“You know,” Augustine said. “I’m feeling a sense of déjà vu.” An itch appeared on his forearm, but the tight rope around his wrists constrained him. He made a bigger commitment to try and scratch the spot and the wooden chair squeaked as he rocked from side to side. In the end, his actions proved wasted. The man sitting across the desk coughed for attention.

“Have you been tied up in a chair recently,” the man asked.

“Well… it’s a long story.”

“Do know why you’re here?”

“Hm… Nope! No idea.”

“You’ve upset me,” the man revealed. Augustine heard the sound of a cage rattling, but the man didn’t seem to pay attention to it.

“Uh… I’m sorry,” Augustine said. “Who’re you?”

“Kingsman. Now who’re you?”

“Augustine. Pleased to meet you.”

“Pleased isn’t the word I would use.” Kingsman lifted a familiar black bag from the floor and dropped it on the table. “Confused might be more appropriate. You, and some mystery man who got away, sneak onboard one of my ships and think the two of you can steal my slaves?”

“Your ship?”

“Well,” he chuckled. Kingsman raised his hands wide as if to grab the whole room. “This is my port. The captain of the ship you were trying to steal from came to me looking for business. So why are you trying to steal my cargo? Huh? Who sent you?”

“Nobody. I just wanted some cash.”

          “

So you steal from someone like me? Not a random civilian, not someone decently wealthy, but a very very powerful man such as myself?”

“I wanted to pull an elaborate scheme,” Augustine confessed. “If I could steal from someone of your stature, it’d prove my capabilities. I’m smart. I can work for you.”

“You’re smart,” Kingsman repeated as he pulled the firework Augustine had planned to use out of the bag. Then he reached into his desk, pulled out a match, and lit the fuse. Augustine sank into his chair as if trying to get as far away as possible. However, when the flame hit the end, nothing happened. Kingsman laughed and tossed it to the side. “The shits not going to work if it’s wet.”

Realization struck as Augustine released a heavy sigh. “I am smart, though,” he retorted. The cage rattled again, so Kingsman reached over to the source. Something clicked and he pulled up a meerkat.

“Pardon me; he gets restless when he’s hungry.” Kingsman pulled out small bits of food and gave it to the creature. It took the food in its hand and began munching on the bits at lightning speeds. Every once in a while, it would straighten its composure and stare at Augustine with its ears tucked behind its head.

“Aww,” Augustine gushed. “Look at it! It’s all ‘om nom nom nom’! It’s so cute!”

“Thanks,” Kingsman said and smiled. “They’re natives of the desert. I just picked it up the other day. Anyway, you said you want to work for me. You failed miserably with your plan, but I have an idea. You see, there’s a gang leader not far from here. He keeps trying to steal from me which is why I advised the Captain to increase security. Unlucky for you.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Steal from him. Anything of value. If you’re successful, I’ll take you into my gang. I’ll give you a nice sum of gold to start and then you’ll get paid for every operation I send you on.”

“Sounds good, but I want one more thing. I also want one of your slaves.”

“You want a slave,” Kingsman scoffed. “Why?”

“They’ll prove useful later on.”

“Fine.”

“And it’s my choice.”

“Deal,” Kingsman said. He stood, walked around the desk, and released the binds. “Let’s go pick out your slave.”

As they stepped down the stairs, the stares of every man inside The Headsman fixated on Augustine.

“Whoa, whoa,” one man said as he slammed his mug onto the table. “What the hell is this!?”

“He’s working for me at the moment and I told him I would give him a slave. We’re going to pick one out now,” Kingsman answered.

“That’s bullshit!”

“Well, Captain, I’ll let you know when your input is welcomed.”

Damn, Augustine thought. A smile crept over his face.

“You can’t just give him a slave!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kinsman said. He walked up to the Captain and stood so close their noses nearly touched. “I didn’t realize you were giving the orders. You see, if I remember correctly, your boss is doing business with me. That means while you’re in my port, you listen to me.” He paused to give the man a chance to say anything else.

When he didn’t, Kingsman continued, “And when I said we’re going to pick a slave out, I mean out of all the slaves.” Then he nodded to a young girl standing a few feet away with her head facing the ground. The Captain kissed his teeth and sat back down.  Kingsman barked at a few other slaves standing around and they all left the room together.

