CHAPTER THREE – October – Goats
Kiyra woke up in the middle of the night. Rolling over, she looked at Julie's cot. It was empty. Groaning, Kiyra heaved herself up. She knew where Julie would be. Ever since Julie had been raped, she had been having trouble sleeping. Kiyra could hardly begrudge her for it.
Tugging on her worn boots, Kiyra walked lightly down the stairs. She passed through the common room and Cart pointed to the kitchen, confirming what Kiyra had guessed. Dodging cooks and serving girls, Kiyra walked over to a warm spot near the brick ovens.
"Julie, you need to get some sleep." Kiyra plopped herself down next to her friend.
"I couldn't." Julie munched on a sweet roll. Ripping it in half, she gave a piece to Kiyra.
"Listen, if you ever need to talk…" Kiyra paused. Julie was younger than her, but Kiyra couldn't know exactly how she felt. After all, she had never been raped, had she?
"Am I dirty?" Julie asked plaintively. Kiyra was taken aback. Slowly, she rolled her answer around in her mouth before answering.
"I don't think so. No, definitely not. It just happened to you. It's Iago's fault and not yours in the least." Kiyra hoped that Julie understood what she meant.
"What if I provoked it in some way?" Julie traced the indents on the wood floor with her finger.
"Julie, you're not like that at all." Kiyra sighed when Julie looked at her skeptically. Kiyra stood up and pulled her friend to her feet. Leading her to the kitchen door, Kiyra pointed to Geoff.
Flower girls and prostitutes circled him, dancing provocatively. They were scantily dressed and showing more chest than Julie or Kiyra ever would. Geoff was laughing and joking with Cart. Other than smiling at the girls, he barely paid them any notice.
Kiyra turned Julie to face her. "They're provoking Geoff and Cart and you don't see them hurting anybody, do you?"
Julie puzzled over that for a moment. "I suppose not."
"It's the kind of man who does it, not the kind of girl who has it done to her. Men should have manliness in them to have self-control." Kiyra spoke firmly, not leaving any room for Julie to doubt.
"I think I'm with child." Julie said. "I missed my monthly."
Kiyra stood pole-axed. "I don't exactly think you want my congratulations, but I'm gonna give you them anyway."
"I'm too young to have a kid!" Julie cried. "I don't know what to do!"
Kiyra and Julie both knew about the plants that would make you lose the baby. Kiyra thought that they were wrong, and hoped that Julie wouldn't choose to use them.
"Are you gonna use the Childlose plant?" Kiyra asked seriously.
"I don't think so. I'm just scared. There's so much to learn. I'm not ready to be a mother." Julie sat down and rested her head on her knees.
"You could always give the baby up to an orphanage." Kiyra suggested as she knelt.
"No. If I carry it for nine months, I'm keeping my child." Julie's muffled voice emitted from between her arms.
"I'll help you, then." Kiyra announced. "I've a friend, Lalasa. She has a baby and she'll help you learn. She's real nice."
Julie sniffled. Kiyra drew her into a hug. A man yelled at them to move. Realizing that they were in the middle of a doorway, both girls giggled. Kiyra and Julie leapt out of the way.
"Now will you come to bed?" Kiyra smiled and Julie led the way.
It was the last time that Kiyra could swim in Corus' river. The water was icy, but Kiyra and the picks were having too much fun to care. Only the picks who could swim well were in the water. Julie and Merci stayed near the docks just in case they got tired. Kiyra slid beneath the surface to see how long she could hold her breath. When she resurfaced, Julie was calling her name.
Kiyra swam over, noticing that Geoff crouched on the docks.
"I have to ask you something." Geoff told her. "I need a small group of picks who can do harder things than the others. Can you lead them?"
Kiyra laughed. "Sure. What sort of things do you want them to do?"
"Teach them weapons, advanced thieving, and Court manners." Geoff said matter-of-factly.
Treading water, Kiyra turned to looked at Julie. "Did he just say Court manners?" Julie nodded, hiding a smile. "Why?"
"I'll explain later. I want you to handpick them. Make sure that you can trust all of them." Geoff told her.
