chin up like arrogant royalty. From the way she sat with a rigidly straight spine while smoothing the extravagant pools of her emerald green skirt over her lap, one might think she should be seated on a throne in a castle right now, ordering about a kingdom. But no, lucky me, I was the only subject she liked to boss around. And we were far and gone away from any kind of opulence that could even resemble a castle.
The back alley we occupied smelled pungently of decaying cabbage—wait, make that horse shit, since her mount was currently lifting its tail and defecating between us.
Melaina sent the horse a dry, unimpressed glance from atop the broken wagon that lay turned on its side where she’d perched herself, and she sniffed. “Rude.” Then she dismissed the animal with an arch of her eyebrows and turned her haughty expression back to me. “The goal is to sell all the bread, not give it away.”
“I know that,” I muttered. “And I only gave away one loaf.” One. But she acted as if I’d dispersed our entire stock without any compensation whatsoever.
“To a filthy street urchin,” Melaina argued. “Making all the other little ragamuffins loitering about and watching think it perfectly acceptable to take their own free loaves as well. Seriously, Quilla. How could you not notice when five more were stolen right out from under your nose?”
With a growl, I unceremoniously tossed our bag full of wares I planned to sell in the market into the pushcart beside me and ground my teeth.
The problem wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed the robberies; I just hadn’t put all that much effort—or any effort at all—into retrieving the stolen merchandise. But the kids had been so thin and half-starved to death. Being out the price of six stupid loaves wouldn’t sink us. And it had probably fed them for a week.
“We’re not running a charity,” my aunt lectured. “That profit is our livelihood. How the hell are we supposed to go anywhere after this with no funds?”
“We still turned a profit,” I argued, but not too heatedly because our so-called profit hadn’t been impressive. At all. It might cover the cost of meals for us, but it wouldn’t come close to paying for any kind of room and board along the roads. We’d have to sleep out on the ground in the open air and around a campfire every night.
And neither of us enjoyed camping.
Melaina cried out her frustration and tossed her hands in the air. “I swear, you are the most useless, incompetent—”
“I just don’t see why I have to vend the bread,” I said.
Fisting my hands down at my sides, I lifted my brows at my aunt and waited for an answer to that. I hated working in the market. She knew this. I despised crowds and people and price haggling. Melaina was the one who adored attention and being among the masses, somehow sweet-talking her customers into paying double her asking prices. Working the market-side of things was her skill. Not mine.
“Because you stabbed the last gem dealer we sought in the thigh, dearest, and their kind talk amongst themselves. You and I both know you won’t be welcomed back into any of their shops with open arms again, not after that stupid stunt. So now I must be the one to talk to the jewelers, and you have to sell the bread.”
Stupid stunt? Pfft.
“I gave him fair warning.” He really shouldn’t have been so surprised by the wound. “I thought I explained myself very clearly when I told him he’d meet the sharp end of my knife if he didn’t keep his hands to himself.” Shrugging, I demanded, “How am I in the wrong for keeping my word?”
It showed I was rather honest and trustworthy, if you wanted my opinion. I meant what I said, and I did what I promised. All good qualities.
Wasn’t like I killed the guy.
“People don’t like to be stabbed,” Melaina felt the need to explain. “For any reason.”
“Then he should’ve kept his damn hands to himself,” I grumbled. “Like I told him.”
“Oh, mercy.” With an exasperated breath, she rolled her eyes. “You’re such a prude. Tupping him wouldn’t have killed you, you know. In fact, getting laid every once in a while might help with some of those anger issues you have.”
“You think?” I arched a censorious eyebrow. “Then why aren’t you the happiest woman alive?”
She narrowed her eyes and pointed. “Don’t test me, you little bitch.”
I sniffed.