Tibs saw someone else with the leather case while searching for the metal essence user who could have made the balcony fall. No guards had been called to that; and as best as Tibs could find out, only the builder got in trouble for shoddy work. Tibs thought about letting the owner know what had happened, but without knowing who had done it, he had a feeling they’d lash out at every Runner in town. They were nobles, after all.
This person with the case went into the Long in the Tooth tavern, and Tibs continued on his way to the archery field. He’d checked out the metal sorcerers, and while they were both thin enough, they didn’t move stealthily at all. It might still be one of them, the girl was softer on her feet, so she could be playing up the clumsiness, Tibs would first eliminate anyone he was sure wasn’t the right person before looking into the maybes. If he was lucky the right one would give themselves aways and he could find out why they’d tried to kill him.
He could go to Harry. No matter how little the fighter liked Tibs, he would take the accusation seriously, and with his ability to know the truth, it would be easy for him to find the right person. Tibs thought it would be the right thing to do for the town.
But Tibs was Street, and on his street, he didn’t pass his problems on to someone else. If he had to, he’d bring in his friends, but not a stranger, and definitely not a guard.
The archer was with the other Upsilon archers, practicing. Mex was there too, pulling on the string of his bow without an arrow notched. The look of concentration told Tibs he was trying to get the flame arrow to form.
In contrast, the metal archer was relaxed and had an arrow notched. He pulled on the string and something happened to the arrowhead. Tibs was too far to feel the essence, but it shimmered as if someone had polished it. He let go, and instead of embedding itself in the target, it flew through it, leaving one feather to drift down from the hole it had left behind.
Mez snapped at the girl next to him and immediately looked regretful. She smiled at him and they exchanged a few words. She also didn’t have an arrow, only when she pulled on her string, an arrow of fire shimmered into place. She said a few things and Mez—
“Can I help you?” an old archer asked Tibs. “If you wanted to be an archer, you should have come on the first day, with the new Omegas.”
Tibs looked around the teacher, where a handful of men and women were shooting and mostly missing the targets. “There aren’t a lot of archers this time, is that normal?”
“Those of noble birth have their own way of training. These are the less fortunate, but who could still amass the money needed to come.” He looked over his shoulder. “Normally, I’d say my trainees will outshine any of the nobles, but this crop is rather undistinguished, except where enthusiasm is concerned.”
“They haven’t been in the dungeon yet,” Tibs stated. He doubted those who survived would show this level of energy.
“Indeed. You sound like you have been.”
“I’m Upsilon,” Tibs replied, which caused the teacher to look him over again.
“Then I have to ask what a Rogue is doing among archers.”
“Mez is on my team,” Tibs answered. “He’s having trouble, and I thought I’d come to encourage him. Rogues have more free time.” He smiled at the archer.
“Which you could make better use of.” The teacher turned. “If anyone complains, or anything goes missing, I will be sending the guards after you.” He rejoined the Omegas.
Tibs looked at the metal archer again as he let another arrow fly. This one made a large hole through the target, leaving half the shaft protruding. If he wanted Tibs dead, it would be simpler for him to shoot him with one of those.
He joined Mez, who glanced at him before looking at the target. He raised his bow, breathed in as he pulled the string, and cursed as nothing happened.
“You have to focus on the sense of the arrow,” the girl said in the tone Alistair used when instructing Tibs. “The heat of the shaft, the breath of the fire on your cheek. The sun of the tip.”
“I am doing that,” Mez grumbled.
“No, you aren’t.” With a smooth motion, she had her bow up, pulled, the arrow formed, and released it. The arrow hit the target and washed over it, leaving burned hay around it that boys and girls younger than Tibs hurried to douse with buckets of water. “Mezano, you have to feel the heat, you have to know it.”
With a growl of annoyance, Mez pulled an arrow from the quiver at his hip, stung it as he raised the bow, and pulled the string. Tibs felt the essence course through it and accumulate at the tip. Mez released it with his breath, and when the arrow hit the target, the explosion left a hole in the bales of hay where it and the targets on either side had been.
“That is heat,” he told the girl, glaring at her.
“And it is one less arrow for you to use,” she replied calmly.
“I can buy arrows, Amelia. What I can’t do is make one.” He looked at Tibs, “Can you tell how she did it?”
