said. “I’m me and as far as I know, human.” “No,” he shook his head emphatically. “No human could have out run me as long as you did.” Tate had maybe ten feet before she would feel the wall at her back. She licked her lips nervously. Something told her meeting their boss wouldn’t be a good idea. Anybody who’d send thugs to arrange a meeting was not someone she cared to know. “It’s time to come along now,” Blade said moving slowly towards her. “There’s no sense in you getting hurt, so just give up.” Tate flashed him a brilliant smile filled with wry humor and a little bit of wickedness. “That’s the thing. I’m not so good at giving up.” She spun and barreled towards the trashcans as a muffled curse echoed behind her. With a leap she landed on the cans and then planted a foot on the wall and launched herself up even further. She gripped the edge and pulled herself up with a grunt throwing one leg over. It worked. She was a little surprised at her success. It was a good thing she’d learned to climb a mast with no handholds. With a smooth grace Blade followed her same path. Tate squeaked and planted her hands on the roof of the next building, leveraging herself up. Blade missed the wall’s edge by a breath and fell back to the street. Tate allowed relief to course through her as he colored the air with curses. Shouts signaled the arrival of his companions. She stepped back, turning and running carefully across the uneven tiles as she took the sky path away from her pursuers. Looks like she wouldn’t be making that meeting after all. Too bad.
Chapter Five
Tate covered quite a bit of city before she was ready to stop running. During her journey, she’d only had to touch street level twice and instead made good use of narrow ledges and long roofs to find her way across the city. The tantalizing smell of food and her own lightheadedness from hunger finally drove her back to the streets. Otherwise she might never have come down, content to pass her time with the wide-open sky and amazing views of the city and harbor. The alley she dropped into was thankfully free of people. It was cramped, narrow and if she held her arms straight out she could almost to touch either side. She hesitated at its mouth, watching the fury of movement outside. She needed food. Now. Her nose led her to a cart with meat turnovers for sell. She inhaled the first two, not even tasting them and burning her tongue in the process. The third she savored, letting the spices burst on her tongue while the dough melted in her mouth. Yum. Finally full, she licked her fingers clean of any remaining juices and took a look around. Focused on the food, she’d let the flow of the people take her where it would. The press of bodies had congregated on either side of the street leaving a wide clear space between. “What’s going on?” Tate asked the woman next to her. “Some of the nobility are touring the Lower City,” was the excited response. Not wanting to be pushed any further in the crowd, Tate found a lamppost to climb. The raised base made a good footrest and holding onto the pole anchored her in place. From her vantage point she could see the sharply dressed soldiers in silver and dark blue uniforms marching down the road. The soldiers were followed by row after row of men on horses. Dark leather reigns controlled the horse’s heads. All of the horses wore identical silver colored armor protecting their snouts, cheeks and chest. Each horse’s mane was braided in a unique pattern with dark blue metal threaded through the hair. It was the only thing about the horses that differed. Height, coloring and form were all identical. Even the riders looked like copies of each other. Open carriages clattered after them, the tops left off to take advantage of the pleasant weather. The paint on the carriage sides was a blue so dark that it looked nearly black. A crest with a serilean serpent coiled into an