Janu sat in the dim candlelight of the living room once the two men had left, staring into space. He honestly hadn't expected them to leave, but they had – after Janu had found and handed to them every last coin of his savings, and they had sat there counting it for the best part of an hour.

One year. One year to pay back more than most people's salary, not to mention keeping himself fed. If he saved all of it, no doubt he could live off his sister and her husband's earnings, but that would make for a hard year. He and his sister had survived worse. The children, though... It wasn't fair on them. So he needed a job. A job that would pay as much as possible, as soon as possible.

The only available job that ticked those boxes involved kidnapping a gods-damned princess.

Drawing a hand over his face, he found his gaze drifting to the outside wall, where a small tiled alcove held the idol of his family god, Tikkinik. It had followed him through the war in Avesh and all that happened after to this place. They had built that alcove themselves, as with most things in this house. Some distant relative had carved the idol itself. More tree than man, its twisted limbs reflected dull patches of candlelight. The branches growing from its bare skull seemed to writhe. The chipped gem it held in one hand to represent a siren fruit had seen better days, but its other hand warned away from it nonetheless.

Janu wandered over and placed one of the sweets he had bought in the bowl at its feet. 'You've seen us through our other messes. I hope this isn't a mess too far.'

Then he blew out the candles, left the house and locked it behind him. Unwilling to leave it unattended so long, he rushed back to the central district. By the time he reached The Siren Tree Inn, his family had already settled down in a large room on the top floor. When he knocked, his brother-in-law answered. From the haggard look of his face, Janu might have guessed he hadn't slept for days.

'Uncle Jun-Jun?' His youngest niece spotted him in the gap between her father and the door. His sister had been tucking her into bed, but the child leapt up with a grin on her face and tried to wriggle free.

'Not now, Patha,' his sister said.

His brother-in-law stepped into the corridor and pulled the door to behind him.

'Any luck?' he asked.

'Yes.' Janu didn't elaborate. 'The house is ours. But I think it's best the children stay here for the night. You should go to the house. If you can stay awake, do that, and keep an eye on it. I don't know if they'll try anything.' For fifty bezin, he hoped not.

The man let out a sigh of relief. 'What about you?'

'I'd keep watch, but there are a few more things I need to do. Paperwork, things like that. I'll need to go out on another job for a while, too. It ate up all my savings.'

'If there's anything I can—'

'No, no need. Just look after the little ones, will you? And here, give them these from their Uncle Jun-Jun.' Janu passed him the bag of sweets.

With a smile, his brother-in-law disappeared back into the room and Janu left without another word. Perhaps he should have waited until morning, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Instead he let his feet lead him to Galnai's apartment further into the central district. He took the stairs as quietly as he could, taking care not to trip over the drunk man sleeping between floors, and knocked on her door.

Seconds stretched by. He definitely should have waited until morning. Just as he was turning to leave, though, footsteps approached and the door slid open a crack.

'Janu?' Galnai muttered a few strong Khunuchanian words that were almost certainly expletives. 'The hells are you doing here? You know what time it is?'

'I... Yes, sorry.' He hooked his thumbs into his belt to quash his urge to fidget. 'It's been a bit of a night.'

'What happened?'

Janu hesitated, then gestured at her room. 'Can I?'

After a few awkward seconds when Galnai seemed to consider throwing him down the steps, she let him in. She kicked a stool across the room for him, settled down on her haunches at the other side, and listened to his account of the events with his landlord.

By the end, she was shaking her head. 'For fifty bezin you could have bought yourself citizenship and a new house.'

'Not with this new edict.'

'Assuming he didn't just make that up.'

Janu thought back to the empire rounding up those children in Tanaff. 'I don't think he did.'

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

'Hmm.'

Sighing, he tapped his feet against the floor and toyed with a point of his moustache. 'Look, the thing is that I need a big payday and I need one soon. And it just so happens a new client came to me last night... tonight, after you and Fraidun left.'

Galnai's expression remained unchanged. 'You won't get ten bezin out of it, unless they're after two eggs. Or unless you shaft us out of our shares, but you wouldn't do that, would you?'

She worded it as a threat, and for a moment Janu was too insulted to reply.

'Of course I wouldn't!' he snapped. 'If I were that desperate, I would go it alone, but I'm not that stupid either. No, I just suspect they'll pay more.'

'You suspect? You didn't get details?'

'I laughed him out of the room before he could elaborate.'

Galnai narrowed her eyes.

'It's a joint job. Steal the hatchling, kidnap the bonded human. All en-route from the fort in Kurentim. We'd already charge a good deal for that.' He curled his toes, then continued, 'The kicker is that the bonded human is a princess.'

Galnai's glare could have cut iron. 'Yes, I can see why you laughed.'

'Yes,' he said, wilting a little. 'Only it's now the only chance I have to keep my home. I'm sure it'll pay enough. I'm not asking you anything. I'm not after a loan or a bigger share. It's just another job, with a little more risk than usual.'

