Valor and Violence

About half an hour later found Elizabeth seated cross-legged on the floor of a sparsely furnished house, tearing into a slice of bread coated in a thick stew. It was an odd house, a single room affair wedged in tight between two much larger buildings in a fairly middle-class district. There was a fireplace against the far wall with a pot bubbling away, a single chair in front of it, a kitchen table beside it, and a simple bed in the corner. Aside from that, it was empty.

Except for a table off to the side piled high with jewellery, coins, and other such shiny things. None of that interested Elizabeth, though. No, her attention was focussed solely on the urchin standing awkwardly before her, shuffling his feet and looking everywhere except at her.

He had led her on a merry chase through the sewers. He was fast and, it turned out, a bit taller than she was. Somehow she hadn’t noticed until he was striding high knee’d through the sewerage while she battled every step of the way. If it weren’t for him growing winded after a hundred odd metres, she might have lost him for good, but in the end he’d climbed out of the sewers, with Elizabeth hot on his heels, and barrelled into this house. She had waited for a little while, scoping the place and making sure it was otherwise empty, before kicking open the door to find the food and her beloved pistol sitting in the middle of the room while the thief cowered by the fireplace.

Her own stomach had betrayed her, grumbling loudly at the smell and affording the lad a brief stay of execution while she ate.

“S-so, you haven’t killed me y-yet,” he nervously ventured. “Does that mean you aren’t g-going to?”

Elizabeth shoved the last scrap into her mouth, aggressively chewing with an open mouth as she glared at him.

“I’m still deciding.”

“I-I-I have more stew and b-bread, if that helps make up your mind?”

Elizabeth deliberated for a moment, then nodded, keeping her pistol trained on him as he shuffled over and delicately placed another slice in front of her. He jumped, scuttling back to his spot as Elizabeth snatched it and began hoeing into it.

“Alright, I’ve decided I’ll let you plead your case.”

The urchin let out a breath he had been holding in for a long time, his posture slumping as he let go of some of the tension he had been carrying. He opened his mouth to speak, but Elizabeth cut him off with a wave of her pistol.

“And by the gods, if you keep stuttering, I swear I’ll shoot you out of frustration.”

The thief wrung his hands, an imploring look on his face. “I-I c-can’t h-help it. It gets worse the more n-nervous I am.”

“Sounds like a you problem, Champ.”

He started to sweat, a desperate look creeping into his eyes as he panicked, too scared to talk, but needing to. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tucked the pistol into her belt, wincing as her hands brushed against her soiled clothing. She stood and walked over to the fire, careful not to spook her captive.

“Just, take your time. I promise I probably won’t kill you before you’ve said your piece, and I’ve put the pistol away. That help?”

“’Probably won’t’ isn’t much of a p-promise.”

“It’s as good as you’re gonna get,” she said, plonking down on the ground and basking in the warmth. His eyes darted towards the door, almost imperceptibly fast before they jumped back to Elizabeth. She gave him a look that strongly suggested running was a bad idea, and he obediently sat down as well, cross-legged and just out of arm’s reach, even though it put him further from the fire.

“A-alright-” He stopped and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Alright. First, let me say I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I stole. I just felt something solid and heavy and assumed it would be valuable.”

Elizabeth nodded along. Made sense.

“Good start, go on.”

The urchin’s eyebrows raised in surprise at the unexpected reception. Emboldened, he pressed on, a little faster and more confident.

“It wasn’t personal, b-but stealing is how I get by. I have to take any opportunity I can get. I don’t have much to my name. If I don’t steal, I don’t eat.”

Elizabeth pointed at the table of valuables by way of response. The thief grimaced and looked down at the floor, then scooted around on his butt until he was facing away from her.

“Most of that goes to the local crime bosses. I barely have enough to live on when they’ve taken their due. I tried to h-hide some. O-o-once.”

He lifted his shirt as he spoke, revealing a network of grotesque scars crisscrossing his back. Judging from the irregular banding, they weren’t from a proper blade, or even a whip. She crawled forward and traced a finger along one, the thief shivering at her touch. If she were to hazard a guess, she’d say a meat hook was used for at least some of them.

“They did this for skimming a little?”

Say what you would about the Guild, at least it looked after its own. The Master demanded loyalty, but he also earned it. No one would think of skimming because there was no need to! Not like the base curs running this city, it seemed.

“Y-yes.”

“What’s your name?”

The urchin turned again so he was facing Elizabeth, now well within arm’s reach. This close, she could see the barely restrained tears in his eyes. He had stolen from her, yes, but she probably would have done the same in his shoes. He lived at the mercy of cruel men in a city that didn’t care. He had a house, but it was no home. No one lived here except this young man just trying to survive.

“Jack.”

“Nice to meet you, Jack,” Elizabeth said, then cleared her throat, dropping the pitch of her voice as she raised its volume, “I hereby decree that I shall not kill you.”

Her declaration made, she gave the stunned man a warm smile. He nervously coughed, then bobbed his head.

“R-right. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

With that done, she climbed to her feet and went back to the fireplace and the pot of bubbling stew, scooping out mouthfuls with what was left of her bread.

“Uhm, are you going to leave now?…”

“Elizabeth.”

“Right. Elizabeth. So, are you going to leave?”

“Oh! This is your house!” she said, smacking her palm against her forehead. “How rude of me!”

She went back to shovelling food into her mouth as Jack rose, grabbing a piece of bread for himself and standing beside her.

“Not to be nit-picky, but you didn’t answer my q-question.”

Elizabeth moved aside half a pace so he could reach the pot as well. “I don’t think so. It’s warm here, and it’s cold and miserable outside. Also, I’m covered in drying shit-water. I can’t go out in public like this! Imagine the scandal!”

