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Silence pervaded their conversation, and Thimble fidgeted and shuffled his feet. He was obviously nervous, and eager to be free of Orion. Without a link between them, he would escape at first given opportunity, which explained the shuffling feet. Orion eased his hand and moved it away from his hidden knife – the maroon-haired urchin didn’t react.
“Don’t worry, Thimble. I wouldn’t force you to do this for free. How much?”
Thimble gulped. He wanted to cheat Orion but the fact he was a Mage frightened him to the point he shivered whenever Orion spoke. Nevertheless, he was a child of the streets: the scars along his cheeks hadn’t just appeared there. Losing his edge in tense situations would have starved him to death years ago, graveless and unmourned. The trick was to not push the price too far as to bud suspicions, but not low enough to be a fair price for his services.
“A single silvah, Lord Magy.” he said after deliberation.
Orion’s eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. What a bargain. Wait, had he undervalued his wealth? A gold coin was equal to 100 silvers, and a silver was equal to 100 coppers. Orion had never been involved with logistics at the House, but he was sure a meal was around 5 silvers.
“I beg yor sorries, Lord Magy. I’ll show yer around for 20 coppahs.” Thimble hastily added, his shaky legs betraying his emotions.
At this, Orion’s heart pounded and his face flushed. He had almost been cheated by an uneducated street-urchin, and he had genuinely believed it a bargain. Instead of anger, however, he suffered an attack to his ego; how could he avenge his family when he couldn’t even see through a frightened child’s tricks? He was inadequate for this, he should’ve died at the ambush instead of his brothers and sisters. In fact, he remembered he had a cousin he had never met in the Imperial Army. He didn’t know her rank or station, but she had been lauded by the entire House – even if she was chained up now, he knew such a character would escape and take vengeance. He wouldn’t be any more helpful to the process than his dead relatives.
Suddenly, Orion whispered, “Calm down,” to himself, putting the maroon-haired urchin further on edge.
What if his cousin couldn’t escape, or what if she had been the first to die? He knew there were techniques for scouring memories from corpses; that would explain how they had known of his family’s secrets and how they had mounted such a deadly ambush. No, he had to be the one to do his own chores, instead of continuing to be a weeping burden.
Orion focused on Thimble, certain his own face was as red as a beet and his threats as laughable as jokes. “No, I won’t cheat you. A full silver, as long as you go above and beyond with your tour,”
Thimble visibly relaxed, his jaw slack and eyes relieved. “Yes sur, Lord Magy,” he shouted.
“That’s Orion, no, … Jax, Lord Jax to you,” Orion said, picking a name from a children’s tale.
“Should we go now, Lord Jax?”
“Yes… no,” Orion said, sensing greed born out of comfort inside Thimble. There were many stories of Heroes being robbed clean by Scoundrels in cities. He was too naïve; he needed to be more vigilant.
“Watch,” he said. His eyes didn’t lighten, but on the ground appeared a glowing blue spot. Orion clenched his left hand and the finger-sized spot exploded, launching a ray of dust into the air. He then took out the gold coin, and making sure Thimble could see, tapped blue spots onto it, before putting it back into his pocket.
“Understand?”
Thimble gulped and nodded, his ambitious plans crumbling away.
“Alright then. Let’s go,”
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Thimble first took him to the main road.
“This ‘eres the Hexham’s road. Leads from the market to the palace, to the, umm, slums, an’ docks. It connects the whole city.”
Despite his self-admitted naivety, even Orion could tell his companion had a rock in his throat. “Out with it, or I’ll find another guide,”
“No, no, please Lord Jax. What I gonna say ain’t good, if yer gets me. It’s what I learnt through practiss, stuff I’m sure yer have no use for,” Thimble said.
Orion tried his best to give an easy smile although it still came out strained. “Why do you think I asked you for a tour?”
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The maroon-haired urchin thought and nodded. “It’s bettah if yer don’t mess with the guards. But if yer are gonna, do it when it’s light. Thataway, yer can run into the crowds. In the dark, more patrols, more alert, an’ more violent. Sometimes they’ll clash with Rats’s men, an’ it’s always messy, but most of the time they avoid each other.”
“Who’s Rats?”
“Rats? He’s the nastiest Underking. If yer love yor life, avoid ‘im at all costs.”
Orion thought there had been a lot of Soldiers guarding Hexham’s road at night, and now it made sense why. There seemed to be a conflict, but also a balance, between the city’s council and the underground.
The two of them walked along the road for a bit but mostly used alleyways and dirty paths. At first, Orion had been suspicious why and where Thimble was leading him, but he soon realised that Thimble was avoiding the guards.
