Takash spat out a mouthful of bitter herb, glaring at the girl in front of him as he chose another glob of it from the tray in front of him and began to chew some more. From where he sat upon the massive tree stump chopped into a sort of grotesque throne, he leered out at the camp of vagabonds beyond her through a thick layer of unkempt long dark hair.

“Let me get this straight,” he said in his judicious and belligerent voice, leaning his sharp face forward. “You think you can just ask for a horse and ride out of here. After all the problems you created over the past month? All the men we’ve lost, all the earnings we’ve lost. Is that correct?”

Zar swallowed. “You give the horses to all the other men,” she said as evenly as possible. “I just need one for a few months.”

“A few months is it? That’s a very long time to rent a horse. Are you sure about that? What’s to guarantee you don’t just take a nag and run off forever, eh?” He peered down towards her with tiny black eyes as she struggled to keep her face straight. “All I see is a scared little girl who wants to get the hell away from here for good.”

Zar flushed. She glared down at the ground, imagining rather than witnessing Takash’s self-satisfied leer. He loved to lord his power as Lord Master over his subordinates. And who was going to argue? Nearly seven feet tall and spectral in appearance, wielding a slender dagger and a massive battle axe with equal terror and accuracy, he was likely to be their overlord for a very long time. He had killed the previous Lord Master of the Robber’s Roost in cold blood without a second’s thought. Now he ruled the Robber’s Roost with a fist of steel and the mind of a military strategist. Not even the smallest, youngest, most insignificant recruit evaded his scrutiny. And he saw everything.  

“If I wanted to betray you, wouldn’t I have just stollen a horse in the night and be gone already?” she asked, trying to betray tired exasperation, as if the idea was ludicrous and she hadn’t already talked herself out of it multiple times lying awake at night. “I promised I’d pay off my debt and I will.”

Takash’s brows twitched in amusement. “I can think of a few reasons why you wouldn’t want to steal a horse and jump ship. But as to your second statement, I think it’s time we saw some movement on that. You’ve told me you’re going to make amends before. No more tarrying. I want to see the results in my palm within the moon. Or else you’ll have bigger problems than not having a horse to ride south on for the winter.”

Zar winced, despite her efforts to hold herself steady. She couldn’t spend another winter without a horse. Last year, when she had first joined the Robber’s Roost and had no title, worth or money she had walked her way south for the winter. It had been a miserable march that had taken over two months, each day a struggle to stay warm, the gather enough wood for a large enough fire each night, to keep her clothes mended enough to resist the chill as she trudged through the snows. It had taken her twice as long as any of the other Robbers to make it to their winter camp in the southern lands, and she had suffered greatly for it.

“How much do I still owe you?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant and not at all desperate.

“Oh, I’d say 500 silvers or equivalent loot ought to do the trick.”

Zar felt sick. Willing herself not to hurl up her breakfast in front of the Lord Master, she took a slow calming breath. “Does that include the horse?”

Takash actually laughed at that. “You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that much kid. We’ll talk about the horse once I see that silver.”

“Right,” she said, not wanting to test the waters further. “I better get going then.”

She straightened from her hunched form where she had bent one knee in respect and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Izara, if I haven’t made myself clear by now, let me be perfectly transparent. If that 500 silver isn’t in my palm within a moon, you’ll be paying in other ways.”

Zar swallowed the lump of acidic bile that rose in her throat and left without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~

She supposed later on as she packed her travel bag, she should have been grateful Takash was giving her another chance, after the mess she had made of the heist last month. Determined to prove herself at last as a worthy Robber, she had volunteered to go on a dangerous mission to steal a large shipment of luxury items, food, clothing and jewelry bound for the Opal Kingdom. The shipment had been heavily guarded and so the trick was, the Robbers would infiltrate the less guarded shipment yard just outside of the Opal Castle before the goods arrived and were distributed. It had been going well, they had hidden themselves successfully and were awaiting the shipment. Zar, who was hiding in a pile of wood in the lumber holding, had been ready to act her part as one of the sneaky pickpockets. They had it all planned out to a T and with any luck, no one would even know they had been there. But then it had all unraveled.

Zar had been unexpectedly approached by a young worker who had been walking past her hiding spot. Most unfortunately the worker had chosen to smoke tobacco leaf right in front of her hiding place. Zar, who was trying to stay as still as possible, had accidently set her foot on a piece of back, which had cracked. As the worker turned around at the noise, Zar had done the only thing she could think, she had seized him. She ought to have killed him then and there but she just couldn’t bring herself to run her knife over his throat. She had tried to strangle the man so that he passed out but the worker put up a surprising fight and managed to get his mouth free long enough to call out. More workers had come running. Suddenly she was facing half a dozen men, two of whom were guards with swords. They had raised the alarm that an infiltrator in their midst and suddenly the Robbers were no longer pulling off a heist, they were avoiding swarming soldiers and guards and trying to escape with their lives. Two Robbers had been killed, and three more caught and taken into custody. Zar and ten others managed to escape, but with not a single silk or jewel to save their lives. Takash had not been pleased. They had been planning this heist for several months and Zar had managed to screw it up in one go.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“What the hell didn’t you kill that worker, you useless halfbreed?” Miko, who had been leading the heist had berated her. “You could have hidden his body and no one would have been any the wiser.”

