Valkyrie Black

Chapter 5: Survival

Valkyrie slipped down the street in search of a merchant selling lemons. She passed several spice shops, a textile selling thick carpets, and even several bakeries with fresh bread on display. As she neared the docks, the smell of fish began to overpower the other smells. Long stalls were set up and strong men tossed huge fish down the lines of iced containers, hollered prices, and haggled with men in aprons.

Across the street, Val found her target. There were several stands set up with various fruits and vegetables. One had a heaping stack of bright yellow lemons.

She strode up to the man and bluntly asked, “How much for fifteen lemons?”

The thin man was meticulously stacking his wares and made sure every lemon had its place. He had short brown hair that brushed to the side, and wore a perfectly clean white apron around his neck.

When he heard her voice he looked around without noticing her.

“Down here!” Val said, tugging on his apron.

“Hu? Oh, my dear. Did you ask for fifteen? What on earth are you going to do with fifteen of my lemons? Are you running errands for one of the merchants?”

“I want to sell lemonade,” Val replied simply.

The man spluttered, “If you have coin, I suppose that is as good a use as any but surely someone like you would rather buy food than such an expensive drink. Your family waiting for you?

“I don’t want to drink it, I want to sell it!”

Runes flashed before her eyes again and began to translate to letters.

[ Lvl 1: Barter subskills available ]

[ Available new skills: negotiation and haggle ]

Val barely thought as she said aloud, “Negotiate.”

“Hu?”

[ Negotiation skill increased ]

An idea came to her then. “You are trying to sell more lemons right?”

“Yea, that is kinda the point of me being here.”

“People don’t exactly sample a lemon do they?”

The man scratched his chin, “No, you don’t really eat them raw. I mostly wait for the baker to come over and sell to him.”

“How much would you sell me lemons for?”

The man humored Val and replied, “My lemons are specially imported. It’s the end of the season so they are the last of the crop for a while. It’s a dret for two of these beauties.”

Val’s jaw dropped in disbelief. The librarian had been right about them being expensive but even she had been off on the cost. Only two lemons meant she would need over 7 dret, likely 8 drets just for her lemons! She thought fiercely, her little mind considering several possibilities.

Finally she smiled, “I have an idea. How about I deliver a basket of lemons to the baker for you. If I do that, can I get fifteen lemons for five drets?”

“Three drets for delivering my goods? I can give you one dret off for delivering them to the baker. The price would still be seven dret.”

Val considered before asking, “Do you know where I can get some sugar?”

The change of topic startled the merchant but he said, “I suppose the confections baker two stalls up would have some.”

“Does he buy lemons from you?”

“Yes, he and the bread baker both do. why?”

“I will deliver the goods to both. So that is worth two drets, right?”

The man chuckled. “Fine. But I expect you to give me six drets now before you run off with my goods.”

Val nodded and held out a hand to shake.  The merchant grinned and shook her hand before accepting her coins. Val was suddenly nervous. Now that she had handed over the money, her plan had to work. She only had a silver coin left. The merchant filled a large basket and eyed her strangely as she hefted the load.

“you sure you can handle that lass?”

“I will manage.” She waddled off, arms splade wide as she headed for her first stop. The bread baker eyed her as she walked in but acknowledged that she must be an apprentice, handing her the money for the load without fuss.

“These will make excellent lemon muffin!”

She ran back with her purse bulging with drets. When the merchant saw her she grinned broadly. “I almost didn’t expect you to return. Here is your next one.” He refilled her basket and she struggled to carry it to the confection baker's door. Her tiny frame sagged against the door as she reached for the handle. Someone opened the door knocking her basket over and spilling lemons everywhere.

“Out of the way street trash! Gah, the filth down here keeps multiplying,” a man said as he pushed past her.

Val scrambled to pick up her lemons before they were trampled and hurried inside. The confections baker turned out to be a woman in her early twenties. She ran around the room restocking things before rushing back to her kitchen. A fine mist of sugar and flower hung in the air.

“Those my lemons? About time. The merchant has kept me waiting long enough. Well come along, in the back.” She huffed at Val. When she went to inspect the fruit she scoffed, “Is he trying to sell me second-hand lemons? I need the rind intact! Gah.”

“Sorry miss. The man who just left knocked them out of my hands.”

The baker went pale and glanced around before lowering her voice, “Don’t be blaming Mr. Thomas. He owns half the shops on this street including this one. He is a very rich man.”

“Just cause he’s rich doesn’t mean he isn’t still the one who did it,” Val said defensively.

The baker chuckled, “Girl, you brave or just naive? That’s not how the world works. Those with money and power can buy their way out of anything and stick the blame on whoever they want. Have enough power, you can do without money to an extent. Have enough money, you can buy power. If you have both, you can stab anyone on this street and walk away without a care in the world.” She sighed as she took in Val’s dirty face and the blood-stained skirts.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Val.”

“Short for Valarie I guess?”

“Valkyrie.”

“Valkryie? That is an interesting name. Well, Val, my name is Maggie. Why don’t you help me wash these up?”

“umm… Maggie… I am trying to earn coin. I need to get the merchant back his coin so I can buy my own lemons.”

“Oh? And what will you do with lemons?”

“Have a lemonade stand!”

“I see. I am guessing you will need sugar as well?”

