We were in the back of her shop, in the very room where she had poisoned my tea.
"You owe me," I said, my words biting like a snake. "You tried to kill me."
"Oh bother," she retorted, her words laced with a scoff. "That poison would never have come close to hurting you."
"You couldn't have known that."
"Of course I could have." She crossed her arms and stared at me over the tomes, her features like stone.
I waited, as if she might elaborate, but when she didn't, I let out an exasperated gasp. "She needs your help. You didn't turn her down, why would you turn me down?"
"Had I known you would bring that into my shop, I would have turned you away, too." She flicked a finger behind me, where Sil stood resting against one of the bookshelves that lined the walls.
His features had completely returned to their wrinkleless form—the one he'd been wearing when I met him. Flames crackled in the fireplace as we stood there in silence. How could she possibly have known? I almost used [Insight] on her, but held myself back. I needed to focus on Ophelia right now. I needed her in fighting order.
"You're surrounding yourself with trouble, Aria. Lots of trouble. One might ask if you really know what you're getting yourself into."
I collapsed into one of the chairs at the table. "Henrietta, I know exactly what I'm doing. What I have to do. I just need you to help me and that means helping her." I met her eyes, putting on my best frown. "Please."
Her face softened, but only a little and she shook her head slowly, grey-hair bobbing behind her. "Fine. Bring her in. But if I'm going to help her, you need to do something for me."
"Anything," I said quickly. Perhaps too quickly. But, it was unlikely that an old woman like Henrietta—even with her secrets—would need anything particularly tricky from me. Maybe she just needed someone to help her move more tomes to the back room.
"Come on." She motioned for me to follow and headed toward the front of the shop.
I pushed back from the table and nodded to Sil, who left to go get Ophelia from the wagon outside. We'd left her hidden under some blankets with Kev watching over her.
"What's going on Henrietta?" I asked, following her into the main part of the store. I stopped as soon as I entered. The shelves that were normally organized and well-kept were broken, shattered into pieces, many of the tomes that she'd had up for display scattered across the floor. Some had even had pages ripped out of them. "Who did this?"
Henrietta turned from the carnage and met my gazes, a hard look set on her face. "How much do you know about the city's darker parts?"
I shrugged. "Enough, I suppose. Aside from Aurelion and his group, there are a few major players in the city, right? Some of the dragons have left to operate as they please, I assume, otherwise they'd have been snuffed out like the rebellions over the years."
The older woman nodded slowly. "These goons work out of Dock Street. They came around a couple of days after you last left, said they were looking to set up a protection ring." She tsked her tongue. "Naturally, I told them I didn't need their protection, I could handle myself just fine. I hoped they might leave me alone—they aren't the first to try to sucker me into paying for something I don't need."
I watched as she paced the store, stepping over the remains of her shop's insides.
"I'm going to guess they didn't like your answer?"
She laughed. "Oh, they seemed just fine by it, until they showed up last night. Tore through the place like a dragon in a potter's shop. I was sleeping when it started." She shook her head again, slower this time. "They didn't hurt me, of course. Couldn't pay them if I did. But they left a message."
Henrietta handed me a torn piece of parchment. It had three words written on it, followed by an amount.
Dock street tomorrow evening. 650 gold.
Looking up at her I raised an eyebrow. 650 Gold was nothing to scoff at. Did she even have that kind of money? "You want me to go pay your protection fee?"
A smile slipped across her face. "No, Aria. I want you to make sure they never bother me again."
The System glimmered in the corner of my vision, and I focused on the new window, mentally thumbing the others out of the way.
New Side Quest Detected: Pier Pressure
Quest Objective: The goons that frequent Dock Street have been making trouble for Henrietta. Travel to the meeting and deal with them.
Accept Side Quest?
I accepted the quest and the window faded. I'd already cleared out the previous quest to [Return to Caethara], and had received 500XP and three new [Attribute Points]. Like previous levels, I decided to wait until I had a few more—or if I felt like I needed them. With any luck, this little side quest might be what I needed to get up to the next level, and one step closer to unlocking my [Dragon Form].
"Okay, I'll take care of it," I told Henrietta, stuffing the parchment into the pocket next to one of my daggers. I still wore the clothing I'd been given by the rebels in the west, though I was hopeful I'd be able to get a proper change of clothes soon. "Anything else you need?"
Henrietta shook her head. "I'll make sure your friend is well taken care of."
