Flora

by Kendal M Lyon

  "Isn't that the question?" Thren said.

  Silence ticked on as each person thought on their own, of how they thought this was going to go. Thren sitting up straighter with each moment as Lorcel faded farther into his seat.

  "Do you think we could get out of it?" Flora asked, moving the new ring around her finger.

  "And do what?" Lorcel asked. "Where would we even go? She caught us last time."

  Flora watched Thren. The tension in his shoulders made her own start to ache.

  "We can do this," Roanan said his head bobbing. "What's the plan?" He asked Thren, who finally took his eyes from Harriet for more than a second to stare hard into Perry's eyes, ignoring Roanan. He leaned forward as the clock ticked being them.

  Flora shook her head, pulling the stings of the cloak off her neck which fell onto her seat as she left the table. "I need to move around. I'll leave you boys to plot, it's not as though you will listen to me anyway."

  "That's a trait that seems to run in the family," said Roanan with a smile.

  "But I am so wise, you would think you boys would listen to my words of wisdom by now," she said with a wave of her hand, moving out of range from the boy's voices. She needed to wake up and get limber before they got going. The boys would fill her in later, and besides, she already knew her role. She would be hunting on the rooftops.

  Through the Pain

  The tavern was starting to pick up its rhythm as she walked the edge of the room, dodging the hidden booths as she subtly stretched out each muscle she would need for the night. The drums pounded through her heart as she rolled her shoulders back and forth to the beat. The strings picking at the balls of her feet, willing her to jump into the air and be forever weightless.

  She wandered from place to place, watching the other tavern clientele dance to the music played by whichever guests decided to bring their instruments. Usually, it was the same few people, but the songs were different every night.

  She watched Lorcel doing the same thing on the other side of the tavern, tracking her. He must have stood up right after her. He seemed distracted though. He bumped into a large bodyguard and had to dodge the fist that flew his way, and whose boss must have been in one of the shadowed booths. Lorcel quickly backed off, his palms in the air between them.

  When he got far enough away from the brute, he turned back around and moved his long limbs graciously through the crowd on his way over to her. He must have realized she was watching him, or he had intended to find her all along. Lorcel never seemed to tire of lecturing her.

  She tried to swallow her annoyance as she watched him. Seeing it as she had a million times, she caught the fluid movements as he himself warmed up. Stretching each muscle he would need to wield his sword. Anyone who looked at him in the bar would think he was only dodging the crowd.

  Lorcel's stride matched Flora perfectly as they walked. Unremarkable in any way to those who did not know what they were witnessing as fingers flexed and shoulders twisted.

  "This crowd is almost fun. Makes one want to dance?" Lorcel said as he came up to her, holding out his hand, palm up.

  Flora put her hands on her hips, her chin raised. She forced air into her lungs, bracing herself for the pain that would come with the dancing, but her body craved the movement, and there was only one way to that. When she was still she could feel her skin tingling with nerves.

  "Come on," Lorcel whispered to her leaning in. "The movement will help."

  She took a deep breath. "See if you can pull any gems?" Flora said with a devious smile as she laid her hand in his nimble callused grasp, and walked into a clear path of the dance floor. Flora saw the annoyance flash over his eyes as he followed her to the floor. He squeezed her hand rather hard instead. When they got to the centre of the floor he pulled her in and she could smell his familiar oak like sent as they started to dance.

  "You are going to have to get over the fact that I got hurt. Really I am fine. I can deal with it," Flora said looking anywhere else on the dance floor. "Like I always have."

  Lorcel huffed.

  "Theft and dancing are a great release of energy though aren't they?" Flora said, spinning around.

  Lorcel closed his eyes as his hands squeezed again. So, she lost herself in the dancing.

  This was another one of their warmups. They had done it many times before over the last year or so. Though now, Flora needed a bigger distraction than the footwork alone, so she busied her hands and looked for some unlucky victim to hit. Anyone could have been her target, as she twirled looking for the subtle gleam of jewels. Bumping into many other people on the floor who were too busy enjoying themselves to notice her digging in their pockets. Lorcel was not helping her either, he often spun her out in a new direction when he saw her going for a pocket.

