Not So Perfect Ledmire

Sai let out a long shaky breath. They stood in front of the gold-embroidered gates that led to the city of Ledmire. Sai now felt much smaller and had to resist the urge to run away.

“What do you think?” They tilted their head a little to the left to better see Riven. Riven was curled up on their right shoulder. Instead of an answer, Riv yawned, his pink tongue flickering between his teeth. Riv opened one sleepy eye to glance up at his master.

Sai gave his head a scratch, and Riv made a purr and a happy clicky noise. They scooped him up and slid him gently into a small pocket enclosed in their satchel specifically sewn there for Riven when they were traveling.  

A few stragglers crowded by the city entrance, which Sai had to struggle through. They approached the official by the gate, and a look of distaste appeared on the guard's features.

"Job, uh, application . . ." Sai pulled out one of the three silver coins they had left. "I have money for the entry fee," Only two more silver pieces live on- they had to get a job fast.

The officer sniffed and he inspected the coins. Sai's mind began racing. "Any items to announce?"

They became more aware of the fire newt curled up in their bag. It was too big of a risk to be separated from Riv. These people couldn't be trusted. "No."

The officer studied them suspiciously for a moment but relented. He stretched a claw-like hand out for the entrance fee. When they didn't move he rolled his eyes. "You may go now," he said in a bored voice. 

After hesitating, Sai dropped a single silver coin into his palm. The man looked smugly pleased and turned behind him and twisted a heavy-looking metal wheel. 

The doors swung slowly open and Sai cautiously walked through to be greeted by an eruption of noise and people. 

The interior of Ledimire disturbed Sai much more than they had been expecting. Not that it was necessarily disturbing, but if you have lived away from large cities your whole life, you would of course be a little taken aback by the shock of the tall buildings, masses of people, and absurd lack of space. 

Sai was jostled from person to person. About a thousand smells from fried chicken to elderberry pastries came from stalls and carts along with a mob of shouting people. More than just food too. Beads, shells, and precious stones that shone so brightly that Sai couldn't look at the cart for more than a few seconds before their eyes started to water. 

Odd random trinkets were attracting correspondingly odd customers. One man with a curly turquoise mustache appeared to be selling hats that made your hair turn different gradients of blue, white, yellow, and bright pink. 

Riv who did not want to miss anything stuck his head out of the pocket and sniffed, excited at all the clamor. Sai was mesmerized, but also very overwhelmed. 

"What is that?!" Sai turned. A boy who looked about ten years old with wild blond hair had wide eyes and was pointing at Riv.

"It's a snake!" The boy had been holding the hand of a person who looked to be his older sister. 

The sister laughed and shook her head. "No, it's a newt." 

"Oh, a newt then." The boy had slipped out of his sister's grip to closer examine Riv and the sister chased after him. 

"I'm so sorry, I'm supposed to be watching him-" The girl apologized, grabbed her brother's forearm, and pulled him away. "Luke, leave him ALONE." 

Sai stood as if they were stone, still shocked by the immediate impression of the city, with the added fear of being caught. Luke kept happily scratching Riv, who basked in the attention. To show his gratitude, Riv let a little puff of fire from his mouth. Luke blinked then looked slowly up at Sai.

"Hey!! Your newt can breathe fire!" But Sai didn't stay to hear the rest of it. Sai shoved Riven back down into their satchel pocket and fled away.

"Blair! Blair, did you see their newt? It breathes fire!" His sister shushed him, looking slightly panicked. She flagged down an officer and began hurriedly talking and gesturing. 

She pointed over at Sai, who was hiding behind a wagon loaded with hale bales to assess the situation. Sai groaned and stared down at Riven. "This is your fault. I thought I said to stay low?" Riv shrunk back and looked a little sheepish.

Sai mumbled something and glanced up. They could see the girl leading the officers to where they were hiding. Sai swore under their breath. 

As the group rounded the corner and was about to reach them, Sai reluctantly pulled the hood of their deep blue cloak up and then vanished.

Blair shrieked as she watched Sai's figure disappear in front of her eyes. Sai ran towards her and ducked under her arm, still invisible. Blair's screams triggered more panic from the surrounding crowd as something they couldn't see bumped into them.

Sai gushed out apologies as they went but doubted anyone heard them. The sprinting gradually became a slow walking pace until Sai reached a dark alley and crashed onto the cold cobblestone.

The whole ordeal had been a failure. Sai wanted to melt into the alley and stay there forever. Riv, after feeling his master sit still for longer than usual wriggled out to investigate. 

Sai didn't blink or flinch. Riven pressed his nose more insistently into their hand.

