The Discovery of an Assassin

by Brian Keller

  Cooper did his best to hide the limp, but it truly hurt. He remembered a time when he’d gotten a rock in his shoe when he was trying to cut someone’s pouch strings and nearly loused the whole thing up. That was just a small rock but even that hurt. This was miserable. He quickly tallied up his coins; three silvers and three coppers. In order to pay his dues today he needed another copper. He had no intention of letting Skaiven know he had any silver at all. He hobbled into an apothecary shop and the elderly man behind the counter growled at him to get out. Cooper asked how much he charged for a small tin of healing salve and bought one for four copper coins, paying with an unshaved silver. Cooper resisted the urge to palm a second tin. “If only my hands were bigger”, he thought. At least if nothing presented itself, he’d have coppers enough to pay dues for the next two days while he healed.

  He spotted a few marks with vulnerable purses but he just couldn’t move smoothly enough to feel good about making the grab. “Better to lose the chance than lose a hand”, he thought. He had heard stories about places that would cut off a thieves’ hand, but as far as he knew unsuccessful thieves in this city just got jailed, sent to work camps, or killed.

  Once Cooper had hobbled back to his House, he delivered his four coppers to Skaiven, who rewarded him with an expression somewhere between a scowl and a sneer, “Nothing extra, I suppose.”. Cooper kept his eyes downcast as he shook his head. Skaiven scooped up the coins and dropped them in his pouch but he didn’t miss the fact that Cooper was limping, “What’s wrong with you?”. Cooper shrugged, “I cut my foot on some glass. It isn’t bad, just stings a little when I walk on it.”. It was only a little lie. Enough to explain the limp, and believable enough that he’d be left alone. He made his way to his pallet. He was older than most of the kids in this house, so he’d pushed his way into the corner spot. Cecil’s pallet was almost in the center of the room. Anyone using the privy in the middle of the night almost had to trip over him on their way there and back. Whether anyone actually tripped or not, Cecil could likely tell you who used the privy each night, and approximately when.

  It took more than a couple days to heal from the cuts, but by the fourth day Cooper was able to at least cover his dues and start replacing his savings. He had definitely decided that going barefoot in an attempt to surreptitiously pick up dropped coins was not everything he’d hoped for. He also thought about whether it was worth trying to find the Dregs boy that had pushed him, but what would be gained even if he found him? The boy wasn’t likely to have the coin to pay him back anyway, even if he could convince him to pay.

  Cecil came back to the House one evening with a fat lip, black eye and empty pouch. Well, no pouch at all to be precise. Skaiven beat him anyway despite the fact that would be Cecil’s second beating of the day. Cooper brought Cecil a bowl of the porridge that Skaiven provided and asked him what had happened. From his description, it left no doubt in Cooper’s mind that it had been the same Dreg’s boys that had pushed him a few days ago.

  He was almost able to move normally again after a week, not much hint of a limp unless he stepped just wrong on a cobblestone. That healing salve was truly worth every copper. As he flowed through the press of the crowd in the Trade Quarter he felt more than saw someone familiar. He tried to look past the people and see who it was and from where but the feeling passed as quickly as it had come. Even though still a child, Cooper had learned to listen to his instincts and they were telling him to create some distance between himself and this spot. Which way? There was a cart moving north, that was toward home so he drifted around to the far side and kept pace with the cart, as if he belonged beside it. This worked for a few steps, then the cart owner swatted him away. Cooper slipped between two vendor stalls and moved quickly along a space between two buildings. It couldn’t rightly be called an alley, since an adult would be very cramped trying to pass through the gap. Once through he paused to listen for any sounds of pursuit and heard nothing. He turned north again and tried to flow through the crowd. He achieved some sense of success when he came away with a small, fairly full pouch. Shopkeepers would remain open for a few more hours, but some of the vendors that sold from their carts were starting to stow their wares for the trip home. Cooper’s feeling of uneasiness had passed but he knew better than to ignore it. He should return home, count his coins, pay his dues and feel fortunate.

