34: A Sheen Tarnished (Patreon)

“Wait wait wait!” The girl hissed, her eyes wide with fear at the two katars that pressed against her throat. “I can explain!”

“Then explain,” Vir said. “You have thirty seconds. Starting now.”

“Uh, okay, okay. Um, so, like, there was this man, right? And like, yeah, so um—”

“Coherently!” Vir growled, pressing the blade of his katar into her neck.

“Yeesh! Alright!” She took a deep breath. “Okay, so like, a man came to us yesterday—I mean, me ‘n the other kids. Said he’d pay us good money, like real good, to dress up like a couple of ‘risto boys and go around stealing for ‘im. So we did. But then… Uh, you don’t recognize me, do you?”

For the first time, Vir studied her face. “You’re Alda! You’re the one who approached us when we checked into our inn yesterday!”

Alda nodded. “We were gonna just leave you be, but, well… s’not everyday people are kind ta us, y’know? We felt bad. Didn’t sit right. And ‘sides, yer not even ‘ristos after all…”

Not like you did it out of the kindness of your heart, though. You’re still profiting greatly from this…

He thought back to the stranger who’d accosted them on the road to Saran. He’d held suspicions about the man as soon as they’d met. Maybe he’d seen an easy mark in them… But that didn’t explain why he’d gone through all of this trouble to sabotage Vir and Maiya.

“How do you know we’re not Sawai?” Maiya asked.

The girl pointed to Vir. “They’d never rough up a ‘risto like that. I mean, it’s a good thing yer not. Means you’re, like, one of us!”

Maiya pulled her blade away, but Vir kept his firmly on her throat. “You never thought to ask why this man was paying you to steal from these stores? He could’ve just bought that stuff himself for less, right?”

“Money was good, man! Like, real good.”

Vir stared at the girl’s deep, black eyes, but all he saw was fear. He let out a long breath and pulled his katar away. Though he wasn’t happy about it, it was hard to fault them for doing what they could to survive. He fully understood how hard things were for those ostracized by society.

“You’re just gonna forgive her?” Maiya said, incredulously.

Vir shook his head. “No. If she were an adult, I’d have beaten her to the ground, but well… I can’t exactly do that to someone like her, can I?”

“Oh, really? No problem,” Maiya said. She walked up to Alda and punched her in the stomach. Hard.

The urchin didn’t even see it coming. Clutching her stomach, she collapsed to her knees, whimpering.

“That’s for hurting him. And this,” Maiya said, taking Alda’s coin sack from her, “is for me.”

“H-hey! You can’t do that!”

“Oh? Can’t I?” Maiya said, bringing her katar to bear again.

“G-geez. I just…”

“C’mon, Apramor,” Vir said, using Maiya’s alias, “Let’s go.”

“W-wait!” the girl said, shakily finding her feet. “W-Why don’t ya come with me instead?” she heaved, massaging her stomach.

“And why would we do that?” Maiya asked. “Even if we believe your story, there’s nothing to be gained by following you. You could be leading us to danger, for all we know.”

The girl held out her hands in front of her and waved her hands. “Definitely not! I wouldn’t gain anyth—I mean, I wouldn’t do that! Not even after gettin' punched. Y-You have an Ash’va, right? They’ve taken that too, and I don’t think you know where they’ve taken it. And like, you have my coin…”

Vir narrowed his eyes. “You know where Bumpy is?”

“Bumpy? Oh! Your Ash’va,” she said, clapping a fist against her open palm. “Hehe, cute name. Oh, but uh, yeah. We can help you get Bumpy back too.”

“Alright,” Vir said. “You help us, and we’ll give you back some of your coin.”

“All of my coin!”

“Depends on how angry my friend over here is,” Vir said, gesturing a thumb to Maiya, who glared at Alda.

“Yeesh! Alright! Okay,” she said, beckoning them to follow, but then she stopped. “Akshully, you know my name, but I dunno yours…”

“Neel,” Vir said, going with the name he’d prepared with Maiya beforehand. “And my brother here’s Apramor.”

“Well, I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I’m uh, pleased to meet ya?” the girl said, uncertainly flashing them a thumbs up.

Neither Vir nor Maiya replied, but they did sheathe their weapons, which helped calm the girl down.

