"Look over there, Ellie." A red haired girl says, pointing to the castle.
Ellie looks. She has brown hair and blue eyes.
"It looks like Heaven is shining down on the castle. There must be an angel visiting."
Ellie says nothing. She's not much of a talker.
"I wonder what it's like in there."
Ellie shrugs.
The two girls look at it in wonder, standing on the edge of a town cliff that helps separate the districts. Their ragged and tattered clothes are the only things keeping their skinny bodies warm. The red head seems to be in her mid teens. Layers of tattered clothes, mostly red and gray. Whereas Ellie wore layers of dirty white and brown.
'I wonder when's the last time we ate.' Thought Ellie. She tugs at the red haired girl's arm. "Sis, I'm hungry."
"Right. I suppose we should get back to begging. Though, it's not much fun is it?" The sister smiles and nudges her much smaller sister.
The two turn around and begin walking to the market.
"It's round this time of day there'll be plenty of people." The older sister says as they walk.
"Do you think anyone would be nice today?"
"Sure." The girl looks down at her sister. "You're cute. Just have to use your mighty puppy eyes."
Ellie laughs. "Hey, Rose. Do you think we'll get to live there one day?"
The two briefly look back at the castle.
"One day, sis. I promise."
****
"Oof!" I wake up when something is dumped on my stomach.
I look and find that it's my boots. I look over to see a dressed Alex looking through the bags. His back facing me.
"Why the hell did you wake me up?!"
"Shopping trip."
"Shopping trip?"
He looks at me over his shoulder. "We need to go to the market. Now come on."
"Fine!" I groan.
I grab one of my shoes and throw it at him. Hits him right at the back of the head.
Within 10 minutes, we're out the door. You know what's great about not being a royal? You don't have to spend an hour just to get dressed, even if it's in a simple attire. And I can do it all by myself. Don't have to worry about my hair either. I braided my hair into a simple ponytail.
The streets have become crowded with people doing their morning shopping. A lot of them for bread and fresh produce. The groups of kids running around is startling, while the little kids are held by their mother or father. We walk by a water fountain and I saw a child being scolded by their grandmother.
"Watch your pockets." Alex says as a group of kids run towards us. I cover mine with my hand.
"I forgot that kids tend to be the best pick-pocketers." I say as I watch them run past after bumping into me.
Alex squints at me. "Why?"
"It's just... Mother was an orphan. She lived on the streets with her sister."
"Doesn't mean you'll know what it's like."
I say nothing.
"So how was last night? Did you enjoy yourself?"
"Did you enjoy watching?"
Alex says nothing, just smiles.
I sigh. "Besides those morons hitting on me, while also trying to drug me, it was rather fun."
"Really? What was the best part? Getting the job, or bashing said morons?"
"The morons of course. I don't like doing illegal stuff."
"It's okay to do it on occasion."
I stop and glare at him.
"If you really need to."
He's trying to justify himself.
"Besides, I'm sure your mother did the same thing before she became monarch."
I nod. I suppose while growing up wasn't easy. I have no idea what she had to do.
We continue walking.
"By the way, why did you let me fight them alone?"
"It was a good opportunity. I wanted to see how good you are at defending yourself. And my God, can you fight! I didn't teach enough to move that quickly." He grins at me.
"I'm going to assume it's genetics."
"Yeah, considering that you have super-hearing and vision."
"Please don't say super."
"Why? It's true."
"It's a stupid word."
His grin grows wider. "Super. Super. Super. Super."
"Stop being an-"
"We're here!"
We stop in front of a shop. I look through the window to see weapons.
"A weapons shop?"
"You need a knife. We can try for two if you like."
Right. I said I was good with knives... when I'm not. Hey, maybe my genetics will make me a natural with them.
When we enter a bell rings at the top of the door, alerting the worker of our arrival. I did not expect to be attended by a delicate woman who seems to be in her late teens.
"Hi. We want some knives or short swords."
"Of course." She smiles and walks over to a corner of the shop where a selection of knives are displayed.
I look at him as we walk over there. "
"It's a good way of introducing you to using swords. Besides, they're longer." He whispers.
What's even better is that their prices are written down.
"These are our current stock. Well, we do have others in the back, but they're of the same design and quality as the ones you see before you." She waves her hands over the short swords.
I examine each knife with interest. There are a lot of high-priced ones. Their designs are more extravagant, and good quality. I would buy one if I didn't cringe at the price. We have no where near that amount of money. So I look over at the simpler ones.
"Are all your weapons made here?" I say.
