A town in Varya

[rachel]

Benjin Blackwater took another drag of the cigarette and passed it back to his foster brother. From behind them they could hear the drunken roar of a full tavern, the bright lights from its windows casting them in shadow, and he knew it wouldn't be long before they were missed. The night was clear, though it was hard to see much from the alley, and he leant back against the wall to enjoy a few stolen minutes of calm.

"Should go back before that arsehole misses us and docks our pay again."

Flint snorted in derision. "If he doesn't dock it for this, it'll be for something else. He only employs Blackwaters because he knows he doesn't have to pay us properly."

Benjin shrugged, knowing all too well he was right, and took back the cigarette. He wondered what his foster sisters were up to tonight, whether Roz would come round with stolen goods she needed to get rid of, whether Christy had recovered from that fight yet, whether...

A scrap of paper suddenly appeared in his hand, surprise making him drop it.

"What the..."

He picked it up from the floor.

"It's from Anya."

"What trouble's she in now?" Flint squinted at the crumpled paper, a pointless endeavour when he had never gone to school often enough to learn how to read. "Has she been caught 'borrowing' books again?"

Dutifully Benjin started to read:

"Dear Ben,

It turns out I'm a sorcerer, which I think basically means I'm good at casting spells, and people pay quite a lot for jobs that sorcerers can do. Especially outside of Varya, where no one cares if your second name is Blackwater. So I've just got paid, and I'm going to set up a school where people can learn magic for free in a village called Redfield, between Varya and Dawn. The mayor is calling for people to help rebuild the village, and I thought you and the others might be interested. She is only offering food and lodgings as payment, but you always said you wanted to travel and some of the villagers have said they'll teach you a trade. It would also be good to have some back up to stop them cutting down more of the forest as the Everni really don't like it. I've enclosed some rava so you can pay someone to teleport you because it is a very long way to walk. I was also going to try to send you a pie, but I've not quite got the spell right yet. Hope to see you soon.

Anya Blackwater JewelWeaver

P.S. If you hear anyone call me 'General' ignore them."

Flint shook his head in disbelief. "Obsessed, that's what she is. Obsessed with magic."

Benjin grinned. "Remember that time she dispelled the magic seal on that cupboard we were forbidden to open just to see if she could?"

"Yeah, and then didn't even open the bloody cupboard!"

"Just changed the spell word on it so that no one but her could get in it. She got into so much trouble for that." Benjin looked down at his foster sister's letter again, rava notes stuck to the bottom corner. "Should we go?"

Before Flint could answer, they heard a shout from the inn.

"Blackwaters! I want you both here right now or you can find yourself another job! And no one else is going to hire you, believe me!"

Both exchanged mischievous glances. It was an obvious choice really. Pocketing the letter and money, they left their previous employer screaming curses into an empty alley, and set off to find their other siblings and a meta mage.