“Again. Thank you for everything. I’ll pay you back someday if I can.”

“Of course, darling. You don’t owe us anything, we just did what we felt was right.” If Mirabel was worried, it didn’t show on her face. Aldo, however, didn’t hesitate to interject.

“As she said—but do you truly have a way into the city? Is it… safe?”

“It should be.” Idelle hesitated, not meeting the two’s eyes. “But, well… You’ll still be here tomorrow? Just in case?”

“Yes, yes, we will. We’ll be waiting here at the camp until that lazy shopkeeper brings out a few things we’re to deliver for him on our next leg. But if we don’t see you, then let this be our goodbye, for now.” Mirabel looked like she might hug her, but she settled instead on a warm handshake, clasping Idelle’s hands in both hers. “If you need to find us, just contact him. Lazy he might be, but he’s an honest sort and will be happy to pass on to us that you were hoping to meet again.”

Aldo mirrored the handshake and gave her a firm nod. “Stay safe, Idelle. It was a pleasure to travel with you. 

She returned his nod and unconsciously puffed up her chest a little. “Likewise.”

Then, farewells spoken, she turned and darted her way towards the trees, taking care not to stumble in the dim evening light as she quickly disappeared among their trunks. 

It took longer than Idelle expected to retrace her steps to the place her new accomplice had shown her earlier. The trees looked different in the gloom, even discounting that she was coming from the opposite direction. It was just as easy to become lost in her own thoughts as well. Despite her earlier show of confidence, she had no idea if she could really trust Cecilia and that thought left a shiver of unease.

No, trust aside, she didn’t understand the other girl. At all. She’d seen no point in denying her help sneaking in, it wasn’t like she had anything to lose and Cecilia HAD been the one who offered, after all. The conversation had quickly turned businesslike after that, with Cecilia grabbing her hand after they’d climbed down from the rock and leading her around to a spot where the pines had seemingly wormed their way forward over the years to repossess the land right up against the wall.

There, Cecilia had asked her if she knew how to climb a tree. Idelle had snorted and almost told her to go ask a bear before thinking better of it. In response to her nod, Cecilia had pointed to a particularly stately tree and explained that, with a rope and a little finesse, it was easy to make your way over the ramparts from halfway up. 

Idelle had observed that she didn’t have a rope, but her apparent partner in crime had grinned and said to leave that to her and to meet her back here after dusk. 

She sighed. Where was that tree anyway? She seemed to have accidentally trailblazed her way almost out of sight of the wall. She turned and started cutting at an angle, tracing her way towards the now distant rampart still barely visible through a gap in the undergrowth.

It just felt uncomfortable to her. Was she really so lucky as to have some weird girl show up to help her exactly when she needed it? Was this just what Cecilia DID? Help people sneak through the walls? Was she going to ask for some kind of payment when they got inside? She felt like she could defend herself, if necessary, but she knew almost nothing about the city. Would she even be able to stay once she was inside?

She shook her head to clear it, a motion that was starting to grow familiar. It’d work out. She’d casually asked Mirabel what the punishment was for being inside without permission, and the woman had laughed and said that it was no worse than being thrown out again and banned from future entry. 

If worse came to worst, she’d just be back where she started. Only this time she’d have someone she could go back to, and roads to travel on, and options. It’d be a setback, but she could take that. She hadn’t done anything so wrong that she’d need to be af—

“Idy! Took you long enough!”

Her heart skipped and she whipped around. What was it with Cecilia and sneaking up on her? Despite the nearly faded light, she could clearly make out the taller figure, leaning against a tree with one hand raised in greeting. Idelle sighed and stepped a little closer before speaking in a soft voice.

“Shouldn’t you be quieter? I can’t imagine any guards would ignore us if they heard you.”

Cecilia flashed her teeth. “No worries. They don’t actually post guards on the wall proper, and even if someone came by they’d probably just assume this was a lover’s rendezvous or something.”

Idelle stared at her for a moment as she tried to formulate a response. “If you say so…”

“I do say so. Are you going to climb in that?” A hand gestured vaguely at her baggy dress.

She shrugged. “I don’t have anything else.”

“Fair enough. It’s gotten awfully dark, can you still see well enough to not fall?”

“I’ll be fine if you are.” That much she was confident in.

Cecilia giggled. “I like your attitude. Let’s wait a few more minutes then, so we’ll be totally invisible.”

Idelle’s forehead furrowed. “I thought you said there wouldn’t be guards on the wall?”

“Better safe than sorry, right? Keep your eyes peeled too, just in case!” Cecilia turned and struck a pose, staring intently at the blank wall top, then looked over and motioned for Idelle to do the same. She decided not to argue about it.

A few minutes passed like that; until the not-even-a-little-bit-annoying girl seemed to come to some inscrutable conclusion. She stood up straight and softly announced, “It’s time.” A moment later she had a coil of rope slung over her shoulder, one end looped around her wrist, and motioned again to follow her. Idelle quickly moved up next to her, surprised at how deft and noiseless the other girl’s steps were. She imitated her, and the other girl glanced over before nodding.

