by Cadman, Dean
“Why do you ask?” she replied, with more than a hint of caution evident in her voice.
“Sorry, I was just trying to be polite. I didn’t want to take any job you might be waiting for,” Lusam said smiling.
The girl stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was making fun of her or not, then after a brief hesitation she said, “There aren’t many polite people around these parts. Being polite means you usually go hungry.”
“That may be so, but I was taught that manners don’t cost anything. Nothing can be lost by using them, but much can be gained,” he said smiling at her, pleased with himself that he had remembered one of his grandmother's teachings so well.
She looked directly at him, raised an eyebrow and said, “And what, exactly, do you think you will gain from me?”
His face instantly flushed with embarrassment, as he realised how she had mistaken the meaning of his words.
“No … No … I, I didn’t mean it like that at all,” he stammered, feeling his face grow even redder, if that was even possible. The girl started to smile, and when she could no longer hold back her amusement, she burst out laughing, pointing at his beaming red face. “You should see your face, it's a real picture! It's redder than the knights' tabards.”
Lusam didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with embarrassment, but he settled on the former, and they both had a good laugh at his expense. Eventually, when they both calmed down enough, Lusam offered a hand towards her.
“My name's Lusam.”
“Neala. Pleased to meet you Lusam,” she said, still wearing a huge smile. “Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around here much.”
“No, actually I've been here in Helveel for about two years now since my grandmother died, but until recently I … I had other accommodations.” He didn’t think that telling Neala he had lived inside a grate, and had eaten mostly stale bread for the past two years would impress her very much, so he decided to skip those details entirely.
After talking together for about an hour, it turned out Neala herself was quite new to Helveel, and had only just arrived there a month earlier. She had lived in the southern city of Stelgad, which she described as being even worse than Helveel for its crime and filth, which he found very hard to believe possible. She told him of her life there, as part of a thieves' guild in the city, and how she had been taught to defend herself through the tutelage of her guild master, and others in her guild.
Neala had been, until recently, quite happy with her life in Stelgad. That was until a rival guild ambushed them, and killed most of her guild members in a swift and deadly surprise attack. Apparently, Neala had only managed to escape the massacre through sheer luck. The night it happened, she had been on an errand to fetch more wine for one of the guild member's birthday celebrations. She recounted the obviously painful memories of that night to Lusam. She told him that as she was returning with the wine, she could see a huge fire in the distance, and soon discovered it to be her own guild headquarters that were fully ablaze. She had tried to get closer and see what was happening, but fortunately she had noticed the men on the ground, and on the rooftops above, all dressed in the dark brown cloaks of a rival guild. As her own guild members tried to flee the burning building, they were shot down mercilessly by the crossbowmen on the rooftops opposite. They had no chance of surviving, nor would the rival guild allow any to survive, as was the way of these things. No survivors, meant no one to claim future revenge.
Having witnessed the destruction of her entire guild with her own eyes, she knew she must leave the city immediately, or the enemy guild would find and kill her too. If she left right now under the cover of darkness, they would most likely assume she had perished in the fire along with so many others of her guild.
Neala knew exactly which businesses in the city were owned by the enemy guild, and decided to steal a horse from one of them. It wasn’t much revenge for what they had just done to her friends, but at least she would cost them a horse, if nothing else.
Neala had spent the next ten days on the road surviving as best she could, until finally arriving at Helveel, where she sold the horse, and then tried to blend in while she decided what to do next.
One of the local thieves' guilds she'd approached had refused to hire her, claiming they weren’t hiring any new members at the moment, but Neala knew better. The guilds were always hiring new members, simply because they lost so many members to enemy guilds, and the law keepers. Neala knew that the real reason they wouldn’t hire her, was simply because they didn’t know her. They feared that she might be a spy from a rival guild trying to gain entry into their organisation. The big problem for her now was, that after she had approached that guild and being refused entry, it was entirely foolish to try a second guild. She would almost certainly be under close observation now by several of the original guild members, just in case she actually was a spy, and tried to report back to any rival guild. If she even went near another guild now, the order would be to kill her, and she knew it. Her only option left in Helveel, was to live as she was at present, on the streets, and wait until other, better opportunities presented themselves.
Daylight was rapidly turning to dusk when they agreed to walk back towards the town square together. The street traders would soon be packing up for the day, and the small roadside cafes would be preparing for their evening trade yet to come. Lusam had often found that it was worth being around the stalls as they packed up. On several occasions Lusam had been asked to help pack up stalls, and had been paid a coin or two for his troubles. On more than one occasion he had found a coin on the floor, hiding between the cobbles as the stalls were being dismantled. The coins must have been dropped by a careless patron or trader at some point earlier in the day. There was also occasionally spoiled food left by the vendors, either by accident or intentionally, he couldn’t be certain. As Lusam and Neala started to walk up the cobbled street towards the town square, they saw a finely dressed man approaching from up ahead. When he was within hailing distance he called out, “Hey! I need one of you kids for a job. I need this letter delivering across town with the utmost urgency,” he said, brandishing a small folded brown piece of paper with an address written on the front, and a wax seal placed upon it. The address on the letter read:
T. Zachery,
The Apothecary,
West Helveel.
