5. The Sapphire
Arxet could not dream of a way to burn five entire gold in four short days. Emren had kept her word and let Arxet have his run of the city. He spent most of his time enjoying luxury cuisine and alcohol, getting massaged and groomed, and gambling.
As an expert gambler and master cheater his venture ended up multiplying his coin by four on the second day. The local gambling dens never even knew what hit them. Uncomfortable with having any supposed debt to Emren he attempted to repay her, but she refused the coin and congratulated him on his success.
He did not understand these damned people at all.
Every day at sunset Rubis would descend upon him and check on his well being. He resented being tracked and bothered at the end of the day, he wasn’t a child, but she didn’t seem to care and Emren seemed to have an excuse for every complaint. “You don’t know the city, we’re just making sure you’re not lost,” “I'm just making sure you didn’t push it too far with the gambling and get in trouble”, “Just making sure you knew it was getting late.” He refused the ride back each time, thinking only of how miserable his trip on Rubis’s mother had been.
The armor was resized easily enough the first day, and Arxet got to enjoy the anonymity of a good helmet during that time as well. Riders, mercenaries, and monster hunters were common enough in the city that no on questioned him walking around with his face covered. People really treated him differently when his cold mark was hidden under a metal helm. The headwear was truly unique, Emren had informed him it was a custom piece that had cost twenty gold, more than he could expect to earn in his entire life before now. The mask was of a snarling dragon, with two scaly wings coming down to cover his cheeks, and spikes along the spine of the scalp, forming the illusion of a small dragon perched atop his head attempting to shield him from harm.
Face coverings weren’t typical for just any soldier or warrior, and were most often the sign of a rider or rider in training, as the brassy mask helped protect their face from the wind while on dragonback. People gave him even more respect for that. He fully used this to his advantage at every possible opportunity. He cut in lines, he picked peoples pockets, he even went for a walk around the richest looking part of town and cased some buildings. No one suspected him of any crime while he wore rider armor. It was great!
On the last day of his time in town he had twenty whole gold remaining. He hadn’t even managed to burn a single gold worth of coin in all of his hedonism and gluttony. Now… what to do with the rest? He didn’t want to bring that much cash with him into the rider academy. He couldn’t trust the other trainees not to steal it, especially since he wouldn’t be able to hide his coldmark from them. Who knew how much of an affront they would take to a coldmarked street rat joining their holy school? He would need a way to wear it, but he didn’t have time to sew them into his clothes, which left jewelry. He had always dreamed of having a necklace as fine as his mother’s. His home kingdom of Tiskin was small and poor compared to others, but his noble house had a beautiful blue sapphire necklace that had been passed down for generations. He’d always been told it would be his wife or daughter's when his mother passed, but there was a fat chance of that now.
There was probably more gold in his pocket now than his mother had ever owned. That thought simultaneously brought a smug smile to his face and struck him with how rich this city was. He might have to stick around in Fellrock and bleed these pigs dry before he moved on after the academy.
But first. Time to convert that coin into something he could wear. A new family heirloom maybe!
There were plenty of fine jewelry shops in the city. He’d identified them before as possible places to rob at night, but his gambling had been so successful there hadn’t been a need. He already had more coin than he had any clue what to do with.
He walked with confidence and swagger into the first jewelry shop he came across after his decision. The shop was a delightful little affair just off the main road outside of Tiamat’s ziggurat at the center of the city, the home of the ministry, and the goddess herself some claimed. Amjazel and Emren’s home was inside the walls of the complex surrounding the superstructure, close to the very center. Over a hundred homes as well as the rider academy had been constructed around the stone monolith, each with their own courtyard large enough for a dragon to land in, an entrance to the underground tunnels the dragons typically called home, and a mortal sized living space.
This particular shop, Clem’s Gems, had a painting of an orange dragon above the door admiring a blue gem of some kind. The interior was small and cramped. There were a pair of wooden mannequins wearing various rings necklaces, bracelets, even crowns and tiaras. A bright orange viper adorned in dozens of piercings and other jewelry sat behind the counter with an excited and welcoming grin on his face. “Welcome! Here to buy or sell? You won’t find better deals anywhere else on this part of the island! What are you looking for? Is this your first time shopping with-”
Arxet cut him off. It was clear the snake would never let him speak at this rate. “Just looking to convert some gold into style. Need something as close to but below twenty gold as you can get me.” He jingled the coin purse in the shopkeep’s face to demonstrate.
“Oh! Well we have a variety of pieces that could fulfill that!” The man began pulling racks of rings, necklaces, piercings, bracelets, and more from under the counter. “Do you have a preference on stones and metals? I have a new shipment in of Mercani emeralds that shimmer better than anything you can imagine!”