Tibs raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t be silly, Mezano. He isn’t a fire user. How would he know anything?”
“He’s—” Mez began.
“Water,” Tibs cut him off, his tone forceful enough he hoped the archer would get the message.
The girl was momentarily surprised. “You must be Tibs. I’m Amelia of the family of the Light Heart.”
“I don’t remember seeing you before.”
“I arrived recently,” she smiled. “My mother felt I would benefit from the experience.”
“You’re a noble?” Tibs asked, unable to hide his surprise.
“Tibs,” Mez warned.
He narrowed his eyes at his friend. “She’s a noble.”
Mez sighed. “You have to forgive him. He’s Street, and where he’s from the nobles are…” he trailed off. “Well, you’ve seen how some of them are here.”
“Some?” Tibs demanded. Where was the Mez who had cursed all the nobles in the town? Rejoiced at the idea of letting them be the only ones to give the guild coins.
“Tibs,” Mez chided him.
Tibs considered reminding him what he’d said in their room. See how well she took it.
“It’s alright, Mezano,” she said. “I am a noble, and I am well aware that in places that is a word uttered as a curse. I am sorry you have experienced that kind of nobility, Tibs.”
He looked at her suspiciously. Anytime nobles were nice, something bad was about to happen. “How do you know I’m Tibs?”
“There is only one water user whose eyes are still brown. I’m led to understand it’s due to your age.”
Tibs fixed his gaze on Mez. “Yes, it’s my age.”
The archer looked away.
“I am pleased to meet you, Tibs,” she said. “Did you need Mezano for something team-related?”
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re being nice. So you want something.”
“Tibs,” Mez said, sounding tired.
She shook her head. “I am not here wanting anything from. In fact, I should ask what do you want from me. Within the limits of my duties to my training and the dungeon, I am here to serve.”
Tibs couldn’t find the words to express how full of shit she was. Instead, he turned and left. Nobles, serving? Mez called after him, but Tibs ignored him. He could spend time with nobles if he wanted, Tibs wasn’t having any of it.
Outside the archery field, he saw Tandy and she nodded toward an alley. He was tempted to ignore her. To just find a roof and run. Maybe find a window to open, even if it was daylight. She nodded to the alley again, and he sighed. He could climb a building after he listened to her.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He clamped his mouth shut and did his best not to glare. She wasn’t on his team, but she was Carina’s friend, a fellow Rogue, and on a team who was helping them train.
“Had a run-in with a noble,” he said once he had his temper under control.
“Is it something the guards are going to hear about?”
He shook his head. “What do you need?”
She watched him before speaking. “We talked it over, and Pyan wanted me to tell you we agree with Jackal. We’ll pass the word on to the teams we know. In a few days, every Runner will know not to bother trying to climb the chart.”
Tibs nodded and really didn’t want to ask the next part, but if he didn’t, it would be worse down the road. He knew it. “Do you know anyone who gets along with Don enough to inform him of what we’re doing?”
“You want that asshole in on the plan? He’s just going to tell the guild so he’ll look better in their eyes.”
“The guild can’t do anything to stop us. The rules don’t say we have to pay to go in. They just said it in a way that made us think it was a good idea. If we don’t tell Don, he’s going to cause trouble. Maybe he’s going to tell the nobles and if no one plays the game the guild set up, they’re going to change the rules.”
She thought about it. “I don’t know anyone who gets along with him. They either kiss his feet because they’re afraid of his essence, or they hate him because of something he’s done. But I know someone who’s cozy with his Rogue. It’s about the only way we can get him the message.”
“Don’t tell him it’s my team who came up with it. He might do something stupid just to make our lives difficult.”
“Is it about taking his archer?”
Tibs shrugged. “It’s one thing, but it started before that. The guy’s an asshole, he’s easy to hate and to piss off.”
“I’m happy I’ve managed to avoid it.” She took out a piece of folded paper and handed it to Tibs. “This is a list of teams Pyan thinks would be good to train with. She wants Jackal to check if there’s anyone there your team can’t work with.”
He stared at the paper. “Did you pay for that?”
Tandy chuckled. “I’m a Rogue, Tibs, why pay when I can take? All I need is a quick distraction and I have a page. Amid and Geoff know how to read and write.”