Glancing at the letter in the man's hand Lusam said, “Sir, I know where the apothecary is in west Helveel, I can show this girl where to deliver it if you'd like.”
The man looked very shocked at Lusam's statement and said, “How can you possibly know where this letter is destined to be delivered young man?”
“I’m sorry, I just glanced at the address on the front of your letter. I didn’t mean to pry into your business sir, please forgive my rudeness,” he said, bowing his head slightly.
“Are you trying to tell me that you can read boy?” the man asked, with an almost comical look of disbelief on his face. The only people who could usually read and write were the high-born, the clergy or the scholars of this world. For a street kid to be able to read and write was unheard of, but Lusam had been taught from a young age by his grandmother, along with many other useful things.
“Yes sir. I can read and write,” Lusam replied beaming with pride.
“Show me your hands boy,” the man said pointing towards Lusam. Lusam tentatively showed the man his hands, wondering to himself why he would be interested in his hands at all.
“Well I never … A street kid who can read and write, and has all his fingers, whatever next!” the man exclaimed, shaking his head slightly. “The payment is two silver. One now, and one upon me receiving the reply from Mr Zachery. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” they both said at the same time.
“Good. Bring back his reply as soon as he gives it you. I will be waiting for you at my shop in the east district. It's called `The Old Inkwell.` Just ask anyone for directions in the east quarter, and th
ey will point you in the right direction if you don’t already know the place.” The man handed Lusam one silver coin, gave him one last dubious look, then turned on his heels and headed back towards the town square.
“Here's your money,” Lusam said, offering the silver coin to Neala. “I'll show you where the shop is. Come, let's hurry, it will be dark soon. It's not good to be in that part of town when the sun goes down.”
“Thanks, but you keep the coin. The man said he would give us two silver for the delivery, that’s one each by my reckoning. Although I could be wrong, I’m obviously not the smart one here,” she said with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Oh, you don’t have to give me your money. You were first in line for the next job that came along. It doesn’t really seem fair if take your money,” he said, feeling his cheeks flush red again. “And I'm sure you're much smarter than me anyway,” he added, grinning right back at her.
“There you go again, with those lofty ideals of yours. I've told you once already at the gate, they'll only make you hungry,” she said, still smiling at him. “Besides, when you arrived at the gate I was about to call it a day anyway. So, if you hadn't come by to lecture me with your high and mighty morals, I would have missed the job anyway, so it's only fair that we split the money,” Neala replied, trying very hard to keep a straight face. Lusam stared at her for a few seconds before realising she was teasing him again, and they both burst into fits laughter, playfully nudging each other as they set off walking in the direction of the apothecary.
Chapter Two
Although the sun had not yet passed the horizon, it was still much darker in the narrow streets of the west district. The tall houses loomed overhead blocking out what little daylight there was left, as they cast their long shadows onto the street below. As they began walking down the damp cobbled street in the shadows of the houses, Lusam began to realise why the man had offered to pay two silver coins so readily, for what had seemed like such an easy job at the time. During the day these streets were much like any other in Helveel, but at night they were not for the faint-hearted. There were numerous brothels and seedy bars in this part of town, all setting up for the evening trade to come.
Nobody walking past them so much as looked at them, let alone gave them any form of greeting. This part of town even smelled different, like a combination of rotting vegetation and old beer, with a strong smell of sewage mixed in for good measure.
As they passed through a short tunnel under a large warehouse complex, known locally as The Arches, Lusam became aware of footsteps coming from behind them. He glanced back over his shoulder, but couldn't make out anyone lurking in the shadows behind them. He turned towards Neala and began to inform her in a whispered voice that he thought someone was following them. Neala turned her head towards Lusam and gave him a slight nod, letting him know that she already knew, then just carried on walking as if nothing was wrong.
Lusam wasn't sure if Neala had understood correctly. Maybe she had nodded her head in answer to some other unspoken question, and didn't actually know about their pursuer lurking in the shadows not too far behind them. Nervously, he leaned towards her and whispered, “I think someone is following us back there.”
“I know!” Neala hissed back at him, sounding a little annoyed. “Keep walking, and stay quiet.”
They both increased their speed and rounded the next corner, only to come face to face with a filthy looking man holding a knife out menacingly towards them. When he smiled, he showed a mouth of missing and half rotten teeth. He had a vicious looking scar running down the left side of his face, from just under his eye, to the corner of his mouth.
Leering towards them he spat to the side, then in a rasping voice he said, “G' me your money, or I'll gut ya both here and now!”
