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A flinch, as if a sting of physical pain had pierced his son somewhere deep inside.
<< Da, I… the thing is… >>
Then the world exploded. With no idea of what was going on, Colm felt his body hit the ground, bullets hissing all around him in the dust.
<< What in the name of all that is holy... >> he muttered, as he managed to hoist himself over his legs again, hat firmly grabbed into his hands.
Jesper didn’t even take the time to explain, and Colm felt a sharp yank at his sleeve as they rushed to the nearest building. Colm’s face met the stone wall with a little more momentum than necessary, but he gladly grabbed on it. Scattered memories of the days on the Zemeni frontier flashed into his mind in a cloud of terror, but Jesper, Jes, he always seemed to know what to do. Even now, he saw him scan the battlefield the peaceful square had become with clinical eye. While he... whatever he had expected, he wasn’t prepared for this.
<< Saints! >> he gasped flattening on the wall. << This city is worse than the guidebook said. >>
And he had sent Jesper right in the middle of it, his brain registered in a piercing spasm of guilt.
<< Da, it isn’t the city. >> his son said as he pulled a ridiculously elaborated gun as if out of nowhere. << They’re after me. Or after us. Hard to say. >>
<< Who’s after you? >>
Jes’s eyes whizzed in every direction except his. Colm registered a quick glance at the Shu boy and then again at the trajectory of the bullets.
<< There’s a long list of potential suitors. We need to get out of here before they introduce themselves more personally. >>
<< Brigands? >>
An odd expression reverberated over his son’s face.
<< Something like that. >> he said briskly.
Then he was gone. A couple of shots rung, and a hail of bullets retorted back at them.
It was exactly like then. It felt exactly like then. Jesper was little more than a child, but he could handle the rifle better than anyone else in the country already. Crouched in the crate where they had taken cover, he had seen his son embrace the revolvers and shoot with both hands. And while cowering beside him and taking shelter, he hadn’t been able to help much nor stop looking at him. The swiftness of his taking aim, the immediacy of the shot right after. His mother had taught him, that was more than evident: the movements, the posture of the wrist... But there was something more to it. Aditi had never been that fast, she used to close one eye to take aim, and not all of her shots got home this easily. That was when the thought had first struck him: he needed to send him away. And he needed to do it quickly, before anybody else would notice.
“He’s just like you,” his brain thought with a bitter sigh.
The ghost of Aditi smiled by his side.
“No, he’s much better.”
<< ...two flash bombs and something new I rigged up with a little more... wallop. >> the Shu boy was saying.
The whole weight of current reality felt back on his stout Kaelish shoulder.
<< Bombs? >> he blabbed, confused.
Was he still dreaming? Were they still hiding in their crate at the frontier?
<< Think of them as science experiments? >> Jesper offered vaguely before he got back to business with his friend.
Colm blinked in shock. He had already told him that he looked taller. But it was not just that. Jesper had grown, his face was the face of a young man caught in the middle of a productive day, his eyes gleaming, his voice slick and confident, the words easy in his mouth. The little bored boy from the farm was gone. And though some of it was hard to swallow, Colm couldn’t smother the faintest feeling of pride swelling up his chest.
<< ...on three, you make a break. Get my father inside. >>
<< Jesper... >>
His own grey eyes looked back at him. Set, firm. A pure slate of sparkling stone.
<< Da, I swear I’ll explain everything, but right now all you need to know s that we’re in a bad situation, and bad situations happen to be my area of expertise. >>
And Colm believed him. With no doubt nor hope nor hesitation.
<< Trust me, Da. >>
“So much better” he heard the ghost whisper in his ear.
Colm felt a pang at his heart.
<< All right, boy. All right. >>
He hadn’t saved him. He’d just rerouted him from Ravka or the Zemeni frontier to Ketterdam, but the point was still the same. Destiny always catches up to you in the end.
“Save us your Kaelish wisdom and focus on saving yourself, now, silly old man. Our son is just strong enough to make it on his own”
<< One, two... >> Jesper counted.
Colm took in a deep breath and looked at the Shu boy, who nodded reassuringly at him. He needed to get himself together and not be a hindrance. He had to believe his boy.
At the count of three, he got up running and didn’t look back.