It was a slow day in the market of Charib square, which was a good thing. Well, not for the merchants obviously, but for Nina who was eating an apple she’d swiped a couple minutes prior, it was a very good thing. She delighted in the acidic rush as juice trickled out of the fruit into her mouth, a huge smile brightening her face as she munched as slowly as she could in an attempt to enjoy the sensation longer.

"Aaah, so good." She cooed, enjoying the view of the square the very high edge of the fountain she was sitting on gave her.

She’d learned to climb very quickly in the last two months, she’d had to. Whether it was to escape pursuit or to find shelter somewhere that wasn’t wet due to the perpetually rainy weather that was customary of Spring in the capital of the Virtuous Empire, being able to climb the featureless stone buildings of the Worthless Districts was a necessary skill for the numerous children that were left to their own devices in the streets of Rhea.

As she ate, her gaze wandered around on the people below: some well-off worthless showing off their wealth by shopping around for things they could buy a tenth of the price two streets away from their homes, slaves alone or in small groups out doing commissions for their masters and even quite a few citizens mingling with the plebs, overall a very different crowd to what was usually seen in the markets of the Districts.

The reason for that was its location: Charib Square was situated right at the entrance of a Citizen Enclave, walled parts of the city where entry was forbidden to the worthless. Despite the massive difference in population between the two parts of the city, both the Kwilla Enclave and the Seventh District were of a similar size. After all, you couldn’t expect citizens to live packed in small apartments as the vast majority of worthless did. These were people of worth, their person had inherent value and even the poorest of citizens lived in an actual house. Something that only the wealthiest of the worthless could afford.

The proximity from the Enclave made for a very appealing profit opportunity, what self respecting merchant wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to sell low quality products at insanely inflated prices to rich people who didn’t know any better?

However, it was on a member of the sparse crowd that was neither a merchant nor a wealthy customer that Nina’s eyes stopped. A monk of Order, one of a small group that patrolled between the stalls. Their puma-faced mask impassibly watched the crowd, looking for the thieves that inevitably operated in places like this one.

They were especially vigilant on slow days like this one, where the bored merchants vigilance would be low as they dedicated their energy and attention to attracting customers and the wealthy patrons of the market would be distracted by the merchants diverse and often noisy attempts at getting their attention.

The monk, seemingly feeling her gaze upon them turned and raised their head to look straight at her. She flashed them a cocky grin and bit one last time into the remains of her stolen apple. She wasn’t worried, in a month of theft in this market they’d never even come close to catching her.

There was a good reason for that, operating here was risky for worthless thieves. A lot more risky than in other markets deeper in the Districts where the only people stopping you from swiping a merchant’s good were the merchant themselves. It meant that most people willing to take that risk aimed for a higher return than goods you could find anywhere in the Districts. And that meant cutting purses and picking pockets, and while the monks were fixated on the crowd looking for hands wandering where they shouldn’t they weren’t watching the alluring street food or the colourful textiles spread all over the market.

Nina casually threw the apple’s core to the ground before letting herself hang down the edge of the fountain and dropping down to the floor. She crouched upon hitting the ground, clenching her jaw briefly to bear the sharp pain the impact caused to the naked sole of her feet.

She sat for a bit to rub them with her hands until the pain passed before getting up to survey her hunting grounds, determined to find herself a dinner before dark. She had plenty of time and so she leisurely wandered between the stands, discreetly perusing the food on display and evaluating her chances at getting some discreetly.

It didn’t take much usually, the lucky hit would be a seller having left his stall to fetch customers but that didn’t happen much given that most foodstuff around here was street food that the stall’s owner had to continuously cook.

She relished in the delightful mix of smells of spices, grilled snake, boiled apple and hot bread that filled the air as she kept wandering, it was one of the reason she really liked coming here. The sheer concentration of street food sellers gave the place a wonderfully enticing smell that was only matched by other similarly situated markets in the other Enclaves of the city and only surpassed at the Fair itself in the Old City.

