A Night at the Docks

Written by RokkitChild

The murky fog brought with it the bitterness of the inky waters of the harbor and wrapped Silvia in its chill embrace. With a slight shiver, she pulled her cloak tighter around her. Her head snapped back as the clomp of boots on the cobblestones above began moving toward the dock she was standing on. Without hesitation, she tightly pressed her body against the wall as the footsteps drew closer to the edge of the landing. Her heart pounded until the sound of her own pulse was like an anvil chorus in her ears.
"Right pisser of a night." A throaty voice grumbled from above before a wad of spit landed upon the damp wooden dock merely a few inches from her.
"Ramir!" A woman's voice curtly rang out. "We've got a drunkard down at the Last Plank."
The man above Silvia let out a low growl and turned on his heels. "The half-breed again?"
"The half-orc, yes." the woman begrudgingly answered.
"Alright. No point in rushing over there. Maybe the poor bastard will tire himself out first." The man replied as the clomp of his boots faded into the distance.
Silvia closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. A wave of guilt came over her knowing that for the price of a few more mugs of ale, she ensured that the half-orc, Fuldrag would be spending another night in a cell. At least, in the chaos, she had thought, the barkeep wouldn't notice she had stepped out. Besides, if Narcis wasn't such a skinflint, she wouldn't even be out here. Silvia gave a cautious glance to either side of her before stepping back out from against the wall. The anxiety beginning to feel like a great hand closing around her ribs.
Truth be told, she knew nothing of who she was meeting out on the docks every new moon, but in Alzira, information is a valuable commodity. Especially the kind that comes from men too deep in their cups trying to impress a pretty, young barmaid. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the creeping feeling that she was being watched crawled through her skin. She quickly spun around and had to catch herself from screaming.
A dark clad figure stood there in the fog, leaned up against a piling on the next dock over. As Silvia attempted to compose herself, the figure silently approached as if their feet never touched the wooden planks beneath them. They pulled back the cowl from over their face, revealing the bewitching face of a half-elf man with long, burgundy hair held up by a hair stick and a tattoo of a tear drop under his right eye. His lips curled into a devious smirk seeing the shock in the human woman's eyes.
"So... what do we have today, little songbird?" The man said as he produced a small, leather pouch about the size of his fist from under his cloak and gave it a little shake, just enough for Silvia to hear the gemstones clack around in it.
"A daughter of a duke of Ballardan has purchased a lot in the Bridge District. There are rumors she plans to turn it into a theatre." Silvia nervously muttered.
The smirk quickly faded from the man's face and he raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell, which duke?" His smoky voice becoming low as he took a step closer to her.
"I- I'm not sure." Her voice wavered as the tall, thin half-elf closed the gap between them. "They didn't specify. All the they said was that there was a lot of gold involved and a troupe of performers called the Fool's Errand."
"Hmmm..." The half-elf raised his gloved hand to his slightly pointed chin. "Now that does seem odd. Doesn't exactly sound like the kind of troupe one would build a theatre for." He lazily tapped a gloved finger against his chin, the coquettish tone of his voice quickly returning. "Is there anything else, little songbird?"
Silvia took a step closer to him, nervously looking over her shoulder. "A sailor with a lot of gold was bragging about a shipment he had made to Ballardan." She said in a muted tone, close enough to him to notice the smell of saffron and ginger emanating from the half-elf. "He said that they were paid to remain silent, but the man who paid off the dock master had a ring with the signet of House Arboix."
The man's hazel eyes sparkled like gemstones catching a glimmer of light in a darkened mine-shaft. "Now that is interesting. Very well." He held out the small leather pouch. "You've earned quite the bonus today, songbird." She quickly took the pouch from him and couldn't resist the urge to quickly open it. Her eyes became like saucers as she gazed upon the small collection of brown and golden gemstones inside.
"Its six, polished tiger's eyes. Should fetch you about... well, enough to ensure that what we spoke of tonight remains confidential." His eyes narrowed and trained on her.
"Oh, y-yes. Absolutely." She sheepishly nodded.
After a moment of tense silence, the half-elf pleasantly smiled. "Very good. Until next time, little songbird." Pulling the dark cowl over his head, he turned and began to silently walk back into the fog, like a shadowy apparition fading from view. "Oh! Do think of Fuldrag when you get it exchanged, will you? He was such a good sport tonight." The half-elf's voice called out before his tall, thin frame disappeared into the murky night air.
"Wait, what?" Silvia called back, unsure of what to make of the half-elf's parting words but he had already vanished back into the fog. She quickly tightened the pouch and awkwardly tucked it into her boot. With no desire to remain out in the damp chill any longer, she hurriedly made her way up the stairs to the landing above, her boots clacking against the cobblestones.
When she reached the top of the stone steps, she hesitated, catching a glimpse of a black mist swirling in the fog before disappearing not ten feet from where she had been standing moments before. She cautiously turned and looked down at the dock where she had saw it, finding nothing out of the ordinary. She could feel her heart racing again and turned back to the tavern and the inviting glow of lantern light.
"Must be a trick of the light..." She whispered to herself and swiftly made her way to finish her shift at the Last Plank before Narcis had noticed she had gone.