Chapter 4

Nikki was happy that George was giving her space. She had been wandering around and had finally gone to where her things were stored to change and wash up. When she had gotten back to the main part of the city she had started watching for her mark for the day. After a while she realized that there was someone following her. She kept to her normal routine of wandering among the stalls and new comers to Corus, but she also kept an eye out for her tail. He showed himself quickly and Nikki recognized him as one of George's scouts. She shook her head and evaded him long enough to find a hiding spot. When he walked by, looking confused, Nikki grabbed him by the back and pushed him into the wall of the alley.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Nothin', miss," the thief stuttered. "George was just wantin' to know how you are doing. He wants to see you more often at the Dove."

Nikki rubbed her face. "Stop following me and tell George to leave me alone. I will come to the Dancing Dove if I want to." With that Nikki disappeared into the crowd, leaving the thief staring after her.

The thief immediately went back to George.

"That girl you sent me after is a witch I tell you," he explained. "She disappears and reappears so quick! I had the hardest time followin' her! She makes no noise and just blends in with the shadows! Her fightin' skill may not be the best, but if you want someone who can hide in plain sight, she's the one."

"Calm down Light Fingers," soothed George. "If you had a hard time following her, then she is very good at disappearing in plain sight. I don't think she is a witch though. She doesn't have the Gift or any other magic around her. She also has no ill will towards us, although since she realized you were following her, she may not like me that much anymore." George sat in a thoughtful silence. "Let her go. Like she said, she will come when she is ready."

Nikki went the rest of the day without finding herself being tailed by a thief. She hoped that this meant that the one she had caught earlier had relayed her wishes to George. Nikki kept trying to convince herself that she should leave and move on to another town, but she just couldn't make herself actually do it. There shouldn't be any reason for her to stay; she had chosen Corus because she had no connections to the area. She shrugged her shoulders and continued her wanderings.

That night, Nikki found herself outside of the Dancing Dove. She hadn't meant to go there, but her feet had led her. She moved into the shadows on the opposite side of the street and watched the inn for a little while. Through the windows she could see people talking, laughing, and having a fun time. They just looked like rowdy bar folk, not dangerous thieves. She took a deep breath; maybe being part of George's Court wouldn't be so bad. He did seem like he took good care of his people. Nikki finally moved across the road and into the Dancing Dove.

The light, sound, and warmth hit her all at the same time. She spotted the thief she had apprehended sitting at a gaming table and she noticed many people she passed on the street regularly. Some people were giving her looks and others just ignored her presence. She also noticed that as she made her way to the bar, some people's conversations stopped. When she got to the bar Solom gave her an interested look.

"What can I get you, lass?" he asked.

"Lemonade?"

"Give me a minute." He strode off, muttering about children not drinking like they should. Nikki shook her head and then jumped when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, I thought you would've sensed me coming," George laughed and took the bar stool next to hers. "I hadn't seen you and I was worried you were avoiding me."

"I was, but then you sent people to find me," said Nikki with a pointed look.

"I was making sure you weren't dead or caught by my lord Provost," George countered. Then he gave her a thoughtful look. "So why are you here then?"

Nikki looked down at the lemonade Solom had just put in front of her. She had been debating her answer since she had left George the other morning. "I think I would like to become part of your Court."

George smiled. "Don't act like you're selling your soul, I'm not that bad," he laughed. "I am happy that you decided to join us, Light Fingers over there was telling us how ghost like you can be."

Nikki grinned a little at that. "I was just trying to get away from the person tailing me. Will that still happen?"

"No, I won't have others followin' you quite so often, but I do want you to learn some more tools of our trade before I fully trust that you won't get yourself into much trouble." Nikki rolled her eyes, but George ignored her and waved over a younger man from one of the nearby groups. "Marek, this here is Nikki. Nikki this is Marek. I want the two of you to start working together. Marek, I want you to teach young Nikki here some fighting skills that I think she may lack. This will give you two something to do when there are no jobs around. Sound good to you?"

Marek looked Nikki over, which made her shudder. "I'll be glad to help the lady out with training." Nikki nodded, but she did not trust Marek. Truthfully, she did not trust anyone right then. George clapped both of them on the shoulder and left to go take care of his duties. Marek shrugged and left Nikki to go back to his game. Before he left though, he leaned into her. "Meet me tomorrow morning out back. We'll see how far behind you are in training." With that he went back to his game.

Nikki bristled a little at how he immediately thought that she could not fight, probably because she was a girl. She would show him. Hopefully she would not make a fool of herself the next morning and have him thinking even less of her. Nikki shook her head and took her lemonade over to table in a corner where she could watch the rest of the bar. She was interested in how well they all got along and worked together. She had always pictured thieves as being loners and not cooperating. Now she realized there was a whole other world among the market in Corus.

After a while of sitting and watching, Nikki decided it was time to go. She had her training in the morning and she did not want to make any mistakes because she was tired. George watched her as she got up and left. He hoped that Marek would work well with her, and that she would get a chance to learn some things from her as well.

When Nikki got to the farm where her things were, she climbed up to the hayloft and double checked that all of her clothes and personal items were still there. She hid them somewhere different every day so that the farmer's son would not go stealing anything. Nikki pulled out one of the blankets, curled up on the hay and fell asleep. The farmer's son would not come out to visit her at this hour, and she planned on being long gone before he woke up.