Ah the Fair, the things she could eat if she could steal from the merchants there! Unfortunately the Fair was very important to the city and as such the Mayor had proper guards there instead of Order monks. Partly because the virtue’s clergy’s methods tended to lack subtlety but mostly because the Fair attracted quite a few foreigners who did not pray to the Virtues and did not take well to being brutalized by people who did.

The Mayor’s office also lent runes to ward the stalls and shops against any undue *borrowing* of their goods. Stealing at the Enclave’s markets was a bit reckless, stealing at the Fair was downright stupid. That didn’t stop the occasional fool who thought himself better than he was to try his hand at it and get it cut off for his troubles. The mayoral guard did not mess around once they’d quietly dragged you out of sight.

She was pulled out of her reverie by an argument that started a few stalls ahead of her. She smiled at the sight of a spice bread vendor stepping away from his stall while cracking his fists as he got ready to get down to business with one of the market’s patrons.

She approached the altercation, pretending to be part of the circle of curious bystanders that was already forming around the two shouting men. She walked around it, seemingly interested as the merchant threw his fist right in the face of the client who answered him in kind with a furious cry, and right as she passed in front of the merchant’s stall she simply grabbed one of the freshly cooked round pieces of bread and walked away.

She bit into the fried dough, letting the spicy cream inside fill her mouth with a coo of delight as she relished the slowly building heat on her tongue and palate. She walked away calmly, enjoying the stolen food even as a pair of monks of Order rushed to the scene to break up the fight.

She tried to look as inconspicuous and leisurely as she could as the onlookers hurriedly dispersed before the monks got tired of asking them to. Nina smiled internally, now all she needed to do was walk away in the confusion and none would be the wiser.

It was so easy, stealing from grown ups. They thought themselves to be so much better just because they were older and that always proved to be their downfall. Its like they couldn't even imagine that they could be outwitted by a kid. That somehow just because she was smaller and younger she was some kind of stupid person who...

Her train of thought was interrupted when she was suddenly grabbed by the collar of her shirt, lifted up and harshly thrown to the ground.

Before she could make sense of what was happening through the sudden and intense pain something hard hit her in the flank and she sprawled out on the ground as a pained cry escaped her lungs. She tried to breathe in and found she couldn’t, every small movement of her torso was answered by a sharp pain around her ribs, she tried to move her limbs and only managed a slight tremble.

"Well, well, well, look what we’ve got here. A little rat taken red-handed, no getting away this time you little shit." The shock passed and she rolled on her flanks, her limbs felt as though they were made of jelly and every breath hurt. The half-eaten spicy bread entered her vision, along with the hem of a red robe and the end of a bludgeon.

"You must have thought you were so clever. Having us running after you every time one of those dumbass merchant cried out after a thief. Did you think we’d forget what you looked like?" The monk kicked her in the gut as he said that and she bit down on her bottom lip so hard that it bled to keep herself from crying out again, she knew she had to. Even though it felt like she was more in pain than she had ever been, she knew that crying out would make it even worse, it always had with Doros.

"Well to be honest, maybe the others did forget. We get so many worthless parasites like you that its easy to forget your faces. But not me, I lost you twice and believe me I made sure to sear that disgusting smug face of yours in my memory the second time. Couldn’t believe my luck when you just popped up in front of me without a care in the world." She weakly curled up on herself and he bludgeoned her flank from above once more, hitting her on her arm this time. She repressed another cry of pain, all she had to do was stay silent, protect her head and wait until he got bored of her. She just needed to stay strong for a little more she told herself.

"Now, let me tell you what’s about to happen. We’re gonna bring you back to the temple and you’re gonna tell the Virtue, may she ward us from Chaos, you’re sorry and won’t do it again. Then, a priestess is gonna burn the divine forgiveness of the Virtue herself on your skin, your hands since your sin’s stealing. Now I know your kind and we both know that by tomorrow you’ll be back to stealing, you worthless ticks can’t help yourselves. And there are two things that I really fucking hate: blasphemy and little rats like you who make me run around after them. So I’m going to make sure you can’t do either of those things."

So saying he stepped on her knee pinning it to the ground. He bent firmly grabbing her ankle as he did and then he pulled. And this cry she couldn’t hold, nor could she hold the one after that or any of the ones that followed.

