Shadow Dancer

Chapter 1

I lie on top of the roof of a shop, looking down at the few people rushing to get home. Men who stayed out too long to gamble, drink or visit the whore house. Women who are sneaking back home after a night in the arms of their lover. All carrying something of value. Coin I could use to buy food or other goods for my family or even just jewelry dripping with gems and precious stones.

I spot a woman in some of the finest clothes I'd ever seen walking down the road. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair and clothes are slightly out of place. I smirk. Ah, the typical noble woman. Not an honest man or woman among the nobles.

A little boy runs up to her and obviously begs for coin. He has no shoes, no jacket and his clothes are in tatters. He has dirt all over him and I notice him itch at his head a few times. She sneers at him and says something. The boy bows his head and drops his hands to his sides. She stomps off. I narrow my eyes. She would be the one I took from. I'm sure her husband will easily be able to replace what ever I take. I stand and start running across the roofs of the buildings, following her.

We reach a dark spot on the road and I look around. Only a man and the boy were on the street and the man was distracted by the begging boy. I drop down onto the ground behind her, my cloak billowing as I do. She startles and starts to spin. I wrap one arm around her neck and use the other to cover her mouth. I drag her into the space between the two stores next to us and hold her tightly until the lack of air causes her to pass out. I quickly strip her of anything of value. I take her necklace, her bracelets, her rings, her hairpin, her coin, even her coat.

I make sure she's in full view of the road when I leave her, so that someone will hopefully find her before she freezes to death. I make my way down the road. The sun wouldn't be up for a few more hours. I'll have to go to the market tomorrow. After I've checked fathers traps.

Normally I wouldn't have to do all of this. But my older brother had died in the mines not even a cycle ago and my father was hurt in a hunting accident, so he can't take care of the farm. Mother is taking care of him, my little siblings and doing all the cooking and cleaning along with what she can help me with on the farm. She doesn't have time to make money or hunt. I'm the oldest living child now and I have to step up.

I hear giggling, moans and groans coming from one of the many local whore houses as I pass by. I suppose I could always have my mother sell me to the whore house. She'd earn a hefty sum and I'd earn wages I could send back to my family. At seventeen cycles I'm plenty old enough, but I know she would never do it and I couldn't go and do it behind her back. She and Sather already feel bad enough for what all I'm doing now. Father in particular would be heartbroken if I did it. Feeling that he was somehow responsible.

The little boy from before runs up to me. Holding his hands out.

"Please, miss, some coin. My family and I are poor and haven't anything to eat." Seeing him up closer now, I can see how his bones stick out and his eyes are sunken in. He smells dreadful and looks worse. I dig into my bag to find the pouch of coins I'd taken from the noble woman. I open it and peer inside to see the contents. Around a dozen gold coins and I little over two dozen silver. I fish out four gold and seven silver, dropping them into his hand.

"There you go, lad. Make sure to get a coat or at least some shoes. Food will do no good if you freeze to death come snowfall." He nods quickly with a big smile on his face.

"I will. Thank you, miss!" He runs off and I continue walking with a small smile on my face. I know I shouldn't have given the boy anything or at least not so much, but I hadn't the heart to turn him down and he needed it more than me. There's still a good amount left in the pouch and I would fetch a hefty price for the jewelry and coat at the market.