Broken Mirrors

Chapter Six

Misha had promised to meet Pemb in the city tomorrow night, a few hours before his shift began where they would put their plan to rob Mormaris Sahia into action. She made her way back to camp quickly, as the sun was beginning to set, and darkness waited for no traveller in the autumn. Before she made it into camp proper, it occurred to Misha that she was returning with not a coin to her name, and her parents were expecting that money when she returned. She panicked for a moment as she thought of an excuse that would buy her some time, she was going to give her fathers money, a lot of it in fact if all went well, but she needed to explain to them why it wasn't right now. She felt nausea and an awful prickly sensation as she made it back into camp, approaching what was left of the family cart and her parents, who were sitting out front, eating a bowl of a stew made from tripe. 

Karius and Creed put their bowls down on the grass and approached Misha. Karius still had that anxious look that was on his face when she left that morning, whilst Creed held a neutral expression which Misha knew him to have even during the most stressful of circumstances.

"Well, how did it go?" asked Karius, wringing his hands, clearly ready for an answer. 

Misha did her level best to hold her grit as she uttered her lie, "Well, I managed to sell the toys..."

"And?" asked Creed, expectantly. 

"Well, I'm getting about six gold from a Mr. Saptris in a couple of days, he didn't have it at the time, but he's expecting a payment. We've to go pick it up then," continued Misha, trying hard not to seem as tense as she was.

There was a brief moment of silence from all three, which to Misha felt like an eternity. The silence was broken by Karius sighing, and then with a smile said, "Well, provided this Mr. Saptris wasn't lying-"

"And he better not have been," interjected Creed, cracking his knuckles.

"Then we should be home free," said Karius with the smile remaining on his face. 

Misha felt absolutely awful. She didn't mind lying to anyone else, but lying to her fathers made her feel like an absolutely abominable person, worse that the most wretched things she could imagine. At least she had managed to buy some time, for tomorrow night, herself and Pemb would hopefully leave Mormaris' mansion with more wealth than her family would ever need. She was about to sit down, when Astura approached their wagon. 

Karius waved Astura over, ready to tell her the good news, "Our Misha has hopefully secured the money we need, and then some!"

"Oh, has she?" questioned Astura with one of her signature, irritating tones.

Creed stepped forward, placing a hand on Karius' shoulder, "We should have an additional six gold to what we made yesterday, that should bring us up to what you needed for the cart and then some, Astura."

"Yes... it would have," said Astura rubbing the nape of her neck.

Misha didn't like that wording, and judging by the look of her fathers expression, they did not either. "What... do you mean, Astura?" asked Karius, the anxiety clear in his voice to anyone who heard it. 

Astura cleared her throat, "That's what I've come to talk to you about, Karius, Creed... Misha."

Creed's demeanour became incredibly concerned, "About what, what are you on about?"

The leader of the guild clasped her hands, "I just finished the maths on your situation as well as the state of the guilds finances and, well, I'm afraid the money just isn't there."

Karius choked up, placing a hand on his throat, "What- but you told me that you would be able to help us, we were going to pay a higher tax, we have most the money, what's changed?"

Misha could feel herself begin to boil, her flaming orange hair was slowly turning brighter as she felt her entire face burn with pure rage. "Look, between buying supplies and maintenance of carts that aren't in quite such a state, it's just not in the budget. I didn't make any promises-"

Misha blew her top and lunged at Astura, but Creed restrained and held her back, "You fucking bitch! You lying, smug, horrible bitch-"

"Misha, calm down!" exclaimed Karius, very much bursting into tears.

"NO! She cannot stand having us around, she just wants to get rid of us! She's NOTHING like her mother, she's horrid!" declared Misha, screaming loudly through tears that evaporated and steamed as they rolled down her face.  A small crowd of the other merchants had gathered to see the commotion as Creed dragged Misha back to the remains of their cart. 

"You need to calm down!" Creed implored Misha, who was trying desperately to break her dad's hold so she could wring Astura's neck.

"Please, flame, I know, it would only make it worse, deep breaths!" he pleaded to Misha, who broke down, her knees collapsing under the weight of her emotions. Creed guided her breathing like he'd done for her when she was small, and consoled her until she was calm. By that time, Karius approached, his face stained with tears from his conversation with Astura. 

"Creed, my love, I'm at a loss. She told me she would try to get a better deal on her supply run tomorrow but, her hands were tied otherwise. Where the hells are we to find the rest of that money in just a few days?" Karius bubbled, falling into Creed's shoulder. 

Creed remained completely silent as he held his husband and child close. Misha felt completely exhausted as the adrenaline wore off, her hair having faded back to it's natural colour. She was terrified of the job not going to plan, the chances of them being able to afford a new cart were going to be very slim, but Astura pulling out of squaring them up really brought reality into view for her, if she didn't get at least enough money from the job tomorrow, she and her family would be left behind.  

Misha spent the rest of the evening with her parents, staying silent as they thought of the gravity of their situation, little did her fathers realise the pressure that was now on her to save them from a life of poverty and misery. She went to her bedroll, staying awake as long as her body would allow her before passing out. There was to be no messing around now, she had to get into Mormaris' mansion and she had to get out with as much as she good. Not only did she just want a cart for her family, she wanted to get as far away from Astura as possible, she wanted nothing more than in this moment than independence, away from her and the horrid environment she had created for her family and the rest of the families in the guild. 

She awoke at first light, and wrote a letter.

"Papa and Dad,

I can't let her do this to us anymore. This guild is a shadow of the one her mother ran, I'm done letting Astura do this to what are meant to her people. I do what I must, I just ask that you understand and won't be too angry with me if I manage this. I put my safety before anything else, and I'll be back as soon as I can.

I love you, 

Misha"  

She headed directly into the city to wait for Pemb, eager to begin her mission.