Thieves at Heart (7 page)

“What if we don’t find a cart? What if we have to walk? Eh?” Derk laid on the pile of quilts to test it, sitting up and switching the one on the bottom for the top. “I’m not going to carry you, I’m not.”

“There’s no way we’d ever walk all that way!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Derk put his hand on the side of her head and gave her a gentle push, a silly gesture and she just slapped his hand away, laughing. “Besides, I weigh such a bit, just roll me up and put me in your pack. I bet I weigh less than a pair of boots.”

“I’m glad you’re in good spirits but please, be a good girl and go to bed.” He gave her a kiss on the top of her head and stood up, his arms crossed over his bare chest, watching as she crawled into the quilts and wiggled around in them, trying to warm them up. They smelled like herbs, the kind that keep moths out and she pulled the quilts up higher till only the top of her head stuck out, dark hair splayed against a patchwork of green and pink and yellow. “I like when you smile, Tavi,” she heard Derk say. “Are you happy?”

She nodded under the blankets and felt him pat her on the head, smiling under the quilts. His footsteps grew quieter but she could feel the creak of the floor as he walked away, the rustling of the curtain that was the makeshift door. Tavera moved the blankets and quilts back, too hot to stay under them for too long. Her good ear perked up as she made out the whispering of adults in the next room, deep and middle toned voices taking turns in the dark. The hearth was glowing in the front room and Tavera could still see. She heard them talk for a long time, a few laughs drifting on the air. The little girl could be patient and she waited until the laughs came a bit closer together. Then the talking stopped altogether though the bed was creaking.

Tavera crept out of her bed and walked to the door, remembering which boards made noise and sidestepped towards her cloak. As soon as she was sure she could reach it she leaned forward, grabbing a hold of the heavy fabric and giving it a quick flick to get it off the peg. The cloak hopped off the peg into Tavera’s hands and she took the few steps to get back into her bed quickly, sitting on top of the quilts this time. She cocked an ear towards the bedroom, listening. They were still involved with one another so as long as she was quiet they would probably fall right asleep when they were done. Too excited to sleep and by the light of the hearth, Tavera reached into her boot, pulling out the small blue coin Derk had given her. With quick, skinny fingers she placed the coin against her cloak and began sewing it into the fabric, imagining the circle she would create as she pushed the needle in and out.

Tavera was very tired the next morning. She didn’t recall falling asleep but Derk had nudged her awake with his toe and she woke with a start, her sewing and needle still her hand. He didn’t chide her but he did raise his eyebrows, blue eyes narrowed in disapproval. She could only smile sheepishly.

Breakfast was porridge and toasted bread with honey on top. Tavera gobbled everything so fast Derk had to tell her to slow down. After they ate they packed their things to leave. Gam gave Derk the daggerleaf handkerchief she had embroidered and she gave Tavera a few loops of colored thread, a needle and some fabric. She gave Derk a kiss on the mouth that he returned and she pinched Tavera which made Tavera stick her tongue out at her to her face and the woman laughed. “Remember our talk, Tavi,” she said. Derk kissed her again and they left.

“What did you two talk about?” he asked on their way to the temple. The air felt cold but the aromas of the town waking up wafted from windows and mixed with the scents of the streets. Tavera had the rock he had given her in her hand, still cool on her skin. People were baking bread and she wanted some. Would they get food before they found a cart?

“Didn’t you two talk before you went to bed?” she asked, scrunching up her nose. Derk stood up straighter and grabbed the straps of his pack, hopping over a rather questionable puddle and taking Tavi’s hand to help her over it.

“Well, a bit but I don’t recall all of it. I don’t know if you noticed but she generally likes to be the one asking the questions.” They walked for a little bit more, turning a corner. Tavera saw the temple at the end of alley, the whitewashed steps inviting them in. Derk cleared his throat. “Is that really who did that to you, Kiff? To your ear?”

Tavera gnawed the inside of her cheek as they walked, not sure what to say. One look at Derk’s face and the little girl suddenly felt guilty and she shook her head. “No. I…I lied to Gam.” She looked back at Derk and waited to hear what he would say, wondering if she had done the right thing in both cases. At first the man looked confused, but it quickly gave way to relief. He nodded and then skipped over to her side of the alley, putting his arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze.