  "You're cheating," Flora said as both her hands came to rest on Lorcel's shoulder.

  Lorcel was grinning. "I am a crook, of course I'm cheating," he said, his voice rumbling deep in his throat.

  Flora stuck her tongue out at him and was glad when they eventually had to let go of each other's hand and dance with another partner. Lorcel's grip slipped as she moved to leave him, but Flora kept on moving away.

  Without the pressure of Lorcel's hand, she barely noticed he was still there around her. Her eyes were to busy following the movements of the crowd around her. Flora did her best to plaster a welcoming smile on her face, but her swollen eye definitely caught some attention, and many of her partners were eager to pass her on. Though she tried to check their pockets before she was tossed away, she had found nothing that suited her interest yet. It was a challenge to find valuables and it had gotten harder and harder in the past years as precious gems seemed to be few and far between.

  When the song ended Flora found her way back to Lorcel, stopping her momentum with her hand on his chest. Her cheeks flushed from the movement, and her nose filled with the scent of sweat from the bodies around her. The music picked up again and the crowds were dancing around them once more, as they stood in their solid quiet island on the edge.

  She flashed him the jewel she held hidden between her teeth, a new ring for her to wear or pawn off. So pure it had not even left a rusty copper taste in her mouth. He flashed her an enormous red gem crusted brooch. Flora's jaw dropped at the size of it and the ring poured from her mouth as Lorcel caught it, his face twisting as he slid it along his shirt, taking the spit of it.

  She had to step back to look at the brooch concealed within Lorcel's large fingers before Lorcel smiled in victory. She brought her hand to her lips, as she saw him finally smile for real as he finished drying off the ring. Lorcel grabbed Flora's hand and slipped the ring onto her finger beside Perry's, looking at her red cheeks flushed with the effort from dancing with a smile.

  "I wanted to—" Lorcel started but Flora held up her hand and pouted as she looked over his shoulder, causing him to turn.

  Crazy Knives

  Flora saw Thren stride to the bar, clearing a space in his fast moving wake. Another tavern barmaid saw him coming and there was a shot glass filled with whiskey on the counter before he got there. He grabbed it, threw it back, and headed for the door.

  Flora squared her shoulders and looked back at Lorcel who only scowled at Thren, pocketing the brooch. "Time to go do what we where groomed for," he said.

  Flora caught up with Roanan at the table, who was still shoveling food into his mouth, as the others gathered themselves up to follow. Perry made a casual exit back upstairs to grab his bow and the other's swords. "Somedays I wish you boys could wear knives," Perry said with a sigh as he left. Perry would leave through the windows upstairs bringing the weapons outside to the rest of them.

  "If the guards and people didn't freak out and decide to lock us up when they saw a blade, we would be able to," said Roanan frowning in Perry's direction. "Cause I look harmless right?" He drowned on. "We have to keep them hidden, give them the illusion everything is safe as long as the weapons and those who have them are
out of harm's way."

  "You're just bitter cause you are always the one getting locked up for the night," Flora said smiling at him.

  Roanan stood, finishing the last drops of food. If he was big when he was sitting, he must have stood nearly seven feet tall, and wider then most in the room. He picked up Flora's cloak with an eye at her and she grabbed it from him, tying the green canvas back around her neck.

  Flora stood in his shadow, stealing the moment to check the knives on her back that were under the leathers. She could feel the small ridges of the bumps that pressed against her jacket. She had spent a chunk of Harriet's fortune on those knives, that fit so tight to her body, no one even knew how large they were.

  Flora then mentally counted all the knives down her person as she walked through the room with her brothers.

  Two crossing her upper back between her shoulder blades. Check.

  One leaf shaped and pinning back her hair. Check.

