Davery

I wiped the sweat from my neck as I walked through the Dock District. Another gods awful hot day. Jexa on my left was unaffected, the ass, and seemed cheerful as he waved to familiar faces and looking very much at home. Bricker on the other hand looked like a melting block of ice; the hot wet Midlands were a far cry from the cold and lofty mountains of Linmead.

I resisted the urge to tease him further. He had already gotten plenty from my and as my sister loves to point out, I don't always know when to quit.

Warm water tugged at our boots from the docks as a barge sloshed by. The gulls that circled lazily overhead screeched at every fishing boat.

"Why is this city so gods damned huge?" Bricker whined.

It was the first he had spoken since the clerks told us where to find his aunt. I didn't envy him his task to tell his aunt, but there wasn't much to do for him but leave him alone to gather his thoughts. But if he felt well enough to complain perhaps the distraction is what he needed for the last few blocks.

"If you have enough breath to moan, you have the breath to run," I said. "Do you want to go on ahead of us? No need to wait for me."

"No, thank you." Bricker eyed me with suspicion. Probably assuming I had more clever remarks for him, but I really didn't this time.

If anything, I was reminiscent of telling friends and family the news of my own mother's death.

"We're close enough lad, be patient." Jexa hummed.

I smirked.

"Since when are you the voice of reason, Jexa?" I mused.

"Shut it." Jexa grinned playfully. "Unless you forget, I could just throw both of you over my shoulders and take you there like spoiled children."

I glared at my oaf of a friend, and Bricker choked down a laugh. Then I glared at him too.

"Sorry, I don't mean to sound ungrateful." Bricker forced a smile.

"Don't worry yourself over it." I waved a dismissive hand at him. "It's what we do, and we aren't in it for the thanks."

"There, up ahead. The blue building." Jexa pointed down the street to a lodging house. The blue paint was more intense than the paint on the other buildings of the street. It must have been fresh. Yellow vines danced decoratively around the door and windows of only half the building. The other side was yet to be embellished. It looked to hold six or so private apartments. Almost lavish, for something on the west half of the lake.

"I suppose this is where we leave you." Davery said. "No matter what happens, you know where to find us."

Bricker nodded, and stood in place, staring at his destination. He wiped his palms on his breaches, breathing deeply. 

Jexa and I silently stepped back, sharing a look and leaving Bricker to ready himself.

Watching down the road about half a block away, I spotted a woman with the same fair hair as Bricker, though her once pale skin had been kissed by the sun for so long she looked like a Unayan native. She was coming out of the building with a market basket.

"Let's go, Jexa." I took us towards Swamp, leaving Bricker in privacy to unite with his aunt.

A long silence stretched comfortably between us. Jexa continued to be in his cheerful mood as they passed through Dock and waved to people all over it. I used the quiet stroll to finish plans I had been forming all morning. Too many things on my mind at once, I needed to get my thoughts down on paper soon.

"Oh, Dirk wants you to know he found a drowned box, whatever that is." Jexa said after a while.

I smiled.

"Thank you, I'll take care of it later," I replied. "So what do you make of our lanky northerner?"

"Bricker? His mouth is going to get him a blade in the ribs one of these days. Don't know much else about him." Jexa scratched the stubble on his chin. "What are you plotting now you shifty bastard?"

I coudln't stop myself from letting out a laugh.

"Shove off, I was just asking a question. I suppose you haven't had time to get to know him. Anyway, I was considering using him now and then as a runner. He ran messages in Linmead, and he wants to stay in Unays for the foreseeable future. I'm fair certain he isn't out to learn a new trade either." I scratched my chin as I thought. "In fact, I need to pick something up at the market regarding that if you don't mind the detour."

Jexa shrugged.

"Lead on, I've got nothing to do until dusk," Jexa answered, just as a fat droplet of rain smacked his face. "Bless it."

"Well, it didn't rain much last night. We're probably overdue for a big one." I stuck out my good hand and watched a few more droplets hit my palm. "May as well go home a while, what I needed can't get wet."

We walked a little faster, as did the other people in the streets. Only foreigners looked for shelter, the locals being used to the gentle flash showers that muddied Unays regularly. The gutters at the side of the streets were already trickling water towards the lake. If this kept up, they'd be flooding soon.

