Unsung

Chapter 1

Alfred

Alfie's stomach growled for the umpteenth time. A stale breeze carrying the scent of various meats and fish caused his mouth to salivate. The Meridian markets were a hubbub of activity, most of the city's population heading there in the afternoon. A plethora of stalls and carts crowded the area, various people with various trades all offering their goods to the world. The fishmongers and the butchers, the tailors and the farmers, the potters and the blacksmiths. There were people selling wine, people selling trinkets, people selling spices and foreign goods. If an object had value, it was probably being sold somewhere in the market.

Some of the market goers were rich, spending coin on expensive wines and fine fabrics. Most were not, haggling over a loaf of bread or some wheat. While Alfie might've fallen into the latter category, he wasn't always like this.

Lord Alfred Visone. It seems like another lifetime, the name carrying a past he could hardly remember as his. "Visone," He muttered aloud, completely lost in thought. His left shoulder throbbed slightly and he reached up to massaged it. He remembered his father's knife stabbing him through the shoulder and a cold wave of bitterness followed the memory. Visone. All because of that stupid name.

Ever since then, Alfie's story has been one of survival. Transforming from a poor orphan into something of a vagabond, he spent every moment either begging or finessing his way to the next meal. Some days he fared well. Today was not one of those days. The cup he carried to collect generosity highlighted the lack thereof.

Attributing his lack of profit to his location, he gathered his belongings (his empty cup) so he could change spots. People with too much money and not enough to spend it on were usually the most charitable and all the people with too much money lived towards the palace. Settling on his destination, he walked towards the main road, the road leading to the palace.

He sat down on the corner where the main road and the market square met in typical beggar fashion. He held his cup up and recited his usual script. "A copper or a meal, may the Goddess' blessings be with you." He sighed, shocked again at how he had fallen so low. If only you could see me now, old man. You'd probably turn in your grave. He almost smiled at the thought.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of a coin clinking into his cup. He looked up to see a woman staring down at him. Her hair was white but she was still young and her almond colored skin made her smile nearly radiant as she looked down at him. The navy blue robe of the Goddess' Sisterhood was snug on her and Alfie wondered how she wasn't burning up in the intense midday heat. "May the Goddess' smile warm you, child," she said.

"Thank you, Sister Sophia. You as well," Alfie said with a nod and smile. Sister Sophia was one of his greatest benefactors, sparing a coin or two nearly every day. At first he thought it was because she was a religious nut who wanted her sins absolved by giving to the poor. As if throwing a copper into a cup would erase your sins, stupid old bats. Eventually, he came to appreciate her, regardless of her reasons. Many days he only ate because of her.

"Sister! Please hurry, the Empress awaits!" Alfie looked up to see a pudgy man in a navy blue alb beckoning at the Sister.

"Yes, I'm coming!" She turned and gave Alfie a slight nod before running off to the man. Alfie watched her disappear into the crowd and grabbed the coin from his cup, stuffing it into his pocket. With the amount of thieves lurking around these days, one couldn't be too careful. Plus an empty cup begets kindness much more than a full one.

He started scanning the crowd, looking for eye contact. Much harder to ignore him when looking him in the eyes. Most people still did. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two people that stood out from the crowd on account of the gray hooded cloaks they donned. How sketchy. Only criminals and ugly people hide their faces like that.

As if the Goddess herself agreed with Alfie's sentiment, their hoods flew back, a sudden gust of wind blowing scraps of trash and anything not weighted into the skies. Alfie nearly dropped his cup when he saw her face. She's... Definitely not ugly. Her shoulder length hair resembled the reddish hue of leaves in autumn, contrasting against her fair skin like paper on fire. She had eyes that were white, blue, and purple all at the same time; a shade of lilac so intricate no painter could ever hope to mix a color that alive.

A sense of familiarity ripped through Alfie. He tried hard to remember where he had seen her before, spacing out as he fished through his memories for the source of that familiarity. He glanced up at her again, hoping a second gander would shed some new light on the mystery beauty, and unexpectedly met her eyes. Her eyes widened in panic when their gaze met and she jerked the hood back up to cover her face. She grabbed her companion by the arm and ran off into the crowd, basically dragging him behind her.

Alfie just sighed, used to the reaction. He looked down on himself with more than a little shame. He wore a dusty tunic with more than a few holes and stains, pants that were the uglier side of brown and didn't quite fit, and mismatched boots. A blind woman could see how unfit he was for courtship.

He stood up, a sudden wave of bitterness crashing over him. He kicked his empty cup and sent it clanging down the main road before heading back to the market. Shouldering past people as he walked through the crowd, a foul mood crept up on him. Just when he thought he would explode he saw the perfect outlet for his ire.

Alfie saw a man, wealth apparent in his attire, who was at a stall full of jewelry and other fine crafted items. The blue cloak he wore, embroidered with the words Persevere and Profit, highlighted the man as a member of the merchants guild. To Alfie's delight, he saw the merchant pull out a hefty coin purse. The merchant haggled intensely and Alfie could tell the shop owner was starting to get irritated. After finally settling on a price, he paid the shop owner and tucked the coin pouch away, moving on to his next purchase.

Alfie walked up to the man, careful to make it seem like an accident. "Spare a copper for the needy, good sir?"

"Piss off or you'll be begging for my boot out of your behind." The man shooed him away, muttering under his breath, "Filthy muddling."

Alfie knew full well that the man wouldn't give him a single copper, the penurious nature of the merchant guild being common knowledge. He got on his knees in front of the merchant, begging still. "Please sir, I haven't had a meal in days. Spare just a crust of bread?"

The merchant was starting to get irritated, a menacing tone crept into his voice. "Let me shop in peace, boy. I'm on an important job, assigned to me by Her Majesty, Empress Thyra Lupis."

Alfie pressed on. He looked up at the merchant from below, tugging on the hem of his shirt in faux desperation. "Please, sir. Just a crust of brea-"

Hearing enough, the merchant swung at Alfie, connecting with his jaw. Alfie flew back and landed hard on the market square. "That'll teach ya to leave me be. Now scamper along before I call the guards to have you flogged, boy."

Not needing to be told twice, Alfie took off, running through the various stalls. After a minute he heard, "THIEF! THE BLASTED PAUPER! GUARDS! GUARDS!!!!"

He felt the weight of the coin bag in his pocket, and smiled. "Karma is a bitch," He thought as he ran through the winding streets of Meridian, heading to the slums of Yugo where he lived. He was careful to avoid the Wolves of Wyrewood's hot spots as he went home. The last thing he needed was a cutthroat robbing him of his hard earned dime.