Sly

Marak and his, what turned out to be quite a large family, were indeed happy to take in the Carpenter. They were in a secluded farming community outside the city walls and there were plenty of jobs there for a carpenter. Grethan and Jexa carried what they could to the farm, though Jexa grumbled about missing out on the action most of the way there. The young family settled in quickly and Davery had sent Grahm and Bricker to buy them a few things that would have been ruined in the fire. Blankets, a lantern, basic grooming items, and a bit of cloth to make or repair clothes with. What they wore was still damaged. The day had been spent well, it wasn't until we returned to the city in the late afternoon that the mood had changed.

My brother led the way, chatting with Jexa. Bricker, Grahm and Grethan tailed behind recalling favorite events of the day. Touching, and something I would have participated in if I weren't keeping the back of the line with my eyes on Grethan. How easily he had assemilated to our day. To the black daggers. There was something about the ease of it that I didn't like, though Orchid would just tell me I was being paranoid. Still, Davery and I were still alive today despite living in the most dangerous district in Unays, and it wasn't from the goodness of our trusting hearts.

The group's conversation ended when Bricker halted the group.

"Is that a notice?" Bricker pointed to a large new parchment on the message board as we passed through a square in Dock District. "Davery, what's it say?"

"You read?" Grethan asked Davery, who nodded as he approached the sign.

"Him and Sly both, he used to work at a Scribe's." Jexa said proudly.

"They lowered the Autumn taxing, this will be the Prince's doing then." Davery looked thoughtfully at the sign. Jexa gave a whoop and smacked Grahm on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward. Bricker and Grethan also appeared quite happy about it but my eyes stayed on my brother. Ever the thinker, his expression was what I wanted to see, and I noticed Davery's 'thinking face' was still on. No one else seemed to notice. It was probably best to wait and ask him about that when we got home.

"Anything about when the next wave of soldiers are due back?" Grethan asked. Davery glanced at the message board again.

"I don't see anything," he replied. Grethan shrugged and left it at that. The party was about to leave the square when an old man and a girl of about ten caught my eye. I let the group trial away, catching Davery's eye and waving my fingers in a gesture for them to leave me. He nodded, and I turned my attention to the ones that had caught my eye.

The girl was reading the signboard out loud for the old man and I wanted to hear what the people from Dock District would make of the news. I paused to the side of the notice and busied myself adjusting the straps on my boots.

"Praise Hearth! We may keep the house yet." The old man squeezed the girl's hand.

"What about the new rent, Papa?" The girl's eyes were filled with concern that quickly reflected in her grandfather's.

"Hey now, you don't worry about that. And no more talk of working instead of your letters. See how much they helped Papa today? I'll take care of it, don't you worry my little buttercup, Papa will take care of it." The pair wandered off, only going as fast as the old man could walk.

New rent? If they were in trouble I wanted to help them, and it might be good to see if this 'new rent' affected many more people. When the war began most of the landlords who raised rent were craked down on hard from the castle. Were they being brave again so many years later?

I tucked myself into the shadows of the buildings around them and followed. The old man's slow pace made it easy but time-consuming. Finally, they reached a humble cobbler's shop with a small living area in the back. It was still in Dock but close enough to Northgate and Green Districts that his customers probably come from there. What could rent here be? It wasn't particularly desirable to live in Dock. Sure, the useful property went for more, but that would be placed near the water where all the action was, not in this little building that wouldn't even be enough room to make a useful warehouse. I watched the old man and the girl go inside.

I thought for a few minutes there outside the shop before deciding on a course of action. What would my brother do? We were already drowning in requests for help in Swamp, could we handle taking on more? My gaze drifted around the street. A woman sat on her front porch spinning wool and looked up as I approached her.

"Who landlords the cobbler's house?" I asked.

"Same as who landlords everythin' round 'ere. Lord Janlyn." She spoke in a broad Linmead accent.

"The whole street?" I blinked in surprise. That was a lot of land, a lot of money.

"The 'ole street she says, ha! He owns 'alf the District now! Started buyin' up weeks ago. We all thought it was a blessin' t' us that needed money and sold property. Only now rent's near doubled! An' who are you t' ask about it? Working for another noble? Bah. Scat along, mud maggot." She huffed and took her spinning inside.

Her suspicion wasn't offensive, but more expected. I couldn't say I wouldn't have acted the same way if someone came asking at the Dragon. But what she said was still concerning. I wasn't sure what rent here would be a month but in Swamp a place like this would probably be sixty copper bits or so. Adding a bit more for the better district it probably figured it at three, maybe four silver bits. With a grimace, I took out one of the silver bits Panther had given me and walked into the shop.