"What in Shadow's realms is that?" Jexa asked when we rounded a lazy turn in the road.

I narrowed my eyes at the scene ahead.

"A herald? In Swamp?" I scowled as we drew near and joined the forming crowd. A tall platform that usually remained empty by the fountain square, held a sour looking man in royal purple. A boy trumpeted by him and two more sheltered the man from the rain with an oiled canopy held up by poles. After a few minutes of gathering a crowd, he unrolled a large parchment.

"People of the great City-state of Unays, hear your King!" He bellowed as he spoke, and I would assume many more than just those of us in the square were listening right now. "By order of the Court of Regents in the absence of King Joasten Dalvnais and Crown Prince Braeton Dalvnais, the districts west of the lake are under curfew of dark until further notice."

Gasps and hushed conversations immediately hushed across the crowd.

"Shadow pox it," Jexa murmured.

And the herald continued. "No persons shall be outside of the home after the dusk bell without explicit permission from your district Guard Captain for reasons on the approved list which shall be read hereafter. Persons who work for the Crown. Persons with essential nighttime work such as lantern lighters or night dock receivers. Persons of medical importance traveling to emergency situations. These are the allowances that may be approved by a District Guard Captain. Persons found outside after curfew will be detained in the cages for trial. That is all."

Shock stiffened my shoulders. Most able-bodied men had gone north to the warfront. The list of people who would be able to work the docks and certainly the list of healers would be short indeed. Particularly in Swamp.

My throat ran dry as I watched the trumpeter walk down from the platform and hammer the notice on one of the platform's supports where it would have some shelter from the rain. Each hammering blow sounded loudly, the hushed outcry of the crowd had gone quiet the moment the decree was finished. The herald was given a wide berth in the crowd as he approached a fine horse guarded by two Crown Soldiers.

"This is because of yesterday." Jexa murmured.

"No, this is because of what the Swamp has become," I whispered. "Yesterday was the last straw."

I approached the posted notice, re-affirming to myself that what the herald read was true. Few others lingered to look at the words, but then, few in Swamp could read. I stood close enough to look over the decree, affirm the signatures of the Regents, and see the small rough map marking the Swamp District Guardhouse to report to for permission to stay out past curfew. A sharp breath next to me from an old man drew my eyes over the message again more slowly.

"Gods," he breathed, his aged voice a raspy wheeze, and touched his fingers to his chest and brows in the gods' blessing. Neatly written under the reasons to be approved past curfew was the punishment for breaking it. First offense, a public lashing. Second offence, five years in the quarry.

"Are they trying to start a revolt?" A woman at the notice board snapped.

"I suggest we keep this quiet until there isn't a potential mob in the square," I said. A few heads around him bobbed in agreement, but the woman's hands flew to her hips as she frowned at me.

"And who are you to say it? I've lived here longer than you've been alive, boy. If things are going to change, it's not going to be the crown that changes them."

"What's goin' on?" Jexa asked behind me.

I met the woman's eyes. If she was ready to speak revolt aloud, she wasn't about to turn me in to the guards. I hoped, anyway.

I gently rolled up a sleeve, giving her a glimpse at the black dagger inked into my skin. Recognition crossed her fingers, and her eyes snapped up to my face in surprise.

"Just give us some time," I murmured. "Please."

Her eyes widened, and she nodded as I rolled my sleeve back down.

"That wasn't smart, Davery," Jexa scolded, pulling me away by my shoulders. "What's that about?"

"Not here. Let's go." I walked away from the scene briskly, Jexa following closely. "I'm going to need you to get several things, and I'm going to need you to get them before dusk. First, go to the Guardhouse, right now. Get your permission for the night dock work before the lines set in and the Captain is in a foul mood for approvals. Knowing him, it won't take long. When you've done that get back to the tavern, the Black Daggers are going to have a lot of work to do. Bring candles, lots of them, and get a selection of colored dyes."

"I will," Jexa said. He clapped a big hand on my shoulder. "You just be safe, Davery. I don't like this curfew business one bit."

"Neither do I, old friend," I told him, clasping a hand on his shoulder in turn. "I'll get the rest and meet you at the Snoring Dragon. Gods keep you."

Jexa nodded, and as we turned from each other to rush ourselves done before dusk, I sent a silent prayer to whichever gods were still listening down here in Swamp.

Gods keep us all.