Sly

Chapter Twenty

Sly

I was particularly thankful for the new boots as I walked the long distance to the palace. As the birds fly, the palace would be closer than Panther's house in Lights district but because the castle was on such a high cliff you had to take a winding road to reach it which added a lot of time. Not to mention the huge lake that wouldn't allow one to walk straight from one side of the city to the other. Luckily, the high road actually ran right up to the gates, though as the cliff rose above the rest of the city the road sloped to meet the ground level, no longer a need to be a raised path when it reaches the castle. The only reason it was built as a raised road elsewhere is a guaranteed loop of the city that even the most extreme flood levels would never reach, but the cliff was higher than even the road's usual level.

My legs were sore by the time the gates came into view, and I'm sure there was a layer of sweat beaded on my neck and forehead. The gates were closed and guarded by two soldiers that looked fairly at ease. Though they did eye me with suspicion as I approached. Not that I blamed them for it. It was doubtful that I looked like a regular at the castle and if the royal guards didn't act with caution, the prince had more problems to deal with than a stray black dagger from Swamp.

"Is one of you Guardcaptain Pettypiece?" I asked timidly. I felt just a bit nervous and more than a bit anxious, but playing that up would make me seem like less of a threat and more likely to get some answers without wasting time.

"Right here, what can I do for you?" An incredibly tall figure marched up to the gates from the inner side. He seemed to have been patrolling the grounds near the gate and probably came over when he noticed a stranger talking to his guards. That, or he had been watching for me since Rorik had warned him I could come. A prospect that didn't make me feel any better.

The men stood at attention as their captain approached. His nose, which the prince said would be crooked, had seemingly been broken at least twice and left to its own devices to heal. His dark hair was trimmed very short, and he wore a ridgid posture with practiced ease.

"I have a letter for you, sir. It's from your uncle." I only just remembered to add the 'uncle' part as the prince had instructed.

"Is it now?" Pettypiece glanced at me for a long moment as if to remember my face. A gesture I didn't care for, but after meeting the prince I wasn't surprised by it. "Thank you, here is a piece for your troubles."

He gave me five copper bits from his pocket and strode away. The guards eyed her with curiosity but didn't say anything as I turned and went on my way, playing the part of a messenger and nothing more.

The prince was right, the captain was stiff. I wondered on my way home if anyone had ever tried to oil his hinges. Still, the bits were a nice enough gesture. Five copper bits is what most day laborers earn in a week or two, at least in Swamp.

Remembering a rumor on the way home that I had heard of a butcher who kept his thumb on the meat scale, I changed course. Times were hard enough as it was for most folk, let alone he did this in Foothills district, which was the only other place that could compare to life in Swamp. Minus the flooding, as it was not near the lake, but it was so low under the wall of the city it had less daylight than any other district. I took the long way home and brought back some nice plump sausage links. I dropped the coppers in the pocket of a woman in rags who was buying from the butcher and pocketed the sausages. He'd probably charge the woman enough to pay for her own meat and mine combined anyway. This way, at least the poor woman wouldn't be out as much coin and from what I'd heard while browsing the shop, I had another thing to report to Davery.

The sausages were a bit hard to hold, but I couldn't have asked him to wrap it for me without paying him. Even a stupid brute like him would notice that. I wandered back to the inn a little before lunch time and Addah was glad to have the meat for their pantry. The inn did well enough, but they didn't charge us for food, just rent. It was a long-standing argument between Addah and Davery, so I liked to add to the food stores when I could. We began renting from the Dragon four years ago, when I was not quite thirteen and Davery was fourteen and neither of us knew enough about rent to know Abe undercharged us. A lot. I liked to pay them back for some of it when she could.