Fifteen years later.

“Can’t we train with somethin’ differen’ fer once? I’m tired of usin’ the same weapons all the time. A sword?” Silver pleaded, flopping down onto her back.

“Spoiled brat, tha’s what ye’ve become. Disrespectin’ the noble tools of the thief trade,” the muscular man opposite her complained, the amusement in his eyes taking out any serious edge the comment had. His dark skin glistened with sweat, though not nearly as much as the lightly tanned skin of his adoptee.

“Daggers ‘n’ knives aren’ a thief’s tools. Thieves aren’ supposed ta fight. These’re more like assassin tools,” she quickly reposted, brushing some of her short-cropped dark golden hair out of her face.

Rath, the dark-skinned man, grinned. He flicked a throwing knife her way, guiding it to bury itself in the wood next to her head. She didn’t even flinch. “Go ask a noble ta teach ya to use a sword if ya wan’.”

Silver snorted and pushed herself back to her feet in one fluid motion. She pulled the knife out of the wood, looked at it, then stored it away in the small pouch of miscellaneous items she kept on her hip.

Rath shrugged and put the remainder of his weapons away. “Yer workin’ today, I take it.”

She nodded. “It’s a good day. Tax collectors’re out.”

“Jus’ remember, if ye get caught, I dunno who ye are.”

“Yeah, yeah, no honor among thieves. Or other criminals.” The young girl rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna ferget anytime soon.”

“Good girl. Have fun, then.”

Again, Silver nodded, stopping on her way out only to wash her face in their washbasin. That done, she hurried outside.

It was still early in the day, but the stalls were already in full swing. The slums didn’t have as wide a variety of selection as the main area, given that they rarely, if ever, saw tourists. And most of the residents rarely had money to afford anything but the necessities. Still, that didn’t mean the spirits of the people were suppressed.

“Mornin’, Silver. Headin’ out ta work already?” one of the shopkeepers asked, flashing a smile at the girl.

“Yes’m.” She paused briefly to reply to the greeting. “It’s best ta start early on days like today.” Hesitating a brief moment longer, she added, “Take care today.” A note of concern colored her voice.

“Don’ worry, don’ worry,” the woman laughed, waving her concern off. “We’ve all been through this since we were babes. But here,” she picked up a small roll and tossed it to the girl, “take this fer yer trouble.”

Silver received the roll with a quick grin. “Thank ye kindly,” she said before biting down and taking off with a wave.

Many others called out to her as she went, but she didn’t stop again. Instead, she returned each greeting with a wave or a smile as she continued on toward the central area of the city.

There was no gradual shift from the slums to the common area. There were no walls delineating where one section of the city stopped and another began, only the one that encircled the city. No one needed to be told, not anymore. Enough guards patrolled the shopping districts to prevent the unwary tourist from traveling into the more “unsavory” parts of the city, if the open space of no man’s land wasn’t enough to tip them off.

Before entering the open area between the two districts, Silver slipped down a side alley to approach from somewhere other than the main road. While she wouldn’t stand out against the colorful crowd the capital’s shopping district drew from various areas around the continent, she did stand out from the typical, dark-skinned dark-haired residents of the southern country. Coming from the slums would be nothing short of suspicious to any of the guards who saw her.

Double-checking that her clothes would be presentable for the masses of society, she inhaled, allowing energy to circle through her body, strengthening it. Maintaining her focus, she pushed hard against the ground, sprinting forward at a breakneck speed. For anyone not looking for her or without a detection barrier up, they would have a hard time spotting her small form. And since no one other than her knew about her ability, no one would be looking for her.

After reaching the common area, she slowed, slipping into the shadows between two buildings to readjust her hair and clothes as she let the energy slip out from her body. Plastering a bright smile to her face, Silver stepped out into the sunlight and broke into a carefree skip down the road. Though she was, she thought, approaching sixteen years of age, she looked indistinguishable from an eight year-old. It was a weapon of which she didn’t hesitate to take advantage.

Unlike the slums, the buildings here were neither ramshackle nor were they built entirely from wood. They were a mix of stone and wood, though mostly stone. Wood was not commonly found in the south as there were no forests. But it was easier to manage than stone if you didn’t have a mage on hand to help shape it. The scarcity of wood only added to the dilapidated style of the slums as each structure had been built and maintained over the centuries largely by scraps accumulated from items used to transport merchants’ goods.