I nodded and watched as she slipped past me. I turned, watching her, and finally let my curiosity get the better of me. [Insight.]
The window appeared beside her, a jumble of letters and runes—just like Sil's. My mouth dropped open a little and Henrietta stopped just before the doorway, looking back over her shoulder, her lips tugged up into a knowing smile.
"It's rude to try to look through people's secrets without permission, Ariandre. An empress should know better." She tsked her tongue again and then vanished into the back of the shop, leaving me standing in the chaos alone, even more questions burning through my mind.
*** *** ***
I left the shop behind after helping get Ophelia settled in to Henrietta's bedroom. Despite the fight she'd put up, she was immediately enamored with the girl and her condition, and she was already mixing together some concoction of spices when I slipped out the back door and into the alley where I'd first met the older woman.
The cat that had drawn me in was still nowhere to be seen, which was a shame. It had been such a cute little creature.
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I followed the main road south, moving through the crowds of people with an ease that seemed even more practiced than before—likely a blessing of my increased abilities. I debated swinging by Will's on the way, as I wanted to check in on Irinda. But, I knew that if I saw her today, I'd want to deal with Brin right away. While he was still a problem, the thugs on Dock Street were a more immediate issue, especially if they expected Henrietta to drop 650 gold in their lap later today. Thankfully, it was still mid-morning, which meant I had time to do some looking around before they'd expect someone.
The trip to Dock Street was relatively short when traveling from Henrietta's, a boon of her shop being located in one of the biggest mercantile districts of the city. One thing I did notice as I was traveling, though, were the increased number of city guards wondering about. They all wore shiny armor that glared with the reflection of the sun, and each of them had their eyes narrowed, looking at everyone that passed with suspicion. I kept my head low as I moved past them, trying not to garner any of their attention, I'd left my sword behind at Henrietta's, and had the two daggers Lilan had given me tucked underneath a coat that I'd borrowed from the old woman. I looked ridiculous, all things said, but I hoped it would help me blend in better than walking around with a sword smacking against my leg.
When I arrived at the first block of Dock Street, I slowed my pace, letting my movements blend into the crowd as I moved deeper into the district. The thugs hadn't left an exact location for her to meet them, but considering the talk I'd heard previously about them laying claim to all of Dock Street, I figured it would be pretty easy to pick them out of the crowd.
I was right.
Sticking close to a group of women and men jabbering about what they planned to do the rest of the day, I walked past a large building with four men standing outside of it. Each of the men was dressed in rough-looking clothes, with swords tucked against their sides. One even held a spear in his hand. I also noticed that the city guards seemed to be giving the building a wide-berth as they patrolled the area.
I slipped past out of the group I'd been walking with and into an alleyway, using my increased [Dexterity] to hop onto a stack of crates and then up onto a window ledge on the second story. Before unlocking my [Ironclad Body], those same movements probably would have left my muscles sore. Now, I barely felt the warmth of my body working to pull my weight up onto the top of the building.
Once I was situated on top of the building, I crouched and slipped up to the edge, looking down at the goons guarding the large structure across the street. I used [Insight] on the first one, watching to make sure the System didn’t spit out anything mysterious or concerning. My body tensed, ready to move should one of them somehow detect me the same way that Henrietta had, I continued and used [Insight] on each of them. When I’d finished, and the System hadn’t spit back any strange messages, I let out a sigh of relief.
I was still having trouble shaking the unease that Henrietta's response had left in my gut. How did both she and Sil have messages that I couldn't read? Did Henrietta's System responding mean that she was also from some other world? Deposited here at the System's whim?
I shook the thoughts away and refocused on the task in front of me, my eyes scanning the building. If I could find a way inside…
My gaze stopped on an open window three stories up. It faced out into the street in front of the structure—just above the guarding thugs—but it looked like I might be able to reach it from the building beside it. I took another look at my stats:
=Attributes=
Vitality: 10
Endurance: 10
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 11
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 7
And then pumped two of my three recently acquired points into Dexterity, bringing it to 13, before dumping the last one in Strength. Seven wasn't a great number to have there, probably, but as a [Thief] it was probably best to lean into my agility and speed more than anything.
I'd planned to save those and use them later, when I had more to work with. But, considering what I was planning, it was probably a good idea to have some extra of both.
Tucking low to the rooftop, I moved back to the edge of the building, looked down into the alleyway to make sure it was still empty, and then dropped to the ground, using the ledge as a middle point. As expected, the movements were slightly easier now, and I was soon dipping back into the passing crowds, using another group as a wall between me and the men outside the building. I let the crowd carry me further down the road, back towards the way I'd come, and then slipped into another alleyway.