Tibs took it and unfolded it. The letters were scribbled in simple lines of charcoal, and the paper’s edges were uneven and frayed. “You broke it?”
“Even if I took it, it’s still valuable. I’m only handing you what you need for the information. The rest I’m keeping for when I need it.”
He nodded and folded it along the crease. “How many can you get before the merchants notice?” he asked. He really hated the idea that was forming.
“Not a lot, why?”
He bit his lower lips. “I need to think it over and check something. We might not need much.” Not if they were very careful.
“If you’re asking me to steal for you, Tibs, I’m going to have to be paid.”
He smiled at her. “If my idea works, I think you’ll decide it’s payment enough.”
* * * * *
Khumdar was the last to enter the room. Tibs was tired, it had taken longer to get his team together than he’d expected and all he wanted was sleep. Jackal pushed a stool to the cleric with a foot. The cleric’s bed was far from Tibs’s.
“We’re all here, Tibs,” Jackal said. “What’s this important idea you have?”
“First, I need to confirm something. When Harry gave the rules, he said that we can’t talk about the dungeon outside of it, right? I mean, that is how he said it.” He looked at the other expectantly.
“It’s how I remember it,” Jackal said.
“I think it is,” Carina agreed.
He looked at Mez.
“Oh, now my opinion matters?”
“Mez,” Jackal warned.
“Fine. Yes, that’s how I remember it being told.”
Tibs nodded. “Then I think I have an idea how we can learn about it from the teams who go in before us.”
“This should be good.” Jackal leaned forward.
Tibs took a slow breath. “We use the letters to pass the information among the teams.”
Jackal blinked. “Run that by me again?”
“We write the information down.”
Jackal shook his head. “There is no way I heard you correctly. It sounded like you suggested we read something. Tibs, I barely know my letters and you know less than I do. It’ll never work.”
“And the guards will punish us when they find out,” Mez said
Tibs shook his head. “They can’t. We won’t be breaking the rules.”
“We all know that when they said we can’t talk about it, they meant passing information along in any way.”
“How do we know that?” Carina asked. “How many Runners know their letters? The guild isn’t teaching them. As far as they’re concerned, other than sorcerers, no one has a reason to know them. Tibs you understand what that means, right?”
He nodded. “I’m no more happy about my idea than Jackal is.”
“I’m afraid I do not understand why you would be unhappy about an idea you have, Tibs,” Khumdar said. “It is an excellent idea. Use the definition of the rule rather than the intent.”
Tibs sighed. “But it means I have to learn my letters now. Me and Jack—”
“No.” The fighter was on his feet. “I am not learning those atrocious things.”
“Jackal, we have to,” Tibs said. “We can’t ask Carina and Khumdar to be the only ones doing this. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“It’s okay Tibs,” Carina said, and he stared at her. “I’ll start teaching you. I’m certain that once Jackal sees how useful it is, he’ll change his mind.”
Jackal snorted. “You will wither away from old age before I ever change my opinion on letters.” He looked at Tibs. “I really thought we were allies in that, Tibs. I can’t express to you how hurt I am that you are considering letting her teach you letters.”
“It’s what’s best for the team,” Tibs said resolutely.
* * * * *
Mez stepped up his bed, looking as unhappy as Tibs felt with not being allowed to go to sleep yet.
“You had no right speaking to Amelia that way.”
“Did you tell her?” Tibs countered in the same angry tone.
“Tell her what?”
“You know exactly what. You were going to tell her I have fire before I stopped you.”
“I’m sorry,” Mez said through grinding teeth. “I shouldn’t have, but I was—”
“A child.”
The archer glared at Tibs.
“Tell me that was what a man would do,” Tibs demanded.
Mez’s lips became lines as he took slow breaths. “It isn’t,” he finally said. “I am sorry.”
Tibs nodded. “Are you going to listen to me now, or are you going to get angry defending that noble?”
“I will listen,” Mez said, but his hands were closed in fists and trembled.
“I’ve seen nobles walk my street with smiles and sweets. They take kids with them, if they come back, there’s something missing in them. Something the street hadn’t been able to take. Sometimes they don’t even bother leaving the street to do what they want. They have guards clear an alley and we can all hear the kids scream. Some of them do things you’ll do with your special someone to them, even when they say no; when they scream to stop. Others, they take blades or fire, sometimes they just use their fists. I have never seen a noble step onto my street and help one of us.”
