477 The King and the Witch (1/2)

A small body crashed into his hip from his blindside; Wind felt the telltale touch of a swift hand darting into his cloak.

”Sorry, Mister!” With a face covered in dirt and a shock of dark hair, the street urchin apologized quickly and then sprinted away with the group she was with.

Wind smirked at the back of the kid; a group of them had been working the market for the last hour. He wasn't good with ages, but he guessed them to be between 12 and 15. ”That's just a loan; he'll come back when he wants.”

The urchin fled down the only alleyway on the south side of the market. The rest of the following group splintered off one by one to keep an eye on the backtrail.

Token watched as his gang slowly filtered into the hideout a few minutes later. ”Let's tally up so we can give Uncle his cut.”

”He's not our uncle.” The youngest of the group was a snaggled toothed girl with black hair. She was known as Witchie because of her having one brown eye and one blue one. As the only female in the group, the others went out of their way to protect her identity. Orphan girls didn't last long on the street; they almost always fell prey to miscreants and were either killed or sold off.

Token shrugged. ”You'll follow my lead, or I'll box your ears for you.” As the oldest, he had no problems disciplining his group. He hated it, but it was a necessary part of keeping everyone safe. ”You can't just do whatever you like.”

The group members started tossing out assorted items, a few managed to get money pouches, but most were watches, rings, or small things people kept in their pockets.

Token frowned at Witchie, who hadn't placed anything in the middle. ”You marked that angry-looking man. Don't tell me he didn't have anything; his armor alone was worth more than anything in the market.”

Witchie held out one grimy hand; a tiny gecko stood motionless on her palm as its dark eyes scanned the group. ”He had a lizard. He's cute, right? Look at his little crown.”

The group closed in, staring at the gecko in question. It scampered up Witchie's arm and stood on her shoulder.

Token swore under his breath. ”It ain't worth nothing so that we won't show Uncle.”

Witchie smiled happily. ”Maybe he's a Prince.”

Token laughed as he divided their bounty. Half to Uncle and half to them. ”Kiss him then; maybe you'll turn into a princess.”

”Stay here with the Prince while I make the delivery to Uncle.” Token waved to his gang and then exited their hideout. He pulled up his mask and broke into a run. His small group of pickpockets didn't often have anything to smile about. Maybe the tiny lizard would bring them luck.

An hour later, he knocked on the back door of the Flaming Swan Tavern; an instant later, it was pushed open by a thin, bald man with a pistol belt. A slender hand rested on the pearl-handled handgun. ”Come in, Token.”

Token handed him the bag, pausing in the doorway; he was never asked to come in. He stepped in obediently and closed the door behind him.

Uncle dumped the burlap bag on the table and quickly went through the items. ”Not bad... your team is doing good work.”

Token nodded in agreement. ”Thank you, Uncle.”

The bald man scooped everything back in the bag before looking up. Uncle had the darkest eyes anyone had ever seen. They looked like tiny pools of obsidian. ”Tomorrow morning, I want you to return here with Witchie.”

Token knew a moment of dread but tried to keep his voice level. ”Witchie? Why do you want to see him? He's one of my worse pickers.”

Uncle scoffed at the gang leader. ”Don't try to fuck with me, boy. Any fool can see that Witchie is a girl. Tomorrow morning... Or else.”

Token swallowed his fear and forced a nod. ”As you say, first thing in the morning.”

When Token returned to the hideout a short while later, the entire group knew that something was wrong. As he always did, Token told them the truth.

There was a long moment of silence while everyone took in the news. The tiny girl was the first to speak.

”If I try to run, he'll take it out on the gang. I'll go with you.” Witchie stared at the ground when she spoke; although she was scared, this was the only family she'd ever known.

Token shook his head. ”Time to disband. I'll take Witchie and leave the city. We can all scatter. Uncle doesn't have the manpower to track us down.”

”No.”

”I'm staying with Witchie.”

”Not going to do it.”

”Let's just kill that rotten bastard.”

One by one, they gave their opinions; Witchie sniffed loudly while trying not to cry. ”I can't let you guys risk that for me.”