Adam stood outside and watched as David pulled up to the front door of the Bolivian restaurant. As soon as the car was stopped, Adam’s hand was on the door handle, pulling it open.

“How was your shift?”

Adam shrugged. “Fine. Raúl’s back was bothering him again, so I had to run cash. Ana was there, though, so it was fine.”

David raised an eyebrow as he put the car into gear. “No Maria?”

With a snort, Adam replied, “What do you think? That girl couldn’t show up to all of her shifts if her life depended on it.”

David smiled, and they drove in silence until they reached the small gym. Adam had found it, after several hours of vigorous searching on the internet and some quiet investigation. It was small and a little shady, but nobody bothered them, and there was a decent amount of equipment. It even had a few fencing swords.

Once inside, they changed into some workout clothes and set to work warming up. Adam could feel his mood growing lighter as he stretched. It had only been two days since they were last here, but it felt good to move.

“What do you wanna do today?” He asked his brother.

David shrugged. “I’d say wrestling, but I’m open to suggestions.”

Adam shrugged back. “Sounds fine to me.” He grinned, in the way all younger brothers do. “Bet I can beat you. Best two out of three?”

David grinned back, a much grimmer smile, but still affectionate. “Fine. But if I beat you, you have dish duty tonight.” It was on.

They set out the wrestling mats and started pacing around, staring at the other. It was Adam who made the first move. He lunged at his brother, aiming for his waist. David quickly sidestepped, but Adam grabbed his ankle as he hit the ground and pulled, hard. David fell on his backside, but rolled over and threw himself on top of his brother. He pushed one arm down on Adam’s throat, and used the other to grab Adam’s right arm, pinning it to the ground. Adam wretched himself to the right, trying to either throw his brother off or free the arm that was trapped underneath him, but to no avail. After a few seconds of struggle, David felt Adam’s hand tap out surrender. He grinned as he rolled off and offered his younger brother a hand. “Best seven out of ten?”

Adam eyed the hand for a second, then sighed. “Why not.”

Reaching up, he grabbed David’s hand, only to yank him back down onto the mat again. He was determined to win this. He hated washing dishes.

Looking over his shoulder, Adam gestured Jent forward. In front of them, David was gesturing frantically. When they reached him, he breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close. The change of watch on this corner is due any second.”

Adam glanced over his brother’s shoulder. “We good to go?”

David nodded, his voice only audible if one’s ear was directly next to his lips. “Yeah, just give me 40 seconds or so to get a head start. Start counting once I’m inside.”

Jent gave a half grin. “Right, then. See you in 45 minutes?”

David glanced at the younger boy, and Adam could hear the smile behind his serious voice. “It’s half an hour, and you know it, Jent. No staying to look for hidden treasure. We get the documents and get out.” With that, he turned and began to sneak along the courtyard wall to the kitchen door.

Adam waited until he was in through the door safe, then began counting. Behind him, Jent whispered, “You guys seem really relaxed. Is it really this easy?”

Pausing in his counting enough to whisper, “Shut up!”, Adam thought about that question. He supposed by this time it would look easy to a newbie like Jent. He couldn’t see the year and half of teamwork and trust that had to have been built in order to survive. And these past six months had been critical in building that trust. Every week, he and David had to put their lives in each other’s hands. If one of them messed up, they both died. If one of them got in trouble, their food or meager pay could be suspended. What one did, both felt.

Abruptly, Adam realized he had reached 50 seconds. Muttering a curse under his breath that would have horrified his mother if she could understand it, he checked the courtyard for any one watching, then gestured for Jent to follow him. They both moved silently across the courtyard.

Once inside, they began the rapid but cautious trip through the tower. Carefully, they crossed hallways behind guard's backs, tiptoed their way across ancient wooden floors, and finally snuck into the study on the third floor. There, Jent kept watch on the door while Adam dug through the drawers. “Here we go. Contracts, deeds, a few letters, and ah! Here we are! It’s part letter part contract, from one of the neighboring nobles. He says, “I agree with what you said earlier. The Queen is growing stronger and we must solidify our power. She is nervous as to what we can do- this is why she has expanded the army two years ago…” Adam trailed off. “I can only partially understand the next sentence. The handwriting is rushed. Something about ‘the rebellion’ and ‘moving our men’. Regardless, let’s take it and go. This is what we need.”

Jent nodded. “Do we wait here for David?”

Adam shook his head, already pushing past him. “Don’t you remember? We’re meeting him back where we split up.” Internally, Adam rolled his eyes. New recruits were all the same. The idea that he might have once had similar questions and misunderstandings didn’t occur to him. He hadn’t.

Jent followed, whispering, “But has it been 45 minutes?”

Adam’s only reply was a single finger held up in the direction of Jent’s mouth, shushing him. The message was clear. No talking while on the move.

They waited by the wall where they split up for about five minutes before David appeared out of the darkness beside them. In a horse whisper, he said, “Let’s go. The captain of the guard will notice soon that none of his men on the wall with him are being relieved.”

Adam could almost see Jent’s wide eye astonishment, even in the pitch black. “Did you kill them?”

David snorted. “Too messy. No, I just slipped something in their ale. They won’t wake up for another hour, at least.” He gestured sharply. “Come on, now. We gotta go.”

They slipped quietly out, disappearing into the shadows. As they reached the two horses, they could hear loud voices, drifting over the few hundred yards from the castle. Adam grinned. “They must have noticed something. It’s going to be a tight ride.” He tossed Jent up onto the saddle, then jumped up behind him. He watched David swing up onto his own horse, then kicked his horse into a gallop.

Back at the camp, David watched as Adam lifted Jent down off the horse, then swung off himself, muscles shifting under his too small shirt. Emotions flashed through David at the sight, almost too fast for him to identify- mild surprise at Adam’s muscles, pride at his care with the younger and smaller boy, disappointment in himself for his inability to provide for Adam and his rapidly growing body, and a desperate longing for someone to tell him that he was taking care of Adam and making the right choices by going on these missions.

He slid off his horse and stretched, relieving the tension that had built up over the past three hours. As his shirt pulled uncomfortably tight across his shoulders, he wondered idly if it would rain that night. He hoped not- the tent that he and Adam shared was still drying out from the previous thunderstorm last night. He hated the spring.

He was startled out of his thought by Thesuk, the captain in charge of recruiting, who’s large hand landed on his shoulder. “How was it?”

David tilted his head back to look at the massive man. At six foot six and nearly three hundred pounds, he was an intimidating sight. “Well enough. I haven’t looked over the documents yet.”

Thesuk nodded absently. “Listen, Nguyen, I was talking with some of the captains. They’ve been watching you and your brother. They want you two to come join the active fighting. Again in your brother’s case.” He waggled his eyebrows enticingly. “You could get into some action.”

David almost took a step back in revulsion. Take part in the raids on the rebel noble camps? Adam might jump at the chance, but Adam would never hear about it. One lucky move from the wrong person, and he would be dead.

To Thesuk, however, he merely smiled and said, “No, I think we’re good. We’re both enjoying these missions. Adam’s great with the younger boys.” Which wasn’t untrue. He just wouldn’t tell Thesuk about how Adam was complaining just the other day that all the missions were the same and nothing exciting happened anymore.

Thesuk sighed and shrugged. “Very well Nguyen. Have it your way. But if you change your mind, let me know.”

David shook his hand and gave him the documents from the castle. “I will, don’t worry.”

As he began to unsaddle his horse, Adam came up, saddle and bridle in hand. “What did Thesuk want?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to know how it went and to say good job.”

A Poem for David

David Nguyen, as he is in Jubrow.