Warbreaker

Chapter 31

“I feel I have to ask one more time,” Denth said. “Do we have to go through with this?” Denth walked with Vivenna, Tonk Fah, Jewels, and Clod. Parlin had stayed behind at Denth’s suggestion. He was worried about the dangers of the meeting, and didn’t want another body to keep track of.

“Yes, we have to go through this,” Vivenna said. “They’re my people, Denth.”

“So?” he asked. “Princess, mercenaries are my people, and you don’t see me spending that much time with them. They’re a smelly, annoying lot.”

“Not to mention rude,” Tonk Fah added.

Vivenna rolled her eyes. “Denth, I’m their princess. Besides, you yourself said that they were influential.”

“Their leaders are,” Denth said. “And they’d be perfectly happy to meet with you on neutral ground. Going into the slums isn’t necessary—the common people, they really aren’t all that important.”

She eyed him. “That is the difference between Hallandren and Idrians. We pay attention to our people.”

Behind, Jewels snorted in derision.

“I’m not Hallandren,” Denth noted. However, he let the statement drop as they approached the slums. Vivenna had to admit that as they grew closer, she did feel a little more apprehensive.

This slum felt different from the others. Darker, somehow. Something more than just the run-down shops and unrepaired streets. Small groups of men stood on street corners, watching her with suspicious eyes. Every once in a while, Vivenna would catch a glimpse of a building with women in very revealing clothing—even for Hallandren—hanging about the front. Some even whistled toward Denth and Tonk Fah.

This was a foreign place. Everywhere else in T’Telir, she felt like she didn’t fit in. Here, she felt unwelcome. Distrusted. Even hated.

She steeled herself. Somewhere in this place was a group of tired, overworked, frightened Idrians. The threatening atmosphere made her feel even sorrier for her people. She didn’t know if they would be much help in trying to sabotage the Hallandren war effort, but she did know one thing: She intended to help them. If her people had slipped through the monarchy’s fingers, then it was her duty to try and pick them back up.

“That look on your face,” Denth said. “What’s it for?”

“I’m worried about my people,” she said, shivering as they passed a large group of street toughs dressed in black with red armbands, their faces stained and dirtied. “I came by this slum when Parlin and I were searching for a new home. I didn’t want to get close, even though I’d heard that rents were cheap. I can’t believe that my people are so oppressed that they would have to live somewhere in here, surrounded by all of this.”

Denth frowned. “Surrounded by it?”

Vivenna nodded. “Living among prostitutes and gangs, having to walk past such things every day . . .”

Denth started laughing, startling her. “Princess,” he said, “your people don’t live among prostitutes and gangs. Your people are the prostitutes and gangs.”

Vivenna stopped in the middle of the street. “What?”

Denth glanced back at her. “This is the Idrian quarter of the city. These slums are called the Highlands, for Color’s sake.”

“Impossible,” she snapped.

“Very possible,” Denth replied. “I’ve seen it in cities across the world. Immigrants gather, make a little enclave. That enclave gets conveniently ignored by the rest of the city. When roads are repaired, other places come first. When guards are sent to patrol, they avoid the foreign sections.”