The Bastard Teaser #1
Just because I was in the central market to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy merchant didn’t mean I couldn’t indulge in a bit of petty thievery first.
It was mid-afternoon, and while the clouds hadn’t parted, the rain had stopped and there was a feeling of lightness in the air. The change of seasons had finally arrived, dragging the town away from the gloom of winter to the slightly lesser gloom of spring.
Consequently, people were out and about, smiling, talking, and even laughing as they strolled between stalls, ignoring the mud on their boots and enjoying the afternoon.
To most of them, I would have been nothing more than another stranger, enjoying the sights and smells of the market just like anyone else. Of medium height and build with dark hair, I wore a large leather pouch over my tunic and coat, the type of thing the King’s messengers might wear, although that was something I wasn’t. No, I was a thief—ahem—opportunist.
So yeah, just another stranger.
Except…
I was noticeably more handsome than other people, with an open expression, easy smile, bright green eyes, and innocent features.
It wasn’t vanity, just a simple reflection of the truth. More than enough women had confirmed it, and more than once my charms had helped me out of a jam.
And my natural charms weren’t my only good quality. I was stronger and quicker than I looked and could generally hold my own in a fight. And with that quickness came a lightness of touch that really helped in my chosen profession of opportunism.
I couldn’t help but catch the mood of the crowd as I made my way through. Smiling, I nudged a middle-aged man making a deal with a much younger prostitute, and he didn’t notice my fingers lighten his coin pouch by the weight of his silver. I passed a fruit vendor serving a pair of plain-looking women, and he never saw that his barrel of apples and pears became a little less full. I danced around a vendor with a car selling dried meat on a stick, but left him alone because I knew he was desperate, and also because he dried his wares out in the sun where all the flies could taste them.
Along with the myriad of vendors, the market boasted a number of entertainment options. A juggler on stilts threw glittering knives through the air, and I remembered a time not too long ago when I had made my coin the same way.
But these days, I found it much easier to pick the pockets of those who watched, all while feigning clumsiness.
“Excuse me,” I said with a smile as I dipped into another man’s coin pouch.
“Forgive me,” I said as I nudged a fat woman, distracting her and the merchant she was talking to so I could filch a small round of brie.
“Sorry,” I said to a beggar as I tripped over him, spilling the coins from his cup into the mud and returning only a small portion of them.
And I wasn’t the only one in the market plying my trade. I saw others, men and women both, doing as I did, and street urchins as well, kids dressed in rags and using speed more than skill.
By mutual unspoken consent, we stayed out of each other’s way, but I had to smile at the sheer number of people who would find themselves leaving the market with less than they realized.
It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, and within a surprisingly short time, my satchel was bulging with ill-gotten gains. I had walked the entire length and breadth of the market, and beginning to wonder if my target had failed to show despite what Rolf had said, when finally, I spied her at a fabric merchant’s stall, admiring the different fabrics.
I paused for a moment, not even bothering to hide my interest, and admired her from afar. Rolf’s description had been more than enough. This was definitely my target.
“A redheaded beauty,” the Blackcoat had said. “As tall as you, and with curves in all the right places. She will likely be wearing a green dress, and its quality will be clear, but it’ll be cut for more practical wear than other high-ranking ladies would choose.”
Rolf had offered one of his lecherous grins at that point. “She’ll stand out in a crowd, mark my words. You won’t miss her.”
If anything, the Blackcoat had undersold the woman’s beauty. To my eyes, she was special, and I almost reconsidered going through with the plan.
But I’d made a deal with Rolf, and he wasn’t the sort of man to take kindly to me backing out. Especially when he and a couple of his men were already waiting in a nearby alley.
I smiled. Rolf and his regular cronies couldn’t do what I could do. Sure, they could resort to brute force and violence to get the job done, but to lure a woman like this out of the market? To make her leave willingly, without suspicion?
That’s why Rolf had approached me for the job.
And, anyway, it wasn’t like we were going to hurt her. She was a wealthy merchant’s daughter, and while I could get by easily enough by picking pockets, Rolf had promised that the merchant would pay gold to have his daughter returned unharmed.
For a quick afternoon’s work that might even be fun, I had figured why not, and gone along with the plan.
All I needed now was an excuse to talk to her.
In an unconscious gesture, my right hand went to the medallion at my neck. At first glance, the piece was next to worthless and looked like a large coin made of wood. But it had long since been worn smooth, and the patterns were gone. Whenever I felt the need, I would rub it for luck, and so far, it hadn’t let me down.
And yet, it was more than a simple good luck charm.
I had been no more than a boy, maybe six or seven years old, when a beautiful woman with dark hair and pale skin had hung it around my neck. I still remember her sad smile and the words that she spoke.
“I made this for you, Mordie. It may not look like much, but there’s power within it. In a moment of need, all you need to do is break it into two, and everything will turn out all right.”
I remember gripping the medallion in my pudgy, boyish fingers, and feeling a slight tingle on my skin. “It’s magic?” I asked, and the beautiful woman nodded.
So far, I’d never been in a position to test if the woman’s words had been true. Sure, I’d grown up on the streets–that was the last time I’d set eyes on the woman–and had found my fair share of trouble there. But since I’d always been able to talk my way out of it, it hadn’t seemed quite right to test out the magic.
It had been a long time since my fingers had tingled at the medallion’s touch. Whether the magic remained in it or had faded, I didn’t know. But I still rubbed it for luck, remembering the beautiful woman even as I wondered who she was, and why she had given me such a gift.
Of course, I also wondered who I was. I had no parents, and not even a last name to call my own.
Which is why I was in the marketplace, making a living from kidnapping a merchant’s daughter. That’s how things were in this impoverished and crime-ridden city.
Although considering what I was about to do, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that I was part of the crime problem.
Look for a new harem story, The Bastard, coming soon!
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