My life felt so inadequate and unfair. Here I was again repeating another dull day of sorting out clothes.

"Gretchen!" snarled Markus. "Why are the cotton shirts from Ostermark hanging at the window instead of the silk ones from Riekland!"

Over pompous windbag. "Because I checked our inventory and found that the cotton shirts were selling almost four times as much as the silk ones." It made sense considering the cotton shirts were four times cheaper.

"So you did it intentionally?"

"Yes. As I said, the cotton shirts are selling faster so I figured they'd be selling just as fast if we made it more obvious."

He squeezed his hands. "Not consulting me about this first is undermining me."

"Well sorry, but you never listen to me."

"Because you come up with things like this. Those ragged low-quality shirts make us look like some petty market that only offer to the poor. We want to attract the rich! Make money off them!"

As if that was going to be possible. But there was no point arguing for someone like Markus. "Fine, I'll go and fix it."

"Forget it. I'm suspending you for today."

"What?!"

"I have very little tolerance for undermining and you know that. I'd be a lot less lenient if it wasn't for the respect I owe your father, as well as how I owe him for saving my life while I did my time in the militia."

I was almost scared what Markus would've done if it weren't for those reasons. "Fine!"

I stormed out of the store and out onto the streets. How I wish I could leave that miserable store forever and watch it burn to the ground, but it was the best work I could find to support me and my brother. There simply was simply not enough available respectable work for uneducated poor class girls in my town and didn't have the money to start-.

I had knocked into someone, someone wearing a heavy coat and tall brimmed hat. The man twisted around and showed is menacing scole and scarred face.

"S-s-sorry." I looked at the assortment of gear and holy symbols strapped to his chest; this man was a witch hunter.

"You in a hurry somewhere?" His voice was like a cackle of flames.

"W-w-well not-not in a hu-hurry. I'm just going ho-home."

The witch hunter's eyes searched me. "Have you noticed any suspicion?"

"Wh-what kind?"

"Any."

"Uh, no! Definitely no!"

His brooding face was an inch apart from mine. "If you should change your mind or find any… Report it to me."

"O-o-okay."

He turned away and vanished into the crowd.

I wanted to cry. I knew of the witch hunters and their tenacity to hunt out the impure and I had an idea of what they did if found guilty. The way he looked at me was as if I had already been deemed guilty and my head was clenched with the very ideas of what he would do to me.

I wiped away the tears and just hurried to get home. This day had been awful. It was like any other days, but I had been suspended and met the most horrifying man of my life.

I burst into my crummy house and made for my room up the stairs.

"Who's that!?"

Who was that? I didn't know that person's voice and Peter wasn't home yet to have allowed any guests in. Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, there was an intruder in my house.

I looked to the door, but the person's footsteps told he could cut me off at the door. I had to go and hide. I needed to hurry though before he stopped me.

"Wait!" shouted the man. "Sister is that you!"

I froze. Peter was my only sibling, but he had a lisp that prevented him from ever speaking clearly.

This was foolish, but I stopped at the stairs to see the person. When I saw him, it was somehow indeed Peter.

"W-was that you, br-brother?"

"Yes sister, I no longer have a lisp, I can speak clearly now."

"Im-impossible, you've had th-that lisp… never mind!" I rushed down to him and embraced him. "By Sigmar it is a blessing!"

He picked me off my feet and spun me around. "Yes! I can speak clearly for the first time in my life!"

Just when I thought this day had gotten awful, it had become perhaps the greatest day in years.

We had later arrived at our favourite tavern to celebrate. Sadly it was just the two of us, but that would hopefully change now that my brother was no longer impaired by that accursed lisp. It was so strange though how clearly he spoke now, but I had become too drunk to care.

"Now that I no longer have that lisp," said my brother for probably the hundredth time. "I can be what I've always dreamt of being, an actor. I will be quitting that accursed job of mine and go onto become famous. I'll become famous enough to provide for two of us and you'll no longer have to work for that rascal Markus. Now that he can hear me clearly, I will tell him what I've always thought of that cheapskate."

I knew my brother was not thinking straight with the beer taking over his mind, but if I didn't say anything then the fact he went unchallenged would make him think it was actually a good idea. "Take it easy Peter. Uncle John tried being an actor and failed and he failed a lot more when he had already thrown most his life away that-that." I tried to remember what happened to him, oh yeah. "He committed suicide."

"You-you have no worries. The people who fixed my lisp told me I could get anything else I wanted. All I have to do is go to them and they'll help me."

"Wha- who? Wh-who fixed your lisp?" Our dad had all kinds of people look at his lisp, healers, teachers and priests, but none of them came close to fixing his lisp. Peter had even done a lot of research trying to fix the lisp himself.

"W-wait, I shouldn't tell you, n-not unless they say so."

"Who?"

"The guys who fixed my lisp?"

"But who were they?"

"I can't say. N-not unless they say so."

I leered. It was hard to keep a straight face on with the alcohol in my system, but my mind flashed with that witch hunter asking for suspicions. "I want you to not go near these people until I've met them."

My brother turned away and tapped his fingers against the table. It was enough to tell me he couldn't do that. The fact I was powerless and reasoning him was hopeless made me only able to hope these people weren't that bad.

"So sister… Perhaps I can finally find someone."

I then figured out he was looking at the girls. Peter had never had anything to offer someone to be with him. But then neither did I. I looked at the men the girls played with. I had been with a man before, a couple of times, but those relationships had never been anything besides them wanting to fill out their intimate needs. My nose was too big, my hair too bristled and I was too thin to be beautiful, had no father to help arrange a marriage and men found my intellect too annoying for some reason, how was it that people was so affronted to reasoning? But really I had nothing for any decent man to want to keep me.

