**Happy Tuesday!! I'm in Florida rn. BE JEALOUS lolol it's my reward bc the semester sucked so much ;)**

Chapter 29

Simon's threat had its intended effect. Aveline froze mid-punch, and Ari's opponent took advantage of his rigid distraction to seize his arms and yank them behind his back. A rigid quiet settled in the square, like musty fog in the air.

"Jamie!" Eli shouted.

"Get off of me!" Jamie's close proximity with death only seemed to enrage her; she kicked at Simon behind her and struggled in his unrelenting grip.

"Your problem isn't with her," Ari raised his head, his voice oddly strained. "Let her go."

"I don't think so," Simon grunted, tightening his hold on Jamie. "I'm getting that reward money. This is your last chance- tell us what you know."

"Just tell him!" Eli cried. "It's only money!"

"Shut up, Eli." Aveline shifted her grasp on her prisoner and addressed Simon. "You won't be able to save the royals. We're the only ones who can."

Simon's teeth flickered white and predatory in his mouth as he spoke. "What makes you say that, sweetie?"

"Ari and I know what we're doing," she insisted. "You don't. The royals are in danger- let us go."

Lyla's head frantically whipped between the three of them. Simon looked as if he was about to argue when the man holding Ari suddenly jumped away with a screech, jerking his hand back from the struggling pirate.

"He bit me, sir," he exclaimed in dismay.

Simon paused. "Gross. Really, Captain? You don't know where his hands have been... what?" He broke off. "Don't let him go, idiot!"

But Ari had twisted out of reach. His captor reached for him with two grubby hands, but he was big and clumsy, and in one swift movement Ari had ducked under a beefy arm and grabbed the man's greasy hair with one fist. He yanked his head backwards, one hand poised around his throat.
"Perhaps we should make another deal," Ari purred. "Let us go, or we'll kill you."

Simon blanched. "Careful," he warned, digging the point of his dagger a bit tighter into Jamie's throat. "Somehow I don't think you want this pretty thing here to die."

"Ari," Aveline urged. "We have an audience."

A small crowd of villagers had gathered to watch, their faces equally pale and expectant in the cloudy sun.

Ari must have decided he didn't care; his knuckles tightened convulsively around his gasping prisoner.

It was a stalemate; and Lyla was beginning to worry that lives would actually be lost here. Simon obviously wasn't going to give up so easily, but there was a slightly frenzied look in Ari's eyes that reminded Lyla of how little qualms he had with breaking necks.

Lyla looked around wildly- she was the only one who wasn't either being held a chokehold or grasping someone around the neck. She had to do something. But what could she do?
Her fingers brushed and tightened around cold metal in her pocket. Oh. She'd forgotten about Aveline's pistol.

Lyla shut her eyes tightly and forced herself to inhale through her nose. In and out.

"Hey!" She rose her voice- it was shaky, but loud and piercing in the air. She whipped out the pistol and waved it over her head.

The silence returned with a cold snap, save for a nervous murmur among their bystanders. Simon's confidence faltered into pale unease as he caught sight of Lyla holding Aveline's firearm.

"I'll shoot," Lyla threatened, uncertainly shifting her feet.

Simon stepped forward, loosening his hold on Jamie. "Now, listen, miss-"

Lyla brandished the pistol in response, hoping he didn't notice how her hand was trembling.

"They're helping me find the prince of my kingdom," she asserted, more firmly than she felt. "As you can perhaps imagine, I need them alive to do so." Lyla adjusted the weapon to her other hand and gestured to her friends with the shiny hilt. "So you're going to let them go right now, and then you're going to let us leave." She replayed that in her head. "Please," She tacked on a bit quieter, as an afterthought.

"Sir..." the broad in Aveline's grip spoke up, looking almost a bit comical under the menacing hold of a girl half his size.

Simon's face was beginning to resemble a tomato. Jamie shoved backwards at his chest with a grunt, and he released her without objection.

Lyla released a quiet breath of relief. She couldn't believe that had worked.

Aveline and Ari promptly released Simon's men. Eli lowered his arm- poised to punch- from the bald man in front of him. There was a short, cautious pause.

"We'll hound you anywhere you go," Simon warned. "This isn't over."

"Yeah? Follow us, and we'll shoot you before you can blink," said Aveline wearily as she trudged back towards Lyla.

Simon evidently couldn't come up with a response to this. He reluctantly summoned his men back to him with a subtle jerk of his chin. The villager spectators slowly began to disperse as Lyla's friends reached her, and she was all too happy to give Aveline back her pistol.

Ari straightened his jacket as he approached. "I'm sure someone went to fetch the village guards. We'll have to get out of here quickly."

Eli smiled at her. "Nice job, Lyla."

Lyla lifted a shoulder sheepishly, hyperaware of Simon's gaze heavy on their backs.
"He's not going to give up, you know."

Ari rubbed the back of his neck. "I know."

"We had to leave anyway," said Eli, ever the optimist as they changed direction to walk back to the ship.

"You didn't have to interfere, Lyla. I had it under control," Ari insisted, making Lyla want to roll her eyes.

"While I'm sure that's true, Simon obviously wasn't planning on letting us get away so easily this time, and I assumed neither of you would want to spill his blood. Was I wrong in my presumption?"

She glanced anxiously at Ari and Aveline as she spoke, realizing she actually desired an answer. But they said nothing.

"Are you alright, Jamie?" Aveline cleared her throat, redirecting the conversation.

