In the morning, Nua put on a necklace. The week before, she asked Ursan to have the dragon tooth drilled and hung it on a woolen cord. Then, due to increasing harassment, she stopped wearing it. She didn’t want to do anything that would attract attention and provoke her tormentors.

Now she did that on purpose. Not only that, she talked Ursan into gifting her a thin leather strap instead of a cord. As she was binding the strap on the nape of her neck, her fingers were trembling.

“You have a plan.”, Anki observed.

She nodded.

“This is bait, and I hope she bites.”, she said. “Listen. I won’t be avoiding them today. I will stand up to Hagne or Fabia, or both of them, but you must help.”

“So I have guessed. Do you want me to tell you when Erish is nearby, but they do not see her?”

“Exactly.”

The sky seemed brighter today, the smell of the docks more intense. Nua attributed it to her emotions and a good night’s sleep. She was also hungrier, but that was to be expected. After all, she was hunting. Like the river dragons.

Aton was loud and almost courteous. He reeked of sour sweat, a byproduct of the digested alcohol. Nua guessed that he spent her coppers, all six of them, with the generosity of a lord. For a moment, she thought of turning him against Fabia, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Subconsciously, she knew that it was not smart to get herself indebted to the guy.

It was not easy to get through the day, having a target painted on her back. Especially since she was hanging around the bullies’ leader. Fabia noticed the necklace right away and she started sending Nua for errands with increased malice. The girl was burning twice as much ether as usual, but that did not phase her too much. Since she started, she got much better at sorcerous reinforcement. Actually, Anki had to make her pay attention, so her energy does not look too suspicious. She was doing more than physically possible with her petite frame and meager muscles.

This time, Fabia also made a habit of “accidentally” bumping into her bucket, full of soapy, dirty water, with the clear intention of accusing Nua when it topples. It nearly made the girl forget about the fear and burst out before Anki gave her the signal. She held it in. The last time she acted prematurely, she almost had her hand chopped off.

“She’s right behind the corner, scrubbing.”, the spirit said at last, and her heart jumped. “You’re in.”

Fabia bumped into the bucket again. Nua caught it in time. Her throat was squeezed shut, her arms were shaking. She felt her cheeks flush. The moment has almost passed.

“I…”, she started quietly. “I…”

“You what?”, asked Fabia in an innocent voice. “Cat got your tongue?”

To Nua’s surprise, that helped.

“Please don’t do that. I can see you’re hitting that bucket on purpose.”, she said, her voice loud and clear.

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“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, but I want you to stop.”

“You can say whatever, piglet. I did not do anything.”

Nua got to her feet. At first, she thought that she’d need ether to reinforce her legs and keep herself from falling over, but surprisingly, anger replaced the sorcery. Just like with Flavius, she wanted to tell her off for a long time, and now she could.

“I would also like you not to speak to me using that word. You know that Erish does not like it.”

“Listen, piglet. You may think that Erish rules here.” Fabia said. “But I am your elder, too. And when she’s not around, I’m in charge.”

“And now she turned.”, Anki whispered.

“I know you’re not,” Nua said and deliberately added, “Erish would not agree with you.”

Fabia put her hands on her hips.

“Erish,”, she bellowed. “Can kiss my ass.”

“Hook, line, and sinker.”, the spirit chuckled. The large silhouette of the crew leader emerged from behind the corner, just at Fabia’s back, and if eyes could shoot arrows, the woman would be already dead. She did not notice her supervisor, though, and seeing Nua’s face, she mistook her expression for terror. That made her launch into a tirade.

“We do not want you beast-eyes taking honest jobs from honest people. You should take a hint and go back to the gutter, where you came from. And Erish should be careful defending you lot, lest someone starts paying more attention to her looks.”

“Oooh, the gift just keeps on giving.”, said the spirit with glee.

“Fabia.”

The crew leader’s voice rolled like thunder. Fabia turned very, very slowly, blood draining from her face.

“Pack up and go.”, said Erish.

“But…!”

“But pack up and go.” Erish made a gesture to get back the cleaning gear. Fabia had no way out but to obey. “Aton! She’s fired.”

Her raised voice was registered by several other cleaners. They gave the scene a quick look, then turned back to work. She did not need to say anything more. Giving dour glances left and right, she placed Fabia’s equipment with other spare gear. While doing that, she pointedly made noise.

Nua was afraid that others will resent her for having Fabia fired, but at the midday break it turned out that almost everyone had an anecdote to tell about their former colleague, even the people who were in with her before. Hagne, the same worker who gave Nua such pain the previous week, was gruff, but at the same time, visibly relieved – Nua wasn’t sure if that was because she avoided her supervisor’s anger, or because she secretly hated Fabia too. On the other side, Erish acted as if nothing happened at all. Only after she unwrapped her flatbread roll and had a generous bite, she made one remark.

“This is good,” she said. “Today, everybody gets what they deserve.”

Nua didn’t speak out. She did not want to try her luck too much.

Later, on her way back from the docks, she felt tension dissipating. She wasn’t even aware that the pressure was that strong, as if it had physical weight. Why did she even allow Fabia to mistreat her for so long? She looked at her flatfish, contemplating. That problem was solved for now, but she didn’t feel like working at the warehouse anymore.

“Say, Anki. Why should I care about that crap? With my sorcery, I could go back to the junkyard and find stuff for more money than working here. For Hala to sell. She can’t do it with that fish.”

“Too soon.”, said Anki. “I have no doubt you’d fare much better than before, now that you can run when trouble is afoot. But that’s still too early. And don’t you forget it, you’d have to get around the intruders. Even if the mage-engineer isn’t Awakened, he’s much more proficient at using ether than you are. You need patience.”

“Right.”

“Anyway, I think that you deserve praise. You have thought of a plan. You held on an impulse – don’t think I didn’t see that – and executed it properly. You stood up to someone in power, and you won.”

“I was lucky.”, Nua said, “Fabia was such a turd.”

“Turds are dime of a dozen, and usually they fare quite well. You’ve exposed her turdness when it counted. Now, why are you looking at that flatfish as if you saw it for the first time in your life?”

“Because, actually…” Nua bit her lip. “Anki, would it be bad for me if I don’t eat a fish today?”

“You’ve been supplying building blocks for remodeling your brain scars for almost two weeks now. I think you’re good. Why ask?”

“Because,” said Nua, “I just had an idea.”

“I am already worried.”