The Old City

0.54: Becoming Known

"A mother will do anything to protect her cub. She will lie, cheat, steal, or kill to keep him safe."

The Harbor of Soran

Regret swelled as Mika freely handed away her third fish. The Festival of the Sea was a damn waste.

A waste of money and time.

She wondered why she'd even bothered to catch the fish at all, if they were just going to be given away. A full morning's work, and nothing to show for it. No money nor supplies, no compensation at all.

All she had was Fagin, who had decided to work with her during this Festival. He was eager to learn her business and had taken to prodding her with questions every few minutes. He would prove a great help when he was older, but for now he just needed to learn.

"Why don't we save some fish to sell for tomorrow?" he wondered aloud.

"I ask myself the same thing every year. I was blessed with a good catch today and could have kept some aside. The inspectors aren't even checkin' all the ships because too many merchants are at the warehouses. But the point of the Festival is to share forward your good fortune. Reservin' some of our wares wouldn't be in the spirit of the day."

"But no one would know! And we would still have shared most of it."

"The gods of harvest would know. They are fickle bastards, Feast and Famine. I have seen enough bad luck compound not to draw their ire. It may be a waste to lose our sales today, but we shall make it up with higher prices and fuller nets in the coming weeks."

Fagin looked confused still but did not complain and turned to find new customers. She would not tell him that the true reason she gave freely this day was more personal, her own experience with the curse of fortune.

They'd set up a small booth in the staging area just north of the warehouses. It was a dinghy little thing, only a table made of driftwood with space for a small ice chest underneath, where they stored the fish.

What is Seneca doin' today? She wondered. He was probably doing inventory or trying to find new members. The work never seemed to end for him – or Marcus.

It annoyed her how much she worried about him. Seneca was clearly capable. He was the one holding their makeshift vessel together with his plots and ideas. How he'd kept them alive, she had no clue. No one panicked when Seneca was in charge, trusting that his plan would succeed. It was like nothing she'd ever been a part of before. She'd never had to rely on anyone before and now she was beginning to trust her life with this man. It was so foreign. She didn't like it.

Mika had never given much thought to relationships. She didn't meet many men outside of the Harbor and was too focused on caring for Fagin to care about it.

Two women strode down the path and drew her attention. One was quite large and carried a great ax over her shoulder. She had a square face, hateful eyes, and wore a dark pair of pants, clearly made for a man but fitting her well enough. Her companion was smaller but exuded an equally violent atmosphere. She wore a sleeveless shirt over loose pants, both the color of light sand.

Every person in the Harbor gave them a wide berth. They walked with heavy, deliberate steps across the pavilion and stopped at Mika's station.

"What are you sellin', fisherwoman?" asked the taller woman, dropping a hand on her table. It bore the head of the Black Phoenix tattoo. She looked down at Mika's wares with a judgmental gaze and waited for her response.

"Nobody sells anything on this day!" Mika hoped she kept the fear of her voice in check. "But I catch and deal in fish. They all are free to you, friends, but please take only one so that others may enjoy in the fortune of the gods."