Sly

I was particularly thankful for the new boots as I walked the long distance to the palace. As the birds fly, the palace would be closer than Panther's house in Lights district but because the castle was on such a high cliff you had to take a winding road to reach it which added a lot of time. Not to mention the huge lake that wouldn't allow one to walk straight from one side of the city to the other. Luckily, the high road actually ran right up to the gates, though as the cliff rose above the rest of the city the road sloped to meet the ground level, no longer a need to be a raised path when it reaches the castle. The only reason it was built as a raised road elsewhere is a guaranteed loop of the city that even the most extreme flood levels would never reach, but the cliff was higher than even the road's usual level.

My legs were sore by the time the gates came into view, and I'm sure there was a layer of sweat beaded on my neck and forehead. The gates were closed and guarded by two soldiers that looked fairly at ease. Though they did eye me with suspicion as I approached. Not that I blamed them for it. It was doubtful that I looked like a regular at the castle and if the royal guards didn't act with caution, the prince had more problems to deal with than a stray black dagger from Swamp.

"Is one of you Guardcaptain Pettypiece?" I asked timidly. I felt just a bit nervous and more than a bit anxious, but playing that up would make me seem like less of a threat and more likely to get some answers without wasting time.

"Right here, what can I do for you?" An incredibly tall figure marched up to the gates from the inner side. He seemed to have been patrolling the grounds near the gate and probably came over when he noticed a stranger talking to his guards. That, or he had been watching for me since Rorik had warned him I could come. A prospect that didn't make me feel any better.

The men stood at attention as their captain approached. His nose, which the prince said would be crooked, had seemingly been broken at least twice and left to its own devices to heal. His dark hair was trimmed very short, and he wore a ridgid posture with practiced ease.

"I have a letter for you, sir. It's from your uncle." I only just remembered to add the 'uncle' part as the prince had instructed.

"Is it now?" Pettypiece glanced at me for a long moment as if to remember my face. A gesture I didn't care for, but after meeting the prince I wasn't surprised by it. "Thank you, here is a piece for your troubles."

He gave me five copper bits from his pocket and strode away. The guards eyed her with curiosity but didn't say anything as I turned and went on my way, playing the part of a messenger and nothing more.

The prince was right, the captain was stiff. I wondered on my way home if anyone had ever tried to oil his hinges. Still, the bits were a nice enough gesture. Five copper bits is what most day laborers earn in a week or two, at least in Swamp.

Remembering a rumor on the way home that I had heard of a butcher who kept his thumb on the meat scale, I changed course. Times were hard enough as it was for most folk, let alone he did this in Foothills district, which was the only other place that could compare to life in Swamp. Minus the flooding, as it was not near the lake, but it was so low under the wall of the city it had less daylight than any other district. I took the long way home and brought back some nice plump sausage links. I dropped the coppers in the pocket of a woman in rags who was buying from the butcher and pocketed the sausages. He'd probably charge the woman enough to pay for her own meat and mine combined anyway. This way, at least the poor woman wouldn't be out as much coin and from what I'd heard while browsing the shop, I had another thing to report to Davery.

The sausages were a bit hard to hold, but I couldn't have asked him to wrap it for me without paying him. Even a stupid brute like him would notice that. I wandered back to the inn a little before lunch time and Addah was glad to have the meat for their pantry. The inn did well enough, but they didn't charge us for food, just rent. It was a long-standing argument between Addah and Davery, so I liked to add to the food stores when I could. We began renting from the Dragon four years ago, when I was not quite thirteen and Davery was fourteen and neither of us knew enough about rent to know Abe undercharged us. A lot. I liked to pay them back for some of it when she could.

When I reached the yard, Davery was just coming up from the cellar followed by Jexa, Grahm who seemed to have gotten a new shirt since the fire, and Dirk, a man in his mid-twenties who had taught me six ways to pick a pocket. 

"You're back," Davery noted. "How did it go? Wait, don't answer that yet. Let's get dinner first."