  By the time he had taken a dozen steps he knew why he had felt uneasy. There were the Dregs kids. The one that had pushed him and his two buddies. They were definitely focused on Cooper. The three of them had formed a wall across his path to Batter’s Field. Even the people walking through the marketplace parted to move around them. Everything about him screamed Earth; strong, stocky even, and seemed to draw power from where he stood. When he did step forward it was as if energy around him rippled, but when he stopped he seemed immovable. No wonder he was able to force Cooper into that glassware stall with just a nudge, he must have already Manifested! Cooper needed to find a way to escape or get prepared for a beating, it was not a question of fighting or not. If cornered he would fight, but this is a fight he would lose. No one would likely intercede to save a street kid from three others. Even the guards wouldn’t get involved unless the fight affected a merchant or two. Before he could take more than a couple steps the Dregs boy spoke. “Stop. Lothwin here saw you pay that shopkeeper for the glass you damaged. We figure you still have some coin. Give us each three coppers and we’ll leave you alone….today. Otherwise we’ll give you such a thrashing you might not be able to limp home.” Cooper tallied the coin by habit and caught himself feeling ashamed for doing it, nine coppers, almost a full silver. Of course he wasn’t planning to pay, but then again if he got beaten badly he couldn’t stop them from taking all he had, including the pouch he’d just lifted. Have to move fast and think faster. This boy had a definite Earth talent. He’d never heard of Earth manifesting for speed and if this boy had affinity for two elements he wouldn’t be on the street, he’d be at the college, so he shouldn’t be fast. But either of his buddies could be though. Neither of them looked too smart but they didn’t exactly have vacant stares either. Cooper darted between two cart vendors, one selling shingles and one selling baskets of beans. Cooper kicked one of the baskets as he passed to scatter the beans and create a fuss. He sprinted to almost full speed in two steps and felt the cuts on his foot complain. He cleared the reach of the bean vendor and dodged past a couple surprised customers and saw a clear path away from the boys. He heard some shouting from behind him but didn’t pay attention to whether it was the vendor or the Dregs boys. Five more steps and he slipped around the corner of a building only to get knocked from his feet by a guardsman who was responding to the shouting. Cooper scrambled to his feet and made as if to run past the guard, but he had lost precious time. The Dregs boys had closed the distance and the vendor was shouting and pointing in his direction. The guard had a few moments of confusion trying to determine which of the kids the vendor was pointing at and in those moments the boys had grabbed Cooper and began pummeling him. Cooper tried to roll away and pull his arms in and his legs up to protect himself but the two boys had grabbed him while the stocky one launched a quick series of sharp blows to Cooper’s unprotected midsection. Cooper was almost certain he’d heard a couple of ‘pop’s and ‘snap’s but he could only think of trying to get away. The guard came to his senses enough to start separating boys so he could identify the offender that the merchant was shouting about and Cooper took his opportunity to bolt away as soon as no one was holding him. A crowd had started to gather forming a loose ring around the fracas. The crowd didn’t part for him as he sprinted between the onlookers and as soon as he’d passed the first couple of people it was as if he’d disappeared.

  He ran for no more than a half a block and had to slow down. It was painful just to breathe, and to draw a deep breath was agony. He shook his head to drive away the tears that started to form in his eyes. Crying would serve no purpose. He discovered that almos
t any movement caused a stabbing pain along his left side. He tried to blend with the crowd but he couldn’t afford to walk slowly, but neither could he run without the pain on the left side of his chest becoming unbearable. He could feel the blood draining from his face as he walked, and his breathing started coming in gasps. As he neared the Whitefoam River he spied a familiar sign, Fresh Fish. He felt a rush of relief as Chesim ran to greet him and as his friend took hold of him he collapsed with a rattled sigh.

  Chapter 2

  Somewhere between sleep and awake, he heard Eva reciting a rhyme in her little sing-song voice:

  He seeks you where you’re hiding,

  No matter where you go,

  Wherever cruelty dwells,

  The Kinsman always knows.

  Fighting Fire with Fire,

  Not pure of heart nor soul,

  Bringing justice with him,

  With eyes as black as coal.

  Cooper wasn’t sure he had heard everything correctly through the fog in his head but he knew that the cool, wet cloth being pressed to his forehead felt wonderful. “Any chance of there being water to drink?” he managed to croak past cracked lips. He heard a short gasp and a rustling of fumbled movements, then he felt a hand behind his head raising him up as he felt a cup put to his lips. He managed a swallow before he sputtered his second mouthful all over himself. The cough brought stars to his already foggy vision as fresh spasms of pain spread across his chest and he slumped back onto the bed with a groan. Memories of what had happened in the Trade Quarter came flooding back to him. The Dregs boys, his attempt to escape and the quick flurry of punches that brought so much pain. How could someone so young hit so hard?!?

