Page 10 of The Barbarian King's Assassin (Magic and Kings 1)

I hated dealing with them. I could have cried in ennui, a dangerous thing because I’d been known to kill when melancholy. At least Jrijori didn’t actually expect me to sell anything. I couldn’t bring myself to show the slightest enthusiasm for the ruby-encrusted gold blade that wouldn’t even cut a hunk of meat.

A few days after we opened, my attention was piqued by the entry of a rather small individual. Child-sized and yet a peek at his face showed that of a man, his green-hued features lean and sharp, kind of like his pointed ears. He slunk around the store, touching all the wares. I didn’t like it. Didn’t like him.

And I was bored.

I vaulted over the counter, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him to the back. I slammed him into a wall, surprising him.

“What do you want?”

He countered with a question. “How are you so freakishly strong?”

“Why are you so small?” My riposte. Short and slender, yet not a child, nor a dwarf who tended to be on the stocky side.

“Let go of me.” He seemed to think he could order me around.

“No. I’m new in town and looking for action. You look like someone who knows all about that.” I set him down on his feet.

“I don’t like your implication.” He crossed his arms and attempted a haughty mien.

“And I don’t like people avoiding my questions. Want to bet you fit under the sluice grill for our latrine system?” Living in the city meant access to certain infrastructures such as plumbing, which offered a great way to flush away evidence.

“What do you want?” he sulked.

“Information.”

“What kind?” his sly reply.

“The kind I’ll bet you know about.”

“Are you implying something?” He tried to appear indignant.

“We both know you’re a crook.” I’d worked with enough with them to recognize one. “So cut the shit. Where does your ilk find jobs?”

He might have argued more, only a knife began dancing between my fingers. As he followed the hypnotic movement of my blade, he swallowed hard. “Anything that skirts the local laws is usually handled in the Nineteenth Station.”

“What’s that?”

“You must be new. It’s part of canal system under the city. There’s caves and tunnels running all over. Back in the day, the river used to run fast enough that boats could travel quicker than people could walk.”

A water system under the city. Interesting to know. “What happened to it?”

“Boats started disappearing with their passengers. The baron of the time closed down the stations.”

“But people still use them,” I mused aloud.

“At their own peril.”

How interesting, and finally something to lift me out of my boredom.

I let the fellow go with a warning that if anyone robbed us, he’d regret it. Not sure he believed me. He’d better, or I would make an example of him.

I easily located the underground canal system and quickly learned how to navigate it. Basically, pay someone to pole their skiff where I wanted to go. In this case, the Nineteenth Station, which proved to be a chaotic place where illegal activities banned by the barony ruling Varyy thrived. Sex acts. Drugs. And more violent things such as hit jobs.

I wandered until I came to a table manned by a fellow with more rolls than a baker. On the board over his head were a few listings comprised of a reward amount followed by a brief description of the job.

“I’ll take that one.” I pointed to one that wanted a certain merchant to have an accident that would pass scrutiny.

“Why are you telling me?” the attendant muttered.