by T R Tells
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Freya, how are you feeling?" Thea asked, hoping to turn the attention away from her.
"I'm perfectly fine." Freya grinned. She was thirteen, a year younger than the girls. She stood a foot and several inches shorter than Thea and Maggie. She was innocent and inexperienced; she had scars that marred her cream-colored face and an eye-patch that covered a gaping hole where her eye used to be. Freya wore a dark cowl over her face to not draw attention to her appearance, but you were still able to see strands of her black hair that fell into dark brown eyes.
***
Turning back around, the three looked out toward the marketplace. It was more crowded than any other day because of the Kharma festival – a day to celebrate the win against the Ördög King and his army. Eddie thought it would be the perfect opportunity to loot unsuspecting patrons. The festival would last the entire morning and night. Many who came were of nobility and a lucky few were invited to the Kingdom.
The rewards they planned to steal would last them for some time.
"We're going to split up," Thea instructed the others. "But let's not get too far away, just in case. I don't want any of us to get lost or caught."
"Just let us know where to go. I can take the western part of the market, Thea," Freya offered. Freya’s face lit up with a grin and a strand of her braided black hair fell into her almond-shaped, dark brown eyes.
"Alright. Maggie will take the northern part of the market, but that will have the most Kingsland Guards..."
"I'll be able to evade them."
Thea nodded. "I'll take the eastern part, where the tellers and stands are. We'll need to cover all of our bases. You know how pissed Eddie will be if we aren't."
The three girls laughed in agreement. Thea noticed Freya blush at the mention of Eddie. She knew that Eddie had a soft spot but didn't condone Freya having anything to do with him.
"Let's go..."
***
Thea watched as Maggie and Freya separated, heading off to their sections of the market. She told them they would meet back in the alleyway in an hour’s time. Thea took a deep breath and casually walked through the crowd when she found an opening.
Ever since her encounter with King Godfrey, she had promised herself she would get stronger. She hated how weak and scared the King made her feel – she never wanted to feel that way again.
Focus, Thea. There's no time for distracting thoughts, Thea chastised herself. She walked quickly past someone, and without bumping into them or grazing them, she reached into the person's pocket and pulled out a brown pouch. There was a weight in her hands that made a sly grin spread across her face briefly before it disappeared. She’d gotten better over the years with Maggie, Eddie, and some of the other children. The man that she had taken the pouch from had not realized yet.
She continued to walk through the crowded the market, pickpocketing and surveying the area around her. White petals showered down over the marketplace and banners of the House were hung up high to see, all decorations to top off the glorious occasion.
She had heard that the King and his sons would be passing through the streets. There was also talk of one of the houses arriving on elephant escort. The thought of elephants made Thea so excited she hadn't realized someone was running toward her.
The sudden slam of a body colliding with hers knocked the air from her lungs. She fell backward and landed directly on her butt. She grabbed her chest and sucked in a deep breath.
"I am sorry."
She looked up to see a young boy around her age, if not younger, with shaven hair and eyes that were void of life.
"Stop right there, thief!"
The shout made the boy turn his head and look down at her. There was no emotion on his face, not even a smile on his lips. Thea didn't know what the boy had done, but she knew that guilty or not, the Kingsland Guards would not have mercy on him.
"Go," Thea said.
She jutted out her chin in the opposite direction. The boy's brow rose, surprised at her response, but he stiffly nodded and broke into a run again.
Are you seriously going to let him get away with knocking you over? A voice muttered in her ear. Pitiful, just allowing him to disrespect you like that.
Oh please, hurting him when the Kingsland Guards are walking right for her is stupid, another voice chimed in. You’re just bored and trying to stir up trouble.
The two voices continued bickering over whether or not Thea should have hurt the boy. She flinched and grabbed the side of her head feeling herself getting a splitting headache from their berating headache.
