From the Embers

by Maelie Arsenault

It was early evening when Fox shuffled through the streets of the South Ward between the Warrens and the edge of the Central Ward. Dressed down in a dark coat, hat, and a light disguise of blond hair and orange eyes, she’d taken to these wanderings more often to get a better sense of the ward she might end up managing for the Syndicate. The opportunity interested her but… conversely it triggered all her worries about her upbringing under her mother.

“A rank and territory, a grand little kingdom they have around here.” She muttered to herself as she glances about the dirty streets. “They’re like discount nobles.”

‘I truly do not want anything to do with them. They sound like the worst kinds of nobles.’

She winces thinking of how Ottilie Karstadt had reacted to her newfound relations, House Ellistraesh. She started wondering what the ‘best kinds of nobles’ were, and the quick survey seems to say nobles who did not wish to be nobles. Fox didn’t understand why the words stung the way they did. She’d made her choice, but…

“I never wanted to stop being noble… I just also wanted to be me.”

I'd been blind been blinded by the light for so damn long, for so long
That it took losing everything to see I'd been wrong all along
I knew I had to change somehow but didn't know here to start
But a part of me died that day and said hello to the dark
And then it hit me

She bursts into the stables, knocking a stableboy off balance as she makes her way to the back. The guards come next, awkwardly trying to dodge around the unstable boy before finally shoving past him as they chase the young thief.

At the back of the stable, the girl quickly ascends a ladder, almost a bit too quickly as she stumbles on a rung, before reaching the top with the guards climbing after her. As she gets to the back, she leaps through the open door of the hay loft and teleports herself to the roof of the next building. She turns and dancs backwards, waving to the guards who attempt to follow, but immediately fall through the roof that was only barely strong enough for the eladrin. She runs to the edge and slides down a ladder before dashing through the alleys to safety.

A few minutes later, as she is walking down an alley inspecting the purse she snatched, her uncle joins her from a nearby shadow.

“You know… that was the sheriff around here, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“And… he saw who did it.”

“I can change my ‘air again!” She chirps defensively.

Shaking his head, he continues. “There’s no other elven kids around your age in this town.”

“Oh.” She stops, shoulders sinking. “Merde… I did it again…” She gives her uncle an apologetic look. “I am sorry, do we ‘ave to move again?”

“It’s okay little fox, we were… thinking of moving on anyways. Let’s go find your aunt.”

They make their way out of town carefully, but as they get further up the country road the girl begins peppering her uncle with questions about past heists, spells he used, non-magical deceptions he concocted, and what the riskiest parts were. But today, he seems less forthcoming with the details despite the empty road and the girl sulks the rest of the way, busying herself with balancing on the stone wall as she walks next to him.

Finally, they turn up a small path and once passed the tree line they reach the small cottage they only moved to a month ago. Mika and Kallie had tried to find out of the way places for their charge to live, not wanting to draw attention to their mismatched almost-family staying in the larger Inns they usually frequented. Instead, the last two years had been a quiet home life with the regular trips to villages, towns, and cities for their heists, cons, and other training exercises for the girl they’d nicknamed Fox.

As they arrive, Kallie Beauchamp is peering suspiciously at a pot of stew. “D’accord, I do not t’ink I burnt it dis time.”

“You don’t think?” Her husband asks as he enters the room with Fox in tow.

“I wish we could go back to de Inn we were at a few months ago. De bread der was parfait!” the girl says as she plops down at the table.

“You mean de one we left because you picked de lock on de safe in de jewelry shop down de street?” The air genasi says after tossing the end of a carrot at the half-orc.

“Oui…” She replies looking admonished.

Her aunt turns her attention to the sheepish girl and sighs, “What did you…. What ‘appened?” Her tone softening at the end.

“Nevermind that part, let’s eat and maybe… talk after dinner about that thing?”

I'd rather rule the dark than serve the light (it hit me, i-i-it hit me)
Tell me how this is wrong when it feels so right (it hit me, i-i-it hit me)
I lost the fight but won the war and in my heart a hole was torn forever (ever, ever, ever)
I thought that I'd lay down and die, but just then I began to fly from embers
From the embers, I fly

Gruff shouting from the alley she was passing pulls Fox from her thoughts. The shadows were long now as the sun was gone below the artificial horizon of the buildings so her eyes switched to darkvision as she watches a dirty hobgoblin with rotten teeth grill some young pickpockets.

“Whaddya mean this is all ya got?!” He croaks angrily as the kids step back.

“We did better than last time, didn we?” A young dwarf girl tries bravely.

“BAH, USELESS! All of you!” He scoops up the small pile of purses and money pouches. “No dinner for ya. Go out and learn to be proper thieves!”

