“What about the ocean, you never went swimming for fun?” he asked.

“We swam to hunt fish,” Britt said. “Most of my happiest moments were learning to sail.”

“That’s a warrior’s culture, I guess,” Max said with a sigh.

“You could have used some warrior culture in your upbringing, instead of having fun all the time,” Britt said.

“It wasn’t fun all the time,” he said solemnly. “Tony wasn’t exactly the best father figure for Bo or me.”

“What’s the deal between you two? Everything you say about him is terrible, but he took you into his family, didn’t he? How bad can he really be?” Britt asked.

“He never wanted me, or Bo for that matter. It was his wife who took pity on us and brought us in.”

“Why?” she asked.

Max sat down, leaning his head against the wooden sign, “Is there any chance I can convince you to drop it and never ask about it again?”

Britt grinned, shaking her head, “No way.”

“Alright, but I’ll give you fair warning. This story ends with me meeting you, so don’t feel too bad for me, it’s got a good ending.”

“Oh good,” Britt chuckled as she sat down next to him. “I was worried you might stop joking during this story.”

“It’s Merglan’s fault really,” Max began.

“What? How’s that possible?” she asked.

“Near the end of The War of Magicians there was a power struggle over the empty throne in Southland. By this time Merglan was spending most of his time building his armies in Eastland and attacking the elves and dwarfs. Tony and Elaine, his wife, my stepmother, were, at the time, very much involved in the war effort, fighting for the free nations. Tony was in an army camp readying to participate in a raid into Kingston and take back control of the capital. It was common knowledge then that anyone still left in the castle was working for Merglan.

“When the army raided Kingston, the freedom fighters took over the castle, killing anyone who resisted, or so Tony said. My birth parents worked in the castle. I don’t know if they were working for Merglan or had been there before him and were just surviving, but when Tony and the army invaded, my parents were killed along with the others working in the castle. I was just a toddler, so I barely remember anything about it. Before my parents died, they managed to take out their killers to save Bo and me.

“During a sweep of the castle, Tony and Elaine, who at the time was nursing the wounded, found us. We were covered in blood and crying near our dead parents. Elaine wanted to spare us, but Tony refused. He nearly killed us right then and there, but her crying stopped him. He let us live and she took us in as if we were her own. I don’t remember much of it and Bo doesn’t recall anything from that time. Basically, that set us off to a bad start and Tony never liked us afterward either. He blamed everything on me, even the deaths of those he loved. It wasn’t all bad though. Elaine loved and treated Bo and me the same way she did her own. Their oldest son, Evans, took a while to warm up to us but, eventually he accepted us, too. When Elaine had the two girls, well, Bo and I were brothers in their eyes. But Tony, he never did love us. When I took Bo with me to the Grandwood Games, Tony told us we should not bother to return, but we did at which time we stole some of his horses,” Max sat in silence until Britt replied.

“That’s so sad,” she said.

“Yeah,” Max replied quietly.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll be curious to see if he blames all of this on me, too,” Max said, spreading his hands.

“How could he?” Britt asked.

Max shrugged, wiping an errant tear from his eye.

“You don’t have to see him,” Britt said. “We’ll just meet Bo, Kirsten and Thomas, and get out of here. Tony doesn’t have to know you’re with us.”

“Yeah. We’ll see,” Max said.

Max and Britt whiled away the afternoon on the rooftop, drying their clothes by sitting in the sun and waiting for those searching the streets to abandon their hunt. In the hours that followed their flight from the mill, they’d seen soldiers running in and out of stores and homes, questioning people in the surrounding area. Soldiers systematically searched the blocks surrounding the mill, but never thought to search the rooftops. Having not seen or heard a soldier for several hours, Max grew restless and ready to move. Deciding it would be better to remain on the rooftops as long as possible, Max thought up another use for the ladder.

