Chapter 8: 8 Street hustlers

“Yes, my brother was the best street hustler in Gahndas,” Jasper said. He sounded proud of this.

“I should have stayed up with the two of you last night. I need to hear more about this,” Irin said.

“Enough, it was a long time ago,” Koth said.

"Come on, brother, it’s relevant to your mission. Nothing much changes in this city, you know that. Every Thursday, Head Mohind hosts a casino night at his club. He always makes an appearance. This will be our best opportunity to steal it. It will provide us with a set time and place where he will be, and the backdrop of a casino night will offer plenty of opportunity to distract him," Jasper told them. He had a wolfish smirk when he looked at Irin, which made her feel like he had a plan in mind she would not like.

"That actually sounds like a good plan," Koth agreed.

"Don't sound so surprised."

"But I am." The two brothers continued to bicker, and Irin shut them out to think it over. She guessed it would be a good opportunity, but it would only give them one day to prepare, or they would have to wait a week for their next shot at it.

"Is it enough time?" she asked, interrupting the banter that was flying.

"My brother and I are old pros at this. We won't need much time," Jasper assured her. "And we have my organisation behind us. I will contact some of my best spies to get as much information as we can by tonight. Then we can plan for tomorrow," Jasper said.

"Is it wise after what happened with the last spies he caught?" Irin asked.

"Those men weren't spies. Most of them were loyal to him; he is just paranoid," Jasper told her.

"I don't think it counts as paranoia when he actually has spies in his midst," she pointed out. Jasper contemplated it.

"Fair enough, he is just a really shitty detective then," he conceded.

"It will be enough time," Koth reassured her.

"Okay, then let's do it," she said.

"We are going to have so much fun," Jasper said, sounding excited. Irin raised an eyebrow. "Don't judge me, I know we aren't doing this for giggles, but it can be useful and fun at the same time," he told her. After talking some more about what they would do once they got the object, they decided it was time for a break and then some lunch.

"We should head over to my place for lunch," Jasper said. Irin looked at Koth.

"Father and Mika?" he asked.

"Away on business, unfortunately. They will be back in a week at the earliest," Jasper told him. Koth nodded, and Irin had a hard time figuring out if he was happy or sad about the news.

"We will come with you. It will be the quickest way to get the news from your people," he told Jasper.

"Good, I can finally get my weapons back. I've been walking around for almost a day feeling naked. Not that I have anything against being naked," he said with a flirty smile to Irin. She felt herself blush and looked away. He was too good at flirting, she thought. She could see he would have an easy time with women, but even though she found it endearing in a strange way, it didn’t make him more interesting to her. The three of them said goodbye to the priest; his part in all of this had come to an end, and headed out. Irin and Koth took their horses with them, in case they needed to get out of the city in a hurry. Jasper’s place, or rather Koth’s and Jasper’s family home, was a large building with a large yard, surrounded by a wall, which was guarded by armed guards.

"This is a fortress," Irin quietly said to Koth.

"It is. This is what every clan's headquarters look like in the city," Koth told her. She nodded; she wasn’t surprised they felt a need to protect themselves, especially when she saw all the women and children walking around. This was truly a family place.

"Any of them yours?" Irin asked Jasper as a horde of children sprinted past them.

"I don’t think so," he said. "I try to keep track of mine," he added. At least he was being honest about it, Irin thought as she nodded. She saw the children avoid Koth, one more sign he didn’t visit often. No one who got to know him would be scared of him. He may be grumpy, but he has a kind heart, she thought. As one of the children ran past him, she tripped on a rock and was about to fall. Koth reacted and caught her before she fell. The child looked at him and then let out a loud cry, and tears started pouring down her face. Koth looked horrified as he looked down at the little girl. Irin walked over to them as every eye in the yard was trained on them.

"Hi there, did you hurt yourself?" Irin asked the girl, crouching down to her level. The girl took her eyes off Koth and looked at Irin. She sobbed but shook her head. "Just gave you a little scare to almost tumble over? I know the feeling. But you are okay. And if you are a good girl and give me a smile, I think we can convince Koth here to let you ride on his shoulder for a while. Would you like that? You will be bigger than everyone else, almost tall enough to reach the clouds," Irin told her. The girl stopped crying and looked up at Koth; he just stared at Irin as if she had offered he would wade through the city dump. The girl looked back at Irin with a huge smile and nodded.

“There we go, what’s your name, little one?” Irin asked.

“Aarin,” the girl said.

“What a beautiful name,” Irin told her, giving Koth a look that told him to behave and let the girl ride on his shoulders. He looked as if he was about to object, but then sighed and bent down. “Up you go, make sure to hold on tight to Uncle Koth,” she said as she lifted her onto his shoulders. The girl let out a happy squeal as Koth stood up, Irin keeping a supporting hand on the girl's back until she was sure she was stable. Koth took a tentative step forward, and Aarin giggled. He took another one, and everyone around them relaxed.

“Dodi, look at me, I’m the tallest girl in the world,” Aarin shouted. Irin saw a boy a couple of years older than the girl walk towards them. He stopped a few steps away and looked up at her.

“I see you, Aarin, you are really tall,” he said. Irin smiled. Koth started walking towards the house, the girl’s giggles trailing behind him. Jasper walked up next to Irin as they followed.

“Thank you,” he said. She just looked at him. “You did it so the children wouldn’t be afraid of him,” he stated, not even as a question. She shrugged. “I owe you one for this,” he added.

“I didn’t do it for you,” she told him.

“I know, and I know my brother well enough to know he won’t realise what you just did. So, as his brother, I will take his debt as mine.”

“He’s my friend, friends don’t trade debts,” she said, watching Koth stop in front of the house, uncertain of what to do next with the girl on his shoulders. “But if you insist, you can pay me back by rescuing your brother.” Jasper looked at her and smiled.

“Do you realise there are men in the city who would give both their arms for a debt from our house?” he said, shaking his head as he jogged over to his brother. “Hey there, giant girl. I think it’s time to let Uncle Koth out of playing pony.” Irin heard him say. Two men took their horses, Jasper assuring them they would be taken care of. Irin and Koth were invited into the house and into Jasper’s private apartment in the large building.

“Why did you do that?” Koth asked Irin as they sat down at a table.

“It was necessary,” she told him.

“I don’t understand.”

“I know, just trust me,” she said. He looked at her and nodded. He might be a genius, and his knowledge of traditional magic was, by all accounts, one of the best, but he could be clueless sometimes.

"This is Jihane, she is my personal chef," Jasper said. Irin looked up and saw a very attractive half-elf standing by the table.

"Hello," Irin said. As they all greeted the woman, Irin saw a new side to Koth as he started to flirt shamelessly with Jihane. Gone was the grumpy wizard; he had been replaced with a smooth-talking man who more resembled his brother. Irin tried not to feel jealous. She knew Koth had only joined her on this mission because he saw her as weak, but the stark contrast between how he flirted with this woman and how he had always been towards her made it abundantly clear he had no interest in her at all. It stung, even if it shouldn’t have. Irin should have been used to it by now.