"Welcome." A boy that looked much like the girl but maybe a year or two older was keeping the storefront. The old man hearing a customer came out of the back.

Taking a quick look around, I was impressed. The old man had probably been doing this his whole life, and it showed in the details. "Have you any boots for a lady already made or would I need to commission them?"

I loved my old boots, but they were worn and by winter they would be useless. This was only a temporary fix for them. I knew that, I knew the silver bit would be a momentary relief, but I couldn't sit back and do nothing. Besides, this may lead to a better understanding of what was going on in Dock.

The old man's face lit up at my request, his eyes darting to my feet. "We have a few as might fit you over here," the old man said happily. "Come, let me show you the pair I just made."

I tried on a couple before finding some that fit, all the while taking in the expressions on the man's face and that of the children. Hope, concern, and then relief when a pair suited me. They were clearly desperate. 

I smiled when my feet sank comfortably into one of his more expensive pairs. A dark polished leather that felt sturdy, and would keep the midlands mud at bay. They came to a little under a silver bit, a couple of months' income for a family in Swamp. They were worth it though, and I reminded myself they were better quality than I would find in my own district and would probably last much longer too.

I picked up some soft slippers as well to spend the whole Bit. I may as well have my own for when Orchid insisted on putting me in dresses. The ones I borrowed always pinched my toes.

The old man beamed at whatever praise I offered, and I left. This was no permanent solution, but my silver would go a long way towards the next rent, and I could tell Davery the situation. He may have some ideas to help out in the longer term. As I walked back through Swamp District a young mother struggled to wash clothes in the yard and keep an eye on her children at the same time. Her back was to the road and I noticed her shoes were off so they didn't get wet. Not that it would have mattered much, they were little more than tatters. I snuck up to them and measured the size to be about that of my own feet and left my old boots by the tattered shoes. My old boots weren't good and they wouldn't be very warm come winter, but they were better than what this young woman had by far. Women didn't normally wear boots like I did unless they spent much time outside the home where the mud was caked. Plus, I preferred them for running over the normal felt or wool shoes for indoor use. Still, I doubted this woman would complain over free ones.

That's three good things in one day, a lucky number. We had taken the carpenter to Marak's farm, I got to give the cobbler a good sale, and now this woman would have something a little better on her feet. The evening shadows grew long around me as I made my way back to the Snoring Dragon.

The moment I opened the door, a warm fire crackled and the murmured chatter of the taproom filled the air. As for the black daggers, the men had gone their separate ways save for Jexa who was drinking at the bar with Davery. It was a slow enough night and Abe chattered with them. I was silent as I approached, clapping my hand on the back of Davery's shoulder. I smiled as he jumped a little before settling back on his stool.

"There you are, where did- are those new boots?" Davery eyed my feet. I stuck out a foot and wiggled.

"Yes they are. I have news."

Davery raised one eyebrow and rose from his seat. Abe waved us off, Jexa followed his lead, and I followed them down to the cellar apartments. Davery took his usual seat and rocked it back on two legs, crossing his shoes on the table. Jexa had brought his mug down with him and drank deeply from it as he sat. I ordered my thoughts and told them about the old man and the girl.

I told them about the cobbler's shop, the neighbor woman, and the landlord buying land and raising rent. How I bought the boots with the money from Panther and left my old ones with the young mother. When I finished, Davery asked Jexa to go to the city clerks and find out just which buildings Lord Janlyn owned and if he owned anything outside Dock district as well. That would have to happen tomorrow since it was getting late, so Jexa drained his mug and said good night. He wanted to sleep off the drink and get to the clerks at a decent time the next day.

"Davery, we can't save a whole district. Should we bring this up to the public day?" I asked my brother. Public Day was the first day of every month in which anyone who cared to wait in line could voice something to the king. The current king's great grandfather started the tradition and in general, it has kept the people very happy as everyone feels they can be heard. Since the war started it had been the queen with the council to speak before. With Prince Braeton back in the castle, it would likely be just him.

"No, but did the name strike you as interesting?" Davery asked. I thought about it a minute, I had heard the name Janlyn before, but it was an old house and they had their hands in a lot of things. Davery took out the book I had used at the palace dropping it on the table, and I swore.

"One of the councilmen?" I asked. I had only glanced at the names once, she was too startled by her encounter with Rorik to pay close attention that night and Davery took the book to study it when I got back.