Silver’s smile grew icy for a moment as her eyes sweeping the area caught a glimpse of the towering spires of the castle in the middle of the city. It stood proudly, deep black even in the sunlight. The first time she’d seen it, she’d thought it was a tantalizing target to any would-be attackers. That is, of course, until Rath told her that it was protected by an invisible barrier powered by countless magical artifacts at any given time.

Then, the moment was gone, leaving her usual warm and innocent expression in place. If anyone had seen the slip, they would have doubted their eyes. She followed her path to the stall she had in mind, dodging around those in the area. As one would assume of a capital city's market, races represented here ranged all the way from the red-skinned humanoid Skaath who lived deep in the earth to the northern beast tribes. While Silver understood how the lizard tribes could stand the heat and preferred the heat herself, imagining the furred tribes under the southern sun made her shudder.

Finally, her destination came into sight. A quick survey of the area gave her her first target. Male on the heavier side. Clothing fairly high-quality. The insignia embroidered on his chest marked him as a member of one of the bigger trading companies in the area. The man talking to him as he walked seemed to be more of a friend than a guard, and she felt no sense of danger coming from either of them. Nodding to herself, she altered her trajectory slightly to allow her to pass by them.

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Not one thing about her changed. Not her breathing, her heart rate, nor her pace. She was, for all intents and purposes, a carefree youth enjoying her time in the big city. As she passed her mark, he perhaps felt a small breeze, but nothing else. Both parties continued on their way without so much as a glance at one another, the man too engrossed in his conversation to immediately notice the sudden lack of weight. Silver reached into the pouch she had taken and pulled out eight silver coins and twenty copper from their feel, slipping them into her personal pouch. From her exploration of the stolen money, she could tell that there were three gold coins mixed in with the rest of the silver and copper she hadn’t removed. Her grin widened.

“Good morning, mister!” she greeted the stall keeper cheerily, jumping up to sit on a part of the counter that was open.

The man, a ram tribesman beast halfling with curling horns set aside a fluffy white sprouting of hair, peered at her with his unsettling eyes before smiling. “Ah, if it isn’t little Sylvia. You’ve made it back to the city again.”

“Yep! Mam and Pap went ta trade, so I’m free,” she replied, swinging her legs back and forth.

The sheep-man chuckled fondly. “I take it you’ll want the usual, then?”

Silver nodded solemnly before leaning in conspiratorially, looking around as though afraid her imagined parents would overhear. “Someone has to take care of them, you know.”

“Ah, lass. I hope when my wife and I take in a child, he or she is half as considerate as you.” Already, his hands were moving, pulling out a number of mixed herbs in cloth pouches. He placed them on the table next to her while she took out her personal money pouch. “Five silvers for the lot.”

Silver looked at him with a pout. “They cost more than that!” she said accusingly.

“We had a good harvest, so the prices are lower this time,” the man continued smiling as he put his hands up in his defense. “Wife’s orders.”

Still affecting a pout, the girl pushed the five coins across the table. “I always save up, you know.”

“Yes, well you should also be able to buy things like sweets, and-”

“THIEF!” an enraged voice rose above the crowd, drawing many a head. Most of the people present subconsciously touched the places they held their coins to make sure they were still there.

When Silver caught sight of the one yelling, she saw it was her mark having finally noticed. With an internal, remorseless shrug, she deemed his loss as his fault since he had chosen not to pay attention to his surroundings. She hadn’t even replaced his pouch with something else, since some skilled mages could find traces of a person on an item and track it back. Only thieves who went after smaller marks bothered with tricks like that. She wasn’t one of them.

The man pushed his way through the crowd, looking for anyone running away. Finding no one, he slammed his foot angrily into the ground before his friend tugged him away, looking uncomfortable at the attention they were receiving.

The stall keeper looked around uneasily. “You be careful too, little Sylvia. Keep an eye on your money. Or don’t. I hear that’s how they find it.”

Silver nodded obediently. “I’ll be careful, mister. Thank you for the herbs!”

She hopped off the counter, brushing her skirt so that it would fall back into proper position. With a cheerful wave, she darted back into the crowd. Now that the kind enraged merchant had done his second job, she had a few additional marks in mind.