Neala took a small step towards the man and calmly said, “Do we look like we have money to you?” All the time staring the man straight in the eyes. “I suggest you put the knife away, before you get hurt.”
Lusam couldn't believe what she was doing, he slowly put a hand on her shoulder to try and make her see sense before either of them got hurt by this man. Neala just turned and winked casually at him, then returned her steady gaze back to the man.
The man looked almost as shocked by her response as Lusam was. Then he started laughing, spat to the side again, and then said with a mocking tone in his voice, “And who’s going to hurt me little girl? You? … I warned you to pay up or else. Now …”
Before he could finish his sentence Lusam noticed something flash in Neala's hands, it was so fast, it was barely visible. The man fell in a crumpled heap on the floor clutching at his throat, as he bled out on the cobbled street.
“I warned you too,” Neala said to the man on the floor in front of her, now lying in a pool of his own blood. Dead. Standing there in complete shock, Lusam almost didn't hear the running footsteps behind him until it was too late. As he turned, he saw a huge man flying through the air at him, brandishing what looked like a meat cleaver. Without thinking, and on pure instinct, he released a huge blast of power towards his assailant. It literally stopped the man in mid-air, and blasted him back down the cobbled street, sending him crashing into the wall of The Arches. He hit the wall with such a sickening crunch it curled Lusam's toes, and the man sank to the floor, never to move again. He didn't need to go and see the results of what he had just done, he simply knew that nobody could have survived that kind of impact.
Lusam and Neala stood there looking at each other with equal measures of shock and awe on their faces.
“Let’s get out of here, before anyone else comes. The last thing we need is the town guard being called,” Neala said in a hushed voice. As they quickly walked away from the scene, Neala turned to Lusam and said, “What the hell was that you did back there?”
“I could ask the same question of you,” replied Lusam defensively.
“I've already told you that I grew up as part of a thieves' guild in Stelgad. You didn’t think they taught me to do needle-work there do you?” she spat back him. “I don’t remember however, having the conversation where you told me you were some kind of powerful sorcerer though!” she hissed at him.
“That's because I'm not a sorcerer. I've no idea how I even did that back there. I just panicked, and the next thing I knew he was flying backwards into that wall,” Lusam said, trying to match the brisk pace Neala was now setting. “When I was younger, my grandmother taught me a few bits of magic, but nothing like that!” Lusam said in a hushed voice. “Oh … just like that, she taught you, `some magic tricks`. You say that like it's the most natural thing in the world Lusam. Magic is supposed to be only myth or legend Lusam, not something your grandmother teaches you! We need to talk about this later. Here isn’t the place. Let's just get this job done, and go get paid,” she said looking at him warily.
“Yeah, good idea,” he replied, as they both hurried to leave behind the shadier part of west Helveel.
As they approached the apothecary, they noticed a man leaving the shop and begin locking the door.
“Looks like we're just in time,” Lusam said, nodding towards the man.
“Yeah, looks that way,” Neala agreed.
When they got closer to the man, Lusam called out to him, “Excuse me sir. Are you Mr Zachery?”
The man turned his head to look at them approaching, and after taking in their shabby appearance replied suspiciously, “That depends who's asking, and for what reason young man?”
Lusam smiled at the man in an attempt to get him to relax, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.
“Sorry sir. My name is Lusam, and this is Neala. We have a letter to deliver to a Mr T. Zachery from the owner of The Old Inkwell. We were instructed to bring it here to the apothecary in west Helveel, and to take any reply back to him,” Lusam replied in the most official voice he could muster.
“In that case you're in luck, I am Thomas Zachery, the owner of this establishment,” he replied, gesturing towar
ds the shop behind him. “Please, hand me the letter, and I’ll see about that reply young man.”
“Thank you sir,” Lusam said, handing him the sealed brown letter.
The man opened the letter and started to read the contents. After a short time he looked up at Lusam and said, “Please inform Mr Daffer that I will have the items he has requested delivered to his premises in the morning by ten o'clock, and thank him for his patronage. If there is nothing else, I would bid you both good evening, and I’ll be on my way home now. My wife will surely be waiting for me to arrive for the evening meal, and she gets more than a little upset if I keep her waiting.” Mr Zachery nodded his goodbye, then he turned and started walking away from them in the opposite direction.
“Must be nice to have a meal waiting for you at home,” Neala said quietly in a wistful voice.
“Must be nice to have a home,” Lusam replied in a similar manner.
“Yeah, that too,” she agreed.
“Come on, let’s go back and get paid, then maybe we can go eat something too. I’m starving,” suggested Lusam.
“Sounds good to me. But, can we go back a different way from the way we came? By now it's a good bet the town guard will have been called, and it's probably best to avoid them if possible, just in case anyone saw us there and gave them a description of us,” Neala said, looking a little worried.