A cluster of ragged children were making their way back to the Outside after a day spent running errands for tradesmen in return for copper chips. A weird echoing sound drifted down from the rooftops, and the group drew closer together. The sound seemed to come from several places at once. It was like the twittering of a bird, but too tuneful to be one. No bird knew real songs.
“A ghost?” The smallest of the children, a black-haired boy in a too-big overcoat, whispered to the others. He was the only one turning his head looking around for the source of the sound. The others, though they had clearly heard it, kept their heads trained in the direction they were still walking. They didn’t want to be caught looking at the wrong thing. In this city, there were plenty who would punish poor children for staring and spying even when they were trying to keep to their own business.
The tallest child, a girl with a long braid down her back, placed her hand on top of the little boy’s head and turned it to face front. “No ghosts here, Kian. Let’s get home quickly, all right?”
Kian bit his lip, and as another whistle came, louder and closer than the first, he tried to turn and look again, but the girl’s tight grip kept him from it.
The last of the other people on the street turned down a side alley, and the oldest girl tensed as she realized her little crew were alone. The group she had gathered to walk together for safety suddenly seemed not large enough. She quickened her pace--too late. The whistlers dropped with three soft thuds to the street level. They had clearly been waiting on nearby roofs for just this opportunity. She heard two behind her and didn’t bother looking, because she knew the man who was standing before her. It was Tagg. The Outsiders had found a new ambush location. She was surprised to see them here. She’d never known them to act within the city limits before, though perhaps they only dared because the children were from the outside like themselves.
“You know what we’re here for, Sera,” Tagg said. “Turn them out quickly so we can all be on our way.”
“Don’t fancy meeting the city guard, do you?” Sera said. “I would be worried too, if I were you, acting within the walls like this.”
Tagg gave one sharp laugh. “You’re the one that should be worried,” he said. “The guard won’t lift a finger to help scum like you.”
Sera licked her lips, thinking furiously. She couldn’t afford to lose the coin she’d earned today. It had been a good haul, and her mother was sick. But Tagg and his two friends would be able to take her little crew by force, and she knew it. And he was right, the city guard likely wouldn’t care.
“We can turn them out, like you said,” Sera said. “But if we go home without any coin today, our mothers won’t let us go back into the city to earn more tomorrow, and then how will you get your money?”
Tagg scoffed. “There are plenty of people to rob.”
“That may be,” Sera said. “But I have a proposal for you. How would you like it if today we give you a portion of our money, and since we’ll still have money when we go home our mothers will allow us to try again. Tomorrow we can meet here at the same time and we’ll give you a portion of our money again. Isn’t that how the Thief Lord does it?”
“You know nothing about the Thief Lord, little girl,” Tagg said. “Don’t think that you do.” He stroked his chin, then nodded to the two behind Sera. They came around to stand next to him. Sera kept her chin up and her eye on Tagg.
“Say, ten percent,” she said.
“Twenty,” Tagg said. “And you count it in front of us. Right now.”
In no time the children’s pockets were turned out onto the cobbles in the shadows by one of the buildings lining the street. Kian, who was good with numbers, quickly counted it out into two piles.
“That’s twenty percent?” Tagg asked, pointing to the smaller pile.
“We wouldn’t cheat you,” Sera said, when Kian nodded. “That’s it.”
Tagg gestured for one of his boys to pick it up. The boy stepped forward.
A whistle, ghostly and shrill, echoed down from the roof above them. A figure, dressed in black and masked, followed the whistle, dropping to the street right beside the group. She moved eerily, silently, with a grace the three Outsider boys had not approached. Tagg sucked in a quick breath at the sight of her, but then immediately threw his shoulders back and tilted his chin cockily, putting on his swagger easily despite the unease the woman’s appearance had obviously caused him.
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Sera looked at the woman curiously. She wasn’t any bigger than Sera, but much more intimidating, nonetheless. Sera had never seen anyone dress like that before, or move like that before. When the woman raised her hand and Sera saw that her palm was actually glowing, she sucked in her breath just like Tagg had. That had to be magic. This woman was the Firebrand Colin had been babbling about. No one had believed him, but here she was, flesh and blood. She was real.
“Leave the money where it is, thieves,” the woman said. “You know I mean it.”