“Proper thieves?” Fox asks softly from directly behind him causing him to startle, drop the pouches, and stagger away from her. “Proper thieves… don’t scream about stealing at the top of their lungs at children in an alley.”

“Who in Tanith’s Tainted Bosom are you!” He growls angrily, trying to recover his composure by reaching for a dagger in his tattered coat.

“A proper thief.” She replies coolly, holding his knife, and letting it fall between her gloved fingers to the ground. “You see… a proper thief steals things themselves. You’re just a bully.”

The children had scattered to the corners of the small space between the buildings by now, as far from the adults as they could get without later getting accused of running away.

The gruff hobgoblin reaches for a nearby piece of wood from a crate, “I’ll show you a bul…” His voice catches as he turns back to stare down the barrel of Fox’s revolver.

“Why don’t you stop here? You only brought a knife to a gun fight and it’s only downhill from here.” She says evenly as her thumb pulls the hammer back. Orange-brown eyes stare back as a sly grin creeps across her lips. “I’d encourage you to try if I thought this might actually be fun.”

The man drops the splintery piece of wood.

“Scram and don’t bother these kids, or any kids, again.” She says with a jerk of her head towards the street. And with no hesitation, he does just that.

She quickly holsters her pistol and looks around the alley at the kids hiding behind boxes, piles of trash, and each other.

“Calm down kiddos. Nobody is gonna hurt you now.” She says softly.

“But… now we won’t eat ever!” One of them says softly, looking at where the hobgoblin had run.

She glances about at them. Her eyes picking up their thin forms underneath the dirty clothes.

“Okay, c’mere.” She reaches into her coat. The children tense until she pulls out a coin purse and leaves it open on the box where they had unloaded their own takings from the day. A silvery glint catches the fading sunlight.

“Silver?” One says a bit excitedly.

“Non.” She replies casually. “Platinum.”

They all just stare at her.

“You… know what platinum is, non?” She asks after a moment.

“It’s… real?” The dwarven girl asks.

Fox raises an eyebrow and then sighs as she reaches for a coin. “One of these will buy you an apprenticeship in any guild in the city. Laborers, Masons, and Woodworkers tend to let you join younger though. You take one of these, you keep it hidden until you get where you want to go, and then you give it to the person at the desk. Some of them you have to pass a test, but if you do, you’ll have room, board, training, and work.” She puts the coin down next to the pouch and steps back again.

“What’s the catch?” A young goblin child squeaks.

“No catch.”

“Why are you doing this?” An orc boy that reminds her too much of Barnabus asks.

“Call it curiosity.” She says leaning back against the wall.

The dwarven girl, clearly the braver of the bunch, steps forward, eyes never leaving Fox as she reaches for the coin. Once it disappears into her hand she steps back. Then steps back again. Her eyes never leave the stranger until she gets to the mouth of the alley where she turns and bolts.

I lost the fight but won the war and in my heart a hole was torn, forever (forever)
I thought that I'd lay down and die, but just then I began to fly from embers
From the embers, I fly
Fly away, fly away
Fly away, fly away

The stew was not, in fact, burnt. It was merely under seasoned which was a more forgivable thing than over seasoning.

“Did you know de roof would give out under de guards?” Kallie giggles.

“It was a guess! But it worked!” The young elf grins back.

Her aunt smiles at her but then she catches the orc’s grey eyes. “Chloé. It ‘as been about two years since we ‘ave been toged’er, non?”

The girl quiets immediately. Uncertainty filling her expression. “Oui.”

“You are… doing much better now. Do you… enjoy life more now? De colours are back?” She asks gently.

“Mostly…”

“D’accord. Den… we wanted to…” She glances at Mika who places a hand over hers and continues for them.

“We wanted to ask what you wanted to do from now on.”

“What do you mean?” Her green eyes searching their faces for something.

“You do not need to stay wit us. If you like you can… go ‘ome.” Her aunt picks up as gently as possible.

The girl shrinks in her seat. “I… I… can do better…” She says in a desperate whisper.

“Oh non! Non ma petite renarde!” She gets up and moves to her side to hug her. The girl clings back tightly. “We were just wondering… you read de papers all de time. I know you miss your sister, non?”

She nods.

“And your father?” Her uncle suggests.

There’s a hesitation before she gives a genuine, if less enthusiastic, nod.

“Listen, we are not asking because we want you to go. We… we love you, we want you to stay, we want to watch over you but you should ‘ave de freedom to choose.” The genasi’s wispy tears fall from her eyes as she continues. “Der will always be a road you do not take, but I just want de one you do choose to be what you really want. Not what was decided for you. Not by your *maman*, not by us. You.”

“And this life… nobody really chooses it.” Her uncle adds gently. “I grew up on the streets of Capistrello. It took a long time for me to learn how to make this workout like this.”