They reached the temple steps, beggars and priestesses standing around while a few of the brass stood on the street level, still selling their wares when people were making the morning bread. Derk nodded his head in greeting to all of them. He held Tavera’s hand as they both walked up, squeezing it gently as they crossed the threshold.

Tavera looked at the holy water and dunked her whole hand in, wiping it on her forehead and her heart. Derk dipped his fingers in only, choosing to just touch his fingertips to his forehead and heart as they were supposed to do, giving Tavera another look of admonishment. She sucked on her bottom lip and clutched the stone in her hand.

It was quiet in the temple, several people praying with their hands over their heart. This temple had a statue of the goddess standing in a boat. Most of the temples by the water had the goddess standing in a boat, the gentle crescent shape under her feet, a lantern in the right hand. Some depictions would have her with her left hand empty and held to the side, bidding the worshiper to go their way, unburdened.

Tavera had seen them but never prayed at one. This one, though, held the silver knife, hilt towards the temple, the silver blade laid against her black, holy hand. Some said it was for gutting fish and indeed, little stone fish popped around the wooden boat, ready to submit to the goddess wishes and feed her children. But the Mysteries said the knife was meant as a tool of prayer.

Tavera stared at the knife in the goddess’ hand, the hilt towards her and she wondered what she would do if she was given a knife. Would she use it to give someone bad what they deserved? Or would she use the knife the way the priestesses sometimes told the laypeople to use it: to cut the past away. She looked to the side and Derk stood there, his eyes closed. What would Derk do? Did Derk hate anyone? Tavera knew what Old Gam would do. But what did Tavera want? The lantern was meant to light her path and the offering stone was in her hands. Tavera bit her bottom lip and threw the stone towards the boat, the stone landing within with a thunk and a splash of water.

She looked to Derk and smiled. Derk smiled back at her and they left the temple together, quietly slipping out past those praying, nodding to the priestess at the door as they left. A few blocks away were the carts heading out of the town and though Derk didn’t find one heading to Tyestown he found one heading in that general direction. He made Tavera wait by the cart while he slipped away for a spell and he returned with a bag of stuffed buns. The first one Tavera bit into was filled with sausage and she gagged, spitting up onto the ground. Derk patted her head and tried to smile for the cart driver, assuring him that she wouldn’t do that on the journey. The next bun was tested before he handed it to her and this one was filled with fruit and nuts. They hopped in back of the cart with the barrels of oil and settled in as it lurched forward and started down the road.

Derk laid in the back, setting his head against the pack and putting his hat over his eyes, apparently intent on sleeping once again. Blue eyes peered out from under the brim as Tavera looked over her sewing things, her mouth twisting and moving with thought. “You like being with me, right Kiff? You’re my girl?”

Tavera smiled and nodded enthusiastically, showing her teeth when she smiled. Derk smiled back, sleepily and let his hat fall over his face. Soon he was snoring. Tavera looked over the fabric and the thread and before she could think about it too much she dropped them all over the side of the cart. The sky was finally blue, the haughty sun shining overhead and lighting the day as it wished. Tavera wouldn’t hold it against him. She pulled the playing cards out of Derk’s pack and dealt herself a hand of Four Seasons, singing to herself as they bumped along the road.

CHAPTER 4

Cruel as a Child

The bell in the church tower rang loudly, making Tavera jump and then giggle nervously, looking around to see if anyone had seen her. No one seemed to notice though the sound did change the direction some people were walking in. It was the end of the second watch, when many people went home for midday meal so some of the shops and stalls usually closed. Derk had told her to meet him outside the Three Brothers after third watch for evening meal and a bit of talk. He had a meeting with Hock all day at the Weaver Dance hall and she walked by it five times now in the hopes that he would exit the big wooden building with the shuttles over the doors. The last time she had walked by a man with brown hair and green eyes had shooed her away and told her not to come back. She couldn’t go back after that, knowing she had been recognized.