"I'm fine." Jamie gave her a rare grin. "The coward barely scratched me."

They fell into a calm silence as they neared the ship where Inez was anxiously waiting for them, and Lyla's apprehension gradually began to subside when she realized that no one seemed to be fazed by the episode.

"It's a good thing Simon let us go before he realized that Lyla doesn't actually know how to shoot a gun," Ari remarked, snickering.

Lyla found herself grinning. "Whatever. Did you really bite that guy?"

"Damn right I did."

"You don't know how to shoot?" Aveline's head eagerly popped up behind his shoulder. Lyla shook her head. "We'll have to teach you, so you know the next time you need to save our asses."

"Let's make sure there isn't a next time." Jamie's suggestion voiced her concerns exactly and filled her with relief; Jamie winked at the other girl so quickly she barely caught it.

"No promises!" Aveline sang as they approached the loading dock. Before Lyla could formulate a response she was skipping up to Inez to inform her of the latest developments, Eli in tow.

The plan was to get out of Mauviri as quickly as possible, to prevent Simon from picking up on their trail.

"He's like a bur," Eli complained. "Sticking at our heels."

Lyla had no idea what a bur was, and then she remembered that Eli came from a kingdom that was primarily forest.

"It's in the middle of nowhere," he complained. "Practically hermitic. Perhaps you all can visit sometime, when this is all over."

"Hermitic, and in the middle of nowhere?" Ari repeated. "Way to convince us."

He didn't mention the improbability of Eli's suggestion- that stemmed from the largely differing social classes of the group. Without the royal mystery bringing them all together, Lyla doubted she would have ever met any of the people she now travelled and lived with. It was a tugging, melancholy sort of thought.

The crew pulled them out of the harbor quickly, and Lyla stayed above deck- she liked watching their prior destinations gradually fade into the distance; it was swiftly becoming her favorite part about ocean travel.

She was surprised to find that she wasn't eager to leave Benodet. So far they'd spent the longest time in the humble fishing village, and Lyla decided that while Kibet had been too alike to Apreuna and Olwen too different, the Mauvirian kingdom had been a perfect balance of new and familiar.

Lyla turned to the side to share the emotion with someone when she realized that Ari had hung back a bit to speak with Jamie.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He murmured to her. Lyla didn't mean to listen, but Aveline and Eli were obviously eavesdropping as well, and it wasn't her fault they continued to have their arguments in front of everyone.

"Why do you care?"

Ari's hand went agitatedly up to his hair. "Obviously I care, Jamie-"

One of the crewmembers scurried up to Ari with a question, then, and he didn't get to finish his sentence.

Jamie reluctantly joined the rest of the group as Ari spoke with his crew, and Aveline shot Lyla a meaningful glance, one which Lyla couldn't quite comprehend.

"I should get cleaned up..." Jamie wiped a hand across her forehead and disappeared below deck.

Eli tugged softly on Aveline's arm. "I'll see you downstairs?"

Lyla watched her expression twitch as she looked up at him. "Of course. I'll be down in a moment."

"I'll wait for you." Eli touched the inside of Aveline's palm- fleetingly and tentative, pulling away before Lyla could ponder the gesture further and following after where Jamie had gone.

Aveline leaned against one of the masts and examined her fingernails as she waited for Ari to finish speaking with the ship navigator.

"We should be in Diviel soon, Lyla," Ari assured her after dismissing the man, facing them and jutting a thumb into his jacket pocket. He seemed to be back to his energetic self; but Lyla wondered how much of his blunt attitude was a mask. She couldn't tell- Ari was always so impassive- but perhaps Aveline could. If she did, she didn't show it. She reluctantly diverted her attention from her cuticles, completely casual as she grabbed at one of the ropes on the ship.

"I've been meaning to speak to you about Jamie."

Lyla's eyes automatically darted to Ari, expecting him to tense up; but he just looked blank, although his voice held an edge when he spoke.

"What about her?"

Aveline laughed. "You like her."

"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard-"

Lyla couldn't help but interrupt. "Wait, you fancy Jamie?" She let out a low whistle, astonished. "Are you sure? As far as I've seen, every one of your interactions has been hostile."

Ari looked immediately gratified. "See, Avie? Completely ridicul-"

"He poses," Aveline informed her, grimacing. "Lyla, you're supposed to be on my side."

"We're on a job. We have an entire crew to pay. My number one priority is finishing this. It's not as if Jamie's scoldings are what get me hot and bothered."

"Ew." Lyla made a face. "Can we stop talking about this please?"

"Fine." Aveline let go of the rope she held onto and shrugged cheekily. "I'll let you deal with this on your own."

She strode away, her hips swaying gracefully as she went.

"No, she won't," said Ari, staring after his first mate with fond exasperation. "Aveline never lets me deal with things on my own."

Lyla glanced up at the pirate, having to shield her eyes to see up his tall frame. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. But it's alright." Ari stopped to pick up one of the children's toys from the floor. He straightened and pushed his curls out of his forehead. "Simply minding her own business isn't really part of Aveline's job description."

Ari didn't truly seem bothered, judging from the way he fought a tired smile, and Lyla couldn't blame him. It was nice to have someone watching your back.

**so they managed to get rid of Simon- again. Unfortunately it's not the last we'll see of him...
On another note, the next few chapters will be eye-opening to say the least. The gang is finally going to get some answers, so stay tuned!**