“Hang on,” Augustine said when the door to the inn closed behind them. “I already know who I want.”

“Oh? Who,” Kingsman asked. Augustine nodded towards the slave that had been standing near the Captain in the room. “Why her?”

“I dunno,” Augustine shrugged. “I like her white hair, I suppose.”

Kingsman stared at the slave for a few moments. Then, he laughed. “Yeah, it is unique isn’t it? I remember seeing her file cause she’s the youngest. Sixteen. Don’t remember her name, but who cares. She’s all yours. Come back within three days with good news.” With that, Kingsman pat Augustine on the back and disappeared back into the inn with the other slaves. Through the door, Augustine could hear the Captain’s objections.

“Well, then,” Augustine said, turning to his new companion. “What’s your name?” She continued to stare at the ground and not say anything. “Well, okay, follow me then.” As they walked together, Augustine would point out shops that he knew. The girl followed behind so quietly that he had to check behind him to make sure she was still there. 

One time he looked back and she had actually stopped and was looking into a shop. Her eyes were wide and glistening so much, a star sparkled somewhere inside. Augustine joined her and peered into the shop as well, though the smell gave him good idea what the contents were. Laid out across a few shelves were dozens of cakes - chocolate, vanilla, small, big, every kind.

“Do you want one,” he asked. The girl looked at him for the first time, but a second later the sparkle in her eye vanished and she looked at the ground again. “Which do you like?” When she didn’t respond, he walked him and picked out the cheapest one: a cupcake with white frosting. The look in her eye returned.

“I have to confess: you’re not a slave anymore. I didn’t buy you, I bought your freedom,” when he told her this, she traded glances between him and the ground a couple times. “You know, you kind of look like the sky. Your eyes are a beautiful light blue and your hair is white like the clouds. Do you have a name? No? You should have one. Since you’re free, how about you make up your own name?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

She took the cupcake in her hand and held it like a precious jewel. She took her first bite and the biggest smile in history appeared across her face.

“You can leave, if you want. Or you can stick with me for a while. It’s up to you: your first choice as a free woman.” He turned to walk away and at first, she didn’t do anything. Then he felt a tug behind his shirt.

“Sky…” she said. Her voice sounded light and weak like it was her first time talking.

“Okay, Sky, want to meet my friends?”

“Augustine,” Jay exclaimed as he leapt through the air into his arms. Then he inhaled deeply. “Oh, I missed your musk.”

“Right. Good to see you too buddy.”

“How are you here? What happened?”

“Here’s the gist: the captain of the ship we were on was sent by the Black Hawks to do business with Kingsman, who owns the port. I got him to offer me a job instead of kill me.”

“Oh, man, lucky you.”

“Lucky me,” Augustine repeated. “Now I have to steal something from some gang leader. The good news, if we pull this off, he’ll pay us.”

“Awesome! Let’s do this.”

“Wow, you’re on board quickly… You realize if we do this, we’ll be directly involved with a powerful leader of a gang. We won’t be able to sneak around like we’ve been doing.”

“That’s okay. Really, I say we do it. One question, though: who’s this?” Jay nodded towards Sky.

“Ah, she was a slave. She was part of the deal I made with Kingsman, and I gave her freedom. Apparently she was the slave to Captain, so I also thought she might help us when we take down the Black Hawks.”

“We’re still doing that?”

“Of course. Castle is still a friend. It doesn’t hurt that his nuns act as our ears around this island. Speak of the priest…”

“Augustine,” Castle said as he joined them, accompanied by a nun. “Jay here has been waiting patiently for your return.”

“Really,” Augustine asked.

“No. He’s been nothing but trouble for the Sisters.”

“Shoo shoo,” the nun said while waving her hands at him.

“Well I’m sorry about that, but I have a favor to ask. You see this little piece of sunshine right here?” Augustine pat Sky on top of the head. “She needs a place to stay. Would you like to stay here, Sky?” She didn’t reply. “Yeah, she doesn’t talk much. Do you mind? Just for a while.”

“Of course not. Sister, can you take young Sky here inside?” The nun took the girl by the hand and guided her inside the church. “Now, do you have news? Have you made any progress?”

“I’ve made some progress, but it’s going to take longer than I thought.”