They set off, following several paces behind Alda, in case they needed to make a quick escape.

As Alda led them through the alleys, the buildings grew denser, squatter, and more squalid.

Vir had expected as much, but even so, traveling through Saran’s slums was not a pleasant experience. He smelled urine, rotting food, sewage, and both Vir and Maiya had to be very careful about where they placed their steps, lest they tread upon a pile of dung.

Then there was Alda, who walked barefoot through all of this, entirely comfortable.

She kept sneaking glances back at them as they walked. No, at him, specifically.

“Something on my face?” He said after she’d turned back for the dozenth time.

“Um, well akshully… Yer makeup’s running,” she said, looking away.

“O-oh. Thanks,” he replied awkwardly, glancing at Maiya.

His friend was already on top of things. Her rucksack was off, and she’d retrieved her makeup kit before Vir could even ask.

Maiya spent a few minutes cleaning off the dried blood on Vir’s face, then restored his makeup as best she could under the dim light.

“Not gonna fool a pro, but it should pass for now,” she said.

Vir turned to Alda. “I’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself,” he said, half expecting her to blackmail him for coin.

The urchin nodded furiously. “I get it. No worries,” she replied, omitting any mention of money.

They continued on, and she eventually led them to a smelly, dark wooden building that had seen far better days. Rotting wood had crumbled and given way to gaps from which the cool sea breeze entered. There wasn’t really a door to the place—more of an oblong opening that used to be part of a wall.

Inside, Vir found piles of hay, even worse smells than the slum outside, and a dozen kids all huddled around a rusted iron barrel with a fire going inside. The barrel had several jagged holes on each side, possibly to radiate heat. Looking up, Vir saw stars through the many holes in the ceiling. He pitied anyone who used this place for shelter during the seasonal rains.

“When are we gonna get paid? I haven’t eaten in days, Badrak it!” said a kid sitting around the fire, holding his stomach.

Vir did a double take—the boy was his spitting image. Or rather, he wore the same clothes and had the same color hair and blue eyes. His face was unfamiliar, but Vir figured the boy would easily pass as his double.

“Dunno,” another kid said. “Guy ghosted us. Alda can’t find him, and if she can’t…”

An aura of oppressive gloom settled upon the boys and girls. They fell silent, exchanging gloomy looks, staring with empty eyes at the fire. “Shoulda asked for more up front,” someone whispered.

“Hey everyone,” Alda said. “I brought em! And I got us some money, too!”

“What? How much!”

“No way!”

The gang of kids eyed the newcomers. Some passed their gaze over Vir and Maiya, a spark of hope in their eyes, while others looked as if they’d given up all hope. A handful stared at them in panic.

“L-Look,” Vir’s double said, standing up. “Didn’t mean anythin’ by it, ya hear? We got nuthin’ you can steal, so if yer here to pick a fight, you ain’t gonna get nuthin’ from it, okay?”

“Relax, Barid. They’re not here to fight,” Alda said. “Uh, you’re not, right?”

“I dunno, are we?” Maiya said, squaring off in front of Vir.

Vir squeezed her shoulder and shook his head. “We could use their help, for now,” he whispered, before turning to the boy. “Alda told us the story. Can’t say I’m happy about all this. Got beat up pretty bad thanks to you all,” he said, meeting the gaze of every kid there. Most looked away in shame after seeing his sorry state.

“Y-yeah? Well, welcome ta our life,” Barid retorted. “Barely a day goes by without one of us gettin’ banged up some way er a nuther. Guess ya ‘ristos don’t know nuthin ‘bout dat tho.”

“Achully,” Alda said, throwing Vir a wink, rubbing her fingers behind her back. “Neel and Apramor here are ‘ristos, alright, but those stupid guards still beat ‘em up. They got no idea what’s comin’ to ‘em.”

Vir still didn’t like her, but at least the girl was trying to make up with them. If they could keep up their aristocrat disguise, it’d bring many benefits, and Alda knew it. After all, Vir and Maiya had entered the city without having to show their papers. People were just nicer to ‘ristos.

“Y’don’t know what life in da slums be like,” Barid said, his voice lowered.

Vir was about to argue, but he realized the boy was right. Bullies had heckled Vir in Brij, and Rudvik never had much money, but he’d never had to fend for himself like these kids did. Alone, and in a hostile city.