This one was tighter than the last, with the two buildings only a little further apart than arm's length. It was also extremely clean for an alleyway in one of the busier parts of the city. I eyed a ledge a good way up the building. I might be able to reach it if I jumped high enough. As I was looking over everything, another idea struck me. Could I use [Swift Strike] in non-combat situations to help give myself momentum?
Only one way to find out.
I stepped back toward the mouth of the alley, made sure nobody was paying attention to the strange woman ducking in and out of them, and then got a running start.
I kicked off the ground with a grunt, bringing my body flying toward the building on the right. I twisted slightly, bringing my feet down against the stone wall, and then kicked off again, this time toward the opposite building. With a fluid motion—one that even surprised me—I grabbed onto an outcropping on one of the stone blocks, tucking my legs in against my body and then kicking with my feet into the wall once more. As I kicked this last time, I used [Swift Strike] on my legs, I felt the [Stamina] drain as the ability sent a flush of power down to my feet and legs. As hoped, it seemed to let me kick off with more power than I might usually be able to.
Spinning as I flew backwards through the air, my hands outstretching as I reached for the ledge. I felt a momentary surge of panic as I started to slow, but then my fingers met the edge of the ledge and I grabbed onto it as if it was the only thread holding me from falling to my death. My fingers ached as I perched there, tightly pressed against the building.
I glanced down at the ground, which was a good several hands' length away, and let out a groan of annoyance at myself for doing so.
The pain in my fingers grew, and I forced myself to refocus, instead turning my attention to the ledge I was barely holding onto. Somehow, I needed to climb onto it. [Swift Strike] had worked wonders with that second jump, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to test my luck completely by sending it to my fingers. I caught sight of a slightly larger window ledge off to the right. Perhaps I could use that to climb up and reorient myself.
Struggling far more than I’d hoped to, I shimmied my fingers along the top of the ledge, letting my feet press into the wall as a guide. When I’d reached the area directly beneath the window, I took a deep breath, used [Swift Strike] on my feet, and then kicked up the wall as if trying to run directly up it.
If anyone had been watching me, I’m sure they would have found the entire thing ridiculous. But, it worked, miraculously, and I was able to get enough height from the first ledge to grab onto the second one. With more leverage for my fingers, I dragged my body up slowly, tucking the very tips of my toes against the bottom ledge, spreading my arms out to the side so that my body pressed against the wall and window as closely as I could be.
I was roughly halfway up to where I needed to go. My eyes scanned the other building's wall, landing on another small ledge that looked like I could climb onto it. If I could get there, I'd be able to reach the top of the building, I was sure of it.
Not giving myself time to second guess the plan, I lowered my body into as much of a crouch as I could on the ledge and then kicked up and back, letting my body roll in the air as I did. Even with my draconic powers I don't think I could have made that jump in my human form. Whatever the System changed when it allowed me to assign [Attribute Points] was strange and powerful. My body collided with the wall, a bit more recklessly than I'd intended, and I scrambled to pull myself up onto the final ledge before jumping up and grabbing onto the side of the roof.
Once on top of the building, I crossed it quickly and then jumped to the roof of the next building. That put me on the building directly next to the one the thugs were guarding, and one step closer to the open window I'd seen earlier. I could wait until the sun grew lower in the sky, but that would take hours considering it wasn't even noon yet.
Letting my impatience get the better of me, I found a window ledge I was sure I could reach if I jumped, and then I got a running start, my feet pushing me up into the air with a [Swift Strike].
This alleyway was wider than the others, which was probably part of the reason the thugs had chosen that building as their operating point. It was also entirely possible it was all just a big coincidence. I soared through the air for a long moment, part of me burying itself in the knot of worry in my chest. It had become an almost constant companion at this point.
I let out a relieved huff of air when my hands collided with the stone ledge, my fingertips digging into the hard surface as I struggled to keep my purchase. I afforded myself one more sigh, and then started scurrying across the side of the building as quickly and as quietly as I could.
When I reached the corner, I peered around. There were even more thugs out front now, and a crowd was starting to gather down the street, drawing everyone's attention in that direction.
Using the unexpected distraction, I slipped around the corner, my feet and hands struggling to keep me tucked against the building, and then found the open window that I'd been aiming for.
I smirked as I pulled myself inside.
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