“Shut up – Shut up, shut up,” Thea muttered over and over to silence the voices. When they were once again quiet, she stood to her feet and brushing herself off as the Kingsland Guards approached her.
Just stay calm, they’re not after me, Thea coached herself, slowly exhaling.
"You, girl!" One of them demanded.
"Y-yes, sir?" Thea asked. She wasn't seen often enough by the Kingsland Guards for them to be wary of her. In hopes of protecting the boy, she would try to sway the guard's attention off his trail.
Two other Kingsland Guards joined the guard speaking to Thea.
"You're from one of those commoner slums, aren't you? By order of the King, I demand you to tell me if you have seen a boy running in this direction."
Thea narrowed her eyes at the rude man and refrained herself from cursing at him for it took a lot of effort to hold her tongue at times.
Come on Thea, tell him off! It’ll be fun, one of the voices returned – this voice was always encouraging her to get into trouble.
"What boy? What does he look like?" Thea replied innocently.
The man glared at her and pursed his lips in annoyance.
"He's your height and has a close-shaven head. He has a weird looking tattoo on the back of his neck of a snake eating its own tail. . ." The guard paused as he waited for an answer.
Thea wanted to toy with him as she crossed her arms and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Let me see, a boy around my height, maybe my age? With a snake tattoo, right?" Thea tapped her chin. She could see the guard growing inpatient as his glare intensified. "I don't think I . . ."
"Sir, we don't have time to waste on trash like this,” another guard interrupted. “This girl would never know anything about the Sons of Samuel. Commoners are only aware of when their next meal is going to be."
Thea almost reacted to the insult by the other guard but halted when he said: The Sons of Samuel. At first, she couldn't be sure where she had heard that name before, but the memory slowly dawned on her.
That's right, Donnie had told me that's where they might have given all the girls during the King’s new law.
"Alright, enough of this!" The first guard shouted. Several bystanders looked at them but quickly kept moving. "You will tell us what we need to know or, I will personally bring you to the dungeons."
"You will do no such thing," a familiar, deep voice said. When Thea turned her head, she was surprised to find the white-haired balding man she’d seen years ago, Jiran.
"What?" The first guard spat. He and the two other Kingsland Guards turned their attention to Jiran, who had his massive arms crossed over his apron-covered chest.
"I believe a Kingsland guard knows the law better than anyone, or do I have to remind you?" The man's voice was slightly low, almost as if he were grunting; everything about him screamed that he had a short fuse and wanted to hurt someone.
"A Ward is only responsible for his or her caretaker and guardian. If they do not cause a ruckus then no guard has any charge to arrest him or her, or perhaps I am mistaken?"
"We should go, Conrad," one of the other Kingsland Guards said. Thea couldn't help but grin smugly at him. She was surprised the voices didn’t push her to say something too, they usually yelled at her to do something regrettable.
She could see the guard, Conrad, was furious, but he did not retaliate. Instead, he merely nodded for his su
bordinates to follow him, but not before glaring in Thea's direction — a look that made her smile drop, as she read in his eyes that they would meet again. It was a good thing that she had managed to hold her tongue and didn’t have a vision about him.
"Long time no see,” Jiran said. He brought Thea’s attention back to the moment. “You've certainly grown, what, these last four years?"
"And it'll be the last time you see me. But, thanks," Thea told him. She couldn't dawdle any longer; Maggie and Freya were waiting for her.
"That was a nice thing you did," Jiran said as Thea turned, ready to leave.
"With who?"
"The boy, you could have given his whereabouts and saved your ass."
Thea snorted and crossed her arms. "Well, I'm not going to rat anyone out, especially if a person needs help. Those Kingsland Guards are asses; they pick on everyone and anyone."
Jiran nodded in agreement. "True. They do their fair share of cock sucking to the King."
Thea's brow rose in surprise at the vulgarity of the man's words but couldn't stop a laugh from escaping. "You don't mind using that foul language in front of a girl?"