"When do you want them ready?" Kiyra asked the King of the Rogue. "I'll have them picked by tonight, if that's fine."
"That's perfect." Geoff told her. Extending a hand to her, he intended to help her up. Bracing herself on one of the dock's supports, Kiyra yanked hard on his hand. Geoff tumbled into the water. Laughing, Kiyra swam for her life. She was going to catch it now.
Outside of Geoff's rooms, Kiyra overlooked her force. Oldest of her group was Tyrell at twelve. He was Bazhir and had a blue-gift. Eleven-year old, fair-skinned Merci was next oldest. Lars was also eleven and obviously Scanren. Finn, the black ten year old, stood straight and tall. Cole looked to be about ten and had brown hair and green eyes. Rye and Emma, both nine, were next. They were the identical twins, with dark curly hair and black eyes. Straw-haired, grey eyed Toady with all of his eight-year old impishness was next. Wren was a seven year old blond-haired girl, who never stopped smiling. Dann was only six, redheaded, and freckled, but Kiyra knew that she could depend on him.
Nodding at her crowd, Kiyra rapped on Geoff's door. Almost instantly, the door was pulled open. Geoff appeared in the doorway.
"Are these them?" Geoff asked. All the picks, including Kiyra answered. The eleven voices chanted, "Yes, sir!"
Geoff smiled and beckoned them in. The picks stood until Geoff bid them to sit down. Sitting on any available surface, the picks waited patiently until Geoff began to speak.
"No doubt Kiyra told you that you all were picked for a special force of picks. You are and will be the elite of all picks. You will train with weapons as the pages do. You'll learn thieving from the best of us. Lastly, you'll learn court manners for a special mission this month."
The picks' eyes glowed with excitement. All of them grinned from ear to ear. This sounded exciting.
"You'll need to pick a name for yourselves." Geoff continued. "This is real training. You'll have to be at every lesson, unless you have a really good excuse. Once you get up to scratch, I'll give you each one of these." Geoff pulled out a sharp dagger with gold wire twisted around the hilt. It was about a foot long, with strong steel. All the picks stared at it in awe. Kiyra gaped most of all.
"Those would cost you a fortune." Kiyra accused. She was having trouble believing that he would do that for all if them.
"Mistrustful as ever." Geoff teased. "No, I swear upon my good name that when you all prove worthy of them, they will be yours. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Geoff used the window as an exit, rather than the door.
"We need to choose a name." Kiyra reminded the picks. "Let's think."
"How about Minions?" Cole tried to look evil and failed completely.
"Kiyrans?" Dann laughed.
"Bully Boys?" Toady flexed his biceps.
"Three of us are girls, idjit!" Wren shoved Toady.
"Hey!" Toady said indignantly, shaking his wavy hair out of his eyes.
"Enoroflla?" Merci suggested.
"I like the sound of that." Tyrell agreed.
"What did it mean, anyway?"
"It was just 'all for one' backwards. It was all that I could think of at the moment." Kiyra shrugged. "Enoroflla is most of a mouthful, though."
"We need something that shouts commoners, but it has to be tough." Rye said calculatingly.
"Goats!" Toady shouted. "They're strong, hardy, and stubborn."
"They travel in herds, too, just like us." Wren pointed out.
"Our motto could be enoroflla." Emma jumped up excitedly. "We could shout it like a war cry."
"I like it. The Goats. " Lars said. "It's simple enough."
"I like it too." Dann added.
"Should we take a vote on it?" Kiyra asked and eleven hands were raised. "Alright Goats, your first order is to get a good night's sleep. Wake early, before sunrise."
And so, the first Goat meeting was adjourned with the enoroflla chant used as a goodbye.
Geoff had to wake Kiyra up. As Kiyra stumbled into the common room, the other ten Goats waited patiently for her. They seemed to be waiting for orders. Kiyra looked to Geoff for them.
"I asked a Shang warrior to teach you."
"The Shang Goat?" Finn teased, white teeth contrasting with his dark skin.