Arxet’s nose wrinkled under the helmet at the mention of Mercani stones. It was common knowledge that stones from the Mercani Empire were almost assuredly produced with slave labor. This was also true in many other places, but it was only a guarantee with the Empire. “No, do you have anything less… bloodstained?”
“Bloodstained?” The snake tilted his head at the question. “All of my wares are perfectly clean and polished before sale. I would never-”
“Anything not dug up by slaves! Or at least- Tiamat’s Tail… not definitely dug up by them.” He slammed the jewelry box filled with emeralds shut.
“Ah! Well I have some Tiskin sapphires! Slavery is banned there!” He put away the emeralds and pulled another box from underneath. “Do these strike your fancy?”
Banned by technicality. He grumbled mentally. Were laborers drowning in debt really any better? Regardless of his opinions, however, the gems presented to him were stunning. He’d not had a chance to examine his mother’s in a decade, but these were larger and brighter than hers had ever been. His hands came up and wavered. He wanted more than words could describe to hold them up to the light of the sun streaking through the windows, but the shopkeeper was looking right at him. Who knew how he’d react to Arxet plucking them up? He didn’t want to look like a-
“Pick one up! Hold it up to the light!” The snake chirped at him, the big dumb smile growing even bigger.
People really treated you completely different when you looked important.
Arxet stared at the snake, aghast, for a long moment. “You’re sure?”
“Oh go on! It’s not like I can’t see you.” He gestured for Arxet to continue.
Arxet could palm a gem so easily right now. Pluck one up to examine while the snake is watching and slip another into his hand while the snake is too focused on the one shining light through it. And so he did.
The maneuver was flawless. He leaned his right elbow on the counter, leaned in close and using his left hand selected one of the medium sized sapphires from the box and held it to the light. Predictably, the snake’s gaze followed the dazzling display of blues refracting through the pear-cut stone. While the attention was elsewhere his right hand slipped two fingers in, plucked a fat round cut sapphire from the corner, and tucked it between his thumb and forefinger. “It’s beautiful. I’ll take it. Could you set it in a necklace for me today? I’m short on time.” The scam was always easier to pull off if you actually bought something.
“You’re in luck, I have another one just like that ready! I would only need to measure your neck for the chain. Are you fine with a gold setting?” He put the box away and began pulling out tools and a bin of unfinished projects.
“Gold sounds perfect. How much would it be?” He tucked the fat sapphire into a hidden pocket just on the inside of his sleeve. The armor was new, but he wasn’t going to go out unprepared. Some small modifications had to be made before he set out on the streets in it.
“Seventeen gold, more or less. It will depend on how much chain you’ll need.” He came out from behind the counter to measure the rat’s neck. “Could you remove the helmet? I can’t quite get a proper measurement like this…”
Arxet stiffened. He should have anticipated this. “Just… whatever you recommend for someone of my build. We don’t have to go that-”
“Nonsense!” A hand gripped the helmet from behind and lifted it up and off before setting it on the counter. Arxet stood paralyzed as the snake wrapped a bit of twine around his neck, made adjustments, and then withdrew it. Arxet could see both their reflections in one of the windows, and the snake could see his face as well. The snake’s expression had already soured.
“I’d recommend about twenty inches. That will be eighteen cold- I mean gold in total.” The snake shuffled back behind the counter and put away the rest of the gems left on top. “It will only take a few hours. You can pay now and come back later. I’ll have it ready then.”
Arxet slipped the helmet back on as quickly as he could, but he could tell the damage had already been done. “Sure.” He took out his coin purse and began counting. “There. Eighteen. I’ll be back soon.” And without any fanfare he left the store. There wasn’t any point in trying to salvage the situation. Big city people weren’t as enlightened as he’d been lead to believe.
That damned mark… it affected everything about his life. People always assumed he was bad news. They blamed him for bad weather, thefts (even with no proof), and ill happenings. No matter what, if someone saw the mark they treated him like he was dangerous.
… Except for Emren. Emren was the first person he’d met ever since that blizzard branded him all those years ago to treat him with any patience. She saw the scumbag he was, not the scumbag that the mark implied, but chose to trust him regardless. Sure, she’d browbeaten him into flying all the way out here, but it was still advantageous to him despite all the bullshit. Did she actually have his best interests in mind? How far would she go for him if she did actually care.
Whatever the case was he’d need to show caution when returning to the shop later. The shopkeeper’s demeanor had Arxet sure he’d try something. Maybe to stiff him even. It was easy enough to get away with. Any guard would be more likely to take the shopkeeper at his word than a cold one.
