Sly

Panther scolded me with a wrath even Davery had never used on anyone. Jexa was waiting outside the House of Bliss, arms folded over his chest with one foot kicked back on the wall he leaned against. He didn't say anything, which was probably worse than being scolded. He just hugged me, showed me inside, and let Panther have at me before he went home.

Orchid's eyes were ringed red and puffy by the time she got ahold of me after Panther. I sat quietly as my friend pulled my hair this way and that to get all the pins out and brushed for the night. I threw the gown and slippers onto a chair in the corner before trading them for a worn black tunic.

A mistake, I realized, because Panther had followed and upon taking off the gown I exposed the cut on my hip. That threw the whole house into a frenzy all over again. How had I gotten that? What did I do after I ran away from Jexa? I didn't tell them about the castle. Not now that I was now the only one alive who knew how involved the prince was in the plans, though I had given Jexa hefty clues to go on. If she was in a better state of mind Orchid could probably piece it together too. The wound was cleaned and bandaged and I had to eat two rolls and some cheese before the others would leave the room.

Orchid finished brushing out my hair, and all but ordered me into bed with her. Once I was finally able to go to sleep, I dreamed about playing with Davery and Orchid like we did as children.

Addah came by the next morning escorted by Grahm. The old woman's wrinkled face was strained and she had clearly been crying. I was happy to accept her tight hug, noting the mended tears on her top. How long had it been since I'd paid attention to Addah and Abe's needs? Davery always had. Whenever they had a shirt that was a little too worn or socks that were a little too thin for their boots Davery always found a way to replace them. I was ashamed to think that it had all fallen to my brother's shoulders. Abe and Addah had done so much for us, taking in two orphans from Swamp and giving us a room for what we thought was a fair rent. It was basically free. They saved our lives, of that I was certain. The old woman's visit was my reason to get out of bed that day. I drank some water and ate little. Five days until the Harvest Festival.

Orchid practiced her lap harp that second day after the burning. There was no getting away form it, not that I'd necessarily want to. It was beautiful, Orchid's playing. I mean, it drew an actual goddess to mark her for it. At least Orchid was useful for something, unlike a black dagger with no master. I managed to eat a bowl of venison stew and half a roll that day. Four days until the festival.

The third day Bricker and Dirk visited. Bricker flirted, and Dirk did sleight of hand tricks to impress and entertain. I knew those skills had a darker origin, not that he ever talked much about his past. My knife throwing master, Dirk, a man I really knew little about outside of his loyalty to Davery. They brought my favorite carrot pie and made sure I ate some of it. Jexa came by later, he told me Davery would be sad to see me like this, but it didn't provoke anything from me, I didn't need any of them to remind me that I was disappointing everyone. Three days to the Festival.

On the fourth day Panther lost some patience. She pulled me out of bed and washed my hair forcibly. I was then made to eat a large bowl of broth, half a loaf of bread, and an apple. Panther sent me out with River and Fae to do the market shopping for the house. Two days until the Festival.

The next morning was cool, and fall was truly upon Unays. It rained lightly in the morning, but cleared up before noon. I got out of bed on my own that morning and washed my face. I even brushed my hair out and ate an apple unprovoked. You'd think I'd breathed fire from the look on Orchid's face.

"You're doing well today," she commented from her seat in front of her mirror, a brush at her lips with red tint on it.

I shrugged. "Have to start somewhere."

She nodded slowly, assessing my eyes as they met hers in the mirror's reflection. "I'm playing tonight at the Temple, I think."

"Bliss will be happy," I managed to say. Orchid loved Davery, she had since we were little. She must be having a very hard time of it, but she still pulled herself together and was ready to play for her Goddess. Orchid pulled herself out of the pit of mourning they were in and now I was in it alone.

My oldest friend sighed, setting down her brush with a clack on the table. "Sly, he wouldn't want this," Orchid whispered.

I didn't bother answering. I knew it was true but didn't want to validate it out lout quite yet. There was still enough of that heavy grief in me that wasn't ready to let go. It felt like . . . like the last piece of Davery that still sat with me, and if I really truly let it go and forgot even for a moment to be sad about his death, that I was betraying him somehow. Nothing my mind could say logically would counter the feeling that sat in my heart.

