Beyond the Thrones

Dreams in the Lower Quarter - Elara POV

Leaving the Lower Quarter was always a silly dream that us children used to imagine. We would play games that took place in far away lands with heroes that had been long dead. We would tell each other stories about the lives of the royals and nobles. We each swore to leave that place behind and move to the Upper Quarter of the Capital where we would make it big.

Like I said, this was a simple, yet foolish dream.

Being grown up at the age of 16 meant leaving these childish notions behind. Those were distant memories that grew further with every day that passed working in my father's shoe shop. Still, a daydream would sneak its way in now and then when we would get orders for making shoes for the upper classes. I would picture myself as the owner of these beautiful shoes. All I had were worn leather shoes, a few faded brown tunics, and a simple white head covering. This was way more than others living in our Quarter would ever have, but it was still nice to dream of more sometimes.

I was in the process of sewing a pair of leather shoes for the baker's wife when my dad came back into the shop. He had been out ordering more supplies for the shop as it was starting to run low.

"How long until those are finished?" he grumbled as he made his way over to his part of the shop.

"What put you in such a bad mood?" I asked.

"That stupid Crogan is trying to cheat me again. He upped his prices once again saying that he has buyers in the Upper Quarter willing to pay almost double what I pay. I know this not to be true because he hasn't left the Lower Quarter in over a year, but I still had to pay that greedy bastard."

I stopped my work and turned around on my stool to face him. The prices had been risen just about every order for the last five. To keep up with these price hikes, we had to raise the amount we charge customers for shoes. That, of course, meant fewer customers than we were accustomed to.

"Can't we go to someone else?"

"No, Crogan has a contract from the king saying he is the only one allowed to sell the materials we need in the Lower Quarter."

I sighed and turned back to my work with no more ideas. We only had fires going for the coldest of nights and only ate one meal a day to cut down on costs. Anymore of this and we would have to sell this place.

This little wooden structure with its crowded shop in the front and living space in the back had been the place I had grown up. The same place that I had cried when I lost my mom all those years ago. The same place that had consumed my entire life trying to keep it from being sold off.

"Is there anything we could do to either save money or make more?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"No," my dad scoffed.

Then it was settled. I had no choice at this point but to join up with the Night Walkers, a group of thieves that stole from the rich after dark. I don't believe this is the kind of dream us children had when we talked of leaving the Lower Quarter behind, but it seemed as though I was out of options.