  Cooper hadn’t opened his eyes yet but he could picture Eva hovering over him, an expression of worry on her pretty face. He pictured the most luxurious blond hair, bundled together in a ponytail with the short, red ribbon he’d stolen for her. Her eyebrows pulled together with a small worry-crease between them. Her grey eyes, usually filled with playfulness and affection would be sad and filled with concern. Her rosy lips under her pert nose would be slightly pouting since he was in such pain. He opened his eyes and saw that Eva wasn’t even there, she was over by the doorway looking out of the bedroom he was lying in. He closed his eyes again and let his head drop back onto the pillow.

  He heard Eva call to someone outside the room, “He’s awake!”. He heard chairs scooting across the floor as if a dozen people had stood up at the same time and rapid footsteps coming close. Cooper opened his eyes to see Chesim’s face only an inch from his own. Cooper tried to smile and groaned, “No smootches, please. I don’t think of you that way.” It hurt to chuckle, but he couldn’t help himself any more than he could conceal the wince that went across his face as a result. Chesim smiled back at him but Cooper could see the worry written on his friend’s face. Outside his field of vision he heard Faril say, “Sounds like he’s gonna be alright after all”. Chesim replied, “Well, at the very least he should be well rested. He’s been in my bed for three days!”

  Three days! How would he explain this to Skaiven? Would he even be allowed back into the House? Would he be expected to pay dues for the days he’d missed? He started to struggle to try and sit up. He felt a hand on his shoulder pressing him down and heard an unfamiliar voice from beside the bed, “Lie back. If you move too sudden or too soon you’ll undo all the mending.” The voice was a pleasant, calming baritone. Then he heard the same voice speaking to someone else in the room, “He is healing quickly, much faster than I could have expected. His breathing has already cleared and his life signs are regular. He is either very fortunate or he has some talent that is Manifesting early.” He heard Chesim’s mother speaking from the next room, “He is too young for Manifestation, isn’t he? Have you ever heard of that happening in one so young?”. Chesim’s mother’s name was Remali, but Cooper just tried to call her ma’am. She was dark complected, with long dark hair that always seemed to be either bundled up or pulled back tightly behind her head. Her kind blue eyes could turn harsh at a moment’s notice. Her generous lips seldom held any expression, she smiled or frowned with her eyes. She had a nervous energy that never seemed to allow her to remain still; a trait that she seemed intent on passing along to Eva, never allowing Eva too much peace, at least not while Cooper was around. The man with the pleasant voice replied, “No, I have not ever heard of anyone Manifesting so young. Perhaps he is simply responding quickly to my treatment.”.

  This statement brought a new series of wild, unbidden thoughts to Coopers mind. A healer? A professional!? They don’t come cheap! Chesim’s family can’t afford this! They can barely afford to feed themselves! Cooper started to roll onto his side in an effort to get up but the sudden pain stopped him and he lay back again. He called Chesim to come closer and he whispered, “Check my pouch, I have coin”. Chesim grinned again, “I know”, he whispered in return. “How do you think we got the healer to come here? Where did you get twelve silvers, anyway?”

  It took a moment to register, ‘twelve silvers!?! I’ve never had twelve silvers!’. Then he remembered the pouch he lifted just before running into the Dregs boys. ‘There were ten silver in that pouch?!’. Ohhh, that man is going to be watching for thieves for a long time to come!

  Cooper started looking around the room to get his bearings and he was able to get a look at the healer for the first time. He was dark skinned, wearing a brown cloak over a tunic that was such a dark green that it almost wasn’t green. The tunic had strips of bright green and brown ribbon sewn around the cuffs of his sleeves. This identified him as an Adept of Nature and Earth at the college. The fact that the strips were intertwined probably meant that he could blend the Talents, making him a highly skilled healer. He leaned over Cooper and said, ”Three of your ribs have been broken. Broken severely enough that your chest had started filling with blood, which probably would have killed you had I not discovered it in time. If you attempt to do too much before you have sufficiently mended you will likely die before I could even be requested again. Do you understand me?” Cooper grunted his assent, it would hurt too much to nod. The healer continued, “You are fortunate to be alive. I have seen soldiers die from wounds like yours. I will return in two days, unless I am requested sooner.” And with that statement, he departed.

