at that place to begin with?"

"Why were YOU there then?" Kel retorted irritably.

Dash stopped tapping. "I had my reasons."

"Well so did I," Kel huffed, crossing her arms.

They both sat in silence, friction sparking in the air between them.

"Why... haven't you gone home yet?" Kel finally asked, lowering her voice.

"Would they welcome a traitor like me back?" Dash scoffed.

"We both know that what you did wasn't-"

"Wasn't what? Treason? A crime against my kingdom?" He interrupted.

With a sad smile, he rested his head against the table, staring at nothing in particular.

To Kel, he looked miserable. She couldn't deny that it brought her satisfaction to see him in this state, but she couldn't shake the annoying stinging in her chest. Feelings built up over a lifetime, it seemed, weren't so easy to get rid of.

"I've always thought that if I did everything I was ordered," Dash muttered, head still down, "if I followed all the rules exactly, I would always be in the right."

Dash always did have a strong sense of justice. Kel could think of several times when she and Adriell tried to sneak away from their duties, only to be lectured and drug back by their overly righteous friend.

"I felt that way…" he trailed off, suddenly standing up, "until now."

"W-what, you've finally stopped being such a goody-two-shoes?" Kel stuttered awkwardly as Dash stepped toward her. The atmosphere between them had become strange.

"I've learned that right and wrong aren't so simple. In fact, it's impossible to figure out sometimes," Dash spoke in a serious tone, ignoring Kel's attempt to lighten the mood.

Kel tried to scoot her chair back as the distance between them closed, but Dash moved faster, wrapping his fingers around the back of the chair and holding it in place.

"So from now on," he continued, cupping one of Kel's cheeks in his other hand, "I'm just going to do what I want."

Kel froze as Dash leaned in to kiss her.