"The Shang Rat." Geoff corrected with a grin. "He's waiting in the side courtyard. After an hour, come to breakfast. One of my friends will teach you court manners. After two hours of that, Kiyra says what you do for the rest of the day. Skip to it, Goats."
Most picks already knew some form of hand-to-hand combat that usually involved sharp elbows and quick punches. Kiyra knew that studying with a Shang Rat would improve their fighting greatly.
Kiyra led the way into the courtyard. A small, wiry man lounged against a crooked tree. Kiyra walked forward confidently, extending a hand for the Shang Rat to shake.
Next thing Kiyra knew, she was flying through the air and slamming onto the ground. Yelping, Kiyra jumped up. Glaring at the smirking Rat, Kiyra heard giggles coming from the other Goats. Slowly, she also began to grin.
The Rat turned to the Goats. "Why are you laughing? You're next." Emma visibly gulped. "Line up. When I throw you, twist yourself so that you land on your stomach. Slap the ground when you fall. Does any one know how to do?"
Finn raised his hand and stepped forward, giving the Rat his arm. The Rat gave it a hard tug and Finn flew as Kiyra had. Finn, though, slapped the cobblestones. Leaping up, he turned to face the Rat with his fists raised.
"Good." The Rat praised Finn. "Where did you learn how to do that?"
"Stefan the hostler snuck me in the palace so that I could watch the pages practice." Finn explained. "I'd help him with the horses in return."
"All of you, make a line. I'll throw each of you. After you've fallen correctly three times, you may rest."
Perhaps the picks learned fast because they were used to being wary and having to learn fast. In half an hour, all eleven Goats had mastered the fall, even little Dann. For the remaining fifteen minutes, the Rat taught them simple punches and blocks. As a parting note, the Rat threatened them to make them practice.
Breakfast was a quiet affair for the Goats. The other picks were as noisy as ever, but the Goats were exhausted from their lesson. Stuffing food in their mouths as fast as they could, the Goats examined their bruises and scrapes while they chewed. Geoff cheerfully waved at Kiyra as she was inspecting a particularly nasty bruise.
After breakfast, the other picks left to pick some pockets. The Goats waited, wondering who their etiquette teacher was going to be. Surprisingly, it was Myles, the man that Kiyra only knew as a drunk that frequently stopped at the Dove.
"You're gonna teach us manners?" Tyrell asked. Tyrell had met Myles before and knew him as Kiyra did.
"I chose only the best of teachers." Geoff bowed with flourish. "I present to you, Sir Myles of Barony Olau."
Kiyra's jaw dropped. "The Lioness' father? Myles, you never told me!" She accused.
"There was no need." Myles said simply. "Now, if we may begin…"
Two hours, many bows and curtsies, dozens of titles, and thousands of mistakes later, the Goats were free. Kiyra really didn't see the use of her learning to curtsy when she hadn't worn a dress for years, but Sir Myles had insisted that the girls learn both bows and curtsies. The Goats rubbed their aching backs as they lurched into the sunlight.
"How are you, my fair ladies and good gentlemen?" Geoff smirked and mock-bowed at the Goats.
Dutifully, the four girls curtsied and the seven boys bowed as they would to a king. On her way up from the dip, Kiyra made a rude gesture that one would not expect a lady to make. Geoff laughed at her, as did the other Goats.
"Now, my Goats," Geoff said, "You must do whatever Kiyra tells you to do for the rest of the day. Don't let her work you too hard."
Kiyra smiled wryly. "I don't think that I could bear to crack the whip right now. I'm in too much pain."
"Can we swim?" Emma asked, wiping sweat off her forehead. Although the weather was cool, the Goats had been working hard all morning.
"I can't swim!" protested Dann worriedly.
"Come'on, I wanna swim!" Toady begged.
"That sounds like a good idea to me." Kiyra agreed. "We'll teach those who can't swim and after, we'll get some picking done." Picking was the shortened term for pickpocketing, just as pick was for the one who stole.
"This whole Goat thing," Rye contemplated. "It might actually be fun, the learning part."
