It was hot, hot as though last night’s storm had never happened. The sun beat down on the heads of the people crowding between the market stalls. The muddy ground, covered in a layer of hay meant to at least try to keep the mud from covering everyone’s boots, was the only sign that the cool rains had ever been. The Firebrand’s protection had been added to the Thief Lord’s protection for the market. It worked wonders, and the market was thriving. The vendors were back, the stalls and tents rebuilt. No one feared a repeat of the horrific events just a few months past, when the Enforcer’s beasts had killed and destroyed so many and so much. The people were back.
There were more people here, really, than Kiri cared to deal with. She shook her sweaty hair out of her eyes and pulled her bag in closer, trying to pass through the crowd without bumping into anyone. It was so hot! It might help if she didn’t have to wear a double layer of clothing, but to go out without the tight Firebrand clothes underneath her dress was unthinkable. She had to--had to--be ready to change at any time. Even when the city was peaceful, as it was now, there were plenty of troublemakers, and it was the Firebrand’s job to shove them back in line.
Kiri was heading for the newest eatery that had opened in the center of the market. It had been Neal’s idea to build solid enough structures so that they could have real kitchens in them, right in the middle of the market. He said there were people who wanted more than a hand pie or skewer of meat handed to them by a street vendor while they were shopping. Those people would be willing to pay to be able to eat in comfort while shopping, and pay quite a lot.
“Rich people,” Kiri had said.
“Of course,” Neal had replied, nonplussed.
“You only care about rich people.”
“I don’t know if that is the case. But they are the ones with the money.”
So he’d gone with the idea, and the first eatery to open was his own. Kiri assumed the Thief Lord had supplied him with funds. When she first met Neal he’d been a hill country brigand, a highway robber, and not the sort of man who owned property in the capital city. But however he got the money, it seemed to be enough for multiple ventures, and a small and very select-looking eatery was his latest.
Once Neal’s restaurant opened, it was quickly the hottest spot for all the wealthy ladies of town. They were the kind of women who Mala had always idolized but Kiri would never really understand. More eateries followed Neal’s, until there was a cluster of them at the market center, and not one of them was a place Kiri could actually afford to eat a meal. They were too pricey for her despite the fact that with her earnings from the Academy she had more than most in the city. She didn’t know who it was who had pulled strings to let her keep her job. She preferred to think it was the Lord Commander and not Neal, but she knew she would have been fired for disappearing when she fought the Enforcer’s beasts and was kidnapped by Neal if someone hadn’t intervened for her. She didn’t try to find out, because she needed the money.
Not that she needed the money today; Neal would be paying today. If he’d had her come to his place, instead of the newest restaurant, no one would have had to pay, but for some reason he had invited her to each of the new places when they opened. Maybe he was curious what they were like, though why he couldn’t try them on his own time Kiri couldn’t imagine. She’d rather just meet in the same place every time. All the food was good, why keep moving around like it was going to get better?
At the edge of the tables surrounding the new eateries Kiri’s attention was caught by piercing scream cutting over the top of the chatter of the crowd, though when she whipped her head toward it, she noticed that almost no one else was looking. Most people hadn’t noticed the scream. That happened more and more often these days. Kiri had developed an extreme focus on sounds of distress, to the point that not only did she notice them when others did not, but they even seemed louder to her than they really were.
This scream had come from near the wall, at the far end of the same lane between stalls that Kiri was already standing in. She couldn’t see whoever was the screamer, but the people scattering from the spot pinpointed where she needed to go. Quickly she set off at a quick trot towards the commotion, angling so that she could duck behind a tent and shed her dress before continuing at a dead run. Now people moved out of her way, because she was the Firebrand, masked and clothed in black and red. Not ten seconds later she stepped into an open circle of ground. In the center of it a woman was seated on the straw. One hand was held up in defense and the other was pressed against her shoulder, red spreading between her fingers. Before her stood a wild-haired and even more wild-eyed man whose rage-twisted face and crazed manner was jarringly mismatched to his fine clothes. He held a knife pointed down at the woman. It was already wet with her blood, and his eyes said there would soon be more of it.
“Firebrand!” someone in the crowd yelled.
The rage in the knife-wielding man’s face dissolved at the word, and he looked at the Firebrand with eyes that were quickly filling with fear before he turned and ran into the crowd.
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Kiri cursed the idiot who had warned him. It was now going to be hard to stop him without hurting anyone in the crowd. As she ran after him she pointed at a random person who stood near the fallen woman, “You, take care of her!”
