Thief's Hate

Shoving a passerby out of his way, Ribus felt the anger boiling inside himself. Nothing like this had happened to him since years ago, when he was a 'street rat' himself, trying to keep from dying on the damn streets. Feeling the pain in his face and chest, he snarled and spit, barely missing another laborer walking by. The man began to get angry but then looked away, before quickly scurrying away. Ribus knew that was how the damn scrubs that lived in the slums should be looking at their betters, but thinking about that little turd and his high and mighty attitude, Ribus felt his head feeling like it was going to burst.

It had been three years of the same crud, since Ribus had dragged the 'street rat' into the Bone Crushers. Thinking back to then, Ribus now felt regret for his decision. The little shit had been some farmer cast off that was left in the slums, and Ribus had thought he had been lucky to get to the rat before a Temple. However, the street rat had grown to be a pain in the ass, with how piss poor of a thief he was. He also failed to pay the tax more than once but had always ended up somehow keeping his hide in one piece before he could be removed. More than that, he made some annoying friends, who had some pull to keep the pressure off the rat. That last thing, more than anything, rubbed a lot of the others in the gang the wrong way.

Thankfully, when the usual order came from the merchant for new slaves, the little snot had been on the list. Unfortunately, the little shit had put up a fight last night, when they were dragging him over to the meeting place. Things had gotten out of hand, and Ribus swore he had left the street rat half dead. But he found out this morning from Freitz, that the street rat was alive. That wasn't all, as the boss had been furious when he found out that the delivery to the merchants was missing one of the packages. Ribus shivered when he remembered the beating from the boss as well the anger and surprisingly fear on the boss's face.

Ribus had no idea what was so special about the brat, and he had even tried asking Freitz about it. But, the old man had kept quiet, refusing to say anything. Now, Ribus was left looking for the little shit. Thankfully, some of the other 'street rats' had pointed him in the right direction. Heading towards 'Whore Lane,' Ribus snarled as he thought about what he would do that little bastard.

Tavern Keeper's Choice

It was frustrating. That was the word that Bernice felt best described the city right now. There had always been things wrong in the city, but it had all been normal for Bernice. Even knowing about all the underhanded and despicable things the city council, the merchants, and the gangs had been wallowing in, Bernice had minded her own business. However, that was all before she found out about the 'special' celebrations some of the councilors had been messing about with. To make things more horrifying, she had found out from her 'eyes' and 'ears' that the heir to the count had been to some of those celebrations.

With the count being ill and the Temples passively watching everything for some reason, she she had been left little choice but to send a letter to the second son. He had left home close to a decade ago, only returning a handful of times since then, but Bernice knew he wouldn't let the council continue with their insanity. Thankfully, she had been right, and he had returned and with a wizard of all things.

Thinking about the two men in the meal room upstairs, Bernice hoped they could ferret out whatever was hiding in the dark places in the city. However, she remembered the anger on the wizard's face, when she had revealed some of the details she had discovered about how some of current council's opponents had died in the last few years. He had poised the same questions about the Temple and about the nobles not taking any action, but Bernice had not been able to provide more information.

What she didn't expect was Val getting involved in all this. She had been surprised when the young 'street rat' had shown up earlier in the day, talking about having important news. Even then, she had been surprised about how insistent the boy had been that his news was worth the price. She had been tempted on knowing more, but something in the lad's eyes had told her that he was betting a lot on whatever he knew. She still felt shivers when she remembered what he had said about his life being on the line with what he knew. Truth be told, she trusted him more than most and liked him somewhat, so she was willing to give him a hand. In any case, the two men upstairs had planned on being here today anyway to meet with some of their supporters in the city. Letting them meet with Val for a bit was no big loss to her.

“Mistress Carlen, there's a young boy wannin' ta talk to ya.” The youthful voice woke Bernice up from her worries, and she turned to see new tavern maid, Sallie entering the kitchen. Bernice sighed, putting the uncertainty out of her mind, as she made her way to back yard to see if the youngster knew anything worth hearing about.