Kael gestured to Tonio inside their new shelter, not the one he had wanted, but better than he had expected.
The rat-man leapt down the junk walls in the shade of the blankets he had just finished stretching over them.
"Good job." He tapped Tonio's puffed-up chest with one hand. The other closed around relic 78's dark frame and slid it off Tonio's face. "We've dealt with cold and unwanted attention, at least decently enough."
His gaze lingered on the cold ashes in the pit, on the gaps where wind crept through the walls, and on the space that could welcome a warm hearth. In dreams, perhaps.
He slid the round glasses against his nose and walked to the cloth hanging in the doorway. "But we're not halfway done if we want to survive on more than the rat meat you keep harping on. I'll find water and bread. In the meantime, listen to Els so you can become good friends."
Behind him, Tonio tilted his head at Els.
She crossed her arms, one eyebrow raised at his now unveiled features. Then, she observed the relic's mist twist Kael. No matter how she dissected his features, he looked like someone else. Taller, broader, with a scar slicing across his left cheek.
Kael didn't wait for her question. He pushed through the cloth and into the beggar streets.
Supply came first, but knowledge wasn't far behind. He didn't linger in any one spot for too long; his ears always perked up to catch the slightest useful information.
In front of the fake well, a woman in a tight dress, made too broad by her skinny limbs, whispered to another. "Heard what they say? The three gangs are gathering, and coal's about to blast."
The other woman nodded her soot-stained face rapidly. "Lord Garrick sent his men to the edge of our streets. Everyone heard them an hour ago. Silver for betrayal, they said, and even more for the brilliant ones. Coal's about to blast, Lydia, blast into war. I only hope they'll keep it away from us. Like they always have."
Kael kept his place in the queue, but his foot began to tap. An hour. Garrick's men had been here while he settled. Silver for betrayal. Betraying who? A war... The other gangs? Thin out their ranks with silver.
Viciously effective. Silver buys heart. But some resist its shine like Tonio's brothers. Garrick will borrow their friends' blades to strike them as he did with Tonio's brothers twenty years ago.
Giovanni and Riccardo's deformed faces flashed in his mind. Some relationships were more expensive than money and heavier than blood. Could he foster one, too? A bond where he wouldn't need to hide, to measure each word?
Have someone like his mom...
Perhaps. It was just... hard. The ledger was too precious.
It took a venomous voice to pull him out of his thoughts. "Get lost if ya're not buying!" A man tapped a ladle in his palm, then pointed it at Kael.
Lydia and her friend walked away, a canteen smaller than their palms clutched against their chests.
Shaking his head, Kael stepped forward. "How much?"
The man flung his long scarf over his shoulder. The hand holding the ladle pressed against his hip. "How much ya want?"
"Hum. Same as the two before me?" Kael's eyes trailed to canteens ranging in size from a kid's hand to as big as his forearm. "Can you tell me how much the others are worth? For future purchases, I mean."
"Two coppers for the small. Three for the medium. Five for the large." The man bent over the fake well, ladle scooping water.
But Kael didn't answer. He couldn't. Instead, his eyes widened.
Two copper crowns?! Even in Ashcoil Row, they sold twice as much at half price. It was bleeding the desperate. But he was in the beggar streets... Would a loaf of bread cost a silver then?
"Ya're wasting my time!"
At the man's call, Kael walked out of the queue. "I'll return later. Thank you for telling me."
The vendor snorted, but he was already gone, threading to the bakery. Scents of wood chips eclipsed that of flour. Bloated loaves stood on racks, dense as iron blocks, grey like factory steam.
His eyes trailed to the price tag. Four copper a loaf. Before the three men behind the counter could ask what he wanted, he scrambled out.
At the door, a man grumbled. "Tch. Let Theda strike you with the famine of war with your shitty bread."
Shitty indeed, but the only available. With those prices, he understood how the beggars were so much skinnier than he was. Water took everything. Bread was a luxury they had once or twice a week.
Should he buy in Ashcoil Row and sell here? Good bread would cost one copper and sell for five. Four in profit. Worth the attention? Not if the beggars tore his throat for it. They weren't the most dangerous.
His gaze trailed to the blade jutting out of the cloak of a man standing by the door. This bakery held its monopoly for reasons. He'd be a fool to think he could steal buyers from it.
The brothel and shop were the same, owned by small, thriving groups unaffiliated with the three gangs.
The only building that made him pause was the old tannery on his way back. No light filtered from the barred windows or the door.
Disused? Odd for a building three houses broad. He filed it away.
With a better understanding of the beggar streets' economy and powers after two hours of analysis, he removed relic 78 and stepped into his home.
At the rustle of the cloth, Els rose from the fire lit in the pit. Tonio followed beside her, his red eyes sparkling.
"Look!" He shoved three long tin cans in front of Kael with a grin. Scent of Els' cheap tallow filled the shelter.
Kael picked the cans, a brow raised at Els.
"Tonio helped me. A bit of waste, but he's getting the hang of it." She patted Tonio's head, who chuckled with pride.
"Candle!" Tonio pressed on the bottom of the can, sliding a candle out. He scraped a G with his nail on the soft surface. "Pray Kraghor. Mercy Giovanni."
The rat-man waved the candle with such candor that Kael bit his lip. No god would ever earn his faith, but he wished Giovanni would rest in peace with Riccardo and his parents.
It was Els who broke the silence with a question. "Did you learn something?"
"Bad news, and worst news. What do you want to know first?" Kael sat against the wall.
"The bad ones?"
"Everything costs four times more than in Ashcoil Row," Kael shrugged at her wide green eyes. "We'll match the rate."
"A single candle for a copper?" Els rushed in front of him.
"Yeah, but we can't sell too many. There are rules we're not familiar with, and people who'll make us respect them. On a brighter note, we can get water for ourselves from Lana's bakery."
"Sounds good. What's the worst news?"
"The Black Cask's preparing a war against the Ragged Crown and the Sump Dogs." Els covered her mouth, and he patted her trembling shoulder. "Two dead thugs aren't worth war to Garrick. It's not your fault, or mine for that matter. Still, he sent men to the edge of the street. We might not be as safe as I thought."
"W-What do we do?" Els lowered her hands to clasp them in front of her chest.
"If the war grows big enough to reach us? We'll see when it happens. For now, we learn to survive here. And more importantly, you learn to use your truth. It works on memories of yourself, right? Can you record a new one?"
While he twirled relic 78's frame between his fingers, Els closed her eyes. Two deep breaths later, her shoulders relaxed, and three later, a deep furrow creased her brow. After a minute, she shook her head.
"The memory of that night's still there, but I can't change it. I can try to use it—" she interrupted herself. "It'll bring back my dress, so I'd rather not."
"Use it only when necessary, especially since you can't feel what you paid. It might be something you don't know you had, like Tonio, or even something you pay for each use. We still have so much to discover..." Kael sighed. "I wish you could use it to bring Tonio back."
Els' eyes drifted to the happy rat-man, then sharpened. "Is it possible?"
"You're the only one who can answer that. I hope it is, though. The other method I'm working on sucks. Well, I told you what his brother became." Kael pinched the bridge of his nose.
Truth mutation was the answer he sought for himself. The process was delicate, and the mutation had to come from a vow stronger than the one it replaced. Too complex for Tonio's mind. No, his best chance was for Els to capture Tonio's memory from before his rat-man days and bring him back.
But how could she remember someone else's past?
Another sigh, interrupted this time by Els' determined voice. "I'll learn. For him. For you, if you're ever wounded."