With a nod, I yawned and went to pick a seat at the table before they returned. They bought a pitcher of ale to take back downstairs and Addah sent them a plate of meat pasties. My stomach immediately growled at the first scent of them.

At the table the map was spread out. Where before the letter J had been spread across Dock district, the entire town had letters for the other Nobles everywhere. Swamp district was left mostly untouched and so was a good chunk of Foothills, but anywhere that might have property of value that wasn't already a noble's estate had the council's initials all over it.

"Sage help us," I called on the god of wisdom and strategy. "What is this madness? Is the entire city to starve or leave?"

"So far, the only area we can find where the rents have shot up are Dock and Hammer. For whatever reason a third to half of the city has been bought up over the last two months by the council," Davery explained.

"Grahm and Dirk's lodgings have both been purchased by the Moncasters, but no other changes. Dirk's happened weeks ago but the buys had been so quiet everywhere that unless it happened to your own street you probably didn't hear about it. The only reason Dock was willing to make such a fuss is the new rent." Jexa indicated Dirk and Grahm's homes on the map as he spoke. "Thankfully I own my own damn house."

"Some of us didn't have the nice honest Dock job you had before the war," Dirk teased him.

"Some of us never had an honest job in his life." Grahm ribbed Dirk, who laughed loudly at the the accusation, but the mirth of the joke never reached his eyes.

I thought quietly to myself that Dirk wouldn't have taken an honest job, even if he had the chance. But I knew better than to voice it to an old rogue with a dagger quick as lighting and a temper even quicker.

"Did you deliver my letter?" Davery asked, shifting the attention of the room my direction.

"Yup." I wanted to ask what was in it, but couldn't without raising questions from the surrounding party. Davery didn't say what he was writing yesterday and even looking over his shoulders I couldn't decode it without the coded key in front of me. It was a delicate game, giving the crew the necessary information while not revealing my unfortunate connection to Prince Rorik.

"So, what's next?" Dirk asked.

"Not much that can be done right now." Davery shrugged. "The properties were all purchased legally, we can bring up the rent in Dock and Hammer to public day for all the good that may do us. For so few people to have such a hold on the city is terrifying, the fact that it's the council is enough to scare even me."

The group was quiet for a bit, pondering the facts Davery had just laid out for us. Eventually, the others agreed there wasn't anything to be done but stock up on food and money for if something big happened. I, on the other hand, stayed quiet. When the others all left late in the night, the only ones left were me, and my brother.

I watched him blow out most of the candles, leaving just enough light for us to get around for the night. He looked tired, and I wished I could take some of the burden he piled on himself. Not that he'd let me. Besides, he was the sharp one, and I was just a pair of feet that he directed to the cause.

"Do you think the prince can help?" I asked softly. Davery paused, turning my way with that crooked smile as he swept a hand through his hair.

"Which one, Rorik? I don't know, a third prince doesn't have that much power. Certainly if he is a clever as you made him out to be he may be able to convince Braeton and possibly his father the king when he gets back. But what would they do even knowing what's going on? To persecute any noble family with rank like those on the council would be regicide. To go after all eight of them?" Davery shook his head. "If there were some kind of evidence of crime they might not have every noble from here to Linmead calling for their heads but it would have to be something pretty big even then."

I chewed my bottom lip, shoulders sinking. "So, what do we do?"

"Really there isn't anything to be done just yet. Stock up, sit back, and pray to the gods." My stomach sank as even Davery didn't have a way out of the situation. My eyes sank to the middle space of nothing while my head swam with dark thoughts. He tousled my hair, snapping me out of the moment of dread and I swatted his hand away with a scowl.

"Get some sleep, making yourself sick isn't going to help. Go visit Orchid tomorrow, I'm pretty sure Panther owns that house but double check. And see if they have noticed this yet too, I'd be curious what a sharp one like Panther would have to say on the matter."

"Alright," I agreed. We went to our own rooms as it was nearing two bells after midnight. I gathered myself and agreed with Davery, I couldn't afford to be useless and making myself sick was not going to help anyone. Tomorrow I would see what I could find out from Lights district.