Chapter Two
A kick in the gut, hard enough to bruise, and the command, "Up, girl!" woke Mairi the next morning. It was barely false dawn and Mairi had only sought her bed, a pile of rags and straw under the stairs, about four hours earlier. She blinked the dregs of sleep out of her eyes as the foot was drawing back to kick her again. She scrambled to a sitting position, and the foot turned to walk away. Mairi pulled on her skirt and petticoat, having slept in her shift. She tied a scrap piece of cloth over her falling out braid and checked the pocket with money while she sprinted the few steps to the kitchen. It was still there. Roskyter shoved tinder and a bucket into her arms and turned away to start preparing the thin, lumpy porridge and the last of last night's bread he called "breakfast". She hurriedly started a fire in the fireplace, before dashing out the door to the well for water. He had been drinking the night before and was not in a good mood. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of his bad temper any more than she had to.
Breakfast had started cooking by the time she got back. There were a few early morning workers in there for a cheap bite to eat before going out to their jobs. He threw plates of porridge and bread to her as she entered the door. Mairi took them and went to get payment and feed the customers. There were maybe a dozen or two people in there, and most of them were too tired to pay anymore attention to her than as the means by which they got their food. For that reason alone, she preferred the breakfast crowd over the evening crowd. By the second hour after dawn, they had all gone and Mairi was done with the few dishes. Roskyter threw her the piece of bread that was her breakfast while he talked. Now that she no longer had lessons at the temple, he could have her work the entire day, and made her bring back more because of it. Lucky me, she thought to herself. A whole day of thieving for him.
"Now, didya notice that fellow here last night? The one with the scars and the sword?" Roskyter asked, and watched her carefully as she nodded an affirmative. "He only comes here sometimes and sometimes he goes out and you only see him sometimes during the day. Watch for him, and nab him the next time you see him. He's some sorta sell-sword and that says money. Other than that, pick and choose. I saw that haul you brought in last night. Not bad. Try for that today iffen you can." Mairi nodded again, and prepared to leave. "Fix that hair of yours," he called. "Can't have you looking like a beggar around them gentry. Oh, and here's a little something for the road," he said and tossed another, generous hunk of bread smeared with a little grease at her. Mairi caught it, and smiled. It was obviously meant as a reward for last night. She ducked back under the stairs, tore off the cloth, straightened her braid, and left for the day. She stopped once at her hiding place and then headed out into the better parts of Haven.
About late afternoon and a couple of nice heists later, she turned back. Mairi meant to visit her place before having a look around for that sell-sword. He frequented some of the nearby taverns some nights and she thought to find him there. Just as she was readying to give it up and go after some other prey in her last hour or so, she saw him duck into the Companion's Bell, one of the nicer eating places in the neighborhood. She debated between going after him and returning to Roskyter, and decided to watch a bit. In a seemingly short while, he came out again. She tracked him down a street and waited for a crowd of people. One came and she slipped in and reached for his belt pouch strings. A hard hand locked onto hers and a harsh voice said, "Touch that, you should not." She wiggle away but the man had a grip like iron and only tightened it. By now, she was sure that he would break her hand to teach her a lesson, but he only yanked her aside to a wall and shoved her into it, knocking the breath from her lungs. A claw gripped her chin and the voice said, "Repeat myself, I…" as the hand drew he face up to meet his own, but then he stopped. She was looking in the hard scarred face and it looked… startled? Why would he be startled? She thought. Is it that I'm a girl? He started cursing in some foreign tongue and said, "Jeri? Be here, why?"
Mairi figured he had thought her to be someone else and noticed his grip slackening. She figured it would be a good time to slip away, but he was faster. He closed her hand in an iron fist, and dragged her back towards the Bell. The temple clock struck five, and Mairi knew that Roskyter would not be pleased by the time she got back and that she was in for another beating, on top of whatever this fellow would give her. She thought he might be taking her to gaol and thought wistfully of Roskyter and the beating she was sure to get. It wouldn't be too hard for she made and saved him a lot of money, and she'd get over the aches soon enough. She had no clue what gaol would bring her and the stories she'd heard of it made her more scared than ever before, even more than the time when a very drunk Roskyter had tried to rape her. She had fought that off with a pan to his head and he didn't even remember the next morning. Mairi kind of doubted that she would find such a handy weapon with in a cell full of prisoners who were at least partially insane and probably lustful after going so long without a girl. Their keeper probably wouldn't care what happened to her for she was a lawbreaker just the same as them. Her fear grew so much that she didn't even realize when it started to pour. She did, however noticed the lightening that hit the tree just as they passed under it. The weird thing was that it was a small tree and wasn't lightening supposed to hit big things?
She'd thought that they'd pass the Bell but her captor stopped there and threw her onto the back of a white horse, who looked at her mournfully with very blue eyes. Wait a minute? She thought. A white horse with blue eyes? I tried to rob a Herald? They won't even bother with a judge or gaol-I'll go straight to the noose! Her mind shrieked is fear now, just as another lightening bolt hit perilously close to them and thunder rolled around them, as the horse,-Companion- ran through the stormy night. It hardly shied when lightening struck close to them, and Mairi blissfully passed out.