  Cooper started to tally his coins, but then realized that beyond it containing at least ten silvers, he didn’t actually know how much was in the pouch he recently lifted. Somehow he didn’t feel comfortable asking about it. It would essentially be admitting that he’d stolen it and although everyone knew how he made his coin, he felt ashamed to give voice to it. He decided it wouldn’t sound unreasonable to ask, “How much coin do I have remaining?” At least asking this way would make it sound like he was just having trouble doing the math. Chesim had a look of wonder on his face and he told him he still had four silver and nine coppers. It seemed strange that he should have one more copper than he had before running afoul of the boys from The Dregs. Of course he would give Faril some money for sheltering him and feeding him while he lie here helpless. He assumed that he’d be stuck in this position for two days at the very least since that was when the healer had said he’d return to check on him.

  Two days passed very slowly. Several times daily he would shift a little bit. Not enough to strain anything, he hoped, but enough to gauge how much pain he would feel if he tried to rise. Eva stayed near and would bring him food and drink every time he stirred in the slightest. Every movement brought a stab of pain and he began to feel something else as well, something he’d never really felt before, a desire for revenge. He felt a darkness entering him and it seemed to strengthen him. He pictured himself using this darkness to bring pain and suffering on those that had done him harm. He hadn’t been doing anything that other House kids weren’t. Those streets don’t belong to those Dregs boys. Why had they chosen him to be their victim? They had seen he was smaller and therefore thought him to be weaker. He would show the
m the error in their misjudgment. He even considered telling Skaiven about what the boys had done but unless Skaiven saw them as a threat to his income he wouldn’t get involved.

  He felt horrible every time he had to ask for a bedpan, it was uncomfortable enough that Eva would always blush at seeing him naked but worse that it required her to dispose of his wastes. In the evening, Chesim would come sit beside the bed and tell stories of the fish they had caught and how skillful his father was with casting the nets. It helped make the time pass, but it made it even more apparent how different their lives were.

  On the second day the healer returned and after examining him announced that he could safely sit up, with assistance. He could also stand with some help and walk short distances. Cooper observed that the walk to the privy was ‘a short distance’, and felt some relief with that. The healer said, “I expect there to be no need for me to return unless your activity exceeds your ability to mend. Pain will guide you as to what you cannot and should not do. After tomorrow, try to remember to cough a couple times every hour, whether you feel the need to cough or not. It will hurt a little to cough, but it will be better for your healing if you do it.”. With that comment the healer turned and left the house. Sitting up and moving around started him thinking of what he could do while recovering in preparation for his return to city life. He knew that he was no fisherman. He needed to return to the streets and alleys he had come to know. He also knew that he would surely cross paths with the Dregs boys again. He couldn’t expect that they had forgotten him, and he had certainly not forgotten them.

  The following evening Chesim came home with a very troubled look. Chesim sat down beside him and breathed a deep sigh as if trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. He took a second deep breath and said, “There’s no good way to say this so I’m just going to say it plainly… Cecil’s dead.” Cooper let the meaning sink in for a moment and Chesim had the good sense to wait for a reply. Cooper’s reply was simply, “How?”. Chesim took another deep breath and let it out slow before he replied, “He was beaten so badly he almost looked like he’d been wrung out or something.”. Cooper had to consider possibilities while he phrased his next question. It would be unlike Skaiven to kill any of his kids, there was no profit in that. If anything, it would cause him to lose a source of income. It’s possible that it could’ve been Skaiven, but Cooper just didn’t know enough. “Where was he found?”, was Cooper’s next question. Chesim answered, “North side of the Trade Quarter in the middle of the street, not far from where dad sets up his cart.”. Cooper thought that this would likely eliminate Skaiven as a suspect, “What time did you see this?” Chesim answered immediately, “Just before dawn, first thing this morning. There was a small crowd around him as we were coming up with our cart.” Now that was odd. Cecil wouldn’t cross the Whitefoam until after there were people in the Trade Quarter to beg from. The City Guard patrolled the main thoroughfares frequently in the hours just before and after sunrise, to discourage thieves from lying in wait for vendors to start setting up. It would be a simple matter for an enterprising thief to roll off with an entire cart full of swag if the guards didn’t keep an almost constant presence at that time. That Cecil was found at dawn told Cooper that he’d likely been killed the day prior and dumped in the street during a gap in the guards patrol routes. There had to be a reason for that, perhaps some kind of morbid messenger? Cooper thought a few moments longer and phrased his last question carefully, “People always talk about this kind of thing. What were the people saying about it?” Chesim said he had heard some people saying that there’d been many fights between boys lately and that the Dreg’s gangs were laying claim to the Trade Quarter.