Ignoring the Empower skill, Grace quickly considered the Heal and Persuade abilities. She could guess what each of them must do in some fashion, and with time ticking down, she made her choice.

“Persuade?”

Unsure that would work as she spoke, the red box before her flickered a moment.

***

Persuade Ability Granted: Once a day, you may attempt to use the skill to change someone’s mind or action. Activate the ability by saying persuade and then what you want them to do. Not all individuals will succumb to this ability, and attempts at self-harm or death are more likely to be resisted. As one's Mental stat increases, the ability to affect stronger foes increases.

***

Grace felt a tingle in her mind, like an itch that made her squint momentarily.

Once a day… maybe I should have taken heal.

She turned to Lilly, who was sitting down next to her on the street. The change in her fur color still shocked her as it had for the last twenty minutes. Each time, she had to remember that somehow the man had changed it.

Lilly also seemed different. She was constantly scanning the streets and alleys. The normal playfulness of her pet was gone, replaced with a dog that appeared trained, even though she had spoiled it all those years.

“Listen, Lilly, I need you to go to your usual spot. I’ll be back in the morning, and we can try to find something to eat. Understand?”

A small bark came, and her dog got up and trotted off in the direction of where Grace usually had to drag her companion.

What in the world did that man do to her… to me?

Sighing, she moved on toward the building, trying to ignore the three men and two women outside the main door, watching her come towards them.

“Aye there,” Max called out. The large man was overweight and bald, but his size only fooled the stupid ones. The leather armor he wore over his chest and pants had multiple holes and patches where people tried and failed to kill him. The power in his body made most guards think twice before dealing with him. “You seem to be walking a bit taller than usual. Something for me and my crew in that sack?”

The man’s lackeys all cackled. The short one they called Boney, due to the number of bones sticking out of holes he created in his ears and nose, produced a knife and started whittling on a white bone, making a sharp point on one end.

“I do,” Grace said, her voice feeling stronger than usual as she spoke. “I managed to nick three loaves and figured you and your crew might want two while my brother and I eat one.”

The bald man stood up, the chair he had been sitting on creaking from relief as he got off it.

“Those them loaves one could kill a man with if they were hit with?” he asked as he slowly strode toward her.

Shaking her head, she slowly reached into the burlap sack, pulled out the first loaf, and held it up proudly. “Still slightly soft, no worries about one’s teeth getting chipped on this.

She saw his eyes light up and a corner of his lip curl. The man’s three-day stubble of facial hair helped hide a scar on his cheek where someone had plunged a dagger into it.

“Two loaves… any other things on you I need to check for?”

Bones and one of the women, Scarlett, moved toward her, winking at her and grinning. Their smiles showed the gaps in their teeth, lost in a fight or bad hygiene, yet neither cared.

“I’ll gladly check her for money,” Bones said with a slight chuckle. “Who knows where she might be hiding it.”

Groaning, Grace knew what was coming and hated it every time. She longed for a bath or even just clean water after those two checked her for money. They were a disgusting pair of humans who had no morals besides not getting killed by Max.

As they sauntered toward her, Grace had an idea.

“Max, perhaps I could persuade you to trust that I won’t cheat you and not require them to check me every time I come home. Surely, the bread should be worth at least that.”

A rush of energy flowed through her mind, and she saw the large man’s head snap back slightly as she spoke.

It seemed like forever as Max stood there, yet it was only seconds before he started to bob his head.

“I guess yer right. You’ve always been honest, and this bread is a treat.” Max scowled at the two who were almost next to Grace, both looking at him with a confused expression. “Ya all get yer kicks elsewhere and leave the girl alone. No more searching her till I say otherwise.”

“But bos–”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Bones' words never finished as the large man moved like a lightning bolt. Even for his size, he was fast. Grace knew she would struggle to move faster than he did.

His massive hand grabbed Bones by the neck and lifted him a foot off the ground in a heartbeat.

“If I say something, don’t question it,” the fat man growled. He tossed Bones to the ground, and everyone else stepped back, not wanting any part of Max’s rage. “Fer that you won’t get no bread today. Go find your own food.”

Bones glanced at Max for a moment, seeing the rage in his boss’s brown eyes, and scooted back on the dirt. He looked at Grace and scowled before jumping to his feet and moving off to the side, away from everyone.

A few laughs came from the others until Max looked at them.

“The bread?” Max said as he held out his massive hand toward Grace.

She smiled and put one loaf in Max’s hand. She watched as Max gave the first one a squeeze and smiled. He nodded at her, and she put the second loaf with the first.

“Ya did good Grace. Go inside. Should I be concerned for anyone followin' ya?”

“No, sir. I’d never bring that trouble back.”

He grunted and nodded before returning to his chair, the wood groaning as he sat on it. When Max was settled, he took a massive bite from one of the loaves and began to moan as he chewed.