Jiran smiled warmly at her and shrugged. "Thought you said you weren't a girl? I'm old, but I have a pretty sharp memory when it suits me."
"Hmm. Well, I guess that's good for you. Now, if you don't mind, I have to meet back with my family."
“Well, don't let me stop you. But, don't you think you should get that checked out before you head back?"
Thea frowned and followed Jiran’s gaze – there was a deep gash in each palm. Now that she was aware of the wounds, she hissed and gritted her teeth. Her hands caked with soot prevented the blood from seeping out of the injuries. She knew that they didn't have many antiseptics at the house, let alone medicine. It was far too expensive; even with how much they stole it was never enough.
"Let me do that for you," Jiran told her. "I may not know everything that's going on, but I can tell that you don't have much medicine."
"I can manage," Thea whispered and tightened her hands. She flinched at the sudden pain and hoped Jiran hadn't caught it.
"I am quite sure that you can, you've got spunk," he said with the same guttural laughter she remembered. "But you'll get an infection if you don't treat that wound and then what use will you be for your family?"
Thea pressed her lips together. There was an air of mystery around Jiran, but he had saved her – not once, but twice. Surely, if he wanted something to happen to me, he would have let the soldiers take me, Thea thought. She mentally braced herself for the voices to tease her, but they didn’t come.
"I'll even pitch in and give you all some food. At least, you won't be stealing, and you can stay out of trouble for a bit."
Thea looked at the man before turning around and looking out to where Maggie and Freya had separated. If she took too long, she would surely worry them. Since her fainting spells, Maggie was concerned and didn’t Thea know, if and when, she would have the next one.
The thought of food and helping everyone forced her to decide and she turned back around to face Jiran.
"Fine, I guess."
Chapter Twelve
Jiran’s house sat behind his stand he ushered Thea to follow him toward the ashen-yellow cement building.
"Make sure to wipe your feet," Jiran said when they walked in. Thea immediately froze in place and almost lost her balance. She looked down and saw a large red cloth on the floor.
"Oh, sorry."
She quickly dragged each of her feet on the cloth and closed the door behind her. Jiran rummaged through a cabinet as its contents jostled into one another.
"Shouldn't you be watching your stand? Someone might steal from you."
Jiran peeked at her and gave another deep laugh which made Thea frown in confusion.
"Don't worry about me. If they know what’s good for them, people won’t touch anything."
Thea parted her lips to ask him what he meant, but decided against it, she figured it best if she didn't know. Suddenly, she flinched as the cuts on her hands reminded her, they were there — the dark crimson blood started to leak out of the gash. She bit down on her lip and tightly squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain.
"Don't bite your lip. It's a bad habit," Jiran said. Thea's head jerked up. He held a brown bottle and a tiny roll of bandages. “Come and sit at the table. I'll patch you right up."
Thea quickly nodded and practically ran over to the wooden chair at the table. She sat down while Jiran pulled a wooden chair closer to her, so their knees were an inch apart.
"This is going to sting. Give me your hands."
Thea gritted her teeth and hesitantly held out her hands. When he grabbed her tiny hands, she was distracted by how stiff and rough his hands felt, until he poured antiseptic on both of her hands.
"Ah!" Thea cried out. The burning sensation in both of her palms felt like knives and needles digging into her flesh. She closed her eyes tight and hissed in pain.
"Hold still . . ."
Thea gritted her teeth, as the searing pain lingered. The tears escaped her eyes as her body quivered slightly. Thea expected the voices to begin mocking her, as they so loved to do, but there was nothing but silence in her head.
After what felt like hours, the needles of pain that had laced her palms slowly diminished, and Thea slowly opened her eyes. She found her tiny palm resting in Jiran's hand as he slowly wrapped the white bandage around her now clean wound.
Thea sniffed but kept quiet as he worked. While he bound her hands, Thea took the opportunity to look around his house.