"Riven . . . we're in trouble. It's not safe for you or me to be on the run constantly. . ." 

Sai sat up and rummaged through their bag to look for medical tape. They pushed up their left sleeve to reveal a deep bite mark. They held their breath and slowly wrapped a fresh bandage around the wound binding it tightly. The bite kept disintegrating the bandages Sai put on, making it impossible to heal. 

They had been bitten by wild animals in the past but this was worse than anything. Every time Sai hoped it had just been a normal wolf, they re-imagined the whole nightmare and felt the pain seep through their blood the more they doubted. 

Golden eyes. White ragged fur, bloody fangs. That was no normal wolf. All they wanted to do was to go home to Lotus and Octavian but they knew they never could like this. Madam Claire had been right, they were a monster and they were dangerous now. 

Sai leaned their head back on the cold wall of the alley, exhausted, and still lost in their old life, before being wrenched back to existence by what had just been background noises, but what was now becoming louder by the moment.

Sai shared a glance with Riven and gently slipped him back onto their shoulder. They poked their head out curiously to see where the sound was coming from. 

Three kids were standing in front of a spiced walnut stand. They were talking about something in a way that seemed almost forced. Sai watched a little longer and it dawned on them that they weren't actually arguing. One of them made a sly pointing motion at the man who ran the cart, who was beginning to shuffle around in a box a few steps away. The man was distracted with his head buried in the crate and one of the kids smirked.

They were con artists. Sai crouched and slipped on their bag. They were about to start running but being too curious to go yet, they paused. 

The next second, the group made a run for it. The redheaded boy grabbed a random bag of walnuts, and his two companions who were standing on the opposite side of the cart created a distraction for a few more seconds before running to join him. The man whipped his head up to see them running away, he shouted in anger and started to chase them. 

They were heading for another alley a few streets down. Sai walked calmly in the direction they were bound to go and ended up getting there before they did. 

Sai flipped the hood of their cloak up again, going invisible, and waited in the mouth of the new alley. Sure enough, the bandits raced around the corner, a moment before they crashed into them, Sai took off the hood startling the three. One of them even jumped back and nearly fell. 

"Here, take this." Sai hastily unfastened the cloak and thrust it at the three teenagers standing stock still. After they regained themselves from the shock of a stranger appearing from nowhere, they did as they were told. 

Sai dropped their satchel letting the contents spill out. They knelt to make it look like they had dropped their bag. 

The walnut guy came around the corner in a fit of fury. Sai simply pointed to the other opening of the alley. "Some kids crashed into me and ran down that way." The walnut guy huffed down ready to punish the little thieves. 

Sai folded their arms as three young teenagers shimmered into sight again. Sai hadn't been sure that all three of them would be able to fit under one cloak but as it turned out, the three were all very skinny. It was clear they lived a street life. 

Two of them had flaming orange hair. One boy and one girl with similar features. Blue eyes, freckles spattered across their noses, and a certain air of playfulness. The girl wore a brown dress with green and yellow hemming. Under the dress, she wore a simple white shirt as most people dressed here. Around her neck were rows of beads, every color of the rainbow. 

Her brother, which Sai assumed because of their similarity in appearance, had on a ragged brown shirt, baggy pants, a leather vest, a belt, and black boots. He had been the one who had done the actual stealing of the walnuts.

The last of the three had olive-brown skin slightly darker than Sai's, tousled brown hair, and hazel eyes. He was dressed in worn slacks that were cuffed slightly underneath his knees and an equally worn looking long sleeved shirt that may have at one point been the pale color of snow. 

"You-" Sai stared pointedly at the red-headed boy. "Take the walnuts back, now." 

The boy didn't argue. He gave his sister and his other friend a helpless look, then stalked out of the alley to return the walnuts to the rightful cart.

Sai glanced at the other two, then to Riv, then to the silver pieces in their pocket. Silence filled the space before Sai said, "Do you guys like bread?"

It took their last silver pieces, but Sai returned shortly with a loaf of rosemary bread they had bought from a lovely old woman who went by the name of Ma Florian.

The other boy had returned also by then, and dusk had begun to fall. Sai studied them each carefully. "What are your names?"

The girl gulped down a bite of bread. "I'm Esme. This is my brother Aieve." She pointed at the other boy resembling her, then to the olive-skinned boy. "And that's Roy.” 

Roy folded his arms. "I'm 16, Aieve and Esme are both 14." 

"14 and ten minutes actually," Esme said smiling. 

"Twins?" Sai guessed. 