Describing what he had in mind, Max convinced Britt to hold the end of the ladder firmly in place while he bridged the gap between buildings. Using the ladder like a plank, Max carefully walked across the rungs and onto the neighboring rooftop. Once in position, he held his end while Britt followed. They slowly made their way from one roof to the next, choosing their timing to cross when no one stood in the narrow alleys. Nearing the end of their options for rooftops to access, Max was glad to see the sun beginning to set. Wanting to stay off the ground a little longer, they decided to take a chance crossing to a two-story building that would connect them to another string of single-story roofs and bring them closer to the edge of town. Holding the ladder in place on the way down proved more difficult, but they passed the hurdle without compromising their position.

By the time they’d reached the last building on the block, the soldiers appeared to have taken their posts for the evening, greatly increasing their guard on the town’s perimeter from the night before. Max and Britt watched, waiting for the most opportune moment to climb down and escape. For almost an hour Max observed the soldiers’ movements, taking note of any consistencies in their behavior. The soldiers moved several times in that hour. After their third shift in position, Max knew their pattern wouldn’t likely change. The soldiers walked five blocks to their right, stopped, stood to watch for twenty or so minutes, then walked again to the right, five more blocks. They circled the town, each soldier having to watch a new section before they grew tired of it. As he thought about the strategy, Max found it a clever way to keep them from getting complacent or sleeping on the job, but there was a flaw: it was predictable.

Though five blocks didn’t create much of a gap in time or space for them to escape unnoticed, it was far enough to create an opportunity for the soldiers to slip up. If Max and Britt could create a distraction that caused several soldiers to rush away from their posts, they’d get the break they needed. Max just needed a diversion. He voiced his thoughts to Britt and they developed a plan. He could toss a spare brick they’d found on the roof through the window of a neighboring shop and create a disturbance loud enough that two soldiers might go to check it out. Max gauged the distance to the building across the street and thought he could throw the heavy stone that far.

Squatting on the edge of the building with a brick in his hand, Max waited for the moment when the soldiers would move to their next post. He assumed that’s when they could be caught the most off-guard and susceptible in a response to a disturbance.

“They’re moving,” he heard Britt whisper, alerting him to act.

Taking aim, Max hefted the brick with all his might, hoping that when he released it, the stone would sail to its intended target. He watched as the brick flew down at the ground-level window. His heart sank when he saw that the brick would miss the mark. A man stood in the street just outside the building. He was bent over, evidently searching for something he’d dropped. Max hadn’t seen him in the dim light before he’d thrown. He had been too focused on the window.

His eyes widened at the brick’s trajectory as it arched down, dropping toward the man’s back. As the brick careened into him, the man cried out with a horrific scream. The desperate cry echoed through the street, and Max winced with guilt. He hadn’t intended to harm an innocent person, but once he’d tossed it, the brick was no longer in his control.

Max crouched, still cringing at the pain he’d just caused the stranger. The man’s scream, though, drew three soldiers away from their posts. They rushed toward the scene with their blades drawn. Britt slid the ladder over the side and Max hopped away from the edge of the building, wanting to shout an apology to the man. He followed Britt down the ladder, lowering it to the ground before they ran off into the woods.

Max crashed through the thicket of trees, moving deep enough into the cover of the forest to remain out of sight of those in town, but close enough to the edge that they wouldn’t miss the trail leading out to Tony’s place.

Not stopping, Max and Britt sprinted until they reached the trail. Max slowed to a walk, then leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree. Heaving, he said, “I can’t believe I did that.”

Britt shook her head, “Me neither. You really hit that guy, right in the back.”

Max wanted to laugh, but couldn’t. He’d just pegged a man he didn’t know with a brick. “I can’t believe that happened. I swear I didn’t mean to hit him.”

“It worked,” Britt said. “You got their attention. I mean you really nailed him.”

Max cringed again, pushing off the tree and standing tall, “I really did just hit him, right in the back. I wanted to apologize so badly, but couldn’t.”