"Have you come here to die?" The voice was a bare whisper against the enveloping dark. It sounded stark and cold, with nothing in offer linked to safety. Yet, it brought me comfort of great proportions.
♛ ♛ ♛
In the dark wintry recesses of Ba...
He looked slightly confused by my question. I decided to give him a minute or two to catch up with my thought process. It looked like both of us were desperate for something at that moment. So I made light of the situation.
With the three bronze coins looming over my mind, I was in dire need of something, anything. Like miracles, this young man sat before me with a coat worth more than my life and weight put together. With a haircut that all but stamped him with luxury, and the same streetwise aloofness that would get anyone killed around these parts.
I was surprised he even made it through the time he spent in The Valley. I didn't know how he wasn't stripped and walking naked across the streets, trying to find his way back to his twelve story grandeur building of a home.
Suddenly, the thought of him naked flooded my thoughts and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. He was beautiful. Anyone would be blind to say otherwise. His dark hair tangled from the cool wind and his plush lips chapped, still he stood with an overwhelming sense of beauty. He probably had a lover back in the Northside just as beautiful as him. She was probably just as rich as him. She didn't have to afford medicine and salves and food and necessities. No, those were probably handed to her on a silver platter with rose shavings on top.
I swallowed a hard lump that sat at the back of my throat. Whatever he was thinking, he needed to speed it up.
"You can sleep in my room and I'll sleep in the living room" I said even though our living room was more like a living closet. "I'll give you something to eat and plenty to drink. My house will be yours to sleep and eat for the night."
I saw him nodding, following along.
"Just 'ave to know how much you paying for it." I said. My words sounded tight but in all honesty, he could give me half a shilling and I would still let him sleep wherever the hell he wanted.
He nodded twice before reaching into his pocket and brought out a small leather-like pouch. He didn't speak much, but he didn't have to. He had eyes that gave away most of what he was thinking.
He didn't even open the drawstring, instead just handed the entire pouch to me. I reached down and took it in my hands. I laughed in near hysterics. The pouch was heavy enough to mistake rocks. They could be a handful of small change, but any noise clanking around by the likes of this calls for attention.
"You were supposed to be dead the moment you stepped foot in this side of the district, Finn. You should thank whatever god you pray to that today brought the sun."
I heard him grumble something under his breath but didn't pay attention. I focused on not disrupting the leather material from the pouch, thinking I could pawn the pouch for a little something down by the magistrums office.
I nearly choked on a breath when the pouch opened out. Inside lay a handful of silver coins that all but sparkled against the midnight moonlight. I closed my mouth and willed myself not to make any sounds of uncertainty. Was this counterfeit money? The thought crossed my mind, so I reached inside and took one silver coin in my hand.
Sure enough, the ridges of the metal and the emblem carved into it seemed unlike any fake. What this stranger had just given me could feed Ma and I through winter. Hell, it could feed the whole damn army through winter.
I looked at Finn, who had his eyes closed but a small smile on his face. His head against the brick wall behind him. I caught my breath at how the moonlight caught his skin. Once again, I found myself in a stupor.
I shook my head remembering who I was, and who I could never be. This was only a night of sanctuary for a rich stranger.
"My name's Brinley...let me show you inside, Finn."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
