The Hand

Part 5

Rook walked towards the barracks with purpose in his stride. He wanted to take care of some personal business before training of the new recruits began. He had been thinking about the boy that they had caught. He had that dagger from East Peak and looked extremely familiar. Rook thought he knew why.

Tucker was waiting for him outside of the barracks. 

"Not yet. When I get back. There is something I must do first," Rook said to him, as he climbed the steps of the building. Tucker nodded.

Rook opened the door and headed for the bunks. He scanned the room, searching for the boy. He found him, and pointed. When the kid acknowledged him, Rook gestured for him to follow. The boy obeyed.

Tucker watched Rook lead the boy out of the building. He looked like he had just seen the strangest thing in his life. 

Rook led the boy into an ally near the armoury. He examined the kid's get-up. He was still in his rags from before. They looked like the remains of the clothing of a farmhand. On his head he wore a cap that covered all of his hair. He was a slender boy, and didn't have much muscle. Rook was sure his conclusion about the kid was right. 

He pulled the dagger from East Peak from his belt and held it before the kid.

"So, tell me, how does a farm boy acquire  a dagger belonging to the noble house of East Peak?" He said sternly.

"I found it, sir. I don't know what else to say," The kid said, trembling.

"Right, so you don't know who it originally belonged to?"

"No . . . I don't, sir," The boy's eyes were darting all around.

"Stop lying Elle!" Rook said. He used the dagger to flick the cap off the boy's head. 

Brown hair fell down to the young woman's shoulder's. She looked away, embarrassed.

"What are you doing Elle," Rook said, soothingly.

"I don't know . . . I wasn't going to marry your brother!" She exclaimed, the remnants of old anger boiling up.

"So you ran away? Where did you think you were going to go?"

"I . . . had hoped to join The Hand, give up my past. Then I could be free of all the nobility crap,"

"This isn't some tale from one of your adventure books. War is serious business. It's dangerous. It's not a place for a girl." 

"I'm not a girl anymore Rook! You know that. I'm only a year younger than you! And I can take care of myself. I want to help end this rebellion." Elle said. 

"You always had the warrior's spirit," Rook said, brushing her hair back behind her right ear. He quickly pulled his hand back, unsure of what he was doing. He looked down at her. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

"I miss home Rook. I don't want to miss it but I do. I'm trying to be strong but I don't know what I'm doing anymore." She looked up at him with her big hazel eyes. He embraced her and held her tightly. He felt her arms tighten around him.

"You can make a new home here." He said softly, wiping her tears from her face.

"Yeah, alright," She said as she let go of Rook.

He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"By the way, how did you figure it out? I mean, that its me," Elle asked. 

"You think I would have forgotten your face? Even without your hair, I still recognized you. But maybe if it hadn't been for the dagger I wouldn't have investigated. It was the one piece of evidence that didn't leave you just a pretty boy." 

Elle picked her hat off the ground. She pulled her hair up and pulled the cap down over it. 

"Your'e going to get a uniform, how do you plan on hiding your . . . body . . . from the other men?" Rook asked.

"I guess I'll just have to have privacy issues," she joked. Rook was glad she was returning to her old self. Seeing her cry like that worried him. He always remembered her being very strong willed. "I'll figure it out. Maybe we will have to explain it to everyone at some point?"

"Possibly, but that will have to wait until we are out of the city. If anyone outside of our company finds out, you will be put in the dungeons . . . or worse."  Rook stared at Elle. She was still as beautiful as he had remembered, even in her rags. They hid her body well though. He worried about the uniform though. He had always loathed his parents for arranging her marriage with his eldest brother. It seemed fortunes had changed. 

"We need to head back Everett, training will begin soon," Rook said, giving Elle a wink. He led the boy out of the alley and back towards the barracks.