"Of course." The woman smiles with pride. "We have a forge out back. My father and husband make the ones you see before you."
"How old are you?"
"I'm turning nineteen soon." She smiles brightly.
"Really? That's wonderful. How are going to celebrate-"
"Alright! We've gone off track." Alex gives an awkward laugh. "We're kinda on a schedule."
"Oh, sorry." The woman gives an apologetic look. "Well, what is in your price range?"
"$200."
Where did we get $200?
"Excellent!" She claps her hands together. "The closest to that price would be this. A stainless steel blade with a brass handle stylized like the Asian weapons. I'm not sure which, but it's rather nice. As you can see, there is a rough, but tough, thread wrapping around the handle. This makes the grip easier and a lot less likely to slip out of your hand."
"Wow!" I look at it with wide eyes of admiration. I'm resisting the urge to drool.
"$196." Alex nods his head. "That's not bad. But can we make it lower."
"How much lower?" She asks.
"$175."
She shakes her head.
"Come on, it's only $21 cheaper."
"Sorry. Can't do that."
"How bout' $170?"
She shakes her head again.
She turns her attention to me with a smile. "How about you pay me the full $200 and I'll throw in a matching knife?"
"Deal!" I don't give Alex the time to object.
There's a benefit to being friendly enough to be considered a friend.
The woman disappears to the back of the shop and retrieves my weapons. She even gifts me a belt to carry them. I pay her the $200 and walk out of the shop with pride. Alex sulking behind me. I wrap my sheaved short sword on the right so I can grab it with my left, the knife on the other side. They look too fancy when matched with my attire.
Compared to Alex with his two guns sheathed by his sides, I look more intimidating. And I love it! It makes me feel stronger and more capable. Throughout my entire life I've had this sense of being weak and unable to help myself. Now, with these two weapons, I'm strong.
Still sulking, Alex asks "what are going to eat?"
"We can go to the market and choose from there."
"But we have no money."
I frown at him, not hiding my anger. "THEN WHY DID YOU SAY OUR BUDGET IS $200?"
"Because I didn't want her to think we were poor."
"We look poor!"
"No." He lengthens the word. "We look middle-class."
"What is it with you and your stupid pride?! Is that seriously all we had?"
"We have $8 left."
I resist punching him. Instead I clench my fists and take a deep breath. For the next 5 hours we walk around town, familiarizing ourselves with it. By then it was 3pm, a good time to buy a fresh cooked meal. The lunch hour rush is over, more vacancy seating in restaurants as well as cheaper food. According to Alex hot food is cheaper around this time, because not many people go out to buy hot food and they need to get rid of it before it goes off. Then they can make a new batch later for when dinner rolls around.
Alex and I walk along the streets again, paying attention to the street names shown high on almost every corner. We've had to ask some people a few times. And by we, I mean me. Why are men reluctant to ask for directions?
Finally we reach our destination. The Black Crow. We stair up at the sign. It was not what we expected.
"It's... a tailor shop."
I nod with my mouth shaped like an O.
Seeing as though the store is shut and we can barely see through the window, we knock. It doesn't take long for a young boy to answer the door. He looks to be twelve years old. At this point, I don't question the age for the workplace. He eyes us from head to toe.
"You must be those two people Sulia mentioned."
"Yeah." Alex nods. "We are."
"Come in." The boy moves to the side, still holding the door open.
We walk past him. I give him a nod in thanks. He doesn't respond. Instead he looks bored. Must be a usual thing for him. There are only two candles that light the room. Both only giving light towards the back. So it wasn't hard to find our way.
When we enter the back room, it's brightly lit with Sulia and several of her comrades waiting. She gives us a bright smile, but it's not a "I'm friendly. 'Want to be my friend' smile. She's geared up in black attire, as is her subordinates. It makes her red hair stand out like a flame. She doesn't have it tied up either, just lets the waves lay against her back.
"Good. You're here." She looks at the clock. "And five minutes early. I like it."
"Better early than late." Alex says.
"Alright, lets get straight to it." She crosses her arms as she faces us. "We'll be delivering some lovely items to a woman who has paid handsomely. It's be dropped off a few miles out of the town by people who don't have the skills to complete the job. We deliver the items through the city, undetected, to our generous employer. Got it?"
"You mean we'll be smuggling." I hide my disgust.
"Yes."
Of course we are.
"Do you have a problem with that, Rowena?"
"So long as we get paid, I don't care what job it is."
Sulia giggles at my response. She seems to like it.
"Well, lets go then."