Sly

"Sly! Sly, they're here!" Addah hobbled down the cellar stairs. The sun was up and Davery was already out on whatever business he had that day. I stretched and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Who's here?" I mumbled.

"The soldiers! The first wave of soldiers returning were spotted from the Northgate Tower just a bit ago! They should be here within the hour." Addah came into my room practically bouncing with excitement, which was rather comical coming from such a small old woman. I grinned wide and threw off her blankets, my heart already pounding.

"I want to watch them," I announced pulling on my boots. "Are any royals with them?"

"No, I hear King Joasten and Prince General Mason will be with the next group, just in time for the Harvest festival at the end of the month.n Here, take this with you." Addah shoved a roll with honey on it into my hand as I ran for the door. "Tell me who you recognize!" The old woman called.

"Thanks, I will!" I yelled racing up the stairs.

The rain from yesterday had blown out, the air was crisp and the sky cloudless. I ran through the lower streets, winding around buildings where I knew the shortcuts. I reached Northgate and easily found a crowd gathered to watch the procession. Folks packed as close to the road as they could get without the mongrels prodding them off the actual street to make room for the returning men.

I was late enough that I couldn't see the street through the people. I turned around and eyed the buildings around me, most of them had faces in the windows and one of them had a shed attached to the main apartment house. Looking up at the roof I noticed a few brave children had the same idea I did. Rooftops in Unays had a peculiar quirk, the middle ridge was flat enough to walk on. The roof line of the city could be used as a sort of path during high floods if one was really desperate, which I had been on occasion. Most inhabitants of the buildings below though would be less than pleased, which I found on almost as many occasions.

The roof paths were the original rout around the city in flood times before the High Road was finished. A relic of times past, but currently my best shot at seeing any of the action. Climbing a rain barrel to get to the shed roof, I hoisted myself up carefully onto the main building as quietly as I could so as not to alert the people inside.

I had eaten the roll from Addah on the run and now wished I had stopped for more food. I was hungry from the run and now thirsty, but rather than lose my great new seat, I stayed put to watch the gate.  The first few men made it into the gate and the crowd began chattering excitedly, a few cheers speckled the crowd. The man leading the marching soldiers was on a horse. I didn't know anything about his rank but he rode a horse and had on a red cape which the regular soldiers didn't wear. Everyone's attention was on him, so they didn't notice that someone else was on the road until the horseman stopped. He raised his sword in a salute and bowed his head, causing the mass of people watching him to look down the road further into the city. Prince Braeton rode his own white stallion and was flanked by Prince Rorik and Guardcaptain Pettypiece also mounted. Several City Guards of rank stood at attention behind them. They must have gone to the gates to meet the incoming army's return.

Rorik, with that stupid knowing smirk and perfectly tousled hair, glanced around the rooftops seemingly amused by the children watching. A chill ran up my spine as his gaze stopped over where I sat for a moment before moving on. I was one of the only adult sized figures on the roof, a choice I regretted now. Did he recognize me? I was wearing the same clothes he had seen me in spying on Lord Girault for the first time. I wondered what he made of the letter Davery sent him, and if he was doing anything with their information.

The Crown Prince saluted the returning soldiers and the royal escort turned to slowly lead the men home. They would check in at the castle and receive last payment for service before being released to find their families. The procession, now led by the royals slowly meandered towards the castle and the crowds followed behind, watching for returning loved ones. As I climbed back down to the ground level I took one last look at the royals from the high vantage point and noticed Captain Pettypiece wasn't by Rorik anymore. I didn't like that. Not one bit, as it foretold something in my gut. I shivered and hurried back down to blend into the crowd.

I followed along the side to watch the crowd. There was no sign of Orchid's dad, which is the only person I knew for certain to be returning alive. My own father had gone at the same time as Orchid's but whereas Orchid's father was able to write home, my father stopped suddenly and the family's half of his soldier's pay stopped coming. A telling enough sign. Orchid's dad wrote in his letters that he hadn't seen Dad after a brutal battle that first year. Everyone knew he wasn't coming home, though it took longer for me to believe that than it did Davery. Maybe he was sheltering me from it, or maybe I was just in denial. Either way, it was in the past and the sentiment of it had no place in the present. Today was about finding the ones who could return.

I did manage to recognize a face or two here and there that I could report back to Addah. Eventually I slipped away from the waves of people and made my way back to the inn. I had spent the whole morning watching the soldiers and it was afternoon by the time I made my way home. Now thoroughly famished, I bought a small meat pie on the way back and ate, walking slowly. The inn was empty, not surprising. Anyone who was free to sit around inside would be at the castle by now watching the soldiers.

