Sweetbread

The ancient markets in Thyren were a bevy of activity. Anything and everything was for sale here; Enchaunnic clothes, jewelry from Myn Shae, spices and slaves of exotic flavors from anywhere on Nyl could all be found in this crowded port. Carts full of goods from the first of many foreign ships were delivered to stalls and shops in addition to the normal traffic. This would be going on all day and late into the night.

Ru hid in an alley watching the hectic affair and listening to its din. It was odd music for an even more awkward dance, but to her it was wonderful. Everything in Topside was wonderful to her. She liked watching all the people as they went about their days.From the man in the stall near Temple Street who yelled “fresh fish” despite the catch often being two days old. There was the blind beggar who roamed the entire length of the market and stole the pouches of those who failed to put coins in his wooden cup. Or the myriad of performers come to sing songs or juggle balls. But her favorites were the young girls her age. Often, they were servants or slaves to the city’s elite, but they all seemed to have a certain freedom Ru would never know. She was from the tunnels and paths down below. She was from the Undertow.

With the roaming gangs of shadow kin and unknown things that stalked the deepest tunnels. no one lived in the Undertow unless they had to. It was her place, not here in Topside. But she didn’t keep in her place, she came up every chance she got, especially now since so many had gotten sick with the Creep over the winter.

Ru ducked behind a barrel as two of the city-watch entered her alley. One of the guardsmen undid his trousers and Ru heard a stream of water hitting the other side of her barrel.

“Have ya tried the new redhead at Cierio’s? I tell ya the mouth on her. She cou’d swallow a tassin root to the stalk,” said the guard relieving himself.

“Not sure I would want to after your inflicted disappointment has touched her,” said the second guard, his voice deep and raspy.

“No need for ya to be jealous. Not my fault that no amount of rilk will get ya in between the thighs of even the easiest of woman. Of course, accept ya’r mum.” The watchman’s piss began to run around the barrel and pool under Ru’s shoe.

“Oh, fuck off and hurry up.” Ru smiled at how the added emotion to the already course voice made it sound like a frog’s croak to her.

“Calm down. I’m just sayin’ ya ugly. Oh, by the Light that burns.” The sound of water pelting Ru’s barrel ceased.

“Let’s go. I don’t want the new captain to know that we spent our shift with you pissing on the city instead of protecting it.”

“Alright, alright. Although I wouldn’t mind if the captain ended up working at Cierio’s.” Ru waited until she heard the footsteps of the two men get lost in the cacophony of the market before leaving her hiding spot. She tried to shake the moisture from her shoe.

A burble erupted from Ru’s gut. As if by fate the regular cocktail of odors from the market were replaced with the Light-blessed aroma of freshly baked sweetbread. Ru clung to the edge of the alley, hugging the side wall of a store front assessing the crowd. No sign of watchmen or pashar. The bake shop was only a block and a half away. Again, her stomach grumbled. She could make it.

Ru pulled the ratty cowl of her cloak further down over her face and stepped out from her alley way. She kept her head down and tried not look to the sides.She found a group to slip behind to blend in. She was short enough that she would go unnoticed by on coming market goers.

The smell was even more radiant when she got close to the baker’s shop. Impatiently Ru’s stomach protested, this time with painful roar. There it was, the green door to the bakery. Ru left the safety of the group she had been slip-streaming. She came up to the window of the shop, keeping her back to the street. Through the corner of the window she saw the quarry of her hunt, the ever-elusive sweetbread.

Making sure no one was paying attention, Ru slunk to the green door. She imagined being someone else. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. Ru entered the shop.

“Good day, miss. We’ll be right with you,” said a man walking right in front of Ru with large arms wearing an apron and carrying a stack of wooden proofing trays in to a back room for washing.

Ru Lowered her cowl, of the finest silk. She had the perfect rosy complexion of a young high-born lady. Her eyes were dazzling green emeralds and here hair was spun gold.