“Take as long as you need, son. I’ll have work for you whenever you’re ready.” The priest pat Augustine on the shoulder and walked back into the church.

“Well then,” Jay said. “What’s the plan, boss?”

“Well this gang’s territory is just south of Kingsman, so at first I thought it would be just as powerful. Luckily, it’s not. I guess Kingsman steals all the business. He also told me that their leader died just a few weeks ago and his son took over. With their struggles with Kingsman in the north, I’d say the south would be the most vulnerable. If we poke our heads around there, we should be okay.”

“Okay, poke around where?”

“An inn or a tavern, I suppose. If we can mingle and get the right person drunk, we could get some more info about who runs this place.”

“Alright, sounds good. There’s just one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“We’re late for our shifts at the Drunken Dragon.”

“Shit,” Augustine shouted as sprinted down the street at record-breaking speed.

“What do you see, what do you see,” Jay pestered. Augustine felt his body double in weight as his friend made an attempt to climb over him.

“Get off me, damnit.” Augustine shrugged him off and kept peering around the corner of a dark alley. A few buildings down was the objective: a tavern with nothing standing out about it. “There’s not a lot of people around. It looks subtle, I say we go in. But let me do the talking.” They casually strolled out of the alley and entered the tavern. 

A dozen men sat around drinking and playing cards, but it appeared utterly dead. One person sat at the bar, so Augustine and Jay targeted him by sitting a few barstools away. They both ordered ale and looked around aimlessly, but focused all of their attention on the man. 

He sighed: a moment of weakness! Augustine immediately attacked. “Hey. Why so down? Let us buy you a drink.”

“H-huh,” the man stuttered and looked over. Then he chuckled and looked back down at the bar. “No, no, thank you though.”

Augustine reached into his pocket and pulled out a few gold coins. He slammed it down on the table and said, “Bartender, another drink for this fellow.”

“Thanks.” The man smiled wearily.

“So, come on, tell a couple travelers the tales of your sorrows.”

“Oh, it’s not that interesting. What brings you here?”

“Man,” Jay said, leaning over the bar to get a look at the man. “We were over in the south part of the island when a thief came up to us, right? And he was all, ‘Gimme your money or I’m gonna gut ya!’ and we were all, ‘Oh shit!’ but then a guard saw us. The thief tried to run away, so Augustine here disarmed him and karate chopped the dude’s throat. But then we thought, let’s just steal his stuff now! So then I jumped onto the guards back and wrestled him to the ground. I held him tight around the throat until he passed out and we stole both of their coin purses. So we ran away but then we saw this homeless girl, right, and I felt bad, so I gave her a few coin pieces. But then she pulled out a knife and-”

“Jay,” Augustine interrupted. He stopped talking as Augustine’s serious eyes pierced through his soul. He looked at his drink with a sad expression and Augustine looked back over to the stranger who had been listening attentively with a huge grin. “It’s a little exaggerated…”

“That’s quite alright,” the man said with a booming laugh. “I love a good story! Here, here, another drink on me!” So the three of them shared many drinks and told many stories coated in white lies. The man swayed in his seat and kept a constant smile. Augustine and Jay, however, drank less than he. The question about the gang popped.

“Oh, them? A new boss took over not too long ago, people call him Johnny Boy. He’s not doing too well though.”

“Why do you say that,” Augustine asked.

“He owns this tavern you’re drinking in. Not much too it, you see. It’s low end, just like all the others he owns.”

“Well, that sounds unfortunate. It’s a little surprising that the gang is still around then. Wouldn’t people take advantage?” The man paused.

“No, not much,” the man said.

“What about other gangs? Wouldn’t they want to come and take some territory?”

“Just a few times. I hear it’s not much of a problem, though…”

“Oh, yeah? Where do they usually go?”

The man didn’t reply, but looked at Augustine in the corner of his eye.

Augustine noticed the hesitance and quickly tried to cover his tracks. “Uh, I ask for curiosity of course! Let’s change the topic, yeah?”

“No. It’s alright. So, what brings you here?”

“Well, we’re travelers-” Before Augustine could finish the lie; the man grabbed a handful of Augustine’s hair and slammed it against the bar. Jay stood up to retaliate, but everyone in the bar stood by the stranger. Augustine clutched his head and looked up.

“What the hell?”

“Now, what the hell are you doing in my tavern?”