Thief's Choice

Posted on 22 Dec 2023 @ 11:43pm by Townsfolk The Scholar & Warrior Rhiannon Cadash & Rogue Vasil
Edited on on 27 Jan 2024 @ 9:37pm

2,884 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Summer Nights in Jader
Location: Jader Guard Station
Timeline: Bloomingtide 19th
Tags: Sprite, Jhwulfven

"Guardswoman Audrey." The resonant voice of the magistrate carried across the guard station.

Audrey hurried to Magistrate Evrard's office and found him sat behind his desk, his salt and pepper hair and silver beard neatly trimmed, the very personification of fair judgement as usual. What was not so usual was his guest, the dwarven captain of the Night's Kiss, who was perched on the magistrate's desk.

"Audrey, please go and fetch that young thief and bring him to my office," said Evrad.

"Yes Ser." Audrey hurried down the steps to the jail cells, wrinkling her nose at the smell. She missed Martin. After he and his friends exposed Guard Captain Landry and Elder Isouda's plot to assassinate Mother Giselle, Audrey had hoped Martin would take over as Guard Captain, but he'd been called back to his home town, some remote part of Orlais on the border with Navarra. After Landry's corrupted guards were excised, the city guard was left short-handed and many of the new guard recruits were woefully inexperienced.

Jessimir sat quietly as Audrey came in and then left. She had been pleased that Evrad had given the girl more responsibility. She looked back to Evrad, her eyes shining with thoughts and a cleverness that few never underestimate twice. "So this thief. Vasil. Are we in agreement then?"

Evrad returned Jessimir's smile. "I believe we are. Thank you, captain."

---

Audrey caught one of those new incompetent guards jeering the prisoner she'd been sent for.
"… the magistrate will order your hands cut off, he will. Serve you right, too!" he was saying.

Vasil wiped the blood from one corner of his mouth, the guards had boxed him around some, split his lip, and piled on with some taunting to add to their enjoyment. As for the young thief, he could do little but simply endure it. Smarting off would only make things worse. Although few things could be worse than losing one's hands.

Another guard now showed up, Vasil transferred his gaze to the newcomer, this one was a female.

Audrey shook her head and took the set of keys off the wall. She regarded the young man. Skinny, dirty, defiant, beat up, and maybe even scared, although she guessed that whatever happened to him in this jail was not the worst he'd ever experienced. She unlocked the cell door and handed the keys to the other guard.

"Don't listen to him," Audrey told Vasil. "If that's what happened to thieves in Jader, you'd be seeing a whole lot more beggars on the streets with no hands. Come on, the magistrate and his friend want to speak to you."

Vasil had been kneeling on the prison's stone floor, spattered with blood. He got to his feet without help, determined to show them all he was still defiant. They'd got no confession out of him but he was probably going to be pronounced guilty regardless.

"I don't ever listen to any of you lot," he flashed a saucy grin but obeyed her directions. Like he had a choice in the matter.

Audrey gritted her teeth and took note of the young man's condition and which guards were on duty. She'd be filing her report about their mistreatment of this young man later. She gestured for the thief to walk up the stairs ahead of her. On the ground level Audrey pointed and said, "That office, in the corner on the left."

"Sure," and he left it at that but did as she had instructed. And in they went.

Jessimir sat in the chair, her back to the door. Silver hair of what could be an elaborate braid could be seen just over the back of said chair. On the magistrate's desk sits an extremely polished silver flask with three silver shot glasses. In the reflection you see a female dwarf dressed in red and gold blouse and pants. Her silver hair is up in an elaborate braid. She seems to be sleeping, though you hear her speak. "Thank you guard Audrey. Go please." She waits till Audrey shuts the door. Jessamir shifts slightly and sits up slowly. She looks like she is great pain. "Here, come stand." She points to a spot a few feet to her right. "Need to see." Her voice gruff, old and thick with the dwarf accent.

Audrey was surprised to see that the ship captain had moved, but when Jessamir dismissed her she looked to the magister. He nodded and Audrey stepped out. She had a report to write.

A dwarf woman? Now the distinguished looking fellow behind the desk looked the part of a magistrate but he didn't think the city had any dwarven judges. Besides she didn't look like anyone official. Maybe she was the one whose job it would be to chop off his hands? Dwarves were good with axes or so he'd heard many times.