  One on the inside of her upper thigh, handle just peaking through a slit in her pants. Check.

  Three throwing knives in her inner right boot. Check.

  Two flat knives hidden in the bodice under her shirt. Check

  She clanked her sole against the ground and heard the reverberating sound of metal on the stone floor. The sound of the knife buried in the sole. Check.

  The last one, a standard belt knife strapped casually to her belt. The only knife that could be seen at a casual glance, her most beautiful by far with its black metalwork and she really loved to show it off. Check she thought. She was a living armory about to walk out the doors with her brothers, her task unknown to the people around her, Roanan hot on her heels. Going out to murder someone.

  That thought made her steps falter but she breathed through it. Looking at those people around her to keep her mind clear of the smokey ale haze around her. Her lungs craved fresh air.

  She tried to dodge a man who was stumbling terribly but he moved into her, and she had to raise her hands to press him back away from her. The man bellowed a yell and stumbled back, his hands fumbling at his waist until he finally brought out a large curved knife. Flora could appreciate its make, but it was a butchers knife. Strictly for hacking she grimaced, knowing she was on the wrong end of it.

  Roanan pressed himself in front of Flora faster than she could form a response to the drunkard. "Hey friend," Roanan said, his voice coming out burly and crisp as his mouth was no longer filled. "Why don't you hand that over to me?"

  The man stumbled around some more, knocking into the people around him, the knife still swinging in their general direction, but space was clearing around him fast. "What are yer pushing for?" Said the man, barely keeping his eyes open as the blade swayed.

  "No one is pushing anyone friend," Roanan said, tracking the knife.

  "Friend—are we friends?" the man said, trying to focus on Roanan.

  Flora had to gag a laugh. "The man is so drunk he can't even see you."

  "He seems to know we are friends though, and I am the cuddly sort," Roanan said quietly over his shoulder, his eyes staying forwards.

  "Want to cuddle with that knife?" She snapped back.

  Roanan grunted as he watched it swing

  "What are you doing in my tavern?" came Harriet's voice, her eyes hot and glaring at Flora, stealing any chance of laughter from her throat.

  "Don't look at me, I'm not the one wielding that thing," Flora said, raising her hands to her shoulders. Her palms out.

  "You get this sorted," Harriet said, as she chewed on a leathery piece of smoked meat that jutted out of her jaw.

  "Working on it," Roanan said, his eyes widening at Flora with meaning, but his lips trembled in a grin. Like Dawson, he liked to rile Harriet up.

  "You are more trouble than you are worth," Harriet said as she fingered the other end of her treat, though she looked at Flora rather than Roanan

  The man was still stumbling around, and with a lunge, went for Harriet. "That's my—friend," the man said as he stumbled.

  Flora' shoulders dropped when Roanan punched the man in the arm, and the blade hit the ground before it ever reached Harriet. Roanan then twisted the man, wrapping wide arms around the man's thin neck. The man barely struggled as he passed out in Roanan's arms. Roanan dropped him over his shoulder as he stood up, the mans head swaying as drool dripped from his mouth.

  Harriet picked up the fallen blade, staring at Flora. "Everyone lets get back to the partying," Harriet said, the point of her finger running on the point of the blade before she swung it to point at Flora.

  "You have forgotten your place here," Harriet said.

  Roanan stepped between Flora and Harriet before Flora could respond. The drunken man's head lobbing against Roanan's back, reeking of sour liquor which was now wafting up to her nose.

  "Don't you worry Harriet, I will keep her in line," Roanan said.

  Flora could tell Harriet was trying not to step back as she looked up at Roanan. He was looking down at her, his straight face stone cold. Roanan started nudging past Harriet, bringing a hand back to drag Flora with him, keeping her behind them. Flora was tense as her back was turned to Harriet while she held such a large knife, but she kept her eyes focused forward and her fear pinched deep inside her.

  "If only she knew how much of a softy you were behind that straight face. She wouldn't even be scared an inch," Flora said quietly. "Your size does all your fear making for you."