The archer’s red eyes were bright, he shook where he stood, and he radiated heat. But when he spoke, his voice was icy. “Amelia isn’t like that.”
“How do you know? Have you followed her? Have you seen her when she doesn’t have to worry about what others can do to her? This town is ours so long as we don’t let them make it theirs. If they do, they’re going to find a street and send us there and we’ll escape it.”
“We’re Runners. We face the dungeon. There’s nothing they can do that’s worse than that.”
“Except make you think they’re nice.”
Mez closed his eyes, and the room cooled. “I am sorry, Tibs. I am sorry you have seen the horrors you have at the hands of nobles. I believe you when you say they can be horrible. I believe that now. But I refuse to believe they are all like that. I refuse to believe it, because one day, I will bear the title of Noble, and I will never be like that.”
“That’s you, not—”
“No, Tibs. If I can be like that, others can too. Others are. People can’t be better if you refuse to give them the chance.”
“If I give them the chance, I know what they’ll do.”
Mez nodded. “Then I hope I will be able to show you different.” He opened his eyes. “And I want to thank you, Tibs.”
“For what?” he asked cautiously.
“The inferno is no longer burning. I understand what you meant about my element and the essence.” A flame traveled from one side of his body to the other. “I also understand why it isn’t something that can be explained beyond what you told me. Don’t cause Amelia trouble, Tibs. I’d asked that you don’t cause any of the nobles trouble, but some deserve all the trouble you can foster on them. Just leave Amelia out of it.”
“Is she your special girl?”
The archer shook his head. “She’s just a noble I can look up to. One that back home would make everyone proud. The kind of noble I wasn’t sure existed outside my home anymore.”
“Okay. If she doesn’t do anything in my town to hurt us. I won’t do anything to her either.”
Mez nodded. “I wish you a good sleep, Tibs.”
“You have fun shooting fire arrows.”
Mez seemed surprised at the comment, then looked at his hands. “I guess I will go find out.”
Tibs saw someone else with the leather case while searching for the metal essence user who could have made the balcony fall. No guards had been called to that; and as best as Tibs could find out, only the builder got in trouble for shoddy work. Tibs thought about letting the owner know what had happened, but without knowing who had done it, he had a feeling they’d lash out at every Runner in town. They were nobles, after all.
This person with the case went into the Long in the Tooth tavern, and Tibs continued on his way to the archery field. He’d checked out the metal sorcerers, and while they were both thin enough, they didn’t move stealthily at all. It might still be one of them, the girl was softer on her feet, so she could be playing up the clumsiness, Tibs would first eliminate anyone he was sure wasn’t the right person before looking into the maybes. If he was lucky the right one would give themselves aways and he could find out why they’d tried to kill him.
He could go to Harry. No matter how little the fighter liked Tibs, he would take the accusation seriously, and with his ability to know the truth, it would be easy for him to find the right person. Tibs thought it would be the right thing to do for the town.
But Tibs was Street, and on his street, he didn’t pass his problems on to someone else. If he had to, he’d bring in his friends, but not a stranger, and definitely not a guard.
The archer was with the other Upsilon archers, practicing. Mex was there too, pulling on the string of his bow without an arrow notched. The look of concentration told Tibs he was trying to get the flame arrow to form.
In contrast, the metal archer was relaxed and had an arrow notched. He pulled on the string and something happened to the arrowhead. Tibs was too far to feel the essence, but it shimmered as if someone had polished it. He let go, and instead of embedding itself in the target, it flew through it, leaving one feather to drift down from the hole it had left behind.
Mez snapped at the girl next to him and immediately looked regretful. She smiled at him and they exchanged a few words. She also didn’t have an arrow, only when she pulled on her string, an arrow of fire shimmered into place. She said a few things and Mez—
“Can I help you?” an old archer asked Tibs. “If you wanted to be an archer, you should have come on the first day, with the new Omegas.”
Tibs looked around the teacher, where a handful of men and women were shooting and mostly missing the targets. “There aren’t a lot of archers this time, is that normal?”
