Iluli glared at the faded red curtain that separated her private table from the rest of the bar. She hadn’t been waiting for the other crew members long, but that didn’t make her any happier about it. The gates to the city would close at sundown and she wanted to be on the road well before then. She had no doubt that the sentinels, as well as others, were likely tracking the soulstone. If she was going to escape them all unnoticed, doing so under the cover of the crowds was most certainly her best chance.

Outside, she could hear sounds of the Festival of Birth in full swing. The streets were overflowing with people as a massive parade tromped through the city’s main thoroughfares. There were singers and dancers, jugglers and acrobats, and huge carts pulled by great teams of horses laden with food and cheap trinkets that were tossed to the gathered people as it passed--all of which Iluli had seen firsthand when shouldering her way to the meeting spot. Despite the Red Hollow being set well off from the central roads, cries of excitement and jubilation continued to filter into the building, a constant reminder to Iluli that she needed to make use of it while it lasted.

Taking a swig from the mug of ale she had purchased did little to improve her mood. The brew was full of froth, thin, and had a sickening aftertaste--like something rotten had fallen into the barrel. Not that Iluli expected better fare at the Red Hollow. After all, people didn’t come to the Hollow for the beer. They came to be ignored, treated only as their coin demanded. In a place like this, Iluli could have her face scarf down without worry, and that was worth more to her than the quality of the drink.

She took another pull, swallowing quickly to avoid the worst of the flavor, and then slammed the mug down. Where in the starry hell? She looked again at the hanging curtain, following the lines of old stains. Blood had been spilled here before. More than cheap dye could hide. If she was forced to wait much longer, she might just make a contribution.

Fingers curled around the edge of the thick cloth, and Iluli’s own hands moved to grip the sides of the tabletop, ready to flip it forward if the hand belonged to a member of the watch, or worse, a sentinel. The curtain slid back, giving a view of the bar with its crumbling brick walls and smoke filled innards, but Iluli only cared about the new arrival: Grett. The boy ducked inside, closing the drape behind him, and sat down.

Iluli let go of the table, noticing Grett’s rumpled clothes and bloodshot eyes. He apparently hadn’t slept much during his two nights in hiding--not that she blamed him.

Grett immediately glanced at the empty seats. “Where’s Pocket and Zade?”

Mainlanders, Iluli thought, always wasting words on the obvious. It was a wonder that they ever got anything done at all.

“Where is the money?” she said instead of answering him.

Grett opened his mouth, perhaps to argue, but then appeared to think better of it and pulled a purse from inside his jacket. Before it was all the way out though, he froze, eyeing the small alcove like it might have changed in the last few breaths. “There’s something you should know.”

“Money first.”

The boy hesitated. “But--”

“Now,” Iluli growled, stretching her arm out.

Grett relented, handing the bag over. Iluli undid the string and sifted through the purse’s innards. She paused, closed the pouch, and crumpled it in her fist. With a quick move, she threw the bag at Grett. The boy raised his hands, but it was too late--the purse hit him in the face, bounced off, and fell to the table, where it expelled a handful of coins with a clatter.

“Lead?” Iluli hissed at the stunned boy. “You bring me lead?”

Grett sputtered. “It's all I could get.”

Iluli slapped her hand down on the table, making both the boy and coins jump.

“Then you go to someone else and someone else until you get what it’s worth! You don’t just give it away. It was a Keldese flute!”

“I did,” Grett said, “but no one would take it. Word had spread about the dead foreign merchant and his guards, spread like the damn flux, and everyone could guess where it was from. I had to trade in Moth Town just to find a buyer, and that’s all the wretch had.”

Iluli stared at him. “All they had?”

Grett tried to put up a front but quickly backed down. “All they’d give me.” When Iluli didn’t immediately respond, he added with a small shrug, “It’s better than nothing.”

“No,” Iluli said, “it is not. Now someone knows who you are and what you sold. Depending on how many people you asked, and who saw, it could be a lot of someones. If you had gotten money of value, it would be worth the trade, but for this,” she said, gesturing to the coins, “you might as well have thrown the flute away and not left a trail for the sentinels to follow.”

Grett looked at the table in shame. “I’m sorry.”

“You will be,” Iluli said. “Especially when you are hanging from the gibbet.”

The boy lost some color and brought a hand to his throat. “You think…” He couldn’t even finish it.

“Take the pouch,” Iluli said.

Grett didn’t move, pretending like he hadn’t heard.

Iluli leaned forward. “Take the pouch.”

Grett inched away from the purse, keeping his eyes downcast.

“You are owed your share,” she said. “Take it and leave.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Please, Iluli,” Grett said, barely looking up. “Please. I ain’t got nothing else but the gang.”

Iluli sat back. “The crew died with Kyte,” she said. “You are smart enough to know that, and if not, you are too stupid to work with again.” It was the truth, and she wasn’t about to tell him or anyone else that she was leaving the city. The fewer that knew, the harder she’d be to track.

Grett sniffed but didn’t argue. Then he grabbed the pouch, stuffing the lead that had fallen out back in. When he was done, he got up and took hold of the curtain edge. “Don’t trust Pocket,” he said.

“I never have,” Iluli said, gulping down a mouthful of ale.

“I saw him talking to someone,” Grett said. “Someone he wouldn’t talk to if Kyte was still around.”

“More proof that the days of our crew are over,” Iluli said.

Grett frowned, clearly frustrated that Iluli didn’t ask who. The boy hung there another moment until it was obvious that she wasn’t going to say anything else, then he left, the curtain barely moving as he did.