Sure was a good thing he’d swiped that sapphire as an insurance policy. At least he wouldn’t come out of the interaction with nothing.
Out of an abundance of caution he went to swing by Emren’s house while he was waiting to drop off the loose sapphire. Once he made it through the outer gates of the Ministry’s compound he put up the visor of the helmet and took the gem from his sleeve pocket. It was even more brilliant than the lesser stone he had bought, a deep blue, dark as night, with tinges of purple around the edges. The thing was as big as his nose and probably worth at least fifty gold. He was transfixed by it. His hungry eyes needed to see every angle, every sparkle, every meticulously cut angle.
“Oof!” His stupor was broken as he ran headlong into someone else along the path. The sapphire flew from his hand and into the garden to the right of the path.
“Hey, watch it!” An angry woman’s voice cuts through the din of the crowd. Arxet was too busy getting on his knees and digging around the shrubs to notice or care. He had to get that stone back.
As hard as he tried he couldn’t seem to locate it among the bushes and flowers. The most valuable item he’d ever touched in his life had suddenly disappeared into the dirt and leaves and he wasn’t having it.
“Hey! Are you even paying attention?” The woman’s voice blared in his ears.
He continued his search but threw back a cursory. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Are you gonna apologize?” She was losing patience.
“Yeah, whatever.” If it worked once it should work twice.
Arxet was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his armor and pulled out of the flowerbed. The woman threw him to the ground with a growl and planted a foot on his chest. “Are. You. Gonna. Apologize?” She was a fox, a desert fox if her ears were any indication. She stood almost two feet shorter than Arxet, but under her own armor it was obvious that she was well built. She was Stefaian if Arxet had to guess by her armor, more steel than bronze. Some people swore by steel, but most everyone else preferred the rosy warmth of bronze.
“What for?” The fool was so focused on his prized jewel he’d already forgotten why he dropped it.
“YOU RAN INTO ME!” The fox roared in his face. “Now what are you gonna do about it?”
“Sorry. Can I get up now? I dropped my- something.” He tried to roll out from under her foot without any success.
Her eyes narrow, and her tail whips from side to side, but she does step off. “Cold ones. No respect.”
“Yeah yeah. I’m a cold one. Boohoo I’m cursed. Can’t be trusted. Now excuse me.” He sidestepped her and returned to digging around the plants and dirt for the loss of a lifetime. He didn’t even register her bending down over him and then walking away.
Two hours of toil proved fruitless. He went all the way up and down the flowerbed, around the bushes, along the corners and the gaps between bricks, but there was no sign of the lost stone. It was already nearing sundown. The stone was gone. He knew he shouldn’t have been mad. It’s not like he'd actually paid for it. But every fiber of his being was screaming at him for losing something not only valuable but stunningly beautiful. Neither the worms nor the dirt deserved such a magnificent artifact.
Eventually he had to cut his losses, dust his hands off, and return to the shop. He was so preoccupied with the loss that he didn’t even notice the guards lurking a few doors down. He opened the wooden door to the interior, sagging considerably more than he had on his first visit. “Hey. It ready yet?”
“O-oh, yes!” The snake was shaking he seemed so nervous. Arxet could only roll his eyes at the display. Was this man really so pathetically afraid of cold ones that he couldn’t even talk to them? “Let me j-just-”
The door to the shop creaked open behind him. The snake seemed to cower even further behind the counter. Arxet started to turn, but was interrupted as a boot came to the back of his knee and forced him to buckle. His helmeted head slammed into the marble countertop leaving his ears ringing. A pair of hands grab him and force him to the ground and rip his helmet off to reveal his coldmark.
“This the one, Clem?” A gruff man’s voice growled to the snake. Arxet offered only weak resistance. He wasn’t battle tested, and the blow to the head already had him in a near daze.
“Yes! Yes! I don’t know where he got all that gold from, but it can’t be legal!” The snake seethed from behind the counter. “The armor too! I don’t know what rider he must have killed to take it!”
“G-gambled for the gold…” The rat rasped as he was pressed into the floor by a knee on his back. “Armor was a gift. E-Emren. Ask Emren.”
“Oh we’ll certainly ask Emren.” The guard hauled him to his feet and dragged him from the store. “You’ll be in the pit until we figure out who you stole all this from, then it’s up to the Lugal.”
“W-wait, what the hell! You’re gonna arrest me just because I have nice shit? Where’s the proof?” His tail whipped with indignation. “A cold one ain’t allowed to have himself anything?”
“You probably stole them, so no. Theft is not legal.” The man clamped a muzzle over Arxet’s mouth and marched him through the city in manacles.