With a shrug of bare shoulders he stepped to the spot she indicated and just stood there. The city watch had earlier stripped him down to just his breeches, least they allowed him that much dignity. He was tall, lanky with a thin build but there was a hint of musculature beneath that skin. To the observant, he would not be mistaken for a weakling. His shoulder length hair was scraggly and in need of a good washing. Well, to be frank all of him did. But to a street rat of his sort, a bath was a quick swim in the river or sea. That lean frame of his showed more than one scar of older now healed wounds all probably caused in some violent fashion. It was hard to tell his age for certain, one thing for certain, he had not even started to shave yet.

The look on his face was a mix of resignation but also behind those blue eyes of his, defiance. If any of them expected him to beg for mercy, it was not going to happen. He was far too stubborn for that. He dared to look her right back but said nothing.

Jessimir did not turn to look at Vasil, she seemed to continue to look forward, almost as if she had no idea that he had moved. Her voice gruff, thick dearven accent, her words broken. "Question have. Know who steal from? How caught?" Her hand on the chair railing shook slightly as she shifted a little.

Who he stole from? Vasil looked confused. But he answered, "No."

As for how he got caught. Well, he almost got away with it but was spotted by passerby then tackled by some do-gooder who should have minded his own business.

"Just my bad luck," he shrugged, the details didn't matter, fact was here he was, a prisoner about to be sentenced.

Jessimir let a slight grin cross her face. *Defiant yet not pushy. Knows his place. Been pushed too much though.* she thought. Looking at the flask she could see Vasil clearly. She could see a few scars here and there. She could also see the more recent bruises and the split lip. Those were more than likely from the guards down in the cells. This brought an anger to her that showed in the tightening of her hands to fists. Shifting again she had a couple of more questions for this young man. Still not looking directly at him, "Why steal? Family?" The gruff dwarven accent was thick.

Why did this woman even care about the why of it? He hadn't expected these questions. No one cared about him anymore since his brother's death.

"I'd spent my last coin. A lad's gotta eat," he answered, "I don't have no family. They're gone....ya know...like....dead."

He wasn't looking for pity. Lots of the poor had it hard. You just did what you needed to do to survive. He hadn't done so badly so far. He'd never had a day of any sort of schooling but he' learned to be a thief and, if he did say so himself, he was a pretty good one too.

"Go ahead, sentence me. Get it over with. I don't grovel to no one," he stated calmly.

The magistrate had leaned back in his comfortable chair to watch the show. If Evrad didn't know Jessimir was the complete opposite of a frail old woman with a limited understanding of Orlesian, he was pretty sure he'd be taken in by her performance. Now that the young man had asked for his sentencing, the magistrate sat up and spoke. "Let me explain what is happening right now, Vasil. This is a judgement, as you have guessed. You might also think of this as an interview."

"Well?" Magistrate Evrad said, looking to Jessimir. "Have you reached a verdict?"

The look on Vasil's youthful features was one of confusion, surprise, when the magistrate turned to the dwarf to pronounce the verdict. What was going on here? Then he listened to what she had to say. Suddenly her speech got a whole lot clearer, better. The woman had been putting him on.

Jessimir listened intently to Vasil's answers to her last two questions. Stealing wasn't his first choice. She heard it in his voice. It was what he knew. He held no issue with being sentenced. He was prepared for whatever might happen. He owned his actions.

When Evrad spoke, she watched Vasil carefully. Sitting up straight in the chair, eyes opened fully, and a respectful smile on her face. She reached out to take the flask in hand and pour the contents into the three shot glasses. Speaking as she did so. "Yes Magistrate Evrard, I have. Now it is up to this young man to decide his own fate." She looks to Vasil, taking one of the shot glasses and offers it to him.

Vasil wasn't about to turn down a free drink. No doubt it was better quality too than the swill he downed in some of the worst dives in the city. He took the glass, nodding, "Thanks."

"I am offering you, shall we say, a limited freedom. You come work for me. You make money, have a place to stay, food and more importantly, you will have your freedom. In return, you pay back what you owe for what you stole. Once this is done, you can stay on and continue to work for myself and my daughter. Or you can leave. Go our separate ways if you like. No strings attached." She looks to Evrad, "Or you can accept what sentence our Magistrate has for you and I walk out this door." She looks to Vasil. " What say you."

This was all nothing like he had been expecting. He was being given a choice in the matter, the woman was offering him a deal? Now Vasil didn't trust people in power. If they had the power to do this sort of thing, they also had the power to change their mind later. Betrayals and backstabbing was as common amongst the rich and powerful as it was among the gutter folk.

