Chapter 6

We didn’t have another drink. Instead, Caine pocketed the coin, and we left soon after the twins. We walked past the man known as Gerert on our way out. In the short time of his entering, he had already fallen asleep at his table and began to snore gently. The rest of the Inn paid him no mind. Even the serving boy seemed disinterested.

Our exit was met with a surprisingly warm sun. Given how cloudy and rainy last night was, I was sure that the greyness of the clouds would have lingered for quite some time. It was another thing that was strange about this city. One day the cold winds could freeze the rivers over, the next, the blistering heat could cause them to dry up.

“I can’t believe they just left us here, expecting us to make our own way back.” Said Caine as we began to walk away from the inn and along the riverside path.

“I Can,” I replied bluntly.

“I don’t suppose you know the way back?” He asked.

“No.”

“I figured at as much, let's see if we can find a bridge, we should at least be able to make it south from there.”

The sun’s heat, mixed with the stench of the Alora made the walk quite unpleasant which didn’t help my already foul mood. It could have been the drink that put me in this sudden temper, as I had seen it do to some men, but I doubt it. No, I was certain that my brother was the route of all my anger. Caine walked with a high chin and swaying arms. As if he hadn’t a care. I don't know why I was surprised; he had always been that way. Today though, the look on his face brew a fire in me. This was all his fault as far as I was concerned, and his proud walk made things worse. I tried my best to ignore him, but I found it harder with every step.

We walked past The Doge’s Keep which stood boldly on the other side of the river. The building seemed to look bigger in the midday sun.

“I hadn’t noticed that on the way here,” Caine said, glancing across at it.

I let out a grunt. Of course, he hadn’t noticed it, he wouldn’t notice the sun falling out of the sky until it got too hot.

“It’s quite a site, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“We could stop and admire it if you want?”

I stopped walking for fear that my ears might bleed. “No... No, I don’t want to stop here and look at a building. I want to get back to the ruin and, and- “

“And what? Come on Jeb, you’ve told me countless times before that the one thing you like about the city is the buildings. Why not stay for a bit and look at one?”

He was smiling. How could he smile at a time like this?

“You need to relax brother, honestly,” he said.

“Relax? We are almost certainly dead because of you, and you want me to relax? Henarlta take you; you fool!” I threw my hands up in frustration.

“Because of me?” Caine said, His smile faded and slowly turned into a sneer. He looked out among the river, shook his head, and then narrowed his eyes back at me, “I’ve had time to think, Jeb, last night whilst you were sleeping and this morning on the ride up. I was thinking that the only person who was alone with the package at any point was you.”

“And the rider, who gave it to me don’t forget,” I said.

“Sure, and the rider,” Caine said it with such a disregard that I could have cried with frustration.

I hadn’t thought I could get much angrier.

“You’ve kept them for yourself, haven’t you? The jewellery I mean. And now that you’ve been found out, you want to try and pin all of this on me. Where is it, brother? Perhaps we can get out of this if you just give it up.” He held out his hand as if I had it on me.

I was both completely shocked and barely surprised at the same time. Of course, that was his thinking, he had no capacity in his fever skull to take any sort of blame.

“Do not accuse me of such things,” I hissed.

“It’s true, isn’t it? That’s why you're pulling that face. To hide your guilt.”

I pushed him.

He stumbled back a few paces. A look of shock was on him at first, but it swiftly switched to a deep frown. He took a step towards me and pushed me harder.

I fell over, landing on my rump.

I got up quickly.

Then I charged.

With my head down I went to ram him fully in his stomach. He swerved left and laid a fist into my temple. I scrambled to the floor again. He’d always been the better fighter. I got up as swiftly as I could and turned to him. He had his fists raised to protect his head, like Father had taught us.

“I’ve let you push me twice now, not again,” he said.

“This is your fault!” I screamed.

“You’re an ungrateful prick, Jeb.”

His face started to redden. I didn’t care. I lunged at him again, my arms flaying. I landed one punch on him, but I mostly hit his teeth and so my knuckle burst with blood. He returned the favour with a swift punch to my other temple and then a knee to my groin. I Went down, my head ringing in pain, and this time, I didn’t get back up.

“Fine!” I heard him shout; his voice was throaty as if he was trying to hold back tears. “You can do it all alone from now on.”

*

I didn’t know how long I had been laying there for, it could have been a minute, it could have been an hour. I wasn’t hurt per se, the ringing in my head stopped as soon as I hit the floor, but I was broken, like a building with rotting foundations. I had all but given up and so I lay there. What was the point? Even if we do kill that Gerert, they’ll probably kill us afterward. I may as well stay here until I starve to death.

I felt something hard prod me in the ribs. “Kling.” The man said.

I opened my eyes to see a snarling face wearing a half helm. It had seemed that my lying in public had earned the attention of a city guard. A panic of fear struck me, I let out a puff of air and quickly rose to my feet. The guards weren’t friendly to us and I had no reason to think that this one would be any different. To tangle with them was to play with your life. He said something in the local tongue and butted me with his spear again, this time in the shin. It hurt more than I thought it would. Although I couldn’t understand him, I got the message. Get out of this part of town.

