Karin accosted the door, pale in the face.

“I’m sorry, honey, what do you mean with ‘she’s gone’?” SHe put a hand on his shoulder, and looked him straight in the eye. “Did you lose her? Did she run away?”

“No.” The man seemed barely holding it together. “Someone… someone took her. I could not see it because it all went dark, very quickly. The big sun seemed to just… vanish. The shop was covered in shadows. Then, a figure broke in from the shop window, scooped her up and escaped. He was so fast I couldn’t do anything. No alarm was triggered, and no defence activated until the light came back on. Little Julie was still outside, she saw everything and tried to run after the kidnapper. She even managed to catch his clothes, but something made her trip and fall. This snippet here is all that’s left of them.”

He opened his hand, to reveal a black tinted piece of fabric. It did not look like cotton or silk or any other material the two tailors usually dealt with.

Sarin took it in his hand to look at it better. It was very, very light, and had a slight earthy smell. And it was almost impalpable, a feature so weird since it seemed like you could not see through it.

“We need to report this.” Sarin said, looking at his sister and his brother in law. “We need to go to the guards as soon as possible. They can help us find them.”

“Oh, I'm sure they would be as useful as they’ve been with the others.”

“Who are the others, sorry?”

“...Well. I heard that kids were disappearing from the poorest parts of the city. The clients were gossiping about it, but kids often get lost and then brought back, so I just thought…”

“You just thought what, Daniel?” Karin snarled. “Didn’t you think it would have been a good idea to at least warn me? I’d have doubled the defenses on the shop!”

“And you would have spent how much money?”

“I’d sell the Numens damned house if it meant my babies were safe!” she shrieked at her husband.

“I already told you love,” He answered, trying to pacify her “No defense activated. Nothing. It was like they had the means to shut them off.”

“This should not be possible. They would need a skilled enchanter to even think of disabling them…”

Little Timmy was starting to cry, hearing their parents scream and her sister so distraught.

“Ok. Ok.” Interjected Sarin. His sister had started cradling Timmy a bit and whispering softly to him to calm him down. “Let’s be rational about this. Daniel, tell me please. It's been… how long? Ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes tops. We ran.”

“Did Riley have her dress on?” asked Karin.

“Yes she did, why?”

“Good. That’s got a third of a moon of power. It should keep her safe, and these scripts can’t be suppressed unless they got someone better than me at enchanting, which I doubt.” She gave small kisses on top of Timmy’s head. “I should also be able to sense them if we get near enough. Do you think they left the city?”

“I don’t believe it, no. The gates are closed at twilight, usually.”

“Ok. Time is of the essence, then. Let’s go to the guards now, all together. Julie, love, go up to your grandma and stay in her room until we get back with your sister.”

“Will Riley be ok?” asked the scared child, visibly shaken.

“She will, love. We’ll find her and make whoever took her rot behind bars.”

She was still ugly crying. Her mother cleaned some of her tears away with a handkerchief. Then, she gestured towards little Timmy.

“Take him with you upstairs, too. Do not open if anyone knocks. We have the keys. Stay alert, my baby.”

“Yes mom.” Julie sniffed, then cleaned her tears away and took TImmy’s hand. “Let’s go to grandma, little brother”.

“Gramma!” he replied, showing his enthusiasm and generating a small wave of smiles.

“Do you think anyone else saw the kidnapper? Neighboring shops? Passerbys?” said Karin when the children were already on the upper floor.

“No. I don’t think so. There weren’t many people on the streets because of the rain, and the darkness… I don’t know how big its range was, but we could not see more than ten feet ahead. We could still ask around after we talk to the guards.”

“Ok.. Let’s all go together.” She turned around to look at Sarin. “Brother, I’m sorry, but could you stay home and keep watch?”

“I- yes! obviously! How can I reach you if I have news or if someone shows up?”

“Take this” She took out a flat, round rock the color of red sand, and put it in his hand. “It grows hotter if you wish for it, and I’ll bring its twin with me. It will get hotter too, and I’ll know we need to come back here.”

The tailor hugged his sister, hard.

“Stay safe sis, please.”

“I will.”

— — — — —

“Welcome back, Opal. I see you are back.” said a black clad man, sitting on a chair, at a desk, reading a book in a dimly lit room.

“The ball of night worked wonders, but we have a problem. Stupid child, tore my cloak.” He raised it, so his colleague could see the tear.

“I’m sorry for your loss” he said, mockingly, “but I don’t believe that could take them to us in any way. There are no sorcerers able to bypass our defenses trying to scry us.”

