Lissa had had one of those dreamless sleeps that still managed to pass slowly and comfortably. She woke up slowly, her mind fuzzy with sleep, and turned over, nuzzling into the pillows, pulling the blankets up almost over her head.
It had been a long, long time since she had had a proper sleep, and she was reculant to wake fully. She was still at the point where she could decide that she didn't want to wake up and deal with the mess she was in.
But while she was trying to sleep, there was a knock on the door, and it was quickly opened. The man from pub the other night came in.
“Eh.. hello?”
“Good morning sir!” he said, “I've brought you some breakfast here, and a note from Adex. Whenever you're ready, you can leave, but in honesty if you needed the room another night, no one will really care. Not until Ella says she needs it again.”
“..Thank you” Lissa mumbled into her pillow.
The man walked over to the table near the bed, set down a tray which had a bowl on it, a mug, and an envelope, sealed with a blob of wax.
“Do you need anything else?”
“A bowl of warm water.” she muttered. He nodded, and hesitated nearby a moment before leaving. She heard the door close, but didn't hear it lock. When she was sure he was gone, she sat up, and noticed that the door was left slightly ajar, so that she could leave whenever she wanted.
She got up, and quickly threw on her clothes from the other night. After she had done that, she quickly ate the luke-warm bowl of grains, and drank the tea that in her opinion could have used more honey, but she didn't really care. While she was drinking, hey eyes rested on the letter.
'an explanation for last night?' she wondered. She door the letter, cracked the seal, and read:
Dear Lissa.
Ella must be gone on one of her runs. She might be back in a couple of days, but it wouldn't be fair to let you just sit around in that room until she comes back.
Enclosed is a share of the money that Ella had intended to give you. This should be enough to get you started. I don't know what kind of trouble you're into, or why you ran off, but whatever it is, keep your head down. You done need to be getting into any more trouble. If, however, trouble does find you, then you're welcome to find us again. We could always use more thieves.
-Adex
Lissa wondered how Adex had been able to write the letter, given that he didn't have real hands, but then realized that there was at least someone he knew, who he could trust, who could write well. A folded piece of paper slid out from the letter, and fell onto her lap. She picked it up, assuming it to be the money she was owed, and openend it.
A few golden coins fell out into her hand.
For a moment, she stared at the coins in her hands in disbelief. It wasn't enough to keep her set for years, of course, but enough to keep her fed for a while. Enough for her to keep a room in an inn until she found a way to work.
Work. There was another problem. She didn't have that many skills, Se figured she could probably get a job as a maid, or even as an assistant to a seamstress.
She suddenly thought of the boys from her home. She didn't think of how they had framed her, how they were willing to stand by and let her take the blame for their actions, but their words. A thief, or a whore.
“I'm not whore” she muttered to herself. She wanted to say 'I'm not a thief.' but she couldn't. She had become a thief. She had stolen, and if it was just the fact that she had stolen out of necessity, then she could convince herself that she was no a thief because of that. But no, she hadn't just taken out of necessity. She had enjoyed it.
And she wanted to do it again.
She started slightly as she heard someone near the door and slid the coins back into the paper. The man came back in with a bowl of hot water.
“Here you go, sir.”
“Thank you.” She said. She got up, took a rag hanging off the edge of the bowl and started washing her hands, when she stopped. “where would be a good place to get some new clothes?” She asked.
He turned around and looked at her. “I'm guessing you need something not quite so caked with dirt, right?'
“Right.”
He shrugged, “there's a few places around, I think.” he glanced over her clothes once more, “ think I have something you can have. Old clothes someone left behind one night. Oh, don't worry-” he said as he caught sight of the look of disgust on her face, “They're clean.”
“How much?”
He wrinkled his nose a little, “For used clothes? You can just have them. I was going to use them as rags anyway.”
“And... one more thing...”
“Yeah?”
“If I wanted to rent a room here for a longer period of time..?”
“Normal rate is two silvers a night... but for a friend of Ella, I can make that half.”
“And, do you have a less..” she looked around the room, looking for the right word. After a moment, the man gave a short laugh.
“A real room? Sure. I have another one upstairs. Nice view too.”
She nodded, and then reached for the paper, and took out one of her gold coins.
“I can pay for nights in a advance?”
“You want to pay for fifty nights in advance...?”
“well, like I said, I'm looking for a place in the long term.”
“Hey, no problem. If you're sure, then you're sure.” He put the coin in his pocket, and turned to leave, “I'll get you the keys, and come back with that and the clothes. I can show you to your room after?”
“Sounds great.” Lissa said.
As he left, and as she slowly started to wash the dirt off herself, she felt like she was getting her life in order.
-M.K.Barry
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