And pay back what he owed for all he had stolen? She had to be joking. He had been a thief now for literally years. He stole from a lot of places, a lot of people. He couldn't even begin to recall all such places or even more so, the individuals.

But................... it was a deal. Vasil knew he would be an utter fool to turn down this offer even it it wasn't genuine. He could accept it now and later escape first chance he got if this whole turned out to be something other than she was describing. That brought up an important question she had not dealt with in any detail.

"I see. Ummm, beggin' yer pardon but what sort of work you expectin' of me?"

Even he would be the first to fully admit, his skill sets were almost all that of a ..........well, thief!

Jessimir grinned at the young man's question. She had made deals like this before, many with her crew. She could see his thought process, though it would only be an educated guess as to what he was actually thinking. She set the shot glass down and got down out of the chair. She went from a frail old dwarf woman to one that seemed to be in the prime of her life. "You would like more detail then. I can respect that."

She moved to the corner of the room where there was a small stack of clothes. Picking them up she moved back over to stand a few feet in front of Vasil. "First, put these on before you catch your death." She set the clothes on the desk.

Vasil eyed the clothing, "Umm, thanks. Hopefully it all fits."

Regardless, he'd take it all, better than the rags he had. And the guards had probably tossed his shirt away too. Although Vasil had never exactly been shy when it came to his body or much else, he decided he would wait til he could get a bit more privacy before removing his breeches and donning the new garments.

Turning she moved back to her chair though didn't sit in it. "This is the deal. You come work for me. You get a place to stay, food, and you get paid. I will take a bit out till what you stole from me is paid back. Which shouldn't take too long." She paused for a moment for that to sink in. "Once paid back you can leave my service free and clear. Or you can stay and continue to work for me. As for what you would be doing for me. Security. (paused) You got past what security I have. Which means you are very good at what you do. I would be hiring you to make sure that this never happens again." She looked back to the shot glass. "It is your choice Vasil. And I hope you choose wisely."

Security? Wasn't that like being some sort of guard? He wasn't sure he would want to do that sort of thing. But still the offer was too good to turn down. Especially given what he had walked into this room expecting.

He did not hesitate but replied, "I'll do it, I'll take up yer kind offer. When do I start?"

"Oh...and what do you want me to call ya?"

Jessimir gave a quick nod. "Once you change you start. As for what you can call me. Captain is fine." She will wait till he puts on the clothes.

Here, now? Alright, if that's what she wants. He gave a shrug then got to changing. He turned around so they only saw his butt and dropped the breeches, kicking them aside. Then he calmly proceeded to put all the clothes on, they were a bit baggy on him but loose fitting wasn't always a bad thing. He'd find a belt for his waistline. Once finished, he turned about again and bowed like he was some sort of gentleman at a ball. Not that he had ever been to any fancy ball in his life.

"At yer service, cap'n," he grinned.

Once done she will motion for Vasil to take the shot glass. She will look to the Magistrate and motion to the other shot glass. Raising herd, "By stone. By steel. By the spirits of our ancestors. This deal is done." She will drink the shot down, turn the glass upside down and place it on the table.

Vasil took up his assigned shot glass, raised it on high, declaring, "What she said!" Then drained it in a big gulp making a bit of a face upon swallowing it. Stuff was strong but smooth. One could get used to that.

He turned his glass upside down then too.

Magistrate Evrard held up his glass in salute to Jessimir, then to Vasil. "Not many young men in your position are afforded an opportunity like this. Mind yourself, and see that you don't end up in my jail again." He tipped the contents of the glass back, swallowing savoring Jessimir's excellent choice in liquor, then set the glass upside down next to hers.

Seeing Vasil take the drink, he did better than most usually do. This made her smile. The Magistrate did better, though the two had been friends for a while and she has shared her spirits with him before. The glasses set next to each other, all upside down, Jessamir could see that there was nothing underneath. Giving a nod she looks to the Magistrate, "I am sure the only way this young man will grace your presence again is if he is representing myself or the Night's Kiss. Thank you Magistrate. We will have to do dinner soon." Jessamir gave the man a mischievous grin and a quick wink. Turning to Vasil, "Let us go Vasil. We need to get you settled on board the Kiss and introduce you to the crew. Then get you a place to stay in town as well." With that she will start heading out.

"Yes, captain," Vasil nodded, already thinking about a ship? He'd never been on one before. Should be interesting.

***

COMPLETE

 

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