The Forgotten

Chapter four: The Dark Mart

I wake up to the sound of birds tweeting loudly outside. I open my eyes and stare up at the wooden ceiling. This bed was way more comfortable than the one at the inn. I sit up quickly and look around. The room was small and only held the bed, a large dresser and an armor stand across the room. I stand up quickly. Where am I? I walk out of the room slowly, pushing the wooden door open hesitantly. The wood sighs as I step gently on the floor. I stop in my tracks and examine the kitchen. It held a large storage bin and a few buckets. There were lots of windows with sunlight pouring in from the outside. The ceiling was quite low, but the room was wide. I see Arthur staring out of a window across the room. I approach him hesitantly.

"Where are we?" I ask softly and he jumps.

"You startled me," he spins around quickly. "Sorry... I'm not used to having company- This is my house," Arthur turns back around and looks out the window.

"It's really nice in here," I smile and walk up next to him, looking to see what he was looking at... It was a woman. I look over at Arthur smirking and nudge him. "You love her, don't you?" I grin brightly. He shakes his head.

"No, she may or may not be linked to a major thief group and she passes by here every morning..." he sighs and looks over at me.

" I would like to help," I smile at him. He closes his eyes for a couple of seconds, thinking. He opens his eyes abruptly and turns away from me.

"Alright, let's go make you not innocent looking then," He smirks as he begins to walk over to his room.

"I suppose," I cross my arms, stomping after him. He starts putting on his armor.

"Awe, it's so cute when you get mad... Like a little pup that had it's bone taken," Arthur teases. I roll my eyes. Once he was all suited up, we walk out the front door and begin to walk to the main castle.

"Okay, so we can find you a pair of armor or something to make you look like a thief... perhaps something leather..." he mumbles.

..

Once we got to the forgery just outside the castle, the iron smith needed my measurements to get a proper-fitting leather armor set.

"What's a small girl like you lookin for armor for?" the man eyes me up as he wraps the tape measurer around me tightly. I look over at Arthur awkwardly and he scratches the back of his neck, not knowing what to do.

"I don't think thats any of your business, sir," I respond with a scoff. He wraps the measurer around my legs next. I back up.

"Can my friend here just do it for me? You seem to have a line forming over there..." I gulp and the man looks over at the line filled with men.

"They can wait, deary," he smiles a big, toothless grin and I step towards him again with a sigh. Arthur brushed by me and snatched the tape measurer from his hands, glaring at the man.

"You're getting quite touchy there- The woman insists now leave," Arthur hisses, stepping in between me and the man facing towards me. The man grunts and hobbles over to the line of customers.

"Thanks, Arthur," I utter as he starts to measure my thighs, writing the measurements on the notepad. He nods and then moves on to measuring my hips, then my waist, then my chest. It was kinda awkward, but at least it wasn't that old guy. Next he measured my shoulders and arms, then the circumference of my head. He writes the final measurement down and smiles, looking up at me.

"You're gonna look like a real thug, you know that?" He snickers, shaking his head. Before I could respond, he walked up to the man, handing him the measurements. They talked a bit but I couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of the market place. Arthur hands him a bag of coins and the man starts working on it immediately. Arthur walks back over after several minutes with my set of black leather armor. "Alright, let's go... This guy is really weird," He whispers to me and I nod rapidly in agreement.

We walk back to his house at about late noon and I change in his bedroom. This armor was very tight fitting and showed every curve, which I didn't like. I pull the hood over my head, tucking my hair back so it was out of sight. It only showed my face. I sigh. I probably look ridiculous. I walk out of the room and into the kitchen where Arthur was looking out the window, once again. I walk up to him and tap on his shoulder gently. He turns around, staring at me for what seemed like forever before nodding hesitantly.

"That... that looks really good on you..." he said slowly. He clears his throat, quickly looking away. "We should g-go..." he stutters, clearing his throat once more. He looks down at the ground as he swiftly walks to the front door.

"Take off the hood and lets go..." he said, not looking at me still. I pull off my hood and jog gently after him.

"Let's do this," I say, walking out the door he held open for me. Once I walked out, I immediately felt like everyone was staring at us.

"I'll lead the way to the hideout, keep your distance, but stay close," he whispers, walking away quickly as he put on his helmet. As I walked by, I felt like guys were staring at me. It made me feel uncomfortable, but I kept a straight look on my face. Arthur occasionally glanced back at me... I even felt awkward around him now, too. This armor was skintight and I did not appreciate it. Once we got to downtown, Arthur pointed at a building and leaned up against the well in front of it. I walk up to him.

"That's the place- The Dark Mart... Be careful in there and try not to attract any attention to yourself," he said, still not looking at me. I'm starting to have second thoughts, but I can't let him know that.

"Just try to find the girl, talk with her, then get out... If you're not out in 10 minutes, I'm coming in," he finally looks at me and nods. I nod back, then turn and walk away. I cautiously enter the Dark Mart and peer around at the many crowds of people. There were all sorts of drugs everywhere and scary looking people. The Dark Mart was like a bazaar. I pull up my hood as I walk through the huge crowds of thugs. Some man grabs my ass as I'm walking and I quickly spin around, grabbing the dagger from my side, holding it up to his throat. He puts his hands up and backs away slowly. I was pretty good at this bad girl act I was playing. I turned around and I spotted her walking towards me. She was absolutely stunning. Her long, black curly hair fell just below her shoulders. She was wearing a skin-tight leather armor similar to mine, but hers was white. Her dark brown eyes beamed into mine as she approached me. I take a step towards her and open my mouth to say something but she punches me across the face and I fall to the ground... I truly was not expecting that AT ALL.

"Don't threaten my people like that ever again, you dumb broad," her voice was sexy and seductive as she spit on me. I stood up and glared at her. It took everything in me to not punch her right now, but I restrained myself. We both glared at each other, inches away.

"That's what I thought," she purs, smirking. She brushes past me quickly. I turn and follow behind her slowly, walking out of the Dark Mart. My jaw clenches when I saw her approach Arthur in a seductive walk. What the hell is she doing?