Disclaimer: Okay we all know that I'm not Tamora Pierce incognito. It's easily noticeable by my horrible writing skills. =D

Anyway. I really hope you guys all enjoy this story which is going to have more chapters and be longer eventually. I just need to be pushed and shoved to work on it...

-Takes place after Bloodhound so if you haven't read that book then there will be slight spoilers. Well, not really, you might be a bit lost though.

Enjoy.

-Alan the Great

A piercing scream was heard through the streets of the Pretty Bone district. The dogs closest to the scream went towards the noise in a dead run blowing their whistles as they went. Their ears were prickled for the thrill of a potential chase. The dogs desire for a chase was unmet. The body of the women was already cold and the girl who had screamed so loudly had just stumbled across the thick mass of dead flesh.

The dead noble lay with her blood dry around her. The source of the river of red was a gaping hole in her abdomen. She had been cut open good. Her face was grey and lax and anything but beautiful. Years of eating the fatty foods of the rich had made her face undesirable and death made it ugly.

The dogs leaded down to inspect the women's sorry form. They looked all over her for a trail of her assassin and when the other dogs who were alerted by the blowing of the whistles came they looked too.

Nothing was to be found. There was just one thing off about the dead scene- nothing was missing from the women. She was not robbed

The dogs looked around for hours and asked the people living in the area if they had seen anything but it was to no avail. Later they would return defeated to the kennel to report of all they had seen to Goodwin. Eventually, after a lot of discussion and argument and shouts, they came to one conclusion. There was only one person who would kill the women, who had huge problems with gambling, and not take her money for lack of need.

Rosto the Piper.

__

The most unhappy of the dogs gathered around for the discussion of the dead noble women was Beka. They were accusing Rosto of killing her. He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't just kill a women because she owed some money. If he wanted the money he would just take it. What did he gain if she was dead? And more, what was the point of killing her and not taking her money or jewelry if she owed him something? It made absolutely no sense.

The other dogs wouldn't listen to her. They all thought her still to green for all she had done in her short time as a dog. There were two people who would listen to her. First, her partner. Second, Clary Goodwin.

"Goodwin," Beka said to her in a muted voice, "You can't possibly think that Rosto has done this. If he is owned money why would he kill the person who owes it and then not take a thing from her?" She rubbed her eyes, "I think he's either being framed or everyone here is a big looby."

"Beka, I don't think he did it either but I have to go with the popular opinion here. We all knows what happens when you keep a do caged away from its chase. I don't want to end up it the very state that that poor noble ended up in. Sadly, you're just going to have to let them do it and hope that Rosto can prove his innocence."

Oh course this did not sit well with Beka- it wasn't even close to what she wanted to hear.

She came to a conclusion and her face set into a hard line that worried Goodwin. If you wanted something done you had to do it yourself.

__

The plan was simple really. It brought several laws, yes, but it was for a good cause right? Rosto was doomed to spend a few days playing with the cage dogs if they caught him before she could follow through with her plan.

She had everything she needed was in her pocket. A diamond ring and a lock-picking set. She couldn't even think about how many laws she broke and how close she came to being a twisted dog. She just moved. Didn't think about what she was doing overmuch. If she did she would welch and creep back to her room before anyone was the wiser. She silently snuck up to Rosto's room. the dove was closed down for the night and she was ninety percent sure that Rosto was staying at his current gixie's house for the night. That really was convenient. It made her plan work out perfectly.

She reached his door she quickly pulled out the lock-picking kit. Time was operative. She had to be quick. Her biggest worry was that someone would wander through and catch her.

Quickly the door was open. Rosto himself had taught her to pick locks. She smiled at the irony of the situation. Opening the door silently a crack she slid inside.

The room was dark and she couldn't see much. She entertained the idea of lighting a candle but she was too afraid that Rosto would notice. It was his job to notice.

Light from the moon was gentling dancing on his desk. That was the perfect place to plant the ring. A ring to which she had paid a women to report stolen the very next morning. She was to say that it was stolen on the day that the noble women was murdered. In fact, the women was paid a great deal to say that it happened at almost the same time that the noble women was murdered. Beka herself would take the case and track the ring back to Rosto. A minor theft would be a lesser punishment than murder and would keep him out of the cages.

She crept silently to his desk and pulled open the top drawer. As she reached into her pocket to fish out the ring she felt the press of a cold steel blade against her neck.

_______

Okay, I wrote this because I had many demands for more Beka/Rosto stories. So here is the beginning of a new one! (I know I need to finish my Kel/Dom story but I'm not getting very good reviews for it so I'm not so sure) I hope you enjoy it! Tell me what you think so far.