The streets of Tyestown had fun things to see anyway. It was bigger than Portsmouth even, maybe bigger than Eastwick and Southwick together but not as scary. It was cleaner and the Baron had even planted gardens and trees throughout the town, little quiet spaces for the townsfolk to sit and work and play. Even the block lords seemed fancier in this town. Derk had pointed them out. They dressed nicer and hid their weapons better than the ones in the ‘Wicks though one of them had a very large dog on a very strong leash. Tavera had been afraid of the big black beast but Derk approached the small company, pulling a piece of sausage pie out of his pack and asked if he could feed it to him. The man with the face full of freckles had laughed uproariously and said to go ahead, the big dog rolling onto its back and looking rather foolish with its fat pink tongue falling out of it’s mouth. It had fat black teats and the man with the freckles had a black and white puppy pop its head out of his shirt,
whimpering for milk. Tavera had pet both the dog and the puppy before they went on their way.

“Don’t beware the dog, beware the owner, Tavi,” he had told her as they went their way. “If I had it in for that man I’d be dead right now. A man like that can’t afford to have poorly trained dogs. One stupid child and he’d be in the clacks.” That had been two days ago, a day after they arrived in Tyestown. The pair arrived several days ahead of Hock and tried to make the most of it, walking the town together and separately, learning who the guards were and where they went at the end of their shifts, trying to pick up on the patterns weaving the tapestry that was Tyestown.

Weaving was the biggest industry here and they had passed through fields dotted with beasts of various coat qualities and colors. The villages around Tyestown dealt with animals and grew the precious plants and animals used to make the dyes which gave their fibers the rich colors coveted by others in the Valley. One of the towns was supposedly a swamp where a certain kind of snake hunted and dwelt, its venom giving the most rich, purple dye the Barons coveted for their own garments.

Tavera was trying to decide what her favorite color was as she walked down the street where merchants had swatches of fabric outside. Thin summer reed linens, thick sheepbush spun for winter garments and even animal skins dyed colors they weren’t supposed to be. She saw what was obviously a rabbit skin dyed a funny shade of grey and green hanging from the top of a stall and Tavera wondered if it would look nice with her cloak. But the greenish hue would make it stand out more. White was nice but got dirty quickly. The grey was very pretty and looked so soft, Tavera felt her hands twitch wanting to touch it.

How many rabbits would it take to line the inside of a cloak? Probably more than she could afford. More than she could take. She didn’t know how to catch rabbits either. The rabbit furs hung outside her reach, twisting in the slight breeze. Tavera pursed her lips together as she considered what it would take to steal the contents of an entire stall of hides and she squeezed her forearm, feeling the hard little band of muscle there.

Her ear twitched under her hair and she turned around, still squeezing her arm. Down the street came a group of children, talking and whooping. Two of them carried wooden boxes with holes in them, something moving inside. Tavera took one last glance at the rabbit skin she coveted and followed after them, keeping to the side as they walked, one of the boys was swinging a stick around while a little girl played with a doll. It wasn’t a fancy doll, just rags but it had a big handful of black wool for its hair and a silly face painted on.

Some of the children were eating and Tavera decided that they weren’t from Tyestown. They were dressed too nicely and it wasn’t a holiday. They were probably visiting the city for a special purpose, several families traveling together for safety and the children had been brought along for a treat. Their clothes were nice but village nice. If their parents sold everything in their cart the children would probably all receive a treat and maybe a new article of clothing for the next holiday or season, maybe a new pair of soft gloves or boots if it was time. Five children made up the band. Probably cousins and a set of siblings. The little girl had to be related to someone or no one would have let her come along. Tavera was probably of age with the two middle ones. The biggest one offered the other half of his pocket pie to the little girl with the doll and she took it happily, offering a bit to her toy before she took a bite out of it herself.

They settled in one of the grassy squares. The two biggest children were carrying the crates, a boy and a girl. They settled on the grass and opened the doors. From one of the boxes hopped a fat, speckled rabbit, grey and brown. Its nose wiggled. The other rabbit had to be coaxed out by the boy, a light grey bunny with tufted ears. The boy pulled something out of his pocket and the bunny hopped shyly towards his hand, wiggling its nose and then burying its face in his palm, making him laugh. The little girl reached forward to pet the bunny but fell forward awkwardly as it hopped beyond her reach before she could pet it.