“Who-o would be gossiping about you?”

“I dunno, but I’m sure someone would. I’ll need a set of your clothes before I go, and do you have a bath?”

Jack should his head. “I have a bucket. I drew water just before heading to the square for the announcement. You could use that?”

“Fine, bring it out, please.”

She undressed as Jack retrieved it from beside the valuables table. His eyes bulged when he turned back around to find her bare from the waist up. He dropped the bucket, the water splashing across the floor as he hurriedly averted his gaze.

“S-s-sorry! I didn’t think y-y-you’d-”

“Oh, for gods’ sake, Jack! That was my bath water!”

“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t expecting to turn around and find you half naked!” he squealed.

“Fully naked now,” Elizabeth replied as she finished pulling off her boots and trousers. “And your house only has one room. Where was I supposed to bathe?”

“I figured you’d wait until I left!”

“You were leaving? Why?”

“So you could bathe!” he nearly shouted in exasperation. With a huff, Elizabeth sat down, pulling her sodden trousers over her exposed chest.

“Well good job. You’ve gone and made me self-conscious now. Way to make it weird, pervert.”

“It was already weird!”

“If you say so. Anyway, better hop to it!”

“H-hop to what?”

“Refilling the bucket. I can’t sit here stark naked in the middle of your house all day, you know. I’ve got places to be.”

“But… you just said… oh, forget it,” he said as he picked up the bucket and hurried out into the rain.

Nice lad, Elizabeth thought as she watched him go. Odd, but nice.

*

Jack came back a quarter of an hour later with the freshly filled bucket. He practically burst through the door, then skidded to a halt when he spotted the still naked Elizabeth, now sitting by the fire with her back to the door.

“I turned around so you couldn’t see anything, so please don’t drop the bucket again.”

Still averting his gaze, he crossed to the fireplace and put the bucket and a cloth next to her, then spun to face the wall.

“I think you should clean up fast and get out of the city,” he said, an edge to his voice that wasn’t there before.

“What? Why? Overstayed my welcome, have I?”

“Yes.”

“Rude! And after I decided I wouldn’t kill you and everything!”

“What?” he asked, glancing at her askance, then blushing and looking away again. “N-not with me. With the Watch and that n-noble’s thief-takers.”

“The duke? He’s dead.”

“Yeah, everyone knows. After all, half the city watched you run him through. He’s not the problem anymore, his death is. It’s galvanised the nobles, the Watch, even the Emperor is pissed. I passed three hideouts being raided on the way to the well and back. They aren’t arresting people either, they’re just dragging them out and executing them in the street. There hasn’t been a crackdown like this in, well, ever.”

“Oh, really?” Elizabeth asked with a cruel smile. This was excellent. Getting rid of the duke was one thing, but then having the authorities clean house for them after? The Guild could wait for the furore to die down, then move on in and set up shop. Without someone like the duke to rally behind, the zealotry would die down within a few weeks, a month, tops.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Jack said, shaking his head. “But it gets worse. The duke’s son has s-stepped into his father’s shoes. The different factions are rallying under his leadership. It’s catapulted his family’s fortunes to the top of the nobility food chain. There’s no way he’s ever g-going to let up as long as this is the source of their influence.”

Bollocks.

“That is frustrating,” she said as she scrubbed herself down. “Looks like I won’t be leaving town after all. Clothes!”

Jack dutifully produced a linen shirt and pair of pants and tossed them without looking. “You aren’t planning to kill him too, are you?”

“Absolutely. I came here with a job to do, after all. If killing his dad didn’t do the trick, maybe offing him will?” she replied as she pulled on the clothes. “You can look now.”

Jack turned around to face her, fidgeting with his hands. “About that, actually. Why did you kill the duke?”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. Now that she thought about it, it was a little suspicious that he had sought her out after he robbed her and she killed the noble. He didn’t know anything about her or what she was doing, so why?

“Jack,” she said slowly, “why are you helping me? Saving me from the Watch, returning my pistol. Now that I think about it, it’s all very suspicious.” She stalked towards him as she spoke, thrusting her face up into his as she scrutinised his response. He turned his head away as he leaned back.

“U-uh, w-w-well… I-I was w-worried.”

“About me? Why?”

He gave a halfhearted chuckle. “N-no. About me. I s-saw what you did to those guards and the d-duke. I figured you’d come after m-me n-next.”

Ah.

“That makes sense. I am pretty scary, right?” she said, fixing him with a sadistic smile, being sure to show as many sparkly white teeth as she could manage. Though his head was turned, he kept his eyes fixed on her as she inched closer and closer. Suddenly, she snapped her teeth at him. He leapt a foot in the air with a yelp and darted away as she laughed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, that was mean of me,” she said, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye. “I couldn’t resist. But I digress. As a gesture of goodwill, I’ll let you help me.”

“What? Why would I want to help you? I’m going to f-find somewhere to lie low until I can escape the city! Not go to war with the Watch and the nobles!”

“Jack, listen to me very carefully,” Elizabeth said, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eyes. “You don’t need to live like this. Poor. Fearful. Neglected. Help me, and when the Guild takes over this city, I’ll make sure we look after you forever. You can live comfortably, all the stew and bread you can imagine, a huge, comfy bed. We can even get you a little dog or something, one of them fluffy little shits the emperor has! Would you like that, Jack?”

He scratched at his arm and chewed at his lip, but Elizabeth could see something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Hope.

“I m-mean, I could take or leave the dog. But the rest of it sounds nice.”

“Thatta boy,” she said, tapping him on the cheek. “So, here’s what we’re going to do…”