Alice froze in horror, knowing that the false Workers had found her at last. She should have done better by her dragons, should have taken the gold piece, and used it to run for a new city. She should never have assumed that these gilded walls would protect her…

Prim hissed.

Alice quickly shushed her. Their only chance was to stay hidden.

The figure at the door hesitated, perhaps hearing something. Then he entered the darkened all the way and closed the door to a crack behind him.

After the initial shock had passed, Alice realized that the figure was rather small, almost childlike.

He was also carrying something—a bag that would neatly fit a dragon.

A new horror washed over Alice. Prim did not have any skills to protect herself, and Numi was out on the prowl for new coins.

That meant it was up to Alice to fight and protect them.

The figure began poking around, likely still blinded by the bright hallway lamp outside. But he wouldn't be for long. Alice's own silhouette was hidden against the balcony curtain. But as soon as his eyes adjusted, he would see her.

Using hand gestures, Alice indicated that Prim should hide.

Then, she reached out, her fingers circling the base of a heavy brass lamp. She moved to strike when the figure was turned away from her. In one fluid motion, she stood from her chair, ripped the lamp from its socket, and struck him across the head.

At least, that was the idea.

At the last moment, the figure hunched in reflex. Alice struck him across the back and shoulders instead, driving him down. Though she never hit anyone in her life before, she knew her strike wasn’t strong enough to knock him out.

The figure cried out in a child's voice.

Alice hurried across the room and switched on another lamp and the room was bathed in a golden glow.

A dirty boy lay crouched in the middle of her floor, dressed in a hotel worker uniform. The clothing was too big for him and puffed up oddly around his ankles and wrists as if he had tried to inexpertly roll the fabric back. It had to have been stolen.

Alice had no time to take in what she had done before the boy lurched back to his feet, turning around. Clearly, he wasn’t too hurt. His expression was equally horrified.

"Miss! Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss. I came here for the chimney sweeping—I didn't mean to startle you." He rushed to the fireplace as if to emphasize his words.

Unfortunately, that was where Prim was hiding, concealed like one of the ashy logs. The little rose gold dragon raised her wings in shock, effectively breaking the camouflage.

The boy froze, and Alice had the presence of mind to cross the room and cover his mouth before he could let out a scream.

"Say nothing!" Alice told him in a hard, cold voice she barely recognized. "Prim, go lock the door."

She had never given a command like that before, but Prim obediently flew over to the still-ajar front door, used her momentum to fully close it, and engaged the lock with her dexterous claw-fingers.

The boy shook Alice's hand off, openly gaping at Prim. "Is that…"

"It's none of your business! And I know you're a thief, not a chimney sweep, so don't deny it." The boy's mouth snapped shut over his next lie.

Concentrating, Alice tried to Identify him, but came up with no class tag. Not a big surprise. He seemed too young for the system to recognize—maybe twelve or thirteen at the most, and an underfed twelve or thirteen years old at that.

"I'm sorry," the boy said again, "I had no idea that you were a high-classer, Miss. My boss sent me in here to sweep, you see. We thought that the room would be empty, Miss."

Alice rolled her eyes. "If you're a chimney sweep, then I'm a dog. But I do believe that you thought I wasn't in here." Which was why he snuck in to steal whatever she might have left behind.

The boy's false earnest expression cracked, and his gaze again flicked towards Prim. "Say, is that your pet dragon? Is that for sale?"

Prim arched her neck imperiously.

"She's no pet," Alice said, half in exasperation as she rested one fist against her waist. "What is your plan here? If you keep stealing things from people, the System will take note. Then, when you're finally old enough, all you'll get is thief classes. Is that what you want?"

The boy looked at her with derision in his eyes.

Alice continued, "And that means you won't be able to work anywhere decent—no employer will have you."

"Well, I can't get employment now. I gotta eat, don't I?"

That was true, but… "Where are your parents?"

He shrugged.

She sighed.

A knock came at the door, and they both froze.

The boy turned to her, pleading now. "Please don't tell. Coming into your room was just an honest mistake. Really!"

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She highly doubted that.

"Stay there." She started to move to the door, but paused when she caught him looking toward the balcony window as if considering whether he should jump or not.

Prim solved that neatly by alighting to him. He caught her by reflex, his expression softening. Carefully, he started to pet the little dragon.

The knock came again and Alice turned back to the door. "Coming."

She opened it just a crack to see a woman with a Hotel Worker tag over her head.

"Apologies for disturbing you, Miss." The worker curtsied neatly. "It's time to collect the orders for the evening meal. Will you be dining in your room today, or will you be joining us in the restaurant downstairs?"

I just caught a thief in my room, I don't think anywhere is safe enough to leave, Alice thought, half hysterically. But she kept her face a blank mask. That was a talent she had picked up a long time ago when trying to go unnoticed by the Earl and his family. "I would like two dinner orders brought up to my room," she said after a moment of thought. Then she dug in her pocket and handed over two silvers. "And please make it quick."

The woman seemed pleased but not all that surprised by the extra incentive. "Right away, Miss." Another curtsy.

Alice closed the door and locked it again for good measure. When she turned back, she saw that the boy had taken a seat and was quietly petting Prim.

Well, at least he hadn’t attacked them.