“But still…” Barid continued, “we do feel bad, y’know? ‘Speshully since ya were nice ta Alda. No one’s ever nice ta us, y’know?”

“Just help us get our Ash’va back,” Vir said irritably. Maiya may have been more vocal about her anger, but it wasn’t like he felt any differently. Just that his top priority was seeing them both home, and getting angry wouldn’t help with that. “Also, we need to buy some supplies as well. Help us out, and we’ll call it even.”

“Sure, once you give me back my coin,” Alda shot back.

“You’ll have your coin. After you help us out. You’ve burned us once. Don’t expect me to trust you any further than I can throw you”

“Then too bad—”

“Look, I get it. I understand your plight,” Vir said, ignoring Alda. “But this is the best I can do. Better for you to come out of this with coin in your hands, right? By the looks of things, you all could use it.”

Barid glanced at Alda and the others, then nodded. “Deal. Alda, can you help ‘im out? You know where the Ash’va is, yeah?”

Alda shook her head. “Naw. But old man Bakura does.”

“Yea. Yea he would,” Barid replied.

Alda turned to Vir and Maiya. “Might catch him at the docks if we hurry. Else, we’ll have to wait till morning.”

“Give us a moment,” Maiya said, pulling Vir away. “Bet you’re thinking the same thing I am.”

Vir nodded. “It’s gotta be that man we ran into on the way to Saran who set us up. No telling what he might be up to if he discovers we escaped.”

“Why do you say that?”

They hadn’t been speaking loudly to begin with, but Vir brought his voice down to a whisper. “I think he may know who we really are. It’s the only thing that makes sense if you think about it. Hiring urchins to steal from a bunch of merchants? He had to have paid more for that than outright buying those things.”

“So he did it to frame us? You think he’s related to the knights who came after you in the village?” Maiya whispered back.

That’s the piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit. If he was a knight, why go through such roundabout means? Why not simply arrest Vir? “I dunno, Maiya. But I think we oughta fly this coop as fast as we can. And that means leaning on the urchins.”

“Right,” Maiya replied. “If the guards really moved Bumpy, we’d be hard-pressed to find him. As for the supplies…”

“We could just change our makeup and buy the rest, but if they’re helping…”

“Yeah,” Maiya said. “Might as well take advantage of their help. Okay. Good. Sounds like we have a plan.”

“Stay vigilant, though. I don’t know how much we can trust them,” Vir said.

“You’re telling me! I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them. Not after what they did to you,” Maiya whispered as they returned to Alda and the others.

“You two done yet? We gotta move,” the urchin said, clearing her throat. “Okay so, thing is… Barid’s gonna help with the supplies you need. Yer lookin’ to get outta here quick, yeah? So, we oughta split up.”

Vir looked at Maiya, who shook her head. He felt the same. “No way.”

“But—”

“No,” Vir said. “Apramor and I stay together. But we can give you the list of supplies we need.” He retrieved the piece of parchment from his rucksack and handed it to her. “I’ve crossed off everything we already bought.”

“Um… I can’t read. H-Hey!” She protested as Barid snatched the parchment out of her hands.

“Lemme see…” His eyes popped. “Ya tryin’ ta feed an entire village or sum’fn?”

“You don’t really need to know,” Vir said. “Can you get these supplies for us?”

Barid looked over the list. “I can get some o’ dis stuff. S’nuthin on here thas hard to come by. But thatsa lot. Gonna need some help.”

Alda waved his concerns away. “I can help out after we get back from the harbor.”

Barid still looked a bit flustered. “But uh… we can’t exactly buy it, if ya know what I mean?”

“Uh, no, not really. What do you mean?” Maiya said.

“We steal from shopkeeps all de time. Dey don’t exactly like us. And ‘sides. What shop’s gonna be open at dis hour, anyways?”

“Fine,” Vir said, reaching out to take back the piece of parchment. “We’ll do it ourselves.”

“Now hold up there,” Barid said. “I can help. Just means, uh… I just gotta steal it.”

Vir mulled it over before nodding. “Alright. But leave enough money behind to cover what you stole. I don’t want to be a part of your crimes. And if I find out that you’ve ghosted us…”

His katar was in his hand in an instant, its blade reflecting the fire. “Do not make the mistake of underestimating us.”