“I, well. There is that.”

“Ok, help me wash these up and I will see if I can send you back with any sugar. I got a fresh shipment in this morning, so I have some I can sell. How does one dret sound for a pound?”

Val nodded. Maggie gave her clothes and grungy silver locks another look. “If you are interested, I could use some help around here. I could pay you in sugar in that is what you want to do. I need you here during the night. Perhaps we can get you some better clothes.”

“Night? You bake all night?” Val’s eyes lit up. Getting a job would be a consistent coin, and being here at night would mean she wouldn’t be out in the cold this winter. Hesitantly she asked, “When do you sleep?”

Maggie laughed as they scrubbed the lemons in a sink, “Good question. I have an assistant who comes in from noon to dusk. He leaves when the street dies down and gives me a chance to catch a few hours sleep. But by 2 in the morning, I am up prepping for the day.”

“Could I earn coin for my work, and then buy sugar off you as needed?”

“Hmm, so let you work until morning, then let you sell your lemonade in the late morning early afternoon? I suppose that could work. Ok here is the coin for the merchant. And here, one pound of sugar. Let see how you do today then we can talk details later.”

Val made her way back to the lemon merchant, who was doing his best to attract customers, but seemed to lack the ability to be heard over the others hawking their wares.

“Ah the little princess returns. You have my coin?”

“Your coin and sugar!” she said holding up a bag.

“Hu. Well I guess we can see what you can do.” He reached behind his stall and pulled out a large container of water. “think this will help?”

Val got to work and soon had her first batch of lemonade made up. It wasn’t long before people began heeding their calls for a fresh drink with as hot as the mid-morning sun was getting.

“A Dret and a half! Fresh lemonade!” Called Val in her young lilting voice. Her call was so different from that of the gruff men around her that people started to come by and check out her stand.

As many people paid with two drets and got their cup of lemonade, many stood around awkwardly before wandering off muttering to themselves. Others stopped to talk with the merchant who was delighted at the new influx of business the lemonade stand brought to his wares.

That evening Val made her way back to her fort five streets away. She had earned 32 drets off her little project. After her expenses, she still had over 20 new drets. While she might be able to beg for ten to twelve, this new business of her’s would get her far more. Before she had left for the day, she had stopped in to see Maggie and proudly showed her earnings.

Maggie had both congratulated and scolded her. “Don’t you know the gang kids will steal that from you? Here take off your shoe.”

Maggie exchanged her drets for silver and placed one silver in each shoe, securing it near the toe. “It’s not comfortable, but so long as your shoes fit, that will keep some of your coin safe. Now here, you carry this one.” Maggie handed her a single dret. “Come see me tomorrow night. I will have a place for you to nap and get you up for work if you are willing.”

It was a good thing that Maggie had warned her because as she entered the street corner near her fort, the four kids from earlier spotted her. The oldest boy ran up to her, “Hey girlie, weres our coin?”

“I didn’t beg, and wasn’t on your corner, so I don’t have anything for you,” Val declared hotly, balling her fist around the dret Maggie had given her.

“What? No coin? Do you know what happens to kids who don’t produce?” The others surrounded her and she became very nervous.

Suddenly the old boy’s fist connected with her cheek and she fell to the ground, stars dancing in her vision. As her head hit the gound, her grip slipped and the dret rolled out onto the dirt covered road.

“Ah, I see you were holding out on us!” The boy picked up her dret and as she looked up from the ground, red outlined his body, flashing in warning. Before she could react, his boot connected with her tiny frame. She gasped as the air was violently shoved out of her lungs.

“Don’t produce, you get beat. Try to hide coin from us, and you may not wake up tomorrow,” the boy said with a ruthless laugh. He kicked her hard in the stomach again, causing her to throwup what little food she had managed to eat that day.

[Thread assessed]

[ Weakness validated. Optimal targeting locked.]

As Val stared up at the boy with blurry eyes, she saw a spot glow at the base of the boy's skull. As he and the others turned to leave her, she coughed up a mouth full of blood. Red coated her vision, and she gripped her dagger that had been hidden along her leg.

[Pain nerves deactivated]

She lunged at the retreating boy, the blade sliding through his flash and scraping along bone. His body slumped, suddenly lifeless, dragging her blade down with it. The others took another few steps before they turned to see their leader dead, Val clutching a bloody blade as she slowly withdrew it from the corpse.

“Run before the Valkyrie chooses you.” Val’s voice had none of her sing song lilt that it normally carried.

The kids turned and fled, leaving the corpse of their leader behind in the street.

Suddenly the pain slammed back into Val and she collapsed to the ground, blood frothing on her lips.

[ Self Analysis Initiated ]

[ Injuries: 3 cracked ribs. Punctured lung. Internal bleeding, mild concussion. ]

[ Survival 40% likely. Immediate Medical Intervention needed. ]

[ Self-repair initiated… ]

[ Insufficient power ]

[ Most critical injury: Lung, bleeding. Minimal power required ]

Val gasped as something moved from her spine and under her skin, wrapping her ribs as it prodded at her insides. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled the last meters to her fort home. As she was crawling in, she gasped, seeing that her mother’s corpse was gone. Someone had found it and removed it. Her own fort had been ransacked but was still mostly intact. She crawled and passed out on her makeshift bed.