“I’ve had enough of you, Firebrand,” Tagg said. “Don’t you know how to mind your own business?”
“Afraid not,” she said. “Thievery isn’t business.”
“Oh, but you misunderstand,” Sera was surprised to hear her own voice, thin and high. Why was she coming to that scum Tagg’s defense? “This is business, not thievery. We’ve agreed on payment, and now we’re simply paying. It’s kind of you to be concerned, but we’re fine.”
“Payment,” the Firebrand said flatly. “For what?”
“Protection,” Sera said firmly, and when she met Tagg’s eyes, he gave one short nod. She realized that she meant it. This payment was for a kind of protection, a knowledge that they wouldn’t be assaulted in the street, that even if it wasn’t as much as they’d earned, they’d have some kind of money to bring home each day.
“Protection,” the Firebrand repeated. “Are you sure you don’t want me to send them away? You don’t have to give them your money.”
“Oh, we’re not giving,” Sera said. “We’re paying.”
The Firebrand shook her head, but said, “Fine.” But she didn’t move away. Instead she planted her feet and crossed her arms.
So everyone hurried to gather their money under her narrowed eyes, hoping she wouldn’t change her mind. Sera wondered how the other children thought of the arrangement she had made on their behalf. There hadn’t been any way to consult with them, and they all knew better than to draw attention to themselves in the presence of dangerous bullies like the Outsiders, or a terrifying unknown like the Firebrand. Who knows what side she might take? They had lived long enough as the scum beneath the feet of the powerful to know never to assume that anyone would take their side.
“Let the younger ones go first,” the Firebrand said, when all the money was gathered. “Give them a nice long head start, all right? I wouldn’t want anyone deciding they need more payment.”
“Thank you, Firebrand, ma’am,” Sera ducked her head in a quick bow and hurried away, hustling the younger children along in front of her.
Tagg watched the children out of sight. The silence was heavy, and he resisted the urge to edge away from the Firebrand--or to hit her. She made his skin tingle with tension, and his mind raced. The way things were going...she was making everything spin out of control. His carefully built, if tiny, empire was unraveling and Neal’s threats made him fear washing up on the river shore in pieces. It was enough to make a man crazy.
“Long enough?” he demanded sharply when some time had passed since his last sight of that spunky girl Sera.
The Firebrand nodded. “That concludes your business.” Her displeasure was well evident, and little sparks kept jumping off her glowing palm to dance on the pavement before fading out. Tagg realized he couldn’t get away from her just yet. He swallowed hard.
“With them, yes,” he said. “But now that I think of it, I’m not done here yet. Go on, boys, I’ll catch you up. I need to have a few words with the Firebrand.”
“Really?” she sounded surprised.
“If you don’t mind,” Tagg said. His boys started to move away slowly, obviously hesitant to leave their boss alone with this dangerous woman. Tagg waved them off and kept his eye on the Firebrand. She shrugged dismissively and raised her hand a little. The action spilled a skittering shower of sparks across the ground, forcing Tagg to edge away. She had to know how nervous that made people. Judging by her tight smile at Tagg’s movement, she did know, and she liked it.
Tagg’s two boys had stopped and were hanging just out of easy earshot, and although he knew they couldn’t stop the Firebrand from taking him out if she decided to, he still felt some degree of reassurance by their presence. Good of them not to abandon him. He crossed his arms loosely, and waited for her to speak first.
“So you wanted to talk to me?” she snapped. “Was it to promise to be good
from now on?”
“No,” Tagg said. “It was to ask for your help.”
“What?” she spoke loudly enough that Tagg’s two boys heard her and perked up. “Sorry, I find that hard to believe.”
“I’ll explain it to you, if you’ll meet with me,” he said. “Let’s just say I’m in danger and I think you can help.”
“I think we need to say a lot more than that.”
“I’ll explain more when you meet with me,” he said. “This isn’t a good place or time. Tonight, moonrise, by South Gate. I’ll come alone. You can bring whoever you want.”
“I’ll be alone,” she said. “And I’ll find you.”
“Of course,” he said. “How could I expect to spot you in that fine black outfit? You’re like a shadow.”
He actually heard her teeth grind. He meant to swagger off, but the shower of sparks that surrounded the Firebrand as she seethed at him hurried him on. Even so, he didn’t exactly run. Not exactly.