“Those of noble birth have their own way of training. These are the less fortunate, but who could still amass the money needed to come.” He looked over his shoulder. “Normally, I’d say my trainees will outshine any of the nobles, but this crop is rather undistinguished, except where enthusiasm is concerned.”
“They haven’t been in the dungeon yet,” Tibs stated. He doubted those who survived would show this level of energy.
“Indeed. You sound like you have been.”
“I’m Upsilon,” Tibs replied, which caused the teacher to look him over again.
“Then I have to ask what a Rogue is doing among archers.”
“Mez is on my team,” Tibs answered. “He’s having trouble, and I thought I’d come to encourage him. Rogues have more free time.” He smiled at the archer.
“Which you could make better use of.” The teacher turned. “If anyone complains, or anything goes missing, I will be sending the guards after you.” He rejoined the Omegas.
Tibs looked at the metal archer again as he let another arrow fly. This one made a large hole through the target, leaving half the shaft protruding. If he wanted Tibs dead, it would be simpler for him to shoot him with one of those.
He joined Mez, who glanced at him before looking at the target. He raised his bow, breathed in as he pulled the string, and cursed as nothing happened.
“You have to focus on the sense of the arrow,” the girl said in the tone Alistair used when instructing Tibs. “The heat of the shaft, the breath of the fire on your cheek. The sun of the tip.”
“I am doing that,” Mez grumbled.
“No, you aren’t.” With a smooth motion, she had her bow up, pulled, the arrow formed, and released it. The arrow hit the target and washed over it, leaving burned hay around it that boys and girls younger than Tibs hurried to douse with buckets of water. “Mezano, you have to feel the heat, you have to know it.”
With a growl of annoyance, Mez pulled an arrow from the quiver at his hip, stung it as he raised the bow, and pulled the string. Tibs felt the essence course through it and accumulate at the tip. Mez released it with his breath, and when the arrow hit the target, the explosion left a hole in the bales of hay where it and the targets on either side had been.
“That is heat,” he told the girl, glaring at her.
“And it is one less arrow for you to use,” she replied calmly.
“I can buy arrows, Amelia. What I can’t do is make one.” He looked at Tibs, “Can you tell how she did it?”
Tibs raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t be silly, Mezano. He isn’t a fire user. How would he know anything?”
“He’s—” Mez began.
“Water,” Tibs cut him off, his tone forceful enough he hoped the archer would get the message.
The girl was momentarily surprised. “You must be Tibs. I’m Amelia of the family of the Light Heart.”
“I don’t remember seeing you before.”
“I arrived recently,” she smiled. “My mother felt I would benefit from the experience.”
“You’re a noble?” Tibs asked, unable to hide his surprise.
“Tibs,” Mez warned.
He narrowed his eyes at his friend. “She’s a noble.”
Mez sighed. “You have to forgive him. He’s Street, and where he’s from the nobles are…” he trailed off. “Well, you’ve seen how some of them are here.”
“Some?” Tibs demanded. Where was the Mez who had cursed all the nobles in the town? Rejoiced at the idea of letting them be the only ones to give the guild coins.
“Tibs,” Mez chided him.
Tibs considered reminding him what he’d said in their room. See how well she took it.
“It’s alright, Mezano,” she said. “I am a noble, and I am well aware that in places that is a word uttered as a curse. I am sorry you have experienced that kind of nobility, Tibs.”
He looked at her suspiciously. Anytime nobles were nice, something bad was about to happen. “How do you know I’m Tibs?”
“There is only one water user whose eyes are still brown. I’m led to understand it’s due to your age.”
Tibs fixed his gaze on Mez. “Yes, it’s my age.”
The archer looked away.
“I am pleased to meet you, Tibs,” she said. “Did you need Mezano for something team-related?”
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re being nice. So you want something.”
“Tibs,” Mez said, sounding tired.
She shook her head. “I am not here wanting anything from. In fact, I should ask what do you want from me. Within the limits of my duties to my training and the dungeon, I am here to serve.”
Tibs couldn’t find the words to express how full of shit she was. Instead, he turned and left. Nobles, serving? Mez called after him, but Tibs ignored him. He could spend time with nobles if he wanted, Tibs wasn’t having any of it.
