This really wasn't how Seraphina wanted to spend the evening, but it wasn't the first time she'd spent it in this particular fashion. She drew her knees up to her chin and leaned against the stone wall, glancing again at the inebriated half-orc in the adjacent cell through the bars that separated them. I've seen him before. More than once. He was pacing restlessly, kicking at the bars while muttering and cursing. Based on the traffic in and out of the jail, it was a busy night in Waterdeep.
Sod this. She let her head fall back against the wall, and briefly considered moving to the cot before abandoning the idea. I don't need to add bugs to my list of problems tonight. I'm going to miss my connection. Damn it! Missing this meeting tonight is going to cause problems.
I really need to start meeting in better taverns. At least her jailer had taken into consideration that she was a tiny halfling woman when they'd put her into the cell by herself.
The sudden, loud clang of the half-orc's cell door made her jump. He'd laced his huge fingers through the bars on the front of the cell and started shaking the door. "Since when's a game of dice against the fuckin law?" He kicked the grate again. "Since when can't a man defend himself against cheats?"
He'd been at it for hours. Seraphina sighed disgustedly. Gonna be a bloody long night.
"Back against the wall, asshole," a guard's voice said sharply. Seraphina jerked her head to look up. The half-orc's cell door opened and another prisoner was pushed roughly inside. The young man recoiled when he saw his cellmate as the door slammed shut behind him. The guard snapped at the half-orc. "Just calm the fuck down, will you, Simmons? You know how this goes. You ought to be used to it by now."
Seriously? Seraphina appraised the new prisoner. He looked like a teenager, maybe around 17, and she narrowed her eyes. Plain, dark clothes, Hood thrown back to reveal a dusky complexion, long chestnut hair, and bright green eyes. Gaunt and far too thin. Soft, leather-soled boots. Tribal earrings. Common cutpurse. Calishite, maybe, or Gur, from the look of him. She frowned. They don't care if he gets hurt.
The watchman's footfalls faded down the passageway. Simmons immediately shot out a hand, grasping for his new cellmate. The boy ducked and spun out of his reach. Simmons had been wanting to break something all night, and was clearly not going to leave this opportunity on the table.
"Don't I know you, boy?" He growled. "Don't you do jobs for the fucking Xan?
"Xan..." The boy spun, once again dodging and warily circling his attacker. "I don't know you, man," he breathed in a heavy Gurrish accent. "Whoever you're thinking I am, I am not.
"I ain't wrong," Simmons swung out a huge, beefy arm and caught the young man across the chest, pinning him to the wall. "I've seen you." A brief flash of the end of a black tattoo peeked from under his shirt sleeve. A reptilian mouth opening on a black circle. Ah. Yep. That's what I bloody thought.
"Hey," Seraphina stood up. He's going to kill this kid in front of me. "Come on, now, boys, we'll all get out of here sooner if..."
"Shut up," Simmons sneered. "This don't concern you." He grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and slammed him hard back against the wall. "I know who this little prick goes around with."
"Hey!" Seraphina called out. "Hey, there's trouble down here!"
Simmons backhanded the boy across the face, releasing him so he fell and slammed hard into the stone floor. Blood spurted from the young man's nose as he sprawled, stunned by the blow. The half-orc aimed a kick at his midsection, flipping him onto his back. The young man cried out, curling into a protective ball.
"What now, lady?" The watchman came back down the passageway." "Simmons, for fuck's sake! Stop! Do you need even more charges?"
Seraphina waved him over. She fixed him with a motherly look. "Surely I won't be seeing this young boy murdered in front of me? What on earth has he done to deserve..."
The watchman rolled his eyes. "Stealing," he said. "Simmons! Step back or I'm going to go get Xerie to put a Petrify on you like last time! You want that?"
"I want your mom," Simmons spat, watching the boy elbow-crawl across the floor away from him, gasping. "She's into the freaky stuff."
The watchman sighed heavily, clearly wondering where his life took the turn that led him here.
"Petty thievery doesn't carry a death sentence in Waterdeep," she said, glancing at the boy cowering in the corner of the cell. She took a deep breath. "Simmons here is a Zhent operative."
The watchman's eyebrows went up.
"You little sawed off maggot," Simmons spat at Seraphina, gripping the bars between them. "I'll eat your fucking liver."
Seraphina cocked her head. Called it. "See? He kills someone in here, you have paperwork and then you have problems you don't want with people you don't want them with. Big headache."
"I am running out of cells," the man said. "I can't be worried about some Gurrish urchin thief."
"You can be the man who let a political mess and bloody embarrassment to happen on your watch, can't you, or you can be the man who kept your superiors from having to answer questions they don't want to answer. And I bet Glenn Regus over at the ducal manor wouldn't be happy about finding out a young boy was beaten to death on your watch by the Zhent."
The man hesitated, his resolve failing. He tried again. "I'm running out of..."
"Put him in here, then."
"Do you know this kid?"
"No, I don't," she said. "But neither do I wish to witness violence done to him, so put him in here. He's just a boy, for goodness sake. You know what this man..." She gestured at the scowling Simmons. "Is like."
He scowled heavily. "I specifically put you in here alone because..."
"And I appreciate your kindness and thank you for it," she implored, and meant it. She aimed to make him remember that kindness. "Truly. I take full responsibility," she said. "I will be fine."
"Damn it. Son of a..." The watchman turned to Simmon's cell door. "Get back, you idiot!" he barked. Muttering under his breath, he opened the door and let the boy, doubled over and limping, exit the cell. He snatched open the door to Seraphina's cell and roughly pushed the boy inside. "You're responsible for what happens." He said, jabbing a finger at her before turning and stalking back down the corridor.
The boy was breathing heavily, and let himself slide down the wall to sit. "Nais tuk," he mumbled. "Thank you, Miss..."
She wadded the hem of her skirt and pressed it to his face. "Lean your head back," she said gently. "You're really bleeding." She paused, thinking. "You can call me Poppy."
He grew agitated, flexing his legs as if to attempt to stand, then abandoning the idea. He raised his hands as if to push her away, but stopped. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the wall and let her wipe the blood from his face. "Boz," he said, surrendering, his lashes suddenly wet.
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