“The sweet buns are fresh out of the oven and for a good price as well.” Said a woman in a white bonnet placing loaves of cross bread on a large baking peel with her back to Ru. Looking side to side Ru’s eye found her prey.The Sweetbread was sitting next on the front counter. Without hesitation Ru made her way to buns. She glanced up to see the woman still turned away. It was ecstasy with that first bite. It was sweet with a hint of salted butter. Still warm it melted in Ru’s mouth. Warm satisfaction washed over her. Her eyes began to look about and take in the reat of the bake shop, until they stopped…what was that?

There, on the other side of the raised counter was the baker’s coffer. Ru couldn’t help but stare. It really ought to be hidden better. The couple probably thought that with two of them in the shop one of them would always be able to keep an eye on it. They had made a careless mistake.There was probably enough rilk in there to go a long way in the Undertow.

Ru stuffed the remainder of sweet bun in her mouth, overloading her cheeks. Her hands darted to the coffer, snatching it up. She placed her cloak over the bulky box and turned to leave.

“What are you playin’ at?” said the man in the apron. He had returned and was standing over Ru. The man grabbed her wrists hard and lowered his face into hers.

Fear and panic washed over Ru and she began to lose control and concentration. Her cloak lost its sheen and looked like a ratty moth-eaten garment once more. Her skin and hair lost their color becoming as white as that of a dracir, her ears pointed and her eyes turned to black orbs. The sweetbread dropped from her mouth.

The man let go. “W-what are you? A faedric? A Dark-kin? Abomination! Outlander!”

Ru kicked the man as hard as she could in the shin and bolted for the door.

“Guards!” The woman screamed from behind the counter.

Ru barreled through the door, while she pulled on the cowl of her cloak. If she could make it to the street, she could disappear in the crowd.

The man hobbled, stumbling out the door behind her. “Stop! Thief! Guards get an inquisitor! It’s an outlander!” shouted the baker at the top of his lungs, pointing at Ru.

“Oi, where do ya think ya’r going?” It was the voice of watchman that had pissed on Ru.

All eyes in the market were on Ru. She spun to meet the two watchmen. Their swords were already drawn. Pulling her knife would be a mistake.

“I don’t think we need to call fer an inquisitor for an outlander runter like ya. Best to just be done with it.” The guard walked towards her; his stride too confident for a man that looked like an eel in leather armor.

The weight of the coffer encumbered Ru, making it impossible for her to dodge the guards slash altogether. She did however manage to make the blow non-lethal by side stepping. Blood dripped from Ru’s arm to the cobbled road. Before the watchman could attack again Ru smashed him in the face with the liberated coffer. The man hit the ground along with the contents of the metal box. A shrill sound pierced the air as the second watchmen blew his whistle in alert.

Ru bolted. Market goers stepped out of her way as she ran by. Other members of the city watch joined the chase. Ru held her bleeding arm tight. Her greed was responsible for this. She never should had tried to take the box and as a result she lost her sweetbread as well. She slipped around market patrons and slid under carts without breaking speed. She had made it five blocks, almost to the chandler on Bridge Street, when she heard the bell.She needed to hurry.The bell meant it wouldn’t be just the city-watch after her, but also pashar from the church and if she was unlucky a member of the inquisition.

Ru’s lungs burned as she ran. The pain from her arm wouldn’t allow her the concentration needed to alter her appearance. The shouts and whistles of watchmen were still too close, but slowly falling further behind. She would have to wait to be further away and try and run down a side street. Ru pushed herself as hard as she could, forcing her lungs to break and her legs to move faster. Just a little further ahead.

The whistles and shout of the guards had faded and become just another part of the sounds of the city. Ru quickly turned down the first lonely alley she could find.She dropped to her hands and knees behind a stack of wooden crates, where she coughed and gasped for air. She was alone. She was safe. She dropped further and rolled on her back, not caring that she was probably laying in muck and filth.

Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. A chuckle escaped her mouth between breaths and she wore a smile. Ru’s breath and heart slowed to near normal. Still dissatisfied her stomach protested once again. Nothing she could do about it right now. It was too dangerous to risk stealing in the market at this time. Every watchman would be on the lookout and with pashar on the hunt for an outlander; things would be dangerous for a couple of days. She would have to try and find something to eat once she made it back to the Undertow.