“I simply ‘ad nowhere to go. As a genasi I am… not wanted in a lot of places.” Her aunt shrugs.

“I like dis d’ough! I can do dis! It is like… it is like… my ‘ands ‘ave always been reaching for t’ings and now I know what to do wit dem!” She says in an unnecessary plea. “I feel… alive, like life ‘as possibilities, der is just so much I can see! I spent… I …. I spent so long trying to follow all de rules and it… it… I nearly…” She sighs. “I want to choose de risks I take.”

“We know. You are… very, very good at this. And that’s what is a little scary.” Her uncle replies.

She tilts her head in confusion.

“This life… most come into it from below. The few that make it do so mostly by luck at first until they survive long enough to develop some real skills.” He explains. “And I’ve seen those who come to it from above and… they’re sloppy. Too much privilege that they can’t even recognize the risks. But you… you have talent, you love risk, you look for it, and I… just want to make sure you want this because I know you can go far enough that you’ll find the deepest parts of it and you’re the type to jump right in. And once you do, it’s sink or swim.”

“So… what road do you choose?” Her aunt asks, trying to hide the sliver of hope in her voice.

When you light a candle, watch the flames get brighter
But the shadows all around grow darker (oh oh), grow darker (oh oh)
All the faces, flashing, changing

The last two children were reaching for the coins together and after a fumble they both ran out of the alley as Fox watched from where she’d stood the whole time as all nine of them made their way out towards new lives. She pushed off the wall and used a mage-hand to return the pouch to her and inspect it.

“Not a one asked how to become a proper thief.” She sighs and inspects the pouch. “Didn’t even take a single extra coin. Hmm, good kids.”

Everything is now mine for the taking (oh oh), for breaking (oh oh)
And how I could I not see my reflection was slowly changing, was waking
I spent my whole life fighting all this darkness in my heart from overtaking
But then it hit me

The young girl looked between them and then drew up confidence she didn’t know she had. “I want… non… I am going to be de greatest t’ief in all of Europa, non, Terranon! And I will work ‘ard. I will learn, I promise I will listen!”

“D’accord.” Her aunt says, wiping a tear away.

“Alright, then… we’re off to Vodacce. We’ll teach you everything.”

Fox stood alone in the alleyway. The children gone towards better lives that she’d never understand. Tucking the pouch away she turns towards the dark end of the alley and disappears into the shadows of the city, the slight splinter of loneliness lasting only as long as it take her mind to start considering how she might rob the National Museum of Eisen.

I'd rather rule the dark than serve the light (it hit me, i-i-it hit me)
Tell me how this is wrong when it feels so right (it hit me, i-i-it hit me)
I lost the fight but won the war and in my heart a hole was torn forever
I thought that I'd lay down and die, but just then I began to fly from embers
From the embers, I fly
Fly away, fly away
Fly away fly away

Continue reading...

The Last Rule
November 27th, 1882, - Novandria

The Den

Am I losing?

A Close Call

Plans

New Toys

Mistakes were made

Too close to home

Not like you.

This City is Mine.
February 6th, 1883

Aimless?
March 5, 1883 - Novandria

The Game Begins
February 13th, 1883

Too much like You
March 13, 1883

Safer in Shadows
April 3, 1883

New Beginnings
April 7th, 1883

Ready to Run
April 17th, 1883

Home
April 25, 1883

Can you steal a heart?
May 8th, 1883

Trouble
11th of May, 1883

Heartbreak
14th of May, 1883

Hunter or Prey?
16th of May, 1883

Guilt
19th of May, 1883

Untrustworthy
21st of May, 1883

Why am I like this?
25th of May, 1883

Worthy
8th of June, 1883

The One She Left Behind
13th June, 1883

Annnd it's back...
July 1st, 1883

Learning to Fly
July 4th, 1883

Thrill of the Hunt
July 29th, 1883

From the Embers
21st of August, 1883 // 1867

Mother Knows Best
16th of September, 1883

A Snake, a Star, and a Fox
25th of September, 1883, Novandria

It wasn't him.
28th of September, 1883, Novandria

The New Blade
13th of September, 1883

Something Good
October 31, 1883 - Novandria

The wound that won't close
18th of December, 1883 - Novandria

Promise
25th of December, 1883 - Novandria

Fallen through the cracks
6th of January, 1884 - Novandria

Day to Night
7th of January, 1884

What's Left to the Shadows
22nd of January, 1884, Novandria

The World without Colour
18th of February, 1884, Bellancourt, Montaigne,

Seventeen Roofs
26th of February, Novandria, Eisen

Crossing the Board
4th of March, 1884, Novandria, Eisen

New Freedom
May 4th, 1884

Saved
5th of May, 1884/16th of July, 1858

From the Embers

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