Lilith Talto

Ch. 1

Lilith Talto's name had its benefits. For starters, it made the majority of people stay away from her. Secondly, it made it easier to have a tough reputation. And it also made people take her more seriously.

Unfortunately, it also made people less likely to trade with her, but Lilith was out on the streets at the age of six, pickpocketing people everywhere she went.

She had no choice. Her mother, Angel, got pregnant with Lilith's older sister Celeste and then had an affair with some aristocrat, and had Lilith. Apparently Lilith wasn't the boy the ass of a man wanted, so he told Angel if she still wanted the money, then she had to divorce her husband and work for him.

Angel didn't have the guts to stand up to him. Instead, she decided that Lilith was a worthless, spiteful, demon child that ruined her world because she wasn't a boy. She gave Lilith her first name and a last name so she couldn't associate with her and Celeste, then gave her away to a brothel. When Lilith was young it was either work and give the brothel money or service the people that came in and still give up the money.

And just like you'd expect, after 17 years of neglect and shunning, Angel decided Lilith was worth something to her after all.

In their community, there were poor people and rich people. Nothing in between. Each city had three main groups of people. In each town there were 61 people. One Covin, fifteen rich people, and forty-five poor people.

The Covin lives in the middle of the town. After that for every rich house, there were three tiny shacks with one bedroom, one dining room, one kitchen and one bathroom. None of the peasants knew for sure why they lived beside the rich people, but it was widely assumed that they did it to keep them in check.

The only way people could get supplies was to trade for it. In every town there's a trade center in what could be considered the courtyard of the town. People who had businesses were able to set up a tent or booth for their items. If a person wasn't able to make things or find stuff to trade with, they had to find a way to work for their food.

Most of the time, people who had to work ended up working for the rich people. Whether that be cleaning, cooking, gardening, or servicing other needs, business owners had a higher rate of success.

Lilith was a fast learner. She picked up a trade, oh yes, but it was her own. She worked for a man by the name of Lucas. In exchange for the valuable items she picked pocket, Lucas gave her food and sometimes supplies.

Lilith's mother expected her to place food on their plates and to provide for everyone. Lilith had no choice but to obey. Besides Lucas and his son Jayden, her Mother and sister were the only ones who knew how she actually procured their means to survival. And they weren't afraid to expose her, lest she fail to acquire the necessary expenses.

Making her way back the shed, Lilith wove in and out of the people there to trade, pick pocketing them as if it were a dance. Her long blonde hair flicked around her as her green eyes darted around, looking for potential prey. As she neared the end of the crowd, she slowed down, paying more attention to those around her to see if there was anything that was of actual worth.

All she found was a few paper bills and a half-eaten apple. She finished the apple and threw it onto the street before she entered their shed.

Angel glared at her daughter as she came in. She was instantly filled with disgust. This child ruined her life, and now she had to depend on her to live. Lilith paid no attention to her mother's hateful leer, and instead gave her a few of her earnings from that day.

"That's all?!" Angel screeched with detest, her coarse grey hair matching her tone "You used to make that in an hour!"

Lilith ignored her and headed over to Celeste who, according to Angel, was 'an aspiring young bachelorette.' To her, she handed a blue brooch shaped as a dahlia flower that she had plucked out of the hands of an oblivious passerby. "It matches your eyes. Keep it."

She turned around and said to both of them, voice full of hatred and contempt, irked by the mess in their already small kitchen "I'm going to bathe and then make dinner. Clean up your messes so I have room to work."

With an internal sigh of exhaustion and exasperation, she headed to their small bathroom. The stress of supporting her mother and sister as well as herself had taken its toll. She had been taught at an early stage that if she wanted to stay, she had to work. Failure to maintain food resulted in punishment.

Lilith didn't mind too terribly much. Her mother wouldn't kill her or push her to her limits. After all, no matter what Angel told herself, she needed Lilith.

Lilith stripped off her charcoal grey wool dress. It was simple enough but had many hidden pockets. The dress itself look as if it had none. The sleeves went to the middle of her forearms and flared just a little.

The dress, all though cinched at the waist, posed no problem for her skeletal like frame. The skirt reached mid shin and flared like the sleeves, giving her more freedom to move.

She was careful not to stretch the scars on her back. That was the punishment for anything. A belt and the biting sting of metal or slap of leather.

She slipped her small slippers off of her feet, relishing in the freedom. The shoes were tight but complaisant. They laced up to her ankles and had steel molded into the inside of her shoes by her toes. Slim rods of metal were attached to the heel. They clicked on and off easily for if Lilith needed to make a quick escape.

Lilith released the the section of her hair that she had tied up and out of her face, wincing as a few strands stuck to the leather. She shook her head, letting her dirty blonde hair skim the base of her spine.

As she filled the basin with water she reviewed her day's work for any sign of notice from bystanders.

Finding nothing, Lilith quickly washed up, scrubbing with a lump of what could pass as soap and put on trousers and a shirt. She only wore a dress when she was headed out. She didn't want to give any reason for others to suspect her of thievery.

The shirt was scratchy but she didn't mind. The less she wore dresses the less she was reminded of her years spent in the brothel house.As Lilith finished, she heard outside noises of vendors calling out the day's sale, still no tell tale sign that there was a criminal among them. Sighing heavily, she planned her next meeting with Lucas as she headed towards the kitchen to make dinner.