A Rogue's Restraints

Chapter Three: The Bellamy Safe

Fire and shadows. One lights the world, the other lives in fear of that light. That's what we are, friend. Never to touch or to become more than acquainted. That's what we are.

I stepped off the stagecoach, shrugging off my jacket, that I had gotten so accustomed to wearing in Gresdand. Here in the Viscera, there was only light shirts and vests for the men (differing styles depending on status and job), and shin length dresses for the girls (again more or less fabric depending on profession).

I moved aside to let the other passengers out. Theo and Willa stepped off and went to stand beside me. A rare grin broke out on Willa's face. "I forgot how nice it feels here. No cloak needed here." I chuckled. She seemed one step away from spreading her arms and twirling in the sun. Though the thought of Willa doing that seemed upsurd.

"Unless it rains. Which it does, often." Theon pointed out.

Willa scoffed, and started pulling her long hair up into a tail. "The only rain cloud I see is you, Theo." Her fascinating eyes flashed with annoyance. 

I probably should have mentioned earlier, Willa was born with two different colored eyes. One was bright blue, the other brown, like Theo's. It's not an important detail, but I always liked that about her. It was unique just like her, not to mention it made her look fierce.

I smiled at their expected banter. I never realized how much I would miss it later. "Let's go find somewhere to stay, then there's things we need to discuss further." I said.

The Viscera is the largest pocket in the Godless Realm. It's about a hundred navi wide and I don't even know how long. The result is a long string of cities that bleed into each other. You have to be careful to know exactly what city you're in at all times because the laws are different in each one. Not to mention strange local governments. Even lawless thieves needed to know this, so we know how to break the law in the most infuriating way.

They nodded and we set off to find a place to settle. Right now, we were in one of the smaller city states of the Viscera. Bellamy was poor to be putting it graciously. The roads weren't paved, there were mendicants and merchants in squares, drunkards stumbling in alleys at all times of the day, and no nobility to maintain house guards, or the governor's laws. I resisted the strange urge to rub my hands together like an emaciated chimp in front of a pile of bananas. Perfect. A thief's playground.

The government was fairly simple, and by simple, I mean small. The "governor" pretty much was the only magistrate of Bellamy. He had supremacy the government. He would be more accurately described as a king, but Bellamy itself was so small. It could barely be considered a city. At least, the civilized part. Bellamy had a lot of land that went out into Swelterside. That was where the Governor's mansion was and those in his favor got land. That was where we were headed.

We found an inn. It was quite the rickety place. The hanging sign above the door said "The Bashful Bard". "Huh." I said looking at the sign. "Do either of you play anything? I don't think I'll fancy the entertainment here."

"Move along Seb." Willa said. "You look the idiot staring at the sign like an illiterate donkey."

"Technically all donkeys are illiterate." Theon pointed out.

"Shut up Theo." Willa and I said at the same time, rolling our eyes with fond tolerance only family can share.

Laughing, we bustled into the inn. "Ho!" I called the innkeeper behind the bar. I counted our money mentally. We only had enough money for one room. I kept the affable smile on my face as the thought occurred that we might not have the right currency. But silver was worth something no matter where you went. The innkeeper was probably used to that.