  Roanan was shaking his head in front of her. "You are the one they need to be afraid of," he said.

  Moving through the crowd Flora saw many people losing themselves in the liquor, some so far gone they were already passed out on their tables. Melinoe was draped along a man's knee, as she watched Dawson's red hair heading for the door. Worry hard along her lips as she received payment in her open palm from the man drowning in her skirts. When Dawson reached the door, he stopped, looked back at her. He barely glanced at the man she was with, and blew her a kiss. Melinoe sent a kiss back as he headed out the door, her movement unknown to the man nestled upon her.

  As Flora's eyes roamed she paused on a set of green eyes from a man sitting alone in a private booth. Cloaked in cloth and darkness, she could only see the gleam of his eyes as he stared at her, watching her walk out the door.

  She quickly dropped the gaze from his. If they were going to be murdering someone tonight, they definitely needed to keep a low profile, her most of all. She might as well start now.

  A Long Night in Caris

  The warm air rustled the large, green, crispy leaves along the long roadway as Flora, Thren, Dawson, Lorcel, and Roanan stood waiting for Perry at the entrance of an alleyway. The drunkard's body deposited on the side with one of the Caris snakes winding its way over the drunkard's foot.

  Everyone had their hoods drawn up expect Thren, whose tanned skin glowed in the darkness. The tension in the air was high, rising as they felt the impact of the constant punishing heat wave that had been around for weeks. Flora's nostrils flared as she acknowledged the feelings that were coming up from her gut. None of them were laughing as they would during normal thefts. Normal thefts were fun.

  Killing on the other hand, well none of them had killed before, at least, as far as Flora knew. Those were dark thoughts to follow, so Flora tried to busy herself instead with thoughts of everything that she would do to Harriet when they got back. All of which ended in her tossing a knife that stuck right between Harriet's large, gapped teeth.

  Flora's smile made Roanan cock his head in question, but she only shook her head in response. Unfortunately, nothing eased her anxiety, and Flora paced. Coming in and out of view of the light coming from lamp posts along the street.

  "Flora, get gone, you are drawing too much attention to us," Thren finally snapped at her while she was moving past Roanan, pointing with one large finger to the roofs above, his arms still crossed.

  Flora flinched and hurriedly gave Roanan a one-armed hug before she crushed her fingertips into the grimy brick
s lining the alleyway. Clambering her way up the building and onto the roof. It was a well-worn trail she had used often when she was younger, and her muscle memory aided her as she reached without thinking to where she knew the next easiest crack in the brick was.

  She went as swiftly as possible, relishing the pain of her fingernails as she finally did something. There was no need to give Thren any reason to think she should be somewhere tonight besides being with her gang. Dallying about would not help her cause with him. Thren's stability was one thing she knew she would never lose, which meant she knew how to deal with it after she made him angry. His consistency was why she loved him.

  She waited there perched in the shadows on the corner edge of Hare's Tavern, looking down the short streets at the people who had come out for a night of partying. Overcast by the tall spires of the Castle overlooking Caris. Men and women, boys and girls, all out with a grin on their faces to enjoy the relatively cooler evening weather. Along with cheesy slashed potatoes, strong berry wine, and each other, of course, in many forms. Coming and going between the random streets all leading to the market with many feral animals winding their way through people's legs as the sun continued down on the horizon.

  There were even stray cats on the roof with her that came twining around her legs, begging for some love, hiding away from the snakes on the ground. They were gathered along the dishes of cream that had been left out beside the window sills and doors. Left there to beg the bloodthirsty winged little folk who moved throughout the city every night to go no farther than the window. The milk being the only protection that stopped them from entering the shuttered rooms, and draining the blood from the bodies within. She knew these fairies well, as they had winged above her every night with ravens for as long as she had remembered, always staying on the edges of her sight or ducking behind the birds when she turned. Very few people were careless enough to not appease the small devils.