"Her name is Prim, and I'm Alice, by the way," she said.

The boy seemed half-enthralled by the dragon and wasn't listening. "She's so pretty…"

Alice waited a moment, and then prompted, "What's your name?"

Finally, he tore his gaze from the little dragon and looked at her. "I'm Tom."

"Hello, Tom," Alice said.

"Hello, Tom," a piping voice echoed from the balcony.

They both turned to see Numi, who had freshly crawled up the outside of the wall and onto the balcony. She scuttled inside, her bulging stomach rattling with fresh coins.

"And that's Numi," Alice said, resisting the urge to pinch between her eyebrows. She was getting a headache.

"How many dragons do you have?" Tom asked.

Thankfully, Numi said, "Alice! Alice! You're going to love this. I got two more—"

Alice quickly interrupted before the little dragon could brag about her findings in front of a thief. "Thank you, Numi. You've done wonderfully."

"So… They're smart? Can this one speak?" Tom looked at Prim, who just blinked her eyes at him.

Alice liked the open admiration from the little thief. But she was painfully unsure of what to do about him. Should she threaten him? Put the fear into him so he never thought about telling anybody else about what he saw?

The problem with that was that fear tended to fade fast, and shortly after, Tom might come back or just sell her out completely.

The other thing that held her back was the fact that Prim seemed intent on making friends with him, and Prim tended to have a good read on people. If Alice had listened to her earlier, she might have been better prepared to deal with Dolly.

Before she could decide what to do, another knock came at the door.

"That was fast," she muttered. She had to remember that lesson: good tipping meant good service.

Soon, Alice returned with two fancy plates with silver-topped lids over them. She'd had to fend off the overeager hotel worker who wanted to set up her dining table… Whatever that was meant to mean. Alice insisted she could do it herself, which caused an odd look. Taking the tray, she closed the door.

The tray was filled with two covered plates. Setting it up on the table, she lifted one of the lids and gasped.

There was, in her estimation, an entire feast on the plate before her. Roast chicken with the skin crusted in herbs, a large mound of fluffy mashed potatoes with a pool of gravy, and a selection of vegetables — asparagus and carrots were also seasoned beyond anything she had seen before.

The smell was both pungent and divine. Even Tom, who was half enraptured by Prim, stood up to take a look.

Alice didn't blame him and made a little ohh of appreciation as she lifted the second lid and found an identical feast.

Then she looked at Tom. You do catch more flies with honey...

"Well?" she said, "what are you waiting for? Dig in." She sat at the table and grabbed one of the forks that came along with the meal.

Tom took a couple of eager steps towards the food, an expression of longing on his thin face. But then he paused. "How do I know it isn't poisoned?"

In answer, Alice rolled her eyes and took a forkful of mashed potatoes off the second plate. She made a point of chewing and swallowing.

Tom must have decided that having a full, delicious meal for once was worth the risk because he quickly joined her at the table. They ate hungrily, and she suspected, like two starving wolves. For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the sound of chewing and cutlery scraping.

Alice only paused to give choice bits of chicken to Prim. Numi, of course, declined the food. But... what was she going to do about Tom?

Well, there might be some value she could get out of him. "Tom, do you know this area?" she asked, casually.

"Of course," he replied, thickly, his mouth full. Then he paused and picked up one of the napkins that had come along with the meal. "There sure are a lot of fancy napkins around here. I wonder why they all look different..."

"Have you seen any men around here who... act oddly?" Alice asked, trying to redirect him. "What do you mean?"

She decided to be blunt with the kid. "They have Worker tags over their heads, but I don't think they're workers. I’ve never heard of that class before."

He froze, gravy and potatoes slipping off his fork. "Hunters? You've seen them around?" "Hunters?" she repeated.

Immediately, he shook his head. "You don't have to worry about them, Miss. Not a high-classer like you. They're for... my people. But you've seen them around?" He seemed alarmed.

"I have," Alice said. The heavy meal she had just eaten sat badly in her stomach. "Can you tell me about them?"

He looked hesitant.

"Tom," she said, "I want to know what’s happening in the city. And," she added, knowing that this would seal the deal, "I can pay for the information.”

That seemed like the type of thing an Apprentice Merchant would say, right? One who was trying to get herself established?

Well, it was good enough to pass the muster of a suspicious twelve-year-old.

Tom still looked uncomfortable, but he said, "Well, for people like me, they're known to pick people off the streets. Sell the girls to the brothels, the boys to the mines." He took a look around the room. "If you don't mind me saying, Miss, that's why a lot of people around here have bodyguards."

Her gut twisted even further. "I thought you said high-classers don't have to worry."

He looked at her with eyes that seemed too old for his young face. "A mark is a mark, Miss. You don't want to get caught being stupid. Not in this city."

That... was sound advice.

After a moment's thought, Alice dug around for another silver and passed it across the table. "This is for the information." Then she added another two silvers, "And this is for future information. If you hear word about what those hunters are up to, you come to me straight away. Deal?"

She hoped that this would be enough to buy his silence and that her continuing to throw silvers at him would be worth more than him deciding to try to burglarize her again, or worse, rat out her dragons.

He grinned, and for the first time, his expression looked genuine. "You can trust me, Miss Alice." She hoped so because she didn’t have much else of a choice.