Lars threw an arm around Rye's shoulder. "Of course. Now, all we need is pretty girls and we'll be set… ouch!" Lars winced as little Wren kicked his shin.
A few days later, it was evening. Most of the Goats were sleeping already, but Kiyra had some business to take care of. She walked into the Dove's common room where she knew that her older friends would be. Sure enough, Julie, Cart, and Geoff were in the usual spot by the hearth. Shoving her way through the crowd, Kiyra walked over to Julie.
"Come with me." Kiyra ordered. "I have someone for you to meet."
"I'm tired." Julie complained as she started to heave herself out of her chair. Kiyra grabbed an arm to help her up. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Kiyra noticed that Cart was looking towards Julie protectively. "It's alright." She told him. "Really, she'll be back before bedtime."
The pair walked out of the Dove, Kiyra leading the way. Kiyra knew it well, although she hadn't visited it in over a month. Julie just followed where Kiyra led, a slight smile dancing on her lips. Kiyra peered into darkness to find a certain shop with a sewing needle and cloth on the wooden sign.
"Ah…here it is." Kiyra stepped to the door and reached to her pocket. Pulling out a lock pick, she went to work. Within a minute, the door was swinging upon and Kiyra slipped in.
"Kiyra, is this legal?" Julie whispered.
"I always use lock-picks and silence when about my legal business." Kiyra teased. "No, I know the one who owns the shop. If I know her correctly, she'll be in the back room right now."
Kiyra took off her dusty shoes at the door so that she could walk the floor quieter in her grimy feet. Julie did the same, only she had stockings. Walking across the abandoned shop room, Kiyra rapped on a side door. She smiled when she heard a surprised gasp.
"It's just me, Lalasa. May I come in?" Kiyra smiled to hear Lalasa's sigh of relief.
"Kiyra, how many times have I told you not to scare me like that?" Lalasa pulled open the door, a scolding look on her face.
"Too many to count, so I won't bother with it." Kiyra said impishly. "This is Julie." Kiyra pulled Julie out of the shadows.
"It's nice to meet you, Julie. I'm Lalasa." Lalasa reached out to shake her hand, and Kiyra dissolved into laughter. Kiyra had a mental picture of Julie grabbing Lalasa's hand and throwing her, as the Shang Rat had done to herself. Lalasa and Julie didn't know what had happened and just shared an exasperated look.
"Anyway," Kiyra cleared her throat awkwardly. "Julie here, she wants to know how to take care of kids. Babies, mostly. If you had time at night, you could teach her, and she'd watch your little man."
Lalasa saw what Kiyra had left unspoken and looked to Julie's stomach. "Congratulations." Julie blushed. "Of course, I'll teach her. Do you want to learn too?" Lalasa asked Julie.
Kiyra thought for a minute, but shook her head wistfully. "I'd better not. Maybe once in a while, but I'm tired as…" Kiyra caught a look from Lalasa and rephrased what she was going to say. "...tired as anything right now."
"Kiyra's training with another group of picks to be the best in the whole Rogue. They're called the Goats." Julie informed Lalasa.
"A gang?" Lalasa said disapprovingly. "Kiyra…"
"It's alright. They're all much younger than I am." Kiyra reassured Lalasa.
"Kiyra leads it." Julie said proudly.
"Kiyra, I've known you since before you became a thief and I know that you can take care of yourself. Still, be careful. I don't want you to get caught. Neither I or you know what the dungeons are like."
Kiyra caught Julie's eyes and quickly agreed with Lalasa. "You're right, I don't. I'll be more careful in the future, I promise." Lalasa looked at the two girls suspiciously. Kiyra hastily continued speaking. "When should we come back for lessons?"
"Tonight would be wonderful. My husband went to Port Caynn to look at the foreign woods for his carpenter shop. I'd be glad for the company."
Kiyra felt a pain of guilt for not visiting Lalasa more. She hadn't even known about Master Tarren being away. Kiyra promised herself that she would visit more often. "I'll wait outside."