Eventually Orchid went downstairs, leaving me alone with much to dwell on. I thought about Davery and all the good he did. That's what led Spirit to take him for his own court, isn't it? I thought about his smell, his smirk, his laugh. His courage, his big heart. I remembered all my favorite things about him and gave him one last long cry. I would cry for him on lonely nights for months, maybe years to come, but I let this be my last deep, crushing cry. It was two bells before I calmed down and cleaned my face again. I got dressed in my own comfortable clothes. My tunic, my pants, my boots. I tucked Davery's dagger in my left boot. Fae had given me an old cloak and I put it on before coming downstairs. What I had on me now was everything I owned, really. What was there to go back to at the Dragon? I only kind of counted my bed back at the inn, it was there when we started renting the room and there it could stay. What else was there, a few cracked bowls and chipped mugs? An old blanket? Nothing I couldn't leave behind. 

"Sly?" Panther addressed me cautiously as I joined the muses in the main room downstairs. The only one not there was River who was out buying bread. I stood in the doorway to the room and looked at each of them in turn. My stomach churned and I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked to the people who had taken care of me in my darkest days.

"Thank you," I said softly. "I know what it must have been like to put up with me. Thank you." I bowed deeply to them. Panther stood.

"You are welcome here when you need us. I hope you know that, we do love you. Are you coming back to sleep here tonight?" Panther seemed to speak for all of them as everyone in the room nodded at her words.

"Tonight, if I can. I can't stay here forever, and I thank you for your hospitality. I need to get my plans together before I know where I am going," I said.

"Of course," Panther replied.

I smiled and walked out the front door. Davery wanted to save the whole bloody city, and it got him killed. But still, he wanted it from the bottom of his heart, so that's what I would do for him. Prince Rorik might be working on that, I would find out at the Harvest feast tomorrow. I would figure out getting inside later, if I really needed it I could use the excuse that I was taking something to Lady Selenie. Right now I wanted to burn off some energy, so I walked to Bricker's house.

He was still asleep, typically waking at noon and staying up all night. He had taken well to life with his aunt and uncle from what he told us. Taking on chores and learning more of what family he had left. They had a small tannery in Westgate district near the market there. Because of the smell of the tanning leather most people avoided walking too close to the yard, but I opened the gate and walked in. Hopefully he was here and not at the house, which was much farther away. Bricker's uncle, judging from the look of things, was there working. A few exchanged words and I was pointed to where Bricker was indeed doing a few chores.

The boy I'd met in Swamp was almost unrecognizable now from the Bricker I'd gotten to know since that day we dragged him bloody and bruised from the square. Trimmed hair, a few much-needed pounds on his frame, and the dirt under his fingernails was even picked clean. Sitting at a bench, running wax over a long thread, his head bobbed up when I walked in.

"Sly?" A grin spread across his face as he put his things down and stood up. "Now, that's a Sly I haven't seen in a while. What brings you here? Getting lonely at night?"

I tilted my head, crossing my arms. "I know I've been unwell, but I'm not going to let you flirt at me like some fledgling preening his feathers. I'm here to ask you to spar a bit."

"Why me and not Dirk?" he asked carefully.

"He did say to try myself out against a variety of other fighting styles and body shapes." I shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "I'm just looking to vary my practice."

Bricker sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, you couldn't have done much to a brute like Grethan. That isn't what this is about, is it?"

"No, really it isn't," I said. "I guess it's . . . I just never want to be that unprepared again. I want every tool I can have with me at all times. Dirk's knife throwing, Jexa's grip practices, learning to get out of range, those are the tools I have and I need to sharpen them."

Bricker nodded slowly. "Right then, fair enough. Whatever you need, I'm here for you. I owe you my life, after all."

Owed me his life. I suppose he could see it that way. Hells, I knew what the mongrels were capable of, I'd been watching it for nearly two decades. Still, with what knowledge of brawling he'd brought from Lindmead, I'd happily take an opponent who could throw something new and unexpected at me.

"Thanks, Bricker. Do you have time now?"

"I do. Let's head out to find some space."

And for the first time in too long, I threw everything I had into practice.