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Breakfast Blades

We descended the masses of stairs to the ground floor and left the tower. Darkness shrouded the stairs and, unlike the light that absorbed our bodies when we stepped outside, it wasn't welcoming. 

Small growls emanated from the depths of my hollow stomach. Nausea settled in the empty space and brought more dragons to play. My sense of smell doubled as I became aware of all the food stalls. Annie, a petite elderly lady with an obsession with cats, sold hordes of apples in woven baskets; Henry, the happy-go-lucky type of man, sold the best soup you could buy; Neruna, a young girl who was approaching her eighteenth, sold freshly baked bread from her parents bakery; Jose, a prudent man with high prices and a ratty face, sold cheese that was expensive for a reason...

...and the most popular yet unknown sisters in the city, Iridina and Slate. The sisters sold pies during the day which were alright but not spectacular, the true way they became infamous was by entering the black market. Slate sold hand crafted weapons whilst Iridina mixed potions. A dangerous pair of dealers, and two of my only friends. 

"Slate. Iridina. What a fine mornin' it is. Don'cha agree?" My street accent slurred my words and dispersed suspicion when I left my safe zones. My cloak was down and I manipulated my body language to look as ill mannered as the destitute citizens surrounding the other stalls. 

"Aye miss. What can I do you for?" Slate was well versed in common tongue despite it being her second language. Her eyes shone with hidden mischief which added unneeded beauty to her heterochromia. One blue eye and one brown eye stared at me with long lashes brushing her rosy cheeks. 

"A mince pie, per'aps? My fingers tapped out a code on the table as I ordered my pie. Iridina watched my hand movements before quickly setting to work. The daggers I had ordered were replacements for the ones I had lost several weeks earlier after fighting a troll. Somewhere out beyond the border of the city, a quaint town had a troll rotting away with my two steel daggers wedged in its forehead. 

 "Comin' right up!" Slate skipped away, her mousy brown hair swinging at her shoulders. Delicate hands roughly grabbed a ladle and began tipping generous amounts of mince into a spare pastry casing. After putting the lid of the pastry on, Slate grabbed a bag and placed it inside. The bag would protect my knives from being seen in public. 

Iridina swept her fringe out of her normal green eyes. Her pixie cut was better for her job whereas Slate just hacked at hers with her blades whenever she felt like it which had resulted in a haphazard and uneven hair cut. The knives I had ordered were enchanted so Iridina had to check the strength incase the integrity had been compromised. A few taps on the silver blades later, and I was holding a paper bag with a pleasant smile on my face.

"Thanks ladies, must be goin' now. Quite hungry if I do say so." Slate bounded up and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a fast hug. Iridina lifted her hand in a gentle wave and turned back to her work. 

"Enjoy ya meal! An' check ya poc'ets." Heat scratched at my side. Grim hadn't mentioned a client today but...

Tick. Tick. Tick.  

No denying it. He was here.