The attacker was fast, but Kiri was faster. He was easy to follow, too, with all the startled people trying to scramble out of his way. Kiri jumped over one man who had clearly been knocked down by the fleeing assailant, not slowing for an instant. She kept her fiery hand tucked close, so it would not touch any but her intended target. Finally he was slowed by the turn as the lane reached the wall, and Kiri took an extra-long stride and lunged for him with her hand outstretched.
It caught him in the side of the neck. Kiri felt the heat rush through her hand and he went limp. The force of Kiri’s lunge took them both to the ground, but she quickly scrambled back up, leaving him stunned in the dirt. She jumped a step back, clenching her fist to gather energy as she waited a few heartbeats to make sure he was down. When he didn’t stir she knelt beside him and pressed her hand down to harmlessly release the excess energy into the ground. She checked his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief that it was both there and still strong. With a groan, Kiri dragged at the man’s arm and hoisted his body up onto her shoulder. Luckily the nearest guard tower was quite close. She could dump him there, check on the woman he had stabbed, drop by and collect her dress, and then finally find that new place Neal had insisted they meet at. She was going to be very late to lunch.
~
Neal raised an eyebrow at Kiri’s loudly growling stomach before she had the chance to greet him.
“I heard the Firebrand had been busy in the marketplace today,” he said. “Hungry work.”
Kiri wanted to complain about him throwing the name around near her. He knew it was a secret. But in truth she was so late to lunch that the dining room was nearly empty. Neal must really want to meet with her to have waited this long. There was only one other occupant in the room, a cloaked man hunched alone in the darkest corner booth. If he wasn’t one of the Thief Lord’s agents, Kiri had learned nothing in the last year. So there really wasn’t anyone to hear.
“Are you going to sit?” Neal asked. “Or at least complain about my indiscretion?”
Kiri bit back a retort and dropped into her seat.
“There’s no one here,” she said. “But I still would appreciate some discretion.”
Neal gave a slight nod and threw back the last of his glass of wine. As long as he had been waiting, Kiri doubted it was the first he had drained. “So, why was the Firebrand in the market today?”
“A woman was stabbed,” Kiri said. “Jealous lover, she said.”
“Ah,” Neal said. “And the perpetrator?”
“The Firebrand left him in the company of the City Guard.”
“Naturally,” Neal said. “Good for her. A fine, upstanding citizen, that Firebrand. Why if we had more like her-”
“Right,” Kiri cut him off. “I am hungry. How do we get service here?”
“The lady should be along shortly,” Neal said. “You were so late getting here that I told her to wait until you arrived before coming by again. I thought it might be presumptuous to order for you.”
“Right,” Kiri said. “We wouldn’t want that.”
“Indeed,” Neal said. “Just as it might be presumptuous for me to assume I know exactly what you have to say to me today.”
“I wasn’t the one who asked for this meeting.”
“No, I know,” Neal said. “I do feel it is important we keep in touch. Thus the bridge day meetings. Among other things, it gives me the chance to hear any concerns you might have. For instance…” he gestured encouragingly.
“Why do I need to say it if you already know what I’m going to say?” Kiri asked.
“Humor me,” Neal said. “I might be wrong, after all.”
“Right,” Kiri said. “And we wouldn’t want you to be presumptuous.”
The corner of Neal’s mouth quirked and he said, again, “Indeed.”
“I don’t have much hope that any word of mine will change matters,” Kiri said. “But it is about the murder by the docks. The City Guard are not investigating. They said that cutpurses like him will eventually be caught and killed by one of their would-be victims, and without witnesses there is no hope of finding the killer.”
“On this matter I am forced to agree with the Guard,” Neal said. “Much as I am generally inclined not to. A tragedy, but not much of one. The man will not be widely missed.”
“A hazard of thievery, inherent in the work? So you’re saying thieves should expect their crimes to catch up with them, eventually?”
“Exactly,” Neal said, though his eyes narrowed a little as he did not miss Kiri’s implications. “An investigation would be pointless.”
“Hmm,” Kiri said. “I had thought perhaps you might already have known who the murderer was, and not need an investigation.”
“If I did,” Neal said. “It would only be because it was the Thief Lord’s business and thus, none of the Guard’s. Nor yours.”
Kiri pursed her lips and huffed out a sharp breath. “Hazard of thievery,” she said. “Fine.”
“Ah, look, here she is,” Neal said, gesturing as a very young, very buxom but tastefully dressed woman sidled up to the table. “What would you like to eat?”