The living room was much like the home she and Dominya had once occupied. The ceilings were off-white with several cracks along the foundation. Ebony boards supported the frames of the roof all the way down to the ashen white walls. There were photos of Jiran and several others she did not know, lining the wall and the mantel above the hearth.
Thea couldn’t take her eyes away from the photo, the background looked to be in a forest, but it was not familiar to her. A horse-drawn carriage and seven people were in the photo – one of them was a young Jiran. His hair was full; the color of sand and his skin tan, but the expression on his face was the same one she saw on his face now: joy.
It wasn't until she noticed the colorful threaded headscarf — the golden bangles around some of the women’s wrists and ankles dangled together; the men wore unique gold coin necklaces, they looked authentic as they shined in the light.
"You seem pretty lost in those photos," Jiran said. "Those people you are looking at are one of the Magi, specifically the Roma. Alright, there you go; try your moving your fingers.”
Thea looked down at her neatly bandaged hands and flexed them. The pain only lasted for a second.
"Um, thank you," she whispered. Jiran rose and walked over to the photos on the mantel. He picked up the picture that she had been looking at and walked back over to her, retaking his seat.
"But what do you specifically mean by Magi?"
He handed the photo to her.
“That’s what Roma are; Magi is anyone who can conduct magic. So that means Roma, the Unseelie and Seelie Fae, and Wytches, for instance. Then there are Kobolds who have a Mundane type body but are beast creatures or shift into creatures. That would be like Ördögon’s, Feral’s, and Skinwalkers. And lastly, Cryptids, they look like me and you, but their autonomy is entirely different, like Daemons and Strigoi.”
Thea gripped the ebony brown frame and stared at the photo. Now that she was looking at everyone's faces, she could see that their eyes were a beautiful amber color that appeared almost yellow, complimenting their beige skin. Their faces had intricate tattoos that swirled down the length of their necks and arms.
"You sure know a lot," Thea said, but she pressed her lips together and held her tongue before she could say anything else. She wasn't sure why she didn’t tell Jiran that she descended from Roma, it was evident that they found him a friend since the Roma
never interacted with others and kept to their own.
"The picture is of the time I met with a group of Roma on one of my expeditions. I would have died if it wasn't for them. Their leader had a vision of a man – several weeks prior – whose leg crushed under a ton of fallen rocks."
Thea looked away from the photo and at Jiran. She saw a calm and serene look in his eyes that made her believe him.
"After they saved my life, I was, unfortunately, their prisoner," Jiran said, though he smiled when he said as if remembering a fond memory. "They couldn't have me return to Kingsland in fear that I would tell the king where they were since Roma’s were steadily decreasing."
"And the king hates magic." Thea pointed out. It was always something Dominya had trained her always to remember. "So, how did you get out?"
Jiran shrugged and casually rested his back against the wooden chair.
"They started to trust me. I didn't give the Roma a reason to think I was a threat, and in turn, they released me under the promise that I would return to their village every so often to give provisions to survive. It's what started my quest to help Kobolds and Magi that have been oppressed by mundane rule."
Thea tilted her head in confusion. She never once thought that others, besides her people, were not being treated well.
"Others aren't being treated right?"
Jiran shook his head and frowned. Have you heard of the Citadel?"
"A little bit, yes."
"Well, they weren’t always a part of the Citadel, in fact, they used to live in Kingsland in year 650," Jiran recounted the history to her. Thea instinctively leaned closer. "King Godfrey broke the Ördög King's trust and broke his promise. Instead of sharing the land, he drove them back to the Parsi desert."
Thea was appalled by the cold demeanor of the king. She had known him to be cruel by his snake-like appearance, but to break a promise showed deeper layers of his persona.
"He sent, uh, he sent people out to fight — nobles and many, many common folks," Thea whispered, her voice breaking. She felt her eyes sting as tears filled them. "I wasn't even born yet. My father died there . . ."