"Actually I should wait until I become a famous actor. That way I can choose any girl I want. Perhaps I'll find an interesting friend who wouldn't mind getting to know you."

Did he mean friends with a fellow actor… or whoever he was talking about early? "Peter… You no longer having that lisp is blessing enough. I'll- We'll both be happy… without any help from other anyone else."

My brother glared, but he knew better than to argue. I should've known better to try and reasoned with him.

I had prayed to the Gods that they would keep my brother out of trouble before I went to work. But as I made my way, I felt tense, like someone was following me. But who would follow a poor class unattractive girl like me… besides the witch hunter from yesterday… Unless my brother had already got his attention. If my brother had got his attention, it almost made me want to curse him. Had he gotten so desperate to remove his lisp that he was willing to condemn both our lives?

Only thing I could do was hurry. I rushed through the streets and charged into the shop.

"Gretchen!" snapped Markus. "Careful with that door or I'll make you buy a new one before you have chance to break it!"

I was too winded to properly reply, but I noticed that with Markus was the Jacob Fansworthy. Yes. The one person that Markus bowed down and heeded most was the undeniably rich merchant Jacob who was responsible for most of our goods. I had no idea he'd be turning up today, but I was glad he had.

"Greetings," I said to both but I bowed to Jacob and Jacob bowed back. "I'll get on with my work now."

I wanted to share my ideas with Jacob, idea that would save this business, but I knew there'd be no way with Markus backing me off. However, Jacob was always accompanied by his wife, Bella, who had clothes shopping as a hobby and I knew she'd be browsing our wares from other merchants with keen interests.

I already found her studying the Ostermark trade with fascination.

"H-Hi."

She almost fired into the roof. "By Sigmar!" She almost glared at me. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes, I'd like to discuss some business that you could maybe pass to your husband."

She gave a befuddled look and peeked over the aisles to make sure Jacob was here. "Tell him yourself," she spat.

"I-I can't, my boss will not let me if I try.

Bella gave no sympathy, rather disgust. "I can see why." What did that mean? She then just went back to her browsing while I was stunned.

"Could you just listen to my ideas?"

She rolled her eyes at me and then paced towards me like stalking cat. "I have no time for discussing things with someone that dresses up like a rag doll, someone who has her hair like that or with anyone who is just a low class shop maid." She stood over me, I didn't realise just how tall she was. "People like you don't get talk to people like us because our world is just that much bigger than yours to comprehend. So get back to your menial chores like you're meant to." She then strutted off back to her husband.

Her words had felt like they had tightened the jar lid that sealed every potential I had. Why was I cursed with being so smart and yet so wasted…

After another harrowing day at work, I left straight to the tavern. It was rare I came without my brother, but I had become so depressed. It was bad enough that Peter had gotten himself into trouble that could cost both our lives, but now my only hope of saving our business felt flushed down the drain thanks to an even bigger pompous than Markus. I should've know she'd be a bigger one with the size of her butt.

I guess I couldn't give up though. We were only at risk of losing business, the only business that would give me any really coins. At the moment things were stagnant and it would take time before Markus would come up with another money 'losing' scheme of his. I just had to think of a better way of getting my message across to him.

"Hallo there," slithered a voice.

I lost control of my breathing as these tall slender bald men with pasty skin sat around my table. One with piercings on his lips gave a particularly hungry look. What he hungered for I had no idea. But there was something mesmerizing about him.

"Alone I see." I wanted nothing to do with them. I took my ale and pretended to down it, hoping they'd grow bored waiting for me to finish. "Normally you're here with your brother."

I coughed, almost dropping my tankard. "Peter?"

"He's the only brother who sits here with you."

My tankard trembled. They couldn't be. "What's he to you."

He spun his head, probably juggling whether to answer me or no. "Friends I guess."

I took a few deep breaths and looked to the door until I noticed one of the men rest his hand close to me.

"Look," spoke the leader. "We're just here approaching you because we know your job's miserable."

"You heard wrong."

"I take it you lie to your brother then?"

"I don't know what my brother's told you, but I'm fine with my line of work."

"You sure? Because we're willing to offer you some new work with a respectable pay."

I-I was tempted to say yes. Not because of what he was saying. But those eyes, they were strangely mesmerizing and comforting. But that alligator grin freed me. "N-No."

He smacked his lips. "I get the feeling that you're maybe a little afraid of us. You shouldn't be. As I said, we're friends with Peter."

I heard the door forcibly open. By Sigmar I felt relief when I saw step in was the witch hunter. He didn't come in for drink, instead he was patrolling the bar, observing everyone sitting down. I needed him here.

"I-I don't care right now." I looked back at them and saw they weren't all that caring about the witch hunter, they probably didn't know he was one. "I'm happy with my job."

"Well you'd probably be happier with this one we're offering."

I didn't know what to say or do. All I could do was to wait for the witch hunter, come on over. Why wasn't he hurrying?

"How about you just come girl?" hissed the man creeping across the table. "Get a peek of just what it is we're asking you to do?"

They began to slither up. I looked at the witch hunter, he was close enough. I stormed up.

"Sir! Sir!" I yelled. The witch hunter glared. "These men are harassing me."

He fixed his grim eyes onto the them, they just gave a bashful innocent look in return.

"Just trying to offer the lady a job."

"What sort of job?"

The man threw up his hands. "Sorry sir, but that's classified business."

The witch hunter looked at me and then gestured for me to leave, thank Sigmar.

As I hurried out, I looked back to see the witch hunter sitting them down. I hope he was going to be alright, but my primary concern was just getting out of here.