"Yes. This concerns me a bit, what would happen in just the last few weeks to make him buy that much property? And just as the prince returns he raises the taxes? What does he gain?" Davery scratched at his chin as he thought. "Well, I'll think a bit more on how to help ease Dock where we can, but there isn't much to be done until we find out more tomorrow. I'm going to bed, I've my own inquiries to make bright and early. If Jexa gets back before I do, sit with him and make a list of the properties Lord Janlyn owns in our book. He will probably have a list from the clerk's but get our own safe copy, and code it please." He left the book with me and went to his own room. I took the book back and went to my mat. Tomorrow was probably going to make my head hurt, I could already feel it.

~

Jexa did manage to get to the inn before Davery. I had been sweeping the main room and watching for one of them to return when the giant's footsteps thudded on the stairs. Jexa made it a little before noon and I did take him down to the cellar table to make the list. We were still puzzling over the list and trying to remember which streets connected to each other when Davery walked in.

"Try this," he said tossing a roll of paper on the table. Jexa unrolled it.

"A map?" Jexa spread it open and set the book and some mugs on the corners to keep them from rolling up again.

"We are going to mark the buildings Lord Janlyn owns. I have some work to do of my own on that later." He gestured to the map. "So keep it clean please."

I took the list out that Jexa had brought from the clerks and compared it to my list of streets. The street list helped them mark 'J' on each building quickly for the streets he owned everything on. By the time they were done with the map, there was a letter J on most of Dock district and spattering across Green and Northgate.

"All these places were bought up recently?" I asked. Jexa nodded, he had asked the clerks the same question.

"The question is not that it was recent, but why raise the rent so harshly. Think, what do you suppose these people are going to do about it?" Davery paused for me and Jexa to ponder that a while.

"Well, I like my place, but I'd move I guess," Jexa said finally.

"That's one good point, what else? What if you didn't or couldn't leave your place?" He looked at me.

"I suppose, if I was expecting a soldier to be coming home I could stay in the same place. They'd come back with pay from the war, right? And it would be another person in the house working."

"Exactly. Those are the options I had come up with as well. So, to help some of the families who won't be able to stay in Dock, I thought I'd come up with a list of places that had rooms for rent. You know, so we could spread the word through Janlyn's streets. Curious thing though, I had a hard time finding places that had open rooms, and the places I found had relatively new owners."

"Girault?" I asked.

"Yes, Girault, and Lord Strym, a Lady Moncaster, Lord Winterly, and Lady Swynhill." Davery looked sharply at me, a quiet fury bubbling behind his eyes.

"Most of the Council." I scowled.

"What does that even mean?" Jexa grumbled.

"It means, my friend, we need to find out what they are up to. Jexa, will you take Grahm and Dirk tomorrow to get lists of the new properties for these nobles? Go to the clerks in each district, don't just go to the same one as yesterday, that will raise suspicion."

"Sure." He said. "As long as you do the thinking I'll do the walking. You're starting to make my head hurt."

"I've a letter to write. Sly, will you see if we can use the inkwell upstairs?" Davery began scribbling in the book with charcoal and Jexa said his goodbyes. I did as he'd asked, and got back downstairs quickly with the inkwell, setting it on the table.

"You're writing to him, aren't you? Prince Rorik. That's why you're using ink and not the charcoal." A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. The prince was too . . . too clever. Too sharp, he saw through me too quickly for comfort.

"I can't take the chance of charcoal smudging with this. I'm writing in cipher just as he asked and one letter can change an entire word if you can't read it. If he can do anything from his fancy stone castle let him. He can only help the situation at this point." Davery wrote the new coded alphabet out in the book, the codeword was Ladymaid which made Davery laugh and annoyed me to no end. Bastard. It was already later afternoon when we had finished with the map. We ate a dinner of bread and broth while Davery worked over the letter into the evening. I watched him, picking crumbs at a time to eat from my roll. The lines of his face had sharpened and filled out over the years. He was starting to look more and more like our father, now that he was fully an adult. The glow of the candles cast shadows to highlight the hair we got from our mother while he worked on the letter.

He finished it and folded the parchment into thirds. He dripped some candle wax over the paper to close it just like you would with proper sealing wax, then carved an 'A' into it with the pen. A for Aylward, I supposed.

"Take it in the morning, that's when he said this Guardsman Pettypiece was usually about, right?" He handed over the letter.

"Alright." I sighed through my nose. "I'm getting some sleep then. G'night Davery." I kissed his cheek and went to my room. I had a long walk ahead of me in the morning, and I prepared myself to go to great lengths to avoid another meeting with the prince if I could help it. Drop off the letter and leave. I hoped.