3

	Thomas hated the snow, but it had its advantages.  Today, his oversized black coat, with its deep