Sly

It was raining lightly when I woke up. The autumn wet season had begun and it has always been a time of worry. It rained all morning with no sign of letting up. I did every indoor chore I could think of. I cleaned, swept, and tried to hang up the bedding so it would air out as much as our indoor space allowed. I finally decided to just grab my hooded cloak and go. Normally I would take the low roads like usual but they were so caked and muddy that I climbed to High Road as soon as I could. Thankfully, there was a staircase only a block away from the Snoring Dragon. 

Nobles and merchants mostly used High Road unless it was a celebration day. The patrolling guards would view anyone who dressed like me with suspicion and dodging horses was an added hazard. Today though, between my new boots and my nicer cloak I didn't look quite like a maggot from Swamp district, and with the rain there were few horses out. I woudln't pass as a merchant's daughter either, but at least I was clean from the rain with no holes in my clothes.

Panther let me in after a long, cold walk, and insisted on giving me hot cider to chase the chill away. I didn't complain. The house was warm, with fires in all the fireplaces and plenty of soft cushions and plush blankets. All the girls knew how to cook in the house and took turns doing so, but River's cider was the most delicious thing any of them could make. The shorter muse winked at me from the kitchen, and not for the first time I wondered what her life had been like before she cast away her name in favor of serving the goddess Bliss. Nearly every time it rained all day or was windy outside River made a batch, and today I was just lucky to be present for it.

"So Sly, what brings you here today?" Panther carried over her own mug of cider, sitting across from me. Orchid had come downstairs to join us as well as Moon and Star. River was starting another batch of cider and Fae was making soup to go along with the rainy day. I was happy to take a long sip from my mug before speaking.

"Davery has made something of an interesting discovery," I began. But I paused. I wasn't sure how to put this, especially if they were hearing of it for the first time from me.

"He hasn't gotten into any trouble has he?" Orchid asked.

"No, no it isn't that. Has anyone in Lights appeared to be . . . buying property?" I finished her initial thought as the muses appeared to think for a moment.

"Now that you bring it up two neighbors on our street mentioned someone buying their houses." Panther thought another second, remembering who it was. "One was old Mina and she moved in with her son. That house was too big for her to care for anymore anyway, it was something of a blessing she could sell it. The other was Master Draymire, he wasn't looking to sell his little boarding house but he was offered a nice bit for it and enjoys retirement to the farmlands where his niece raises horses I believe."

"No one asked to buy Panther House?" I asked.

"No, but it is holy ground. This is a house for Bliss and her muses, I doubt anyone would offend her in such a way as to buy out a house and leave us to move elsewhere. We may not be her proper temple but this house is devoted nonetheless," Panther replied.

"Would you have us move Salysta? Leave our home and all we know behind us?" That was Moon. Or maybe Star, I wasn't sure.

"Cast into the streets! We're to wander homeless in the rain." That would be Star. Or Moon. Adding to the theatrics of her twin.

"Stop your mischief," Panther scolded lightly. "We worship Bliss in this house, not Shadow."

"What is this all about?" Orchid asked, turning her attention to me.

So I told them. I told them about the message board and the taxes, the cobbler, and the children. How we gathered information from each district and put together the map. Fae and River had come over to listen as the story got interesting. When I finished speaking everyone sat for a bit in silence. The reality was taking time to sink in.

"What does Davery think they are up to?" Panther asked finally.

"He isn't sure, or at least not sure enough of his theories to share them yet. I believe he thinks they all might raise rents at some point, but to what end we don't know."

"Does Abe own the inn and its land?" Fae asked.

"Yes, thankfully. It's been in the family for generations," I answered with what measure of a smile I could manage. There, at least, was one good thing.

"I think, there isn't much we can do right now. This house will always take in women and children if it comes to that, so will many of the other muse houses. I can talk to a few of them tomorrow as well. The important thing is that people aren't seeing the big picture yet, no one is panicking. I pray it stays that way long enough for something to be done about this." Panther spoke thoughtfully and everyone agreed with her logic. After a bit more talk where no one had any plausible solutions the conversation drifted. The upcoming Harvest Feast, the actual harvests going on right now. This neighbor had a new baby, a friend just got married. Eventually, Moon, Star, and Fae who had jobs that night trailed upstairs to get ready. Panther and Orchid saw me off safely, and River sent a jug of cider home with me. Much to my dismay, she did wring a promise out of me to share it with my brother.

