What you may need to know before you start: Duodecim=12, Novem=9, Quinque=5 (these are all Latin; a popular language for things like what our characters were involved in [note Harry Potter]). Keep in mind the Medieval setting (although it is fantasy). Pedes=a type of coin I made up. Do let me know if you like this! and if you have any questions feel free to ask!
Lisa leaned on her broom and wiped the perspiration from her face with a torn rag she had inherited from her late father. It had been made of the green, strained cotton of the poor and was sewn into a single piece that reminded one of a small frog. Lisa wasn't one to fret about the small details, like harvesting, famine, and rainfall, because she preferred to dream—though dreaming often troubled her employer. He scolded her and recommended that she best not dream at work, lest she upset the folk who walked about the streets. He also demanded that she smile and nod to all to show that her work couldn't be better and that it pleased her to serve any who should pass by. All of this for a single pedes—"truly," thought she, "I deserve more." So she pocketed her piece after returning her broom then drug her feet, cold and fitted with holey shoes, dirty from her work in the streets, towards home. She opened the door to her shack after the long walk only to be met by her mother who smelled of alcohol and, gripping her arms, began to question her, shaking her shoulders to emphasize her worry—or was it possessiveness? At last Lisa pulled the pedes out of her pocket and shoved it into her mothers' hand, hoping to distract the intoxicated woman, making a break for her room and quickly shutting the door behind her. She could hear her mother sobbing and calling her father's name over and over. The two had been young lovers and were married inside of this very abode; he a street sweep, the now profession of his daughter, and she a woman on the verge of insanity. Her sanity broke when he died, coughing up blood on the bed after the infection had spread.
Lisa hated her life. But she wanted to live. Every person that tripped her, every person that kicked more mud or dumped their feces into the street after she had just removed such repulsive matter, she wished they would disappear; perhaps be eaten by one of those worms of legend that snuck into the houses of wicked people. The sun was almost gone, but she still had chores around the house. She slipped out of her window to take straw to the single old nag at the back of the house. As she walked over, she glanced up into the fading day, they sky a glorious shade of pink streaked with orange as if an armature began on a master's work, she wondered if she had ever seen anything so beautiful. She saw two ravens fly past and she quickly averted her eyes, they were the source of all evil according to legend, looking at them was to assure one a short life. She hoped that this folktale, however, proved false.
As the grey dawn appeared, Lisa strode out into the street to cleanse the path of impurities from chamber pots and the like. The road was still, not a soul save another street sweep whom she also wished to disappear. Out of the usual silence came the clatter of hooves and cartwheels and through the mist rode two figures dressed completely in black, hoods covering their heads. This would be unnerving initially, but greater still grew the edge of fear in the heart of Lisa when she saw that where the face should be of two humans, was a large beak, belonging to that of a raven and sitting just above this unnatural protrusion sat mirrors of red glass set in leather. A shiver shot up her back as they rode by, but one head turned to look at her, just long enough so that she could see the eyes, those belonging to a young man, behind the rose-glass. She felt all strength drain away from her limbs; she desperately wanted to call for help, to draw attention to these creatures so that she might slip away in the crowd. But the cart continued to roll away and she was left to catch flies in her gaping mouth.
Despite her greatest instinct of flight, she was curious. She heard the sound of the cart stop around the corner so she sidled up to the nearest building to watch. To her surprise, she only saw a single figure which moved about the street as if searching for something. The creature came to a house and there a hand was outstretched from its cloak, it removed the glove on its hand to reveal a massive scar on its wrist then clenched its fist the wood of the building seemed to shift uneasily and the glass trembled—then she felt and hand on her shoulder.
She turned, cold blood running in her veins to see the other creature behind her. "I would not recommend staying here," he said in a boyish voice, "It's a bit dangerous." At that instant she heard a massive crash behind her but before she could see she was swept away by the young man and found herself inside of a small tavern where everyone was still asleep. This tavern was the very one that creature had stood in of just moments earlier. She turned, and before her, on a table, sat an envelope with a seal that looked like a raven in flight; it read "open me" in a print that only a highly educated man could pen. Inside she found nothing but the blank paper she held it up and held it close to her face. It smelled faintly of roses and spices then to her surprise words began to form as if written by ice:
"If you would prefer to live, you will be an accomplice. If you die, you shall where you stand."
The choice was obvious for her. "I—I want to live!" she cried and she found herself being placed onto the street and given her broom; she now stood between the two. Though they hadn't removed their masks, if seemed as though she could clearly see their faces, one with a long, shaped face and black hair, the other with grey-brown hair and a round happy face, the later smiled at her with the prior said in a deep voice with a bitter touch, "You have chosen to become an accomplice. You cannot turn from this fate." With that he turned and walked toward the cart and horse, the later chortled softly then bounded after the other, waving his hand to her as he moved along—the duo disappeared into the mist leaving Lisa to wonder what had just taken place.