Chapter 3

Marelta was reviewing her husband’s account when she heard a stirring in the streets. “Seirhi, what’s happening.”

The serving girl went out. In a few moments, she was back. “They’re saying a Hawk entered the village.

Marelta paled at the news. Certainly, they wouldn’t do this over a single Season. That little piece of silver is nothing to them.

A servant girl from across the street came in. “Have you heard, Seirhi? They say the Hawk is looking for a woman.”

Marelta gasped and ran out the door screaming, “Help me, the Hawk is after me.” There was Brendis. She ran to him. “Help me, Brendis.”

Her husband shoved her hard enough that she fell. “I don’t know you,” he huffed. Marelta looked at her husband of fifteen years in shock. “We’re married.” She stammered.

“I have no wife.” He said and then turned his back to her and walked away.

Marelta could hear the people as they chanted “Hawk, Hawk, Hawk.” Crying, she stood and ran again. There was an enormous strong man. Marelta grabbed the man begging. He shrugged his arm from her. “Away bitch.” He snarled. Eyes darting, she saw an alley way and made a run for it. She saw Waldrom. The innkeeper had been friends with her husband as long as their marriage.

“Waldrom, help me, please,” She gasped sliding down the back wall of the Inn. Waldrom knelt beside her. He covered her mouth as he slid a dirk into her heart and gave a slight twist. “Nobody steals from the Shard.” He whispered as he stared into Marelta’s fear filled eyes. Waldrom pulled the blade out and put it away. Standing, He took a dead wren out of his apron pocket. He spread it’s wings and dropped it onto Marelta’s dying body. The Innkeeper went back to his customers.

A few minutes before

Kelt and I had to pay two Barrens each to walk into this dump of a village. It’s name is Appen. In the center was an open market. Everything else was jammed tight. The streets were so small it was hard to tell them from the alleys. We were on the outskirts of the market when I heard a woman scream. I looked behind me to see a woman shoved to the ground by an older man. The people around her started to chant “Hawk” over and over again.

The woman got up and ran toward us. She clutched Kelt’s arm begging him to save her. He shrugged her off and yelled at her “Away, bitch.” She ran off again.

I looked at Kelt like he had lost his mind. He noticed the look and said, “Let’s find a place to talk.” We walked around until we found a tavern. We took a narrow bench and table in a corner. A girl came up and Kelt handed her a Barren. “Two beers.” He waited until we had our beers. He whispered, “If we had helped her, she still would have died and we would have died too.”

“What do you mean?”

“You saw the villagers yelling Hawk, right?”

I nodded. “So?”

“Are you that stupid? There was a Hawk. You stay out of their business, or you die.”

“Who are hawks?”

Kelt growled and leaned towards me. “That woman crossed the wrong people, and they sent a Hawk to kill her. Anybody who gets in a Hawk’s way dies, even kings.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Had we tried to help her she would have still died and then the Hawk would have killed us.” He shrugged. “She knew what she was doing. It’s her fault she’s dead.”

“How do you know she’s dead?” I asked.

“If she’s not, she soon will be. Want to eat?”

“Sure.” We hadn’t ate our meal before the room was buzzing about the dead woman in the alley. They said she had the mark of the Hawk. While we were eating, I asked about the currency here. It took a minute to convince him that I was serious.

He was gruff when he said, “The smallest coin is a Barren. Ten Barrens per day are what one field hand makes. The next highest is the Ox. It equals ten days of the work of a field hand. The next highest is the Season which equals one hundred days of work. Three Seasons equal one Dignity. So a Dignity is three hundred days of field work.”

“So when I gave Alida four Barrens it was worth almost half a day’s labor?” I asked.

Kelt nodded and sipped his beer.

“Ok,” I said. “How do I know if something is over priced?”

Kelt shrugged then said, “Ask yourself how much work are you willing to do for it. It also depends on how bad you need it.” He took another bite of his food then asked, “How did you come to Kluir?”

It was my turn to shrug. “The last thing I remember is I got hit in the head. When I woke up, I was here.”

“You were stolen?”

“I don’t know. I got hit and woke up that’s all I know. I got here about two months ago. I don’t even know where home is from here.”

“Stick with me awhile. We’ll get you taken care of. If we leave town before they close the gate we will have to pay again. It’s better to stay inside.”

“Agreed.” I said.

“That leaves us with a choice. For a Barren or two, we might be able to sleep in the stables. If we want a room, It will maybe cost five Barrens or more.”