"He doesn't even like it as much as I do," I grumbled as I tucked the treat away under my cloak.

The afternoon drizzled by and even after warming up with a bowl of soup and more delicious cider I felt the chill from the rain and wind as I walked home. I took High Road again since it was still rainy and continued to have very few travelers. Rather than descend into the muddy lower street level, after all it was called Swamp for a reason, I hopped over the wall onto the roof of the Snoring Dragon and took the hatch and ladder down to the main floor. A secret entrance that I woudln't be able to use going up to the road, there was no way for me to reach it, but a path from above to the safety of the inn that had saved me on more than one occasion.

I was careful not to drip on any food in the pantry as I reached the bottom of the ladder and came into the open kitchen. Removing my cloak, I tossed over a chair by the fire to dry.

"Sly!" Addah came into the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron, and slung an arm around me despite how wet I still was. "Looks like it will be a busy night, everyone's in from the rain. If you care to help Abe serve at the bar I have a special treat for you."

"A treat?" I smiled, it was probably the same thing Addah always called a 'special treat' in that way. I would have helped Abe anyway if it looked like he'd need it but for the promise of Addah's fruit tart there was no way I woudln't stay and help now. The old woman must be getting into practice again for the Harvest Festival coming up.

"I made a tart this morning." Addah beamed. "Got some fresh limes from that young lady down the street, you know she has a tree full of them this time of year." 

Addah went on about her day and I was happy to sit in the warmth of her kitchen and presence while she did. After a while when orders for food came in, I left to get ready to help in the taproom. I took my cloak and jug of cider down to our rooms, hanging my still-damp things to drip dry. Back upstairs Addah was cutting thick loaves of bread as I went into the main room.

Sitting in his usual corner was Davery, but with him was a new shape of shoulders. Grethan. My stomach did a small flip as I thought about the soldier that now ate with a thief. There was still something I didn't trust yet. Sure, on the surface Grethan had done nothing wrong. He helped at the fire, helped move the carpenter's family. But did he know about us? Truly know what we were? The daggers had enough of a name around the lower districts, his own Dock included in that list. Would he get angry? I didn't like the idea of inviting a man of the king's, even a low ranked soldier, into a den of thieves. Davery was deep in conversation, but his eyes slid across the room and spotted me, waving my way and Grethan turned to see who he greeted.

Gritting my teeth, I resolved to have a little chat with my brother the moment we were alone. "Hello," I said, reaching their table for the evening. They seemed to be having a well enough time so far, if the empty tankards and plate of crumbs meant anything.

"Sly, Grethan was telling me his apartment house was recently bought by a new owner, isn't that interesting?" He gave me a look, but I knew what Davery meant without him spelling it out in the open inn hall. So, he was another source of reference for the rent hikes.

I wondered for a moment if Grethan knew about this buying all over the city, maybe he could give us a soldier's perspective on the situation. Likely enough this thought had already crossed Davery's mind, maybe that was why he was eating with the newcomer in the first place.

"Care to join us? I expect Jexa will be here at some point."

"I'm helping Abe tonight, Addah said she'd give me a piece of tart if I helped." I smiled wickedly at my brother's visible distress. It was difficult to break his calm demeanor, but he had a terrible sweet tooth and Addah's tarts were a weakness of his.

"You better save me a bite," he warned.

I snorted. "Nope. It's all mine, I'm working for it." I stuck my tongue out and spun around, walking towards the bar.

Davery and Grethan went back to whatever they were talking about and the crowd picked up. Jexa did show up eventually and I brought him a mug of River's cider from the cellar room. Davery could get his own later from what was left, but I had a soft spot for Jexa. He was like a favorite uncle or something, and I knew his shoulder ached on rainy days like this. River's cider would boost his mood.

At the end of the night, Davery helped sweep so he could claim some of the lime tart for himself. Jexa stumbled home at some point while they were all cleaning up. I headed out the back of the kitchen, she was going to get the rest of the cider to go with the tart Addah was cutting up when she bumped into someone in the yard.

"Oof. Oh, sorry I . . . Grethan? I thought you left." I brushed some dust off my clothes, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Davery was telling me you live in a cellar apartment. The idea piqued my interest so I was just going home by way of the side yard to see the doorway he described. The entrance really is a cellar door!" Grethan seemed genuinely amused by that fact.

"Uh, yeah. Well, g'night then." I offered a nod and continued downstairs to get the jug of cider, making sure I heard the door clearly shut behind me. I was glad to find the yard empty when I came back through.