“Geez, man!” Barid said, his eyes as wide as saucers. “Just tryin’ ta help ya out. I wouldn’t steal from another kid, y’know? We ain’t brutes.”

“You set us up. Are you really one to talk?” Vir said, stowing his weapon. He retrieved his coin box, which he’d buried deep within his rucksack, and handed it to Maiya, who opened the lock. Vir did his best not to notice Barid greedily ogling the coins.

Vir gave the boy a single silver.

“That won’t cover it all, but I can give you the rest once we get back. Don’t pocket it for yourself,” Vir said.

“Nah, not gonna, man. Stealin’ like this pisses de shops off. Was gonna do ya a favor by stealin’ em. But dis way, dey ain’t gonna be mad at us at all. We gotta say in dere good books, y’know? Else life gets rough for us.”

“Alright,” Vir replied. “By the way, why are you still dressed like me?”

“Huh?” Barid said distractedly, cradling the coins in both hands. It was like he was looking at pure seric. “Oh, uh, yer right. S’no need to no more, huh? I’ll change out. Ha ha ha.”

Vir’s eyes narrowed. Barid wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence, but even if he betrayed them, Vir had made sure not to trust him with all of his money. And if it came to it, he could always threaten Alda, though he really wanted to avoid that. He really felt for these kids.

“Let’s be off.”

Truthfully, he wanted nothing more than to sit down alone and meditate. Every shred of him craved to get Prana Vision pumping again so that he could confirm what he’d seen in the dungeon. If his ‘black’ prana truly existed in nature… Then that changed everything. It might very well be the key to unlocking other magic.

But now was neither the time nor the place to experiment. He choked down his excitement and followed Alda out. It helped that the streets had grown quiet and dark, allowing them to cover ground quickly with little fear of detection.

“So,” Vir said after a few minutes of awkward silence, “What stuff did you steal? For the man who hired you to frame us, I mean.”

Alda looked back at him. “Promise you won’t rat us out?”

Vir nodded. “I promise.”

“Well, a buncha stuff. Couple of crates of food, some keys. Some papers,” Alda said with a grin. “Biggest heist we’ve ever pulled off! Got a huge payout for it. Like, we’re talkin’ silvers huge.”

Vir felt bad seeing the joy in her eyes. Money was such a precious commodity to these kids, yet Riyan had given him ten silvers to buy supplies like it was nothing. It probably was nothing to a man whose wealth was likely beyond Vir’s imagination.

“At least, we were supposed to get paid. The guy who asked us to steal all that paid us half up front, but I ain’t seen a wisp of him ever since,” she said with a downcast look.

That was still a lot, but Vir realized the money had to be split a dozen ways. Even a silver wouldn’t go very far when spread so thin.

“So, uh, how did you kids end up like this?” Maiya asked awkwardly.

“Eh, everyone’s got their own story,” Alda said, her voice cool and casual. “But it all boils down to kids’ parents either dyin’ off or ditchin’ ‘em. Some died in accidents or illness. Others to bandits. Some got forced into the army ‘n never came back.”

Vir couldn’t help but feel some pity for these kids, despite what they’d done. He’d known that the world could be a cruel place—that Hiranya was a poor country—but hearing about something was entirely different from experiencing it firsthand. He knew his childhood friend felt the same.

“Doesn’t Saran have orphanages for kids without parents?” Maiya asked.

“Well sure, but they’s all full. They only take in kids who can pay, nowadays. And it’s pricey. Can’t afford that! And the kingdom’s no help at all. No money to go ‘round.”

The dazzling sheen that Saran had when Vir first arrived was tarnishing. Sure, Brij never had much in the way of luxuries, but things weren’t bad. Not like here. He wondered if the situation was this dire in all the Hiranyan cities. He wondered if Daha, the capital, was any better.

“And here we are!” Alda proclaimed, happy to talk about something else.

The streets ended abruptly, giving way to a vast bay. The Bay of Saran.

Vir’s breath caught, and his jaw dropped. For the first time in his life, he laid eyes upon a harbor. A real, honest to goodness harbor.

With ships. Dozens of gorgeous ships of all shapes and sizes, their silhouettes looming large against the darkness.

“Maiya?”

“Yeah, Vir?”

“We gotta hitch a ride on one of those…”