In retrospect, that now seemed like a very logical idea. But for some reason Zar just hadn’t been able to pull it off at the time. They had been out thousands of silvers and several men due to her mess up. The other members of the heist had been indebted for their failure as well. They had despised her for this, but all were experienced Robbers and had paid back their debts by now, Takash had only charge each of them a couple hundred silvers. But to Zar he had given the lion’s share of 700 silvers, and she had only managed to pay 200 of this so far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her friends, Mugi and Aldrich found her as she was preparing the final additions to her pack to depart.

“What did he say?” Mugi asked, bounding up to her. His young dark face was crinkled in worry.

“He’s not giving me a horse. And I have to pay off 500 silver by next moon.”

Mugi swore. “That’s so not fair! He didn’t even make Okur pay up, and he was the one who wasn’t paying attention to the eastern end where that worker came from.”

“Okur’s a lot more difficult to handle than I am,” Zar said. “And a lot bigger. If he gets Okur pissed off, that could mean a lot of trouble.”

Aldrich nodded sadly in agreement. He was old and wrinkled and his moss green eye portrayed concern as they observed her. “What are you going to do?”

She shrugged, trying to gather herself so that she didn’t sound scared, or desperate. “Pay him back of course. If I don’t, he’ll own me until I do. And if I run, he’ll probably put out a hit on me with the Carrion Cult.”

“He wouldn’t do that!” Mugi said in outrage. “He’d never tangle with that group of bastards! They’re ruthless and cruel! They’re our enemies.”

Zar laughed humorlessly. “I don’t think Takash has enemies. He’s too smart for that.” She didn’t actually know what Takash would do if she did a runner, but she didn’t really want to find out. Takash controlled some of the most intelligent crooks, vagabonds and cutthroats on the continent. A veritable army of people from all walks of life, most of whom had done unspeakable evils in the past.

“You’re going to go out marauding?” Aldrich asked as Mugi continued to mutter curses about Takash.

“Yeah. Maybe I can make enough coin if I work the Gem Road. It’s a busy time for travel this season.”

“That’s a dangerous stretch,” Aldrich cautioned. “You might do better on one of the lesser travel routes.”

“I can’t afford to wait around,” Zar insisted, rolling up her sleeping kit. “Takash is serious. He’s not going to let me slide this time.”

“You want us to go with you?” Alrich asked. “It would be safer as a group.”

Zar wished so badly that she could consider this option. She knew both Aldrich and Mugi would be willing to help her. They were the only Robbers that had stood by her this past month after her big screw up. The three of them were the biggest outcasts of the outcasts, all fae folk as well as being the eldest Robber, the youngest Robber, and the worst Robber. Takash was constantly putting the pressure on all three of them to perform well and bring in their worth. Aldrich was in his 60’s now, but was valuable enough to Takash as a tracker. He was skilled in discernment and could hunt anything from a squirrel to a wanted man. Mugi was just 14 years old, a rejected halfbreed like herself, scrawny and not very strong in a fight, but he was fast and could move silently. Therefore Takash had figured out a use for him to run during a skirmish and gather items of value while the party being stollen from was occupied with his warriors.

And lastly there was herself. She was had 22 years and could wield a bow just about the best of any of the Robbers. But Takash had plenty of bowmen and had chosen instead to use her as a pickpocket rather than a ranged fighter. Zar had worked hard over the past year and a half to develop her skills in stealth and trickery. They didn’t necessarily come naturally to her. Though she was an excellent hunter, it was with a bow, and all she had to do was know where her game would become a clear target to her arrow. This kind of stealth required her to get close to her target without being perceived and stay undetected throughout the entire pickpocketing process. She had failed many times to rob someone because she couldn’t stay undetected for long enough, or because her robbery techniques were sloppy. She didn’t do will with close combat either. She could fight, but she preferred to subdue her enemies rather than killing them. That was how she had messed up their last mission so badly.

“I must do this myself. Takash will notice if you try to help me. He’ll need you to help him with the next missions. And anyways, you need to prepare for winter.”

Mugi blinked up at her in uncertainty. Mustering a smile, she placed a hand on his head. He wore his long dark hair in a traditional top bun like she did. Even though they weren’t from the same clan, she had sometimes caught herself thinking of him as her younger brother.

“Don’t look at me like that, I’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it. We’ll all be going to the winter camp together, I promise.”

He nodded and gave her a half hearted smile.

She bent forward then under the guise of embracing Alrich, who if Mugi was like a brother to her, then this wise old man was like her uncle. She whispered in his ear, “but if I don’t come back within a moon, then leave without me, ok? I want you two to be safe.”

Aldrich rubbed her shoulders and nodded slowly when he pulled away from her. He then commanded her to sit in a prayer pose while he gave her a blessing for her journey. He was from the Pine Clan, and so his words were a prayer of his own people, but the sentiment was felt none the less. When he finished speaking, he took something from inside his pocket and handed it to her.

“Pine resin?” she asked, as she pulled open the pouch and saw the golden red nuggets of hardened sap within.

“A valuable medicine to carry on a journey. When heated so that it turns back to liquid, the sap can be placed on a cut or wound to stop the bleeding and heal it,” he said. “This is a wisdom my clan has used for many generations.”

“Thank you,” she said, placing the pouch in her pack.

Then she turned and hugged them both. “And good luck. Don’t let Takash overwork you.”

“You be careful,” Aldrich said seriously. “You never know what you’ll find out there.”