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

Silver had a successful morning. Tax days always resulted in an increased presence of guards which afforded the masses a false sense of security. To any pickpocket worth their salt, it was a festival. She, personally, liked to think of it as a reclamation of funds for the excess taxes to which the poor were subjected.

Under the shade of a small umbrella plunged into the ground and sealed with magic, she sipped from a cool cup of sweetened juice. It was light and tangy, a local specialty extracted from a flower in the area. From her spot, she watched the crowd curiously rather than with a critical eye now. She saw a group of tax collectors moving from stall to stall and shop to shop, two knights and a mage. Everyone who greeted them bowed or curtsied in respect and perhaps a little fear. Still, the difference in reception here and in the slums was obvious.

Continuing to allow her gaze to wander, she saw another youth across the way, leaning against a corner. He seemed to be eyeing the guards as she had before, but he didn’t move. No one in their right mind would try to steal from the tax collectors, plump though the reward would be. Not even Silver dared to try her luck there. Unlike the usual marks, they were fully alert and skilled. Well, she amended her thought, perhaps not fully alert. Even they knew that only a fool would try it which allowed them to lower their guard somewhat.

The boy noticed her attention and locked eyes, glowering at her. She responded with a warm smile. Breaking his eyes away, he made a gesture for her to follow him and disappeared down the alley. Silver debated for a moment whether or not to follow. Of course, she knew who he was. He was another high-level pickpocket who worked in the general markets. Even if she ignored him now, he would certainly come find her later. Still, it was with a somewhat regretful sigh that she got back to her feet and returned the cup to the stall, receiving back the ten copper coins she had given as insurance for its return. She then slipped through the people and disappeared down the same alleyway.

He waited in a gap between the store that faced the street and what she guessed was a storage building. “Zeik,” she nodded with a mischievous smile.

“Cut the act, Silver. What’re ya doin’, musclin’ in on my place?” he demanded aggressively.

“Why Zeik, I dunno what’churr talkin’ about,” she replied, putting a hand over her heart and affecting surprise.

Zeik ground his teeth. “This’s my area. Get out. Jus’ ‘cause Rath picked ye up doesn’ mean ya can do what’cha wan’.”

Silver dropped her manner in an instant and rolled her eyes, leaning back to lounge against the wall with her arms crossed. “We both know Rath wouldn’ lift a finger ta help me if I made a mess. Look, I wasn’ takin’ marks in yer area. I was on a break and happen to like tha juice here.”

The boy continued to eye her suspiciously. Then, he relaxed with a sigh. “Sorry, Silver. I know ya wouldn’ break code like that. It’s jus’, today hasn’ been goin’ too good. Fer some reason, everyone up ‘ere has their guard up.”

She tilted her head. “Huh, really? My area was normal today.”

“Not jus’ that, four of my marks had a tracker coin inside their purse. I had ta waste four dechanters on ‘em. Probably spent more‘n I earned.”

That sent Silver’s eyebrows up. “A tracker coin? Who wants ta waste that on a pickpocket?”

“I dunno. Maybe they’ve cottoned on to the rise during tax collection.”

“But then why was my area fine…?” she furrowed her brow.

Her gaze fell upon the ring on her finger. It didn’t look like much, but it was her most expensive possession. All of the pickpockets and thieves who went after bigger targets had them. They detected any low- to mid-tier tracking spells placed on an object. Or so she was told. She had never personally encountered one of the spells. She didn’t even know if the thing worked.

“Hey, d’you mind wavin’ yer ring across me?” Silver finally asked.

Zeik hesitated, then acquiesced. “Nothin’,” he announced at the end, perhaps a little grumpily. She didn’t blame him.

“Here,” she handed over two of the dechanters she kept on her. They looked similar to copper coins and anyone who didn’t know what to look for would probably assume they were. To anyone who regularly handled money, however, the feeling would give it away in an instant. “Payment fer checkin’.”

Again, there was a brief moment of hesitation before he accepted them with a shrug. Pride was an expensive commodity few could afford in their life. “Thanks. I think I’ll give it one las’ shot afore I give it up as a bad job.”

Silver nodded. “Good luck. I’m gonna check in with the others. See if they’ve noticed anythin’.”

“Good luck to ya too.”

With another nod, Silver waited while Zeik went first, counted to thirty, then made her way out and went in search of the other areas.