Outside the archery field, he saw Tandy and she nodded toward an alley. He was tempted to ignore her. To just find a roof and run. Maybe find a window to open, even if it was daylight. She nodded to the alley again, and he sighed. He could climb a building after he listened to her.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He clamped his mouth shut and did his best not to glare. She wasn’t on his team, but she was Carina’s friend, a fellow Rogue, and on a team who was helping them train.
“Had a run-in with a noble,” he said once he had his temper under control.
“Is it something the guards are going to hear about?”
He shook his head. “What do you need?”
She watched him before speaking. “We talked it over, and Pyan wanted me to tell you we agree with Jackal. We’ll pass the word on to the teams we know. In a few days, every Runner will know not to bother trying to climb the chart.”
Tibs nodded and really didn’t want to ask the next part, but if he didn’t, it would be worse down the road. He knew it. “Do you know anyone who gets along with Don enough to inform him of what we’re doing?”
“You want that asshole in on the plan? He’s just going to tell the guild so he’ll look better in their eyes.”
“The guild can’t do anything to stop us. The rules don’t say we have to pay to go in. They just said it in a way that made us think it was a good idea. If we don’t tell Don, he’s going to cause trouble. Maybe he’s going to tell the nobles and if no one plays the game the guild set up, they’re going to change the rules.”
She thought about it. “I don’t know anyone who gets along with him. They either kiss his feet because they’re afraid of his essence, or they hate him because of something he’s done. But I know someone who’s cozy with his Rogue. It’s about the only way we can get him the message.”
“Don’t tell him it’s my team who came up with it. He might do something stupid just to make our lives difficult.”
“Is it about taking his archer?”
Tibs shrugged. “It’s one thing, but it started before that. The guy’s an asshole, he’s easy to hate and to piss off.”
“I’m happy I’ve managed to avoid it.” She took out a piece of folded paper and handed it to Tibs. “This is a list of teams Pyan thinks would be good to train with. She wants Jackal to check if there’s anyone there your team can’t work with.”
He stared at the paper. “Did you pay for that?”
Tandy chuckled. “I’m a Rogue, Tibs, why pay when I can take? All I need is a quick distraction and I have a page. Amid and Geoff know how to read and write.”
Tibs took it and unfolded it. The letters were scribbled in simple lines of charcoal, and the paper’s edges were uneven and frayed. “You broke it?”
“Even if I took it, it’s still valuable. I’m only handing you what you need for the information. The rest I’m keeping for when I need it.”
He nodded and folded it along the crease. “How many can you get before the merchants notice?” he asked. He really hated the idea that was forming.
“Not a lot, why?”
He bit his lower lips. “I need to think it over and check something. We might not need much.” Not if they were very careful.
“If you’re asking me to steal for you, Tibs, I’m going to have to be paid.”
He smiled at her. “If my idea works, I think you’ll decide it’s payment enough.”
* * * * *
Khumdar was the last to enter the room. Tibs was tired, it had taken longer to get his team together than he’d expected and all he wanted was sleep. Jackal pushed a stool to the cleric with a foot. The cleric’s bed was far from Tibs’s.
“We’re all here, Tibs,” Jackal said. “What’s this important idea you have?”
“First, I need to confirm something. When Harry gave the rules, he said that we can’t talk about the dungeon outside of it, right? I mean, that is how he said it.” He looked at the other expectantly.
“It’s how I remember it,” Jackal said.
“I think it is,” Carina agreed.
He looked at Mez.
“Oh, now my opinion matters?”
“Mez,” Jackal warned.
“Fine. Yes, that’s how I remember it being told.”
Tibs nodded. “Then I think I have an idea how we can learn about it from the teams who go in before us.”
“This should be good.” Jackal leaned forward.
Tibs took a slow breath. “We use the letters to pass the information among the teams.”
Jackal blinked. “Run that by me again?”
“We write the information down.”
Jackal shook his head. “There is no way I heard you correctly. It sounded like you suggested we read something. Tibs, I barely know my letters and you know less than I do. It’ll never work.”
“And the guards will punish us when they find out,” Mez said
Tibs shook his head. “They can’t. We won’t be breaking the rules.”
“We all know that when they said we can’t talk about it, they meant passing information along in any way.”