Ru picked herself up off the ground, giving her clothes a quick brush off, not as if being on the ground made them any dirtier than they were. It would be best to wait until night so she could stick to the shadows, but that was a luxury Ru did not have. She needed help with her arm as soon as she could get it and that was not happening Topside. There were no physicians in the Undertow, or at least none that you would let help you with any medical needs, but hopefully she could find Mother Tatiana.

It would be best if she avoided the market on her way back to the Undertow entrance on Cottar Lane. There were two taverns she would have to pass by. Drinks would flow freely tonight with all the rilk made with the trade ships coming in, but it would be far too early for that. Hopefully the crowds that were there would be the mind-your-own-business type. Ru looked at the gash on her arm. It didn’t matter. She had to risk it. Ru tore a strip from her cloak and tied it around her arm. It held the wound together, but only slowed the bleeding.

The first tavern was easy to get by. The crowd was small and became distracted when a fight broke out between a merchant from the Imperium and a trader from the Myn Shae Isles over the price of goods. The sport was far more interesting than a petite girl in a cloak.

When Ru reached the second tavern, The Vulgar Mermaid, things changed. The Vulgar Mermaid was the tavern closest to the docks, making it the first that sailors would see and there by the one they were most likely to visit. The prosperity that came from years of taking such a large influx of foreign coin had allowed the tavern to grow and expand. A new story was added, but the biggest addition came when the owner of The Vulgar Mermaid bought the wainwright’s shop next to it and tore it down and build a whorehouse in its place. The owner of the Vulgar Mermaid named the newly built house of ill-repute after himself. His name was Cierio.

Normally there was nothing that bugged Ru about Cierio’s, but today sitting at a table outside between the tavern and the cathouse was an off-duty watchman holding a cold mug of ale up to his broken face. Ru hid behind the cart which delivered casks of lager and brandy to the tavern, watching the city guard. His face was swollen and it looked like he had lost one of his front teeth. He was hardly recognizable as the eel-faced guard from the bakeshop. She almost began to feel sorry for him, realizing she had caused him pain. Sod that, he had tried to kill her and now the city was looking for her.

Ru looked down at her arm, it felt numb and cold. Ru looked back at the bastard. He was staring directly at the cart. Ru hid behind the cart, putting her back to it. Had he seen her? She dropped to a crouch and looked to where the watchman was through the wheel spokes. The guard stood sword in hand and took a step forward. Dammit! He then looked side to side, sat back down and began to drink his ale. No matter, it was time to go.

Ru pulled her hood tight, covering her face. She kept her head down and walked past the tavern and Cierio’s.

“Darling, your bleeding.” The call came from a lady with a large bosom and face paint to look like a doll, who stood next to the door of Cierio’s.

Ru looked down at her arm. The bandage had come lose and blood was pouring out of the wound. Ru continued to walk past.

“Little girl, are you ok?” Quiet woman!

Ru tried to pick up the pace, but she was far too weak. Just keep going, that is what she had to do, Cottar lane was not far.

Ru began to stagger as she entered the last alleyway leading home. She could see it up ahead, the bent sewer grate that lead to the Undertow. She walked as straight as she could. Her legs were noodles giving way to her own weight.

“Turn around!” A hand grabbed her arm where she had been wounded and forced her in the opposite direction. No! She was almost there. “It is ya, runter.” The guardsman’s nose wheezed as he breathed and his breath wreaked of booze and kerf leaf for pain. “Ya’r gonna die, ya little outlander bitch.” Ru felt so tired and the world was slipping away. The watchman reeled his sword back getting ready to run Ru through. She didn’t want to die. Ru was going to have to give this maximum effort.

Blood splattered in Ru’s face as the man gargled with her knife in his throat. The body of the man fell to the ground followed by Ru. On hands and knees, she crawled towards the sewer grate, towards the darkness and safety, towards the Undertow, a trail of blood in her wake.