'A lot more.'

'And reward commensurate with it.'

'You buy some bigger words with all those bezin?' She raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. 'Look, I don't think you've thought this through enough. Those ten bezin aren't going to buy your house back. The forty you've already paid are down the drain. Your landlord never wanted to sell to you. You offered so many times, far more than that place is worth. Now he's just found a way to get a cheap new house out of you and keep hold of yours. He's tricked you. Again.'

Janu reached into a pocket and took out the receipt his landlord had written once he had finished counting out the coins. 'I have it in writing. Look.'

'You people treat the written word as if it's holy scripture,' she muttered as she squinted, struggling to read. It took her a while. She had never been well literate to begin with, and this wasn't her native tongue.

When she had done, she folded it up and handed it back to him. 'So perhaps he is genuine, if you choose to believe the paper.'

'Think of it, Galnai. It doesn't just benefit me. You'd finally have enough to leave this place.'

She snorted. 'I have more than I need to leave here.'

'Then why don't you?' Janu had assumed she either drank or gambled it all away, or her rent was simply extortionate.

Eyeing him sidelong, she said, 'Because when I do, it'll be to retire somewhere a non-citizen can own property. A little cottage in the middle of nowhere, all to myself.'

'That's it?'

She nodded.

'Surely you can afford that already?'

'I can.' Her eyebrows took on an affronted tilt. 'Just figured you two still needed me around.'

Janu blinked stupidly at her for a few moments. 'We do, but... Well, this job should give us enough that we can all retire. How about you make it your last one? No more tripping over drunks on the way home. You could even buy a new stool.'

'One stool, no guests.' She smiled. 'I do like the sound of that.'

----------------------------------------

Leaving Galnai to finish her night's sleep, Janu went in search of Fraidun's apartment. He had only been there once before on a stumbling, winding route. Fraidun was a loud and angry drunk, and Janu had once had to haul him home, alternating between quizzing the man for directions and covering his mouth so he didn't scream insults about the royal family through the streets. He hadn't let him drink that much since, and that was a few years ago now.

As it turned out, he didn't need to remember, although he would have preferred finding Fraidun at home. Instead he heard his voice coming from an alley as he passed. Janu stopped and peered down it.

At the far end of the alley, Fraidun stood haggling with a flushed prostitute in a state of undress. Each moment her face grew more flushed, and she drew herself taller. Eventually she snapped, drew her arm back and gave Fraidun such a resounding slap that Janu worried it would take his head clean off. He staggered to one side, reeling. The prostitute gathered her skirts, pulled her top back over one bared breast, and stormed off down a side alley.

Janu stroked his beard, face set in a grimace. Fraidun surely wouldn't appreciate him barging in now. His trousers weren't even fastened. But Fraidun noticed him before he could decide what to do, fumbled to fasten his trousers without much success, then staggered up the alley towards him. His ordinarily golden skin was rosy, his long brown hair plastered to his scalp with... sweat, Janu hoped. Though he smelled like a brewery even from here, so perhaps he wore his drink.

Not that it was any of Janu's business, but how many times had he seen the man off home with his wits still about him only to end up in some alley like this?

Gods, he had better not start shouting nonsense.

'Jaaanu!' said Fraidun, spreading his arms wide. 'Fanss... seein' you here.'

'Fraidun. Had a good night?'

'The bessss.' He slapped an arm around Janu's shoulders and drew him close, not noticing when Janu gagged at the stench. He waved his free hand in the air. 'Almos' the besstes. Buh she... she charge for the bess. Too much. S'too much.'

'I'm sure it was.' Janu sighed. 'Come on, let's get you home. We've got a new job to look at.'

'Already? Gives us de... det... Gives us what's it.'

'Not now. I'll give you the details when you've sobered up.'

A tic flashed through the muscle beneath Fraidun's eye. Knowing that wasn't a good sign, Janu hurriedly added, 'It pays. A lot,' and hoped that would satisfy him.

Either it did the trick or Fraidun had simply reached the sleepy stage of drunkenness, but they managed to make it back to his apartment without further incident. His was a rickety wooden construction right on the edge of the central district, nearer to the docks. Pigs snorted in their sleep in the small yard and a raggedy cat with one eye glared at them on their way up the stairs. It took a while to rummage through all of Fraidun's pockets for his key, but they got into his room eventually.

Once Janu had manhandled Fraidun onto his sleeping pallet, he pondered his next move. If this were a better part of town he might have stayed the night here and spoken to Fraidun in the morning. As it was, he valued his life, his teeth, the clothes on his back... So he quietly lifted the latch and slipped out, back towards The Siren Tree Inn. In the morning, he would take some of the money he had lent his sister and pay a runner to fetch Fraidun.

Then he would get the fun of judging from Fraidun's mood whether the wake-up call had involved a bucket of water or not.