“How do we know that?” Carina asked. “How many Runners know their letters? The guild isn’t teaching them. As far as they’re concerned, other than sorcerers, no one has a reason to know them. Tibs you understand what that means, right?”
He nodded. “I’m no more happy about my idea than Jackal is.”
“I’m afraid I do not understand why you would be unhappy about an idea you have, Tibs,” Khumdar said. “It is an excellent idea. Use the definition of the rule rather than the intent.”
Tibs sighed. “But it means I have to learn my letters now. Me and Jack—”
“No.” The fighter was on his feet. “I am not learning those atrocious things.”
“Jackal, we have to,” Tibs said. “We can’t ask Carina and Khumdar to be the only ones doing this. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“It’s okay Tibs,” Carina said, and he stared at her. “I’ll start teaching you. I’m certain that once Jackal sees how useful it is, he’ll change his mind.”
Jackal snorted. “You will wither away from old age before I ever change my opinion on letters.” He looked at Tibs. “I really thought we were allies in that, Tibs. I can’t express to you how hurt I am that you are considering letting her teach you letters.”
“It’s what’s best for the team,” Tibs said resolutely.
* * * * *
Mez stepped up his bed, looking as unhappy as Tibs felt with not being allowed to go to sleep yet.
“You had no right speaking to Amelia that way.”
“Did you tell her?” Tibs countered in the same angry tone.
“Tell her what?”
“You know exactly what. You were going to tell her I have fire before I stopped you.”
“I’m sorry,” Mez said through grinding teeth. “I shouldn’t have, but I was—”
“A child.”
The archer glared at Tibs.
“Tell me that was what a man would do,” Tibs demanded.
Mez’s lips became lines as he took slow breaths. “It isn’t,” he finally said. “I am sorry.”
Tibs nodded. “Are you going to listen to me now, or are you going to get angry defending that noble?”
“I will listen,” Mez said, but his hands were closed in fists and trembled.
“I’ve seen nobles walk my street with smiles and sweets. They take kids with them, if they come back, there’s something missing in them. Something the street hadn’t been able to take. Sometimes they don’t even bother leaving the street to do what they want. They have guards clear an alley and we can all hear the kids scream. Some of them do things you’ll do with your special someone to them, even when they say no; when they scream to stop. Others, they take blades or fire, sometimes they just use their fists. I have never seen a noble step onto my street and help one of us.”
The archer’s red eyes were bright, he shook where he stood, and he radiated heat. But when he spoke, his voice was icy. “Amelia isn’t like that.”
“How do you know? Have you followed her? Have you seen her when she doesn’t have to worry about what others can do to her? This town is ours so long as we don’t let them make it theirs. If they do, they’re going to find a street and send us there and we’ll escape it.”
“We’re Runners. We face the dungeon. There’s nothing they can do that’s worse than that.”
“Except make you think they’re nice.”
Mez closed his eyes, and the room cooled. “I am sorry, Tibs. I am sorry you have seen the horrors you have at the hands of nobles. I believe you when you say they can be horrible. I believe that now. But I refuse to believe they are all like that. I refuse to believe it, because one day, I will bear the title of Noble, and I will never be like that.”
“That’s you, not—”
“No, Tibs. If I can be like that, others can too. Others are. People can’t be better if you refuse to give them the chance.”
“If I give them the chance, I know what they’ll do.”
Mez nodded. “Then I hope I will be able to show you different.” He opened his eyes. “And I want to thank you, Tibs.”
“For what?” he asked cautiously.
“The inferno is no longer burning. I understand what you meant about my element and the essence.” A flame traveled from one side of his body to the other. “I also understand why it isn’t something that can be explained beyond what you told me. Don’t cause Amelia trouble, Tibs. I’d asked that you don’t cause any of the nobles trouble, but some deserve all the trouble you can foster on them. Just leave Amelia out of it.”
“Is she your special girl?”
The archer shook his head. “She’s just a noble I can look up to. One that back home would make everyone proud. The kind of noble I wasn’t sure existed outside my home anymore.”
“Okay. If she doesn’t do anything in my town to hurt us. I won’t do anything to her either.”
Mez nodded. “I wish you a good sleep, Tibs.”
“You have fun shooting fire arrows.”
Mez seemed surprised at the comment, then looked at his hands. “I guess I will go find out.”