*

It was getting dark as I made it to the central parts of the city. The walk to the ruin was longer than I had expected, and the soles of my feet started to ache. The blood from my knuckles had dried and crusted around my fingers which gave my hand an annoying sticky feeling. I was also hungry. What to do first? Eating was out of the question. Caine had seen to that by running off with the only coin we had.

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I decided to rest for a while. I tucked myself down an alleyway that hid from the bustling scenes of the central high street and crouched into a sitting position. As soon as my head hit the hard surface of the stone wall my eyes started to close. What’s the harm in resting? The night was going to be a hot one much like the nights on the hills, and I couldn’t be robbed if I had nothing to steal. I sat there, listening to the idle chatter of people talking in a language I could barely understand. It mixed with the sounds of horses clopping and the occasional carriage in motion and became soothing.

I dozed off.

“Get out!” I heard a voice call.

It jerked me from my broken sleep. “What?” I said, opening my eyes.

The man was dressed in rags much like my own and he had brown skin like me.

“This ain’t your spot, get out!” his fists were clenched and his face was a hardened stare. He spoke in Naminian, it sounded broken and distorted.

I stood abruptly “My spot?” I said blinking.

“This here is Archin’s territory and you ain’t welcome.” He had the look of a Bervian, with a round jaw and thin nose, but he had no marks. Perhaps his ancestors were hill folk. He took a step forward as if to strike and I held my hands up submissively. I didn’t want to have two fights in one day. I just wanted to sleep.

“I’m leaving,” I said as I backed out on the high street.

“Good, begone.” He cocked an eye at me before turning his back and disappearing down the alley muttering to himself.

What was that about? I wondered.

I heard a laugh behind me that seemed to echo through the passing crowd. I turned to see a woman standing in the centre of the pathway, smiling as city folks shifted around her.

“You can’t just sleep anywhere in this part of town,” she said.

“I know that now,” I replied.

She was strange-looking, dressing differently from most of the women in the city. She wore a sleeveless vest that revealed lean, muscular arms and fabric trousers like what the men of the city wear. Her hair was raven black and down to her shoulders. Her face looked youthful but hardened which made it difficult to guess her age. Her right eye had no pupil and was a milky grey. Her left was a deep, dark brown. I found it uncomfortable the way she stared, so I turned and started to walk off.

“You’re going the wrong way if you’re looking for home” she called, her voice sounding deep and humorous.

I stopped and turned back; she was still smiling. That’s when I realised that she was speaking in Bervian. Not only was she speaking it. It sounded perfect, without a hint of a foreign accent. When the local folks spoke Naminian I found that odd. Wannihiemian people seemed to me, too concerned with their own selves to ever bother to learn about someone else. However, the Namin was vast, and its borders weren’t far from this city. The Bervian hills, on the other hand, were as far as the sun in the sky as it was from Wannihiem. I thought I would never hear one of them speaking my native tongue. Especially as good as it was.

“And how would you know where my home is?” I asked.

“This is Wannihiem, and I know things, but nothing is free. For you to find that out I am going to need something from you.”

I shook my head “Well I have nothing.”

“Not true,” she said, “You have more than you know... hungry?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll take that as a yes, follow me. We’ll get you some food as we walk back home.”

She turned and started to stroll off. I stood where I was. Unsure. Who was this woman? Why was she helping me? What did she want? She looked back and sighed.

“Look, you have been walking for most of the day now, and you have only managed to get across the Alora. It would be impressive if it wasn’t so tragic, why don’t we get you back aye?”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Someone who wants to help a young Bervian out of his problems. First by feeding him, then by guiding him, then by showing him how he can get away with not killing poor Gerert.”

I felt my body stiffen. “How?-”

“One thing at a time, now are you coming? Or are you going to stay here lost, tired and hungry?”

*

The meat on the stick tasted like life itself as I chewed and swallowed my last bite. I hadn’t had something so tasty since the akerin pies my mother used to make. It was a welcome change to the rat stew that frequented my diet. My mood brightened drastically.

“You finished?” The woman asked.

“Yes”, I said swallowing the last bite.

“Good, then let’s go.” She nodded to the broad-chested vendor. We left our stools and headed back out into the city. We swerved in and out of the moving crowd at a pace that she set. I tried my best to match her, but I found myself constantly running in short bursts just to keep up. It left me breathless.

“So how long?” She asked after some time of marching through the chaos of crowded roads.

“How long for what?” I asked.

“How much time have they given you to kill him?”

I thought for a moment whether it was wise to tell her. This could be some ploy set up by Ottom to see if I kept things quiet. But then I thought, even if it was, what did I have to lose? I was probably dead anyway.

“Fourteen nights,” I said.

“Hmm not bad, it must be a slow month for them. and how did they do it?”

I looked at her blankly.

“Trap you I mean. They have different methods each time, but the trap is always the same. Did they use a contract signing? No, can’t be that you Bervians don’t know how to write. Maybe a rigged game? Or maybe a honey pot even?”

I frowned in confusion. What is she talking about?