Nina rasped in abject pain, her throat burned as solitary tears rolled down her cheeks. It hurt, it hurt so much, she couldn't move her leg, it hurt.

She'd shouted and shouted until the only thing that could come out of her throat were unintelligible, quiet groans of pain. She'd cried as well, so much so in fact that her tears now struggled to come out. Both her eyes and throat burned painfully as well but she could barely feel that compared to the mind numbing currents of atrocious agony that coursed throughout her body from her broken knee.

A few more minutes that felt like hours passed by and she'd gotten used to the pain a little. Even the tiniest of movement still sent sharp pangs of suffering through her leg but if she was careful not to move and grit her teeth she could bear with it. She blinked to clear the blurry veil her incessant tears had pulled over her vision and her surroundings slowly came back into her awareness.

The two men who'd been fighting were laying on the ground, bruises covering their faces and arms pinned behind their backs by the weight of a monk's knee each. A dozen monk surrounded the area and the stalls nearby had been vacated. The monk who'd hurt her, who she recognized by his silhouette as the one who'd stared at her when she'd been sitting on the fountain, was being berated by another monk a couple of meters away from her.

"I don't care what she did or how she did it, what in the Virtue's name made you think that breaking her leg was warranted?" An outraged female voice came from behind the mask of the significantly smaller monk. It would have made for a mildly comical sight had Nina been in the mood to consider such things, currently she was more concerned with distracting herself from the pain by listening to the conversation.

"Sister superior, she-"

"I don't care what she did, whatever it was it is not in our prerogative to judge. It is the Virtue's, are you saying your judgement is above that of the Virtue herself brother?"He took a step back at these words, his previous nonchalent slouch straightening hard enough to make a ruler look round as his tone instantly went from spoiled child being unfairly punished to supplicant on the way to the pyre.

"I... no! Of course not, I would never! Never in my pitful and inconsequential life would I dare to have the arrogance to think that! You must believe me sister superior! It was never my intention to put my flawed judgement above the Virtue's, may she ward us from Chaos." He sounded almost desperate as he stumbled over his words and Nina found herself feeling a slight twinge of satisfaction at seeing her tormentor being so terrified by someone who was a full head smaller. It was swiftly extinguished however when the woman's glacial tone warmed up at his apology.

"I believe you brother, it was an honest mistake borne of the will to serve her Grace. I am sure she appreciate your devotion, however misplaced it was." Nina rolled her eyes and instantly regretted it, they felt as though they had been scraped row by her flood of tears. She could feel the burn of her reddened eyes now that she'd gotten used to the pain in her leg.

"Thank you sister superior! Thank you, I will not err in this way again." Nina scoffed in her mind. Yeah right and tomorrow the Calamities would turn over a new leaf and repent.

The sister superior briefly looked to her left and right and lowered her voice so that only Nina, the two men who'd been fighting and the nearby monks could hear. "No but seriously don't do that shit here you fucking moron. This is not the Districts, there are citizens here, some noble slaves even. What do you think they'll gossip about now when they go back to their homes and masters? The newest seasoning of riversnake or the girl that cried bloody murder for fifteen fucking minutes in the middle of the market? Uh? What are you going to do if they complain to the mayor and she pushes for oversight in the markets or, Virtue forbid, mayoral guards in the Districts?"

"I'm sorry sister superior, it won't happen again." That seemed to have really shaken him by the tone of his voice and the slump of his shoulders. Then again, given their brutality, it was not really a surprise that the cult of Order was not very keen on any kind of oversight.

"I certainly hope so, also next time break the arm instead of the leg. Now she'll have to be carried to the temple since she certainly isn't going to walk there." She sighed and started ordering people around. "Brother Apu, brother Huance you two carry the girl back to the temple, make sure her legs don't touch the ground on the way. Brother Cyris, sister Carmen, escort these two morons on the ground. Rest of you back to your rounds."

Nina felt two pairs of hand grabbing her by the armpits and lifting her off the ground. She repressed a pained yelp her leg fell limp beneath her by biting her lip.