Then they were at the base of the tree. Cecilia stretched and then went straight into a powerful jump, her hands clasping around the lowest branch before she walked her feet up the trunk and swung her way atop it with practiced ease. Then she looked down at Idelle. “Ah. Need a hand?”

Idelle gave her what she hoped was an invisible glare in the darkness as she muttered her response. “No. I don’t think so. One second.” She tried to find a grip on the bark, but it was too loose and peeled to hold her weight. A surge of annoyance flashed through her and she impulsively took a step back and leapt herself, awkwardly making a kick off the trunk as she did so to try and get more height. She found herself easily grasping the branch, and was surprised enough by it that she forgot to refuse Cecilia’s proffered hand until the other girl had already helped pull her full onto the branch next to her.

“Nice.” Idelle turned to give the other girl a look in response to her comment, only to find her already making her way up through the branches. She sighed instead and followed.

The climbing was easy from there, clambering up on densely packed horizontal branches, and they came alongside the top of the wall with ease. Idelle ignored Cecilia’s whispered comment about the “fun part”, and simply watched as the other girl uncoiled her rope and with practiced ease a loop coiling over the… parapet? That sounded right, the parapet. The rope ran once around the great trunk of the tree and then the other end followed, leaving each side stretched loosely around head height above a straight branch that lead almost to the wall.

“You first? Or shall I show you how it’s done?” The two made eye contact and Idelle sighed. Was this a way for the girl to put her through some kind of weird test? Did she look like she regularly snuck over fifteen-meter walls balancing on narrow branches with a rope? Maybe she did. Whatever. 

“I’ll go first.” If Cecilia wanted her to prove something, so be it. She’d been through worse than this. 

A nod. “Pay attention at the end, it’s easiest to just step your foot into the crenellation and trust the rope.” Idelle blinked.

“Crenellation?”

“The gap cut into the battlement. It’s for mages or crossbowmen to fire through. Like in a siege or something.”

“I know what it’s for! I just didn’t know the name!”

Another cheeky flash of teeth, still clearly visible despite the darkness “You got it.”

She sighed again. Better to just get this over with. Careful not to look down, she put one hand on each rope and let herself walk calmly forward. Nothing to worry about. No problems. Everything is completely under her control. She felt the branch bow under her weight, dropping her a little lower, but still within easy reach of the wall top. See? No problems. Just don’t think about it.

The branch bowed a little lower.

Then her foot was on top of the rough stone, and before she could think about it she stepped up onto it and over, her feet landing cleanly on the other side of the battlement as she saw a great winding maze of houses, walls, paved streets, and narrow alleys spreading before her, lit here and there by flickering candles and torches. In the distance, she saw a brighter street with dozens of little stalls and a smattering of people milling around, and a distant murmur of indistinguishable voices drifted over to her along with a plethora of smells. 

She just stared out at it all for a moment, reveling in it. How many people must live here? Too many to count, surely. No wonder they didn’t want more inside—how did they feed them all as is? The thought made her feel small, but she twisted the thought back on itself. Being small was good. After all, there’s no way anyone could find her among all these people now that she was inside.

“First time seeing a city like this?” Cecilia’s voice broke Idelle out of her reverie and she nodded in response.

“Mmn. It’s amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it? So many people, all living in one place, happy and healthy, not even knowing how cruel the world outside the walls can be.” She looked over at the other girl’s words, hearing something in her voice, but the lights had dampened her night vision and she couldn’t make out her expression. Idelle squinted, but the other girl turned to meet her eyes and she awkwardly broke away her stare.

“Come on then. We should get off the walls before someone sees us. There’s an exterior stairway cut into them just over this way.” She started walking even before the words left her mouth, and Idelle hastened after her, following her over and down tall, steep, steps into a narrow, dimly lit alley. Cecilia led her down it, then across a street into another alley, eyes carefully scrutinizing her surroundings as she went.

A few more deserted streets followed, and Idelle worked up the courage to quietly ask as they started into another alley, “Uh, where are we going?”

“I have a place in mind, you’re welcome to stay there for tonight if you like. Or go off on your own, but I wouldn’t recommend it. After that, we can... Ah.”

Idelle stopped with her, staring with a horrible sinking feeling at the men in a distantly familiar uniform who were standing arrayed around the exit. She whipped around, only to see two more stepping into the other side of the alley behind them. Her eyes flicked from man to man, their faces murky against the backlight. One of them stepped forward and spoke, a heavyset man with reddish hair, his eyes fixed on Cecilia.

“Awfully weird place to be wandering around at this time of night, isn’t it? I’m glad I managed to find you.”

Idelle turned to stare at her, and Cecilia gave her an embarrassed look. “Er. Sorry? I should have warned you. I’m—”

The rest of her words were lost in the chaos and shouts as Idelle bolted between the two nearest men, far too fast for his hands to do more than flail through empty air as she disappeared into the next alley over.