“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that, I’m dying to know. How exactly did they force you into it? Into offing poor old Gerert.”

I let out a breath, “They had us bring in a package from outside the city and deliver it to-“

“And let me guess, the package was light?”

My eyes widened, “Yes.”

“That one’s called a false weight and it’s- Look out!”

The woman put her hand across my chest just moments before the carriage flew past at speed, inches from my face. I flinched embarrassingly.

“You have to keep your wits about you in this city Bervian,” she said with a smirk.

“How did you know the package was light?” I asked as we crossed the busy street.

“Because the package is always light. Or never light depending on how you look at it. Believe me, if you actually had taken from them, you would have been killed on the spot.”

“So, you’re saying that they deceived us. That this was their plan all along?”

“Exactly, you’re more likely to do things for them if you think you owe them, am I right?”

I felt sick and confused. how could I not have seen it?

“But why?” I asked, “Why do they need us to do it? Why not just kill Gerert themselves?”

“Because you’re a kling. A non-local that clings onto the city like a flea on fur. If they use you, they haven’t got to get their hands dirty. When people come asking, they can just say that a kling did it and that will be enough. And if you don’t succeed, they can just kill you, and nothing will happen to them because you’re nothing to them, or this city.”

What she said hit like an arrow, “Why do they hate us Bervians? What have we ever done to them?” I asked the question as much to myself as to her.

Her clouded eye seemed to gaze through me. “They don’t hate Bervians, they hate klings, that’s anyone who's non-local. Gyanth, Hafra, Faria, Mirna... it doesn’t matter where you are from. You’re not from the Wannihiemian plains.”

I looked down at the cobblestones and sneered.

“Oh cheer up hill man, it’s not all bad. In fact, it’s useful when you know how to use it, what’s your name anyway?”

“Jeb,” I said.

“And the other one you were with? What’s his name? The one that beat you?”

I frowned at her.

“Yes, yes. I’ve been following you for quite some time. Don’t look so surprised.”

“Caine,” I said, “he is my brother.”

“It’s always a shame when families squabble. Well, Jeb, you and your brother are lucky ones.” She said grinning. It wasn’t an ugly grin but there was something off about it, something unnerving.

“How so?” I asked.

“Because you’ve been set to kill one of my men, which means that I have to stop you from doing so. So now that I’m involved. You and your brother won’t be killing anyone.”

“You can do this? I asked eagerly.

“Yes I can, but like I said earlier, nothing in this city is free.”

I believe I was starting to understand what she meant, “What is it you want from us?”

“You’re Bervian, you’re used to traversing up and down vast hills, over long landscapes, correct? That would make you and your brother natural runners. You don’t lose breath easily?”

“We, travel long distances, but not fast. That's how we hunt. The prey can outrun us for a while, but eventually, it must stop. That’s when we get them. For the most part at least.”

She gave a satisfied nod, “I want you to work for me, the pay won’t be great, and the work will be dangerous at times, but you’ll be clothed, fed, and it’s better than ending up dead in two weeks.”

She had a point, but something wasn’t right, something I couldn’t grasp. She was saying all the right things, but I had that uneasiness in my stomach, a tingling in my blood. It was a gut feeling in every way, but one I trusted.

“We’d have to think about it,” I said.

She stopped me from walking and looked at me deeply. She was smiling but I saw her good eye glint with displeasure.

“What’s there to think about?”

I shrugged and sighed “I don’t know, thank you for offering your help but- “

“Let me put it to you this way Jeb, say you turn down my offer and you decide to go through with killing Gerert. What do you think happens to you after?”

I frowned, “I do not know, hopefully, Ottom will leave us alone and we can forget the whole thing happened.”

She shook her head, “No, that’s not how it’ll go. Listen, just so you understand. If you did decide to kill Gerert, you won’t make it as far as the bridge before me and mine get our revenge. Especially after we have offered you an outlet. You are, what we say in the city, between a rock and a hard place Jeb and I am offering you a hand before they collide.” She breathed deeply, “Come, we’re nearly at the Merchants’ Bridge.”

She didn’t speak as we weaved in and out of the remaining traffic, I was still trying my best to keep up and was just about managing.

“The others,” I said, “I mean Ottom and the Folf twins, they know where our shelter is, they’re watching us.”

She nodded, “Indeed they are, but you won’t have to worry about that. When what we have planned is complete, we’ll move you in with us, to the northern parts of the city, it’ll be the last you’ll see of these folk.”

“And who are they? Ottom and his ilk? Who are you for that matter?”

Her smile grew wide, “We’re at the Merchants’ Bridge. You know your way from here?”

Although it looked different from the other side, I recognised those four sleek blocks that stood in the Ghid river.

“Yes.”

“Good, tomorrow you and your brother are going to meet me here by this statue at midday, understand? You can ask me more questions then.”

I looked at the statue. It was of a small girl. Her hands were pressed up against a knee-high wall, overlooking the river.

“Tomorrow Hill man, don’t be late.”

“Before you go,” I said. “You got my name, but I didn’t ask for yours.”

“Anna,” she replied, before merging into the moving crowd.