“I paid it with three years of my earnings! It’s a tailored masterpiece!” he snarled. “Still. Can’t they use other means? Mundane maybe, like dogs?”

“Too much coal in the air for a clear trace.” He coughed. “Case in point. Thank the Numens we won’t be here for long. In any case, don’t worry. The operation isn’t in danger.”

“I put the child with the other ones. Why did we need that one, exactly?”

“No child over sixty six moons or under fifty five. These are the rules. We need them well fed and alive, so taking away the ones from the poor wasn’t that difficult, but we were still short of one. She was the only one in the vicinity that could be fine for our purposes.”

“Which are, what?”

“Ask the client and see if he’ll answer instead of making your heart stop.”

“Ok, ok, understood.” Opal said, crossing his arms. “I’ll stop prying.”

“You said that already.” the other man replied, without tearing his eyes away from his book. “Three times. Can’t you just be happy with the money you’re getting and keep your mouth shut?”

“I don’t like being in the dark about these kinds of things. My objective needs to be clear for me to perform at my best.”

“Are you really talking about performance rates? We’re Thugs for hire™, not the empire’s post office.”

“What the hell does ™ mean? Why do you always talk weird, man? Still, ugh, I have nightmares about them from the time I had to send a postcard to my ma.”

“You’ll be able to buy a house in the city on that postcard when we're finished with this job. What are we missing? He wanted five kids, right?”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“I believe we should be done. They’re five, they should be the right age. I see no issues. We just have to wait for the client to collect the children.

“When did you say he would be here?”

“Three days from now. It will be a dark night, since it will be the new moon.” He got up, and went near a big cauldron sitting on a fire. A nice smell came from within, even if it was dampened by the smell of coal. “We just need to keep the kids safe, fed and mostly intact until he comes.”

“I hate working with kids. They bite, they cry and most of all: they scream.”

“Then give them something not to scream about.” the man said, deviously.

“Like what?” Opal said, tilting his head.

“Tell them a story” said his colleague.

“A story.”

“Yes! That always seems to make them calmer. But I’m cooking now and with the new one they’ll be stressed.”

“I don’t think I know any child stories, Topaz.”

“Then make one up!” he grunted. “You’re the smart one between us, aren’t you?”

“Flattery won’t work on me.”

“See? You did not fall for it! Smart!”

“Ok, ok.” He sighed. “I’ll do it since it was you who took care of them until now.”

Opal got to a room with thick bars in front of a door. He took a key from his belt, opened it, and closed it behind his back. He entered the room, and inside, were five children. One of them was the kid he just kidnapped, while the others were street urchins and a poor kid whose parents sold for a silver lyre. Life was really cheap sometimes. If their Master did not need them all, he had half a mind to bring him up as a disciple in the arts of thievery. Thinking of this made him remember his master. In particular, a story he told to him many times: the tale of the poor tailor.

“Hello, children.”

The kids all looked at the man, completely clad in black. Not even his eyes could be seen, and his voice was deep and gravelly. The daughter of Karin, RIley, started crying.

“I want my mommy! Where is my mommy!”

Hearing her cry, the other children got upset too, and started crying as well.

“Silence!” the man bellowed, a strange vibration suffusing the air.

All the children stopped crying immediately, but kept looking towards him with red eyes.

“I am here to tell you a tale. Do you know what a tale is? It’s a story. Do you want to listen to a good story?”

The children, tentatively, nodded, and all of them sat down.

“Good. I’ll start then. Once, there lived a tailor “Like my mom!” “Good kids don’t interrupt when someone is speaking, missy. “Sorry…” “As I was saying, there was a tailor, called… Trushka, who created the nicest clothes for nobles and royals. However, as rich people always do, they shortchanged him, so he was poor.

Other tailors in the city were rich, even if they sold shittier clothes.”

“He said a swear!” shouted one of the urchins, laughing.

“That was a swear.” repeated the sold kid.

“Mister,” said Riley, all serious “swearing makes the Numen love you less. The cleric always says it.”

“Ok, ok, no swears. Numens sake. Back to the story. One day, he told his wife, ‘Love, this place does not deserve me! I make better clothes, and yet they pay me so little. On the other hand, the others grow richer by the day with their… less good clothes. I’ll try my luck somewhere else.’ His wife did not want to leave, because who knows if changing the place would change your fortune, but the tailor had made up his mind, and went away to look for better pay.

“And he left his wife alone?” said one of the children.

“Yes, yes he did.”

“That’s sad. She’ll be lonely…”

“Let me finish,” he joined his hands in prayer, “Please.”

The children went silent once again, waiting for the story to continue.