“Why are you running from every guard?” he asked.
“Haha. Sorri, Lord Jax, but that’s just a dumb question. Do yer think they want my kind on this road? They wanna show the outsiders the good city, not the real city. An’ for that, they’ll beat up me nasty if they catch me.”
A few minutes later, they entered a market square.
“These are the markets. It’s got everything yer need, from food to weapons, although overpriced. But for yer, Lord Magy, these places ain’t good enough. See that street there,” Thimble said while pointing towards a dark-stone laden road heading up a hill,” That’s the real place for quality, but they’re even worse for yor moneybags. Though, I ain’t ever been there since yer gotta get through the guards to enter. Yer hungry, Lord Jax?”
“Yeah,”
“Come, I’ll show yer the tasty stuff ‘ere.”
They first went towards the Bank, where Orion wiped away the lights and exchanged his gold coin for 99 silvers. The transaction cost had been 5 silvers, but when Thimble claimed Orion was a mage, and he released snow from his hand, the banker remembered the actual cost.
“Don’t tell anyone I’m a mage,” Orion said as he tapped spots onto the 9 10-silver coins and 9 silver coins and put them in his bag.
Thimble opened his mouth, then shut it. “Yes, Lord Jax.”
Thimble then led him to many food stalls, and after seeing the prices, Orion bought two of each item for both of them from most of the stalls. Using magic without Giah, which lightened his eyes, required vast amounts of energy which taxed his body. The prices ranged from 3 to 5 copper coins. Although, in return, the food was bland and innutritious, rarely containing fats.
While they were eating to the side, out of any guards’ way, Orion said:
“You told me the food was overpriced. Those were all bargains.”
Thimble gave him a wary look and swallowed his comment, instead saying, “It can be rough on the streets,” while subconsciously stroking his cheek-scars.
After eating, Thimble pointed out the palace, showed him many shortcuts through the city, and guided him around the docks. Then, Thimble introduced Orion to dubious characters running shady businesses, namely: Skitters, who had piles of lockpicks and masks lying around; Nanlong, who led a murderous mercenary group; Old Joe, who was a blacksmith, alchemist, and dealer. Thimble claimed it was safer and cheaper to know both sides of the city rather than just the well-lit part.
This took up the better part of the day, by which time the two had warmed to each other. This was because Orion’s sense of superiority crumbled over the hours as he realised how little he knew of life in cities and how double-faced people and places were. While he still looked down on Thimble’s dirtiness, mannerisms, stench, humour, and morality, he came to realise Thimble was also a 17-year-old kid like him, just raised in a different place with a lot less power.
The tour ended outside the least guarded, yet least populated part of Hexham’s road. It was midway between the palace and the docks, and had a large, open steel-gate displaying Guilds.
“You sure you can’t show me around here?” Orion asked, hoping to hear the secrets Thimble knew about this place.
“Naa, sorry, Lord Jax. Guilds ain’t for me, and they real dangerous, ‘specially if they spot yer hanging about.”
Orion nodded, and after a brief hesitation, handed the maroon-haired urchin two silvers. “Your tour is worth at least this much,”
Thimble subtly beamed at this. “Hey, Lord Jax. Can I ask a question?”
“Sure,”
He almost swallowed down his curiosity but ultimately failed. “Where’d you learn magic, Lord Jax? Is it hard? Why’re yer so thin?”
“I learned my magic from a school in the capital. It’s pretty hard, yeah, and I’m thin because I rarely use it these days. More of a fighter,” Orion said, trying to suggest an alternative reality to Thimble.
“I knew yer were from a school.”
When Orion raised his eyebrows, Thimble carried on. “It’s yor eyes: they paled when yer first used magic.”
Orion felt a thick lump down his throat. This was why he hated gambling. “Go on,” he squeezed out.
Thimble didn’t notice his expression. “No offence, Lord Jax, but I heard the schools teach yers to pale yor eyes when casting spells, ‘cause it’s used for intimidation, using the great families street-cred and that,”
Although Orion hadn’t known this mockery, he still welcomed it. He was fine with lesser mages aping their magic if it allowed him to hide.
Thimble nearly asked another question but managed to herd in the words before embarrassing himself. “Anyway, Lord Jax, if yer need to find me for anything, anything at all, just ask Old Joe. It’s safer than trying to find me in the slums,”
Patting his back, Orion said his goodbyes before walking through the steel-gate. He passed the Golden Oxen guild-building, the illustrious Magi guild-building, the Black Hearts guild-building, and headed for the final one: the Seeker’s building.
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