"Mmm-hmm." Aieve looked very grumpy but not for long. The bread Sai had bought was delicious, and it was hard to concentrate on anything else. 

When Sai had taken their share and bitten into it they tasted the rosemary flavor burst onto their tongue. Ma Florian was right, it was delicious.

Aieve finished and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He looked gratefully up at Sai. "Thanks . . . man?" 

"I'm not a man actually." 

"Woman?" 

"Not a gender." They tore another chunk of break off the loaf and pulled off smaller pieces to pop into their mouth."

"Oh," Aieve hesitated. Cool." 

"Thank you so much for the bread," Esme interrupted. "We would have paid, but you know . . . It's not like we have any money."

"Of course." Sai paused and looked at each of their tired expressions. They were those of a child who had gone through more than someone their age ever should. "How long have you all been out here?" 

Roy looked up at Sai and back down at his chunk of bread. "I ran away when I was 12. Met the twins when I was 13. We've stuck together ever since." 

"Why did you run away?" Sai asked cautiously.

"My parents didn't want me. So I left." Roy glowered at his feet. Before Sai could ask why Roy held open his hand, and Sai watched silently as fire danced across Roy's fingers. 

Esme wistfully said. "Yeah . . same for us." 

"I don't miss them." Aieve leaned back and folded his arms stubbornly. "Mum and dad were never there, I don't MISS them." He sounded disgusted.

"Well I do . . . " Esme whispered and clasped her hands around her knees.

Roy looked like he was going to argue but his voice faded before he even started talking. Roy looked sad look with Esme. 

Sai watched them all. "I'm cursed too. I'm sorry. You don't deserve it." 

“When did you run away?” Roy asked. 

Sai let out a soft laugh and traced their finger through some dirt near their foot. “I lived in a foster home with my dads until a very bad lady adopted me. I snuck out one night, got unlucky, and knew I couldn’t go back.” 

Aieve’s eyes widened. “Was it a nymph? That’s what happened to Esme.” 

“No. . . it was from a wolf.” 

Aieve’s jaw dropped and he looked Sai up and down looking for traces of the bite mark. “You’re a werewolf??” 

Sai remained expressionless but nodded slightly. “I live in the forest most of the time to stay out of the way. Usually, the only time I come into a town is to visit my friend Tam. He’s the only one who doesn't think I’m going to go rabid and try to murder him.” 

Esme frowned. “That’s horrible.” 

Sai laughed shrilly again. “Yeah, It’s not great. I’m only in Ledmire because I thought maybe I could try living with people again, but based on today that will never happen.” Sai looked around at the three anxious faces. “Roy has fire, what do you two have?” 

“I accidentally broke a branch off a tree when I was climbing it, it was a Nymph's tree, so she cursed me. When I’m around plants they wilt and die. Any natural thing just becomes- gross.” Esme glanced around for something to demonstrate. She tapped a little puddle with the tip of her finger and it immediately turned murky and smelled like aggressively stagnant water. 

"Ew," Aieve wrinkled his nose. Roy stood up and shot it with a fireball evaporating the puddle, but somehow it now smelled worse. 

Sai laughed and coughed. They fanned the air away from their face. "Not gonna lie, that's pretty cool. It would be fun to use against your enemies." 

"Oh, she did!" Aieve lit up. "That's how our parents found out though, so it was more of a lose-lose situation." The light in his eyes died and he curled up next to Esme. 

Sai nodded sadly. "What's your curse?"

"He actually doesn't have one. I had to leave, and he came with me." 

"Aw, that's actually really sweet," Sai smiled. 

Aieve rolled his eyes. "Well, I wasn't going to let her go alone, she would die on the streets and I wanted to make sure she was okay." 

Roy snorted. "That's still 'sweet.' You're not helping your case. Just admit it."

Sai wanted to say something sympathetic but they knew it wouldn't help very much. They knew from experience. "I can tell you, as long as you don't mention it to anyone else, I'll be in Ledmire a while longer. If you need me, ask around for me. I'll find you somehow. And I might create an alias so don't get confused by that." 

Esme nodded. "Thank you." 

Roy looked up for the first time. "What's your name?"

"Sai." 

“Nice to meet you," Roy nodded.

Sai nodded back. "Nice to meet you as well." They stood up and waved. "I’ll probably run into you all again until then don’t do anything stupid. And good luck." The three waved back and smiled softly. 

Sai returned the smile. They had met people that understood, at least a little bit. Sai let out another deep breath, except this time they were relieved. The stars and the black velvet curtain of the sky had come out to greet them. Nevertheless, Sai flicked up their hood to be extra careful and walked away through the now empty streets.