“He went to another city, where he was really successful. His clothes became popular for their quality, and in three years he had saved three hundred gold lyres. Now that he was rich, he decided to return home to his home and his wife.

During his trip back, in the middle of the jungle, he heard two voices speaking: one was called Act, the other was called Fate.

‘Act, you should not have let the tailor earn three hundred gold lyres. He does need that much for his living!’

‘Fate, I had to reward him for all his efforts, but you may choose how much he should keep!’

He checked in his bag, and found that the gold coins were all lost. He became very sad. He thought, "I will not be able to face my wife! All my efforts for the last three years have been for nothing."

So, he turned back to the city. He worked very hard, and within a year, earned five hundred gold lyres. Now that he was rich again, he decided to return home to his wife.

During his journey, in the middle of the jungle, he heard the two voices again:

‘Act, you should not have let the tailor earn five hundred gold lyres. He does not require that much for his living!’

Action: ‘Destiny, I had to reward him for all his efforts, but you may decide how much he should retain!’

When he heard this, remembering the last time, he quickly checked into the bag and found that the gold coins were missing. He became very sad, and wished he died.

He sat down and thought, ‘There is no point in living. I have lost my money again, and cannot face my wife in this state of poverty! I shall hang myself on a tree!”

All the children started bawling their eyes out.

“No no! He does not die! I’ll skip ahead a bit, but Fate stops him and tells him that he was a hard working man and wanted to grant him a boon. Don’t cry kids. He will be alright, ok?”

The words of the man seemed to calm them a bit. He waited some seconds so that they would calm down a bit more, then got back to his story.

“The tailor replied to Fate, ‘Please give a lot of gold, that is the only thing that I ask you to grant’. Fate asked, ‘You are not destined to earn more than you need to live. Why do you ask for money that you cannot enjoy?’ But the poor tailor was adamant. So, Fate said this: ‘I shall grant you your wish, but you must return back to the city and visit any two merchant's houses. See how they act and let me know how you would like your money to be’.

So, the tailor went back to the city one more time. He went into a merchant's house, and was greeted as a guest according to local traditions.

This merchant was very, very rich, but did not like this unwanted guest. They gave him food in the most insulting manner, and offered a dirty bed for the night.

At night, he heard the two voices again:

"Act, you should not have let the merchant provide food to the tailor. He has forced himself as an unwanted guest!"

“Fate, the weaver needed to be provided for the night, and the merchant did so in his miserly ways, but you may decide how this will go!"

Next morning, he went into another merchant's house, where he was warmly welcomed. He was provided with new clothes and water to bathe. He was then served a lavish dinner,”

“What does lavish mean?” asked an urchin.

“Very good and plentiful, a noble’s dinner.”

“Oooh.”

“Now I’m hungry.”

“I’m hungry too…”

“Please kids, we’ll give you food soon. Let me finish.” Opal was invested now, and really wanted to get to the end. “The merchant also gave him a comfortable bed to sleep in. During his stay at the merchant’s home, he realized that this one was not rich.

At night, he heard the two voices again:

‘Act, you should not have let the merchant provide the tailor so extravagantly. He has forced himself as an unwanted guest!"

‘Fate, the weaver needed to be provided for the night, and the merchant did so in his generous ways, but you may decide how this will go!’

The next morning, the weaver watched the Emperor's servants bring money for the second merchant. Fate had rewarded him for his good actions.

The tailor thought, ‘The second merchant is not rich, but he lives well and everyone loves him.’

On his way home, the voices from the sky asked, "How do you want your money to be?"

The tailor immediately said, ‘Please give me only the lyres that I will be able to enjoy to the fullest like the second merchant.’

His wish was granted, and Trushka returned home with some money, and that made his wife happy. They lived happily, and were content with whatever they earned.

So, remember kids: keep for you only which you can defend, and never make deals with nobles because they will shortchange you. Also, marry someone who will wait for you when you have to be away for work.”

The kids all went silent. Opal felt a bit pressured by their gazes.

“When will you get me back to my mom?” Riley asked.

“Soon, kid, soon. You just have to wait. We’ll get you back to her as soon as possible.”

“Where’s food? You promised we’ll have food every time we asked.”

“Yes, we want to eat!”

“Food! Food! Food!”

“Topaz!”, he bellowed. His fellow rose up from the ground, into the room.

“Yes?”

“Please feed they children. They’re hungry.”

“Ok kids, sorry you had to deal with this grumpy mummy,” he said, chuckling while Opal slipped out of the room “who wants some chicken stew?”

“Stew!”