“So gud,” he said, smacking his lips as he talked.

Grace grinned and dashed past him and everyone else, not wanting to spend another moment near this group.

The smell immediately assaulted her nose as she ran through the rotting door.

It smelled worse than she remembered, and Grace realized that since that man had put the black gem in her hand, every one of her senses had seemed sharper. The tiniest things caught her eye, like the knife she now knew was in Max’s massive boot that she hadn’t noticed before. But as she moved past him, the way his boot bulged and pointed sharply on the outer edge told her there was one.

Standing in the hallway to the run-down property, the smell of sweat and grime was only outdone by the scent of human waste.

Glancing down the dark hallway where a single lamp barely burned, she saw a pot outside a door and knew the old woman who lived in that room with her four grandkids had just set it outside.

Eyes watering slightly, Grace hurried toward the end of the opposite hall, moving to the door that was hers and her brothers.

Knocking three times quickly, followed by a slight pause and two more timed knocks, Grace heard the sounds of feet coming toward the door.

“Is that you?”

Smiling, Grace felt tension she didn’t realize was inside her leaving as Levi’s voice came through the wooden door.

“It is. Now open up so I can hug you, you fool.”

A small laughter came, and the sounds of boards being lifted from their spot told Grace that, for once, Levi had obeyed her.

The door finally swung open, and she saw her brother, dirt on his face, barely noticeable usually against his black skin but now, easy to see, even in the dim light. His hair was nappy, and Grace tried not to frown, realizing how upset her mom would be if she saw the state of his hair.

Absently, she reached up and touched hers. It was frazzled and going in every direction.

How many hours did we sit, laughing as she braided it and fixed it…

That memory made her wince, and Levi saw the change in her face for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“Your scar! It’s gone! How?!”

His head started bobbing and weaving as he stretched his neck, trying to see anything else that might be different. “You look… ugly?”

She frowned, and he started to laugh, filling their musty, small room with a peal of laughter only an eight-year-old could in such horrible conditions.

Turning, she shut the door and slid both wood planks into the homemade locks she had built. She knew they wouldn’t keep Max out, but it would stop most people from breaking in. The noise would draw others, and that was the whole goal. Keeping him safe.

“Well, if I’m ugly, you’re uglier,” teased Grace as she dropped her sack and bent down, tickling her brother. “Mom always said you were uglier than me.”

The boy howled, ignoring the torturous memory of their mother being gone, and laughed as his sister tickled him for a moment.

When she stopped, they both took a deep breath and sighed, smiling at each other before giving the other a huge hug.

“I got you something,” she announced, grabbing the bag and reaching in. “Try not to eat it all at once.”

Pulling the bread out, Levi’s eyes went as wide as they could, seeing the brown crust and a few pieces flake off as she gently squeezed it.

“What about you?” he asked, waiting to take it from her outstretched hand. “You should eat some.”

Snorting, she rubbed his hair with her other hand and pushed it toward him. “I already had a bite of one. Now eat. I need to check the other stuff here.”

Not hesitating, Levi smiled and grabbed the bread from her hands, grinning as it felt soft and squishy to his fingers. He chewed a piece off with his teeth, letting out almost the same moan as Max had earlier.

After watching Levi take another bite, Grace turned and kept the sigh she felt inside sour her mood slightly. The small pallet of dirty blankets marked the bed they shared in the corner of their eight-by-eight-foot room. A small pile of bricks was stacked in a corner with a wood stove she had stolen from another place. It had cost her a lot to convince Max to let her have it and keep it inside her room. The exhaust pipe often failed, filling their room with smoke until it escaped the only window with bars on it. The burlap that covered it provided a little shelter against the wind that blew and the occasional eye that tried to peer inside.

Stacked on the other side of the room was their piss pot and a few dried corn cobs and other rags to clean up after.

Beyond that, there was only another change of clothes for each of them. Threadbare and worn, Grace wondered how much longer those would last before both of them were unable to consider them more than rags.

Now I feel like a fool swallowing those coins… it will take at least a day before I can get them back and go shopping…

The idea of shopping thrilled her. The side of town with actual items to purchase was dangerous for her and others who lived on this side of the city. The guards from the church patrolled regularly, and if they considered you beneath them and trash, they had no problem shaking you down or beating you.

“What are you thinking?” Levi asked, watching her as she stared around the room.

Winking, she moved and ruffled his hair again, waving away the bread he offered her. “I think we need to consider getting a few more things for our home. Besides, you need a bath and some new clothes.”

Levi laughed and rolled his eyes before taking another bite of the almost-gone loaf of bread.

“Sure, sis. Perhaps one of us will start crapping gold coins, and we can buy a house also.”

Grace burst out laughing, unable to help herself as Levi’s comment hit close to her secret.

“Just you wait. Soon enough, things will get better for us.”