Back upstairs, Addah was setting plates of tart for herself, Abe, Davery and me. We ate and chatted for a bit before the old couple headed for bed. Their day started much earlier than Davery's or mine did.

Walking down to our small shared space, I held Davery's sleeve, stopping him from retreating to his room. He was obviously tired, but something bothered me and I needed to talk about it.

"What is it Sly?" Davery asked turning to me.

"Did you invite Grethan here or was it his idea?" I asked. Davery looked surprised, but turned thoughtful.

"I ran into him on the street, he asked if I cared to join him for dinner and I told him about the inn. We walked here together," he replied.

"And our rooms here, did you bring that up or did he?" I still held his sleeve.

"I did, I think. No, not quite, he did ask if we lived around here since I already told him I'm here every night. What's this about?"

"I don't know. It doesn't feel right. He's a soldier, Davery, and I'm sure anyone who turned you in would get a shiny coin for their troubles," I murmured.

Davery sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head. "Grethan just feels a bit lost. He just came back from the war, the other soldiers haven't started coming back yet and he doesn't have anywhere to be. He helped rescue those people from that fire. He rescued me from that fire. He's a good man."

"Yes he seems like a good man, he's the king's soldier!" I snapped. "That's how he was trained to act."

"Yes, and soldiers are loyal," Davery spat back. "Do you think I can't take care of myself? Who took care of you since Dad left?"

"Loyal?" I laughed. "Loyal to who? If the bet fell between loyalty to you and loyalty to the crown he served for four years I'm not betting against the crown!"

"By Blade, you're stubborn as a mule! Grethan hasn't done a thing. He hasn't even asked me what I do for a living!" Davery ran his fingers through his hair. "Sly, I wouldn't do anything to put us in danger. To put you in danger. Hell, the worst thing we've done is steal. I doubt there is much bounty out there for petty thieves, not that the city guards even know who we are. They don't have one face to go by."

"They have a name to go by! If the people of Swamp keep murmuring the name Aylward then it's only a matter of time before the mongrels know it too. If they don't already!" I pushed away from him now. "And the worst thing is thieving? Davery, we stole from any noble that's mistreated a servant, which is most of them! Dirk took a horse last month, a horse Davery! We've smuggled people out of the city, we broke people out of the guards holding pens when we coudln't afford the bribe! If the city guards even have the slightest fathom that one group of people did all this, do you think they wouldn't be desperate for us?"

"This is why I didn't want you in our business! I knew the risk when I committed my first act against the crown, did you?" Davery spat.

"Please, Davery, at least stop taking requests here. Start hanging around all the taverns in Swamp, there are four nearby I can think of. At least spread out where you're known to be. I know the people need to be able to find you, but don't make it so easy for the mongrels!"

The air visibly left Davery. He studied me, and I could feel the heat across my face, the wetness trheatening my eyes.

"Sly." Davery took a deep calming breath. "Sly, I know you worry. I'm sorry for that. If I had a better way to help us when this whole mess started believe me, I would have taken it. But I went down this road and I know it's where I'm staying. You're right though, the name spread farther than I ever imagined. When it was just Swamp district where the city guards won't dirty their boots it was fine, but now . . ." He shrugged.

"You'll spread out where you take requests?" I asked hopeful.

"Yes. And more than that, I'll guard my face better." He rubbed a tear from my eye with his thumb, shifting his attention to the room at large. Glancing at where I left my cloak to dry that afternoon, he walked over to grab it. He swung it over his shoulders, he wasn't much taller than me so it didn't look too small either. He pulled the hood low over his eyes so all you could see was his smirk. "How's this?"

"That's a good idea." I sniffed and came to hug his middle. "Thank you, Davery. For everything."

"I know , I'm sorry for fighting. I've put such little stock in what I've done that I forget sometimes how big this whole thing has gotten. I'll start guarding myself better, and I don't want anything coming down on Abe and Addah either. Tomorrow I'll be at the Crow's Foot, ok?" He named a popular tavern for food and music by the lake.

"Ok." I released him from the hug. He tousled my hair and put on his most smug, annoying expression.

"Night, Salysta," Davery said, pulling out my full name that I hated.

"Night, ass," I replied and we both retreated to our rooms. Before I drifted off I could swear I heard a soft "I love you" through the doorway curtain. Smiling, as I fell asleep I whispered "I love you too, Davery."