Iluli finished the drink, feeling the last of the beer trickle down her throat, the taste no longer so bad. If Pocket had joined up with another gang, then there was no point in her waiting to see if he would arrive with the jewelry profits. Iluli didn’t like admitting it, but Grett had helped her with that bit of info.

It also meant that she would probably have to make do with the coin she had. The contents of her purse should last her a few weeks at least--long enough to scrounge up more in her travels, or better yet, get a nibble on the soulstone. Iluli shifted her leg, feeling the comforting weight of her two duffels propped against the chair. If Zade didn’t arrive soon, she would head straight to the west gate.

The curtain moved again, and this time Iluli tightened her hand on the mug she held. It was made of wood, so should hold up for at least a few blows.

Zade stepped inside.

Iluli relaxed her grip, eyeing the other woman. “Where have you been?”

Zade gave Iluli an exasperated look as she sat down, bringing with her a full pitcher of ale and a mug of her own. “It’s a madhouse out there. I was lucky to be able to get here at all.”

Iluli merely grunted at the comment.

“I saw Grett when I came in,” Zade continued. “He seemed more morose than usual and left without even speaking to me.” She paused. “Did you upset him?”

“What do you care about Grett?”

Zade stared at her and then smiled. “I feel closer to everyone now that there are so few of us.”

“I see,” Iluli said, as she reached to fill her empty cup from the pitcher.

“Let me,” Zade said, their hands brushing. Iluli let go of the mug and crossed her arms, watching Zade pour her drink.

“Where is the money?”

Zade glanced up from her work, perplexed. “I gave it to the barkeep when I bought the ale. He said we owed him for the private room, as well as for keeping quiet about seeing us.”

Iluli was up in an instant but stopped shy of throwing the curtain back when she heard Zade’s laughter.

“What are you chirping about?” Iluli said

Zade closed her mouth, giving Iluli a flat look. “You always were too serious. Too predictably serious.”

Iluli didn’t move, hating the mainlanders and their half-truths. “Does he have the money or not, Zade?”

Zade rolled her eyes. “What a bore.” She let go of the pitcher, reached into the side of her boot, and returned with two crisp half-silvers, stacking them on the table. “Here is the money.”

Iluli sat back down, grabbing the coins as she did. She inspected each with eyes and fingers, and then went to put one in her mouth.

“Pick up, fondle, bite,” Zade said. “So predictable.”

“I like to be sure,” Iluli said, chomping down.

Zade reached forward and placed a full beer in front of Iluli. “Don’t we all,” she said, leaning back.

Satisfied with the money, Iluli put the coins beside her mug and took a drink.

“Where is Pocket?” Zade asked.

Iluli set the mug down. “Feeling closer to him too?”

Zade’s face soured. “Hardly.”

“Then what do you care?”

“I care about my share of the money he has.”

Iluli picked five iron coins from the purse at her hip and tossed them across to Zade. “There is your share.” She swallowed the rest of her ale, picked up the two half-silvers, and shifted to leave.

“That’s all I get?” Zade looked like she was going to explode.

Iluli narrowed her eyes. “Yes, it is not bad for doing nothing.”

“Nothing!” Zade flared. “I was the one who distracted those bodyguards. I did that!”

“And we see how well that turned out.”

Zade’s fingers dug into the table, like she was going to leap across it.

“If I hadn’t,” she said, voice shaking, “you all would be dead. Not just Tem and Selia and Kyte. ”

“Fine,” Iluli said, sliding Zade one of the two half-silvers and tucking the other into her purse. Zade started to reach for it, but Iluli snapped at her. “That is Kyte’s. You only get it because that is what he would want.” Iluli grabbed her duffels from under the table and moved toward the curtain.

“Wait.”

Iluli turned around, seeing that Zade looked suddenly scared and unsure, a stark contrast to the blustery woman she had been a moment ago.

“I’m sorry,” Zade said, as she shook her head, her long tresses waving. “I’m sorry. It’s just with Kyte gone…” Zade trailed off, and Iluli shifted her weight impatiently. “Know what Denrik told me?”

Iluli could have rolled her eyes--it was Grett all over again.

Zade, however, didn’t wait for an answer. “The merchant had a soulstone in his chest. That’s how he moved so fast. That’s how he got Kyte.”

“Ratshit,” Iluli said, but the old man had been quick, much quicker than she had expected. Kyte had been dead before he hit the floor.

“It’s true,” Zade insisted. “Denrik says a riot broke out when someone dug the stone free of the corpse.”

A second stone. Another fortune, and one they had left behind because they hadn’t checked the body close enough.

“Did Denrik know who it was?” Iluli couldn’t help herself from asking. It was the debt collector’s fault as much as Kyte’s that they were in this mess.

Zade took her first sip of beer and looked like she might spit it back out. “No, but he said that we better tuck up nice and quiet and that he was going to do the same.” She leaned back in the chair, hunching her shoulders inward, the large neck of her loose shirt drifting down her right arm. “It’s not fair. Any other guard, any other time, and Kyte would still be here.” Zade shook herself. “One more drink,” she said, holding up the piece of silver like a talisman. “The good stuff. For Kyte.”

Iluli opened her mouth to say no--doubly no now that she knew they had killed a chosen--but caught herself. The moment she walked away she’d be alone again, and while a large part of her hungered for that freedom, she also knew that this was her last chance for a bit of companionship with someone who knew her, if only barely, before weeks, if not months, of fending completely for herself. Iluli tilted her head, listening, while Zade stared at her expectantly. The sounds outside continued unabated--if anything they were even louder than before--and it was still a few hours until sunset. She had time.

“Okay,” Iluli said. “One more.”