Before they could protest, Kiyra slid away and out of the shop's front door. Sitting on the front steps, Kiyra tried to be aware of her surroundings. She was exhausted though and fell into a deep sleep within minutes.
A subconscious awareness woke Kiyra. Opening her eyes slightly, Kiyra could make out a familiar shape on the steps beside her. "Hey, Geoff."
"Don't you know it's not safe to fall asleep on the street at night?" He asked, bemused. Kiyra leaned up against him.
"I knew you'd be along." Kiyra joked as Geoff snaked an arm around her shoulders. "Geoff, what's that mission you've got for us?"
"I can't tell you yet." Geoff smiled down at her. "You'll just go tell the other Goats and I can't have that."
"Please?" Kiyra begged.
"Aren't you too old to be begging like this?" Geoff teased.
"I'll be fifteen next month. I'll stop then." Kiyra promised.
Geoff stood and slowly pulled Kiyra up. Kiyra was about to ask what he was doing when Geoff kissed her. He'd kissed her a couple times before, but this one was different.
Geoff placed a hand under her chin and lifted her face to his. His lips pressed against hers and Kiyra linked her hands around his neck. Geoff's hands came down to her waist and pulled her body towards her. Kiyra was very aware that her body was firmly pressed against Geoff's. His hands started moving in circular motions on her back, as his tongue ran lightly over her lips. Unsure, Kiyra parted her lips and Geoff's tongue was in her mouth. Kiyra was in rapture and was disappointed when Geoff pulled away. Both panted; they had been lip-locked for more than a minute.
"Kiyra, is this someone to whom I need to be introduced?" Kiyra quickly stepped away from Geoff and turned to Lalasa.
"Um…this is Geoff." Kiyra said. "Geoff, this is Mistress Lalasa Tarren. She's been my friend for ages."
"You're the new King of the Rogue." Lalasa's eyes gave nothing away.
"At your service." Geoff bowed slightly.
"We just finished." Julie said. "Can't I leave you alone for an hour without you trying something?"
"Nope." Kiyra said cheerily. "Thanks, Lalasa, for teaching her. It's real kind."
"It's no problem." Lalasa said. "I need to talk to you, Kiyra." She disappeared back into the darkened shop. Kiyra shrugged and followed her.
"Is something wrong?" Kiyra asked nervously. There must be, if Lalasa didn't want to say it in front of Geoff or Julie.
"Has anyone ever given you the talk?" Lalasa finally questioned.
"The what?" Kiyra scrunched up her nose.
"I know that you know where babies come from and how exactly they're made." Kiyra confirmed Lalasa's statement by nodding. Kiyra, Cart, Julie, and Geoff knew all the details. Three years ago, they had snuck underneath a bed in the Dove. Needless to say, they learned more than was prudent.
"Well," Lalasa continued. "You might have gotten carried away with Geoff, if I hadn't interrupted you."
"Surely not on the front porch!" Kiyra joked.
"No, but you know what I'm getting at. Julie's with child, she needs your support. You getting pregnant would complicate things for everyone, most of all yourself." Lalasa lectured. "Anyway, making love complicates things in any relationship. If you and Geoff decide to end things, you'll feel as if you've given a part of yourself away that you'll never have back."
Kiyra stared at Lalasa in shock. She hadn't guessed that Lalasa would have a hidden source of priceless knowledge stored away on this particular topic.
"I never thought about it that way before." Kiyra allotted. "I'll think about it."
"I just want you to be careful. I don't want to see you hurt." Lalasa hugged Kiyra. "What kind of man is this Geoff anyway?"
Kiyra giggled. "He's nice. I've known his for years." Kiyra ran a finger over her lips and smiled dreamily. "He kisses good, too."
Lalasa shook her head, but grinned. She walked over to the counter, and drew a small box off of a shelf. Opening it, she pulled out a small chain with a charm on the end.
"What's that?" Kiyra asked.
"It's a pregnancy charm. It'll keep you from getting pregnant, if you chose to engage in certain activities." Lalasa explained.
"Thank you." Kiyra inspected the charm and slipped it on. "If no one steals it, it might actually be put to use.