I told Abe and Addah everything I saw as they cleaned the main room. The baker's son down the road. The Blacksmith's niece. The neighbor woman's husband. Abe and Addah didn't have any family in the war, but they had been neighbors with many around Swamp that had gone away. They had watched many of them grow up, perhaps grown up with a few themselves.

The afternoon grew late and just as it looked like it would be empty for dinner the first few people started trickling in. The city celebrated, no inn, tavern, eating house or gambling den was left empty. Soldiers went to their old favorite hangouts for the first time in years, bringing with them family, friends, and neighbors. Women cried and laughed at the same time clinging to their men, the soldiers who had someone to return to could expect a warm bed tonight. I wondered if Hearth, god of homes and families, planned on a wave of children after this night.

I had to run the few blocks away for Abe and Addah to fetch their daughter and her family to help with the unexpected crowd. Eventually, the steady crowd settled into their tables and food. Drink was still being ordered constantly and myself along with Abe's son-in-law hauled a few more barrels upstairs. When it died down enough for me to take a break, I headed for the kitchen. Really all I wanted was to step outside and cool off in the night air. I was nearly to the door when I was stopped by the table closest to the kitchen.

"Miss!" a man called for my attention. I turned to see what he wanted, but he was hunched over so I couldn't see his face. My eyes narrowed and my fingers brushed against the hilt of a dagger at the top of my boot, just to make sure it was on me. Once I was closer to the customer, my heart sank. I recognized his dark brown-red hair right away once I could see it under his hood. Prince Rorik looked up at me with a grin.

My heart was beating fast as I clenched my hands into fists in my nerves. Just as infuriating as my brother. No, maybe more. This princeling was starting to get too close for this thief's comfort.

"Let's talk somewhere more private, shall we?" He pulled his hood back low over his brow and stood from his table, leaving a few bits with his empty mug.

It wasn't a polite request. Sighing, I waved for him to follow me. "Come on then."

We walked through the kitchen and I eyed every doorway for eyes following us. The taproom was busy enough, but no one was paying attention to what we were doing. The kitchen was lively as well, but Addah spared me one curious glance when she spotted the cloaked stranger following me. I gave her a nod, letting her know everything was okay before we slipped into the backyard. Once the kitchen door closed behind us, I turned to give the prince a wobbly, unpracticed curtsey.

"What can I do for your highness?" I spoke quietly so we wouldn't be heard, though, with the noise inside I doubted anyone could hear me even if I had yelled it.

Rorik let his hood slip back just enough that I could better see his face. His expression held just enough arrogance to it that you couldn't forget he was born in a castle. His every movement was precise and practiced, the telltale marks of a coin in my eyes. I nearly snorted a laugh but held it in at the last minute. I suppose even a royal could be considered a coin. The biggest sort of them, really.

But the prince, ignorant of the thoughts crossing my mind, swept a hand down his chin in thought. "First of all, stop that. Don't use my title or curtsey when I'm out of the palace like this. Waste of time anyway, formalities. No patience for them."

I stood up straight, happy enough to ignore that nonsense as well. Though, in the presence of a royal, it didn't seem quite right to not address our class differences at all. "What should I call you then, sir?"

I didn't want to give him away any more than his posture already did. This was not a frequent visitor to Swamp, that's for sure. And he made me nervous. Was this what it was like to have Davery as an unknown encounter?

"Sir will do. Is this the most private place we can talk?"

I hesitated to let him know where we lived but he already knew to find me at the inn. What else did he already know about us? "No, sir. I rent apartments in the unused rooms of the cellar here, would you like to come in?"

He nodded, and I steeled my shoulders as I led him downstairs. I wasn't sure a prince had ever set foot in a Swamp tavern's cellar before, but this was not an average prince. 

Passing the front storage area full of boxes and barrels, we went into the back rooms. Rorik was content to look around while I busied myself closing the door and lighting candles. Once I was finished, he sat at the table, in Davery's seat. My lips hitched up at one side, Davery would normally kick anyone out of it but he couldn't very well kick the prince off his chair.

"Sit, sit," he gestured at her. "I got your message, or rather what I believe is the message of your master. You do work for someone, don't you? I suspected it at the castle but I didn't quite confirm it."

There was no use in hiding it, even though it tightened my chest to reveal my brother. I just nodded in answer.

Rorik hummed to himself, giving a slow nod in return upon confirming his suspicions. "Anyway, I'd like to speak with them. What would it take to get you to tell me where to find them?"

I froze. Tell someone about Davery, let alone telling a royal? But, then again, he was a royal that had allowed my sneaking about at the palace.

He could have had me in shackles when I posed as a noblewoman at the Harvest Festival, was anything Davery did worse than impersonating a noble? Would the prince think so?

"I don't think I can tell you without putting him in danger," I said quietly. "What assurance do I have that he would be safe to meet a prince of the kingdom?"

I was either brave or foolish to speak that way to Rorik, but if he really was self-aware enough of his position to consider my words it would go a long way in easing my suspicions of him.

Rorik laced his fingers together and looked at me thoughtfully, resting his chin on his fingers. It was a long moment before he spoke. "I have a good idea of who he is. Even up in the palace, I've heard the whispers of a rogue that tricks the lords and feeds the hungry. Romanticized exaggerated tales I'm sure, but a grain of truth in everything they say. I believe it to be a group called the black daggers."

I steeled my face to not give away my feelings but the prince's words were distressing.

"I know you're Unayan," he continued. "You have the accent of the Swamp District. Muse Panther knows and trusts you which speaks volumes, and you are a terrible spy, so I know your master didn't train you for it or likely doesn't know the work well himself. Is my conclusion wrong?"

None of them. None of his conclusions were wrong, and it stung. We hadn't just been playing at thieves, we had stolen from nobles and wealthy merchants to feed people in the worst cesspools of the city. I personally had stolen both coin and people from the floating cages. Jexa, Davery, Graham, they had all done even more. And Dirk, he was probably the worst of us, doing darker things than any of us knew of. And yet, here was Rorik, with dangerous knowledge of us and what we were doing. He knew everything.

I stayed silent. I couldn't bring myself to answer him outright but my face surely showed the truth, even in this candlelight.

"Salysta, I know times are hard." His voice was soft, an attempt at comfort that almost pierced the panic and tension in my chest. "Only a fool can't see what's become of the city. I don't actually blame this rogue of yours. Probably what he does keeps more people from turning to crime themselves, am I right?"

I looked away, but nodded slowly.

"I'm not looking to throw him in a dungeon, I'd rather use those that can be useful to me where I can see them, not lock them away for petty theft. The stealing though, it has to stop. Tell me truthfully, if I work with this rogue and we can fix the bigger problems of the city, can I convince him to stop his ways?"

"I don't know. I want to say yes, but . . ." But I wouldn't speak for my brother. Not in this. Not in such an ambiguous agreement of pretty words. "This only started when he saved a girl on the street from a lord who was going to beat her for petting his hound."

Rorik's frown was reassuring, but the fingers on my left hand could still feel the ghost of soft fur under them. The silky coat that only came from an animal being fed better than most humans I know. I was that little girl, and the beating I had unknowingly invited onto myself was Davery's breaking point. And, it was the reason his wrist was so mangled.

"I believe that not one thing he has done since that day has been any less noble than that first act. When there is no need, he would probably stop." I met Rorik's eyes with heat in mine. "But I can't see a future where all of the evil in this city is gone, so such a promise would be futile."

Rorik was silent for a long time. Weighing my stare, with his in thought. "If what you say is true, then I beseech you to believe me when I say I don't want to punish him for helping my people." 

I wasn't ready to believe him. Not fully, not yet. But it was a start, and I gave him a stiff nod. "Can I talk to him first? Arrange a time to meet?"

"Certainly. How about this, Captain Pettypiece will let one person onto castle grounds. He must ask for Pettypiece specifically, and it must be done after the noon bells at the gates. Simply have him say "Salysta sent me" and he will be let in. Tomorrow I will spend my afternoon in a garden just inside the walls. Captain Pettypiece can bring him right to me. If this rogue doesn't want to meet he simply won't show up, agreed?"

It wasn't a difficult thing, there wasn't even a commitment to it. And Davery, he could make the decision. It seemed to be our best option at the moment. "I'll tell him everything you said, and if he agrees, he will be there."

Rorik nodded and pulled his hood low again. He stood, reaching out a hand for me. I paused, staring at the familiar, lowly handshake that he offered. No upturned knuckles to kiss, no fist to threaten with. Just a handshake.

"I don't want to be your enemy, Salysta." The arrogance from before had slipped away, revealing more of the man than the prince he carried himself to be. A spark in his eyes, not unlike ours. Not unlike one of the black daggers willing a better life for Swamp.

I clasped my hand in his, for the first time comfortable around this figure. Maybe it was that he had let down a wall and I felt I could as well. Or perhaps it had more to do with the allowance to let Davery decide to even meet him. No royal orders, no noble demands, just an invitation.

Rorik's hand was warm, with a lightly calloused texture I was shocked to feel on royal skin.

"Be well then, Salysta." Rorik smiled as our hands dropped away. "Until next we meet."

He wasted no time in moving once we had shaken hands. Up the stairs and out the cellar door, he was quickly gone into the night's blackness. I stared after him, still standing in the warmth of the air between us. Now all I had to do was admit to Davery that I had been followed home at some point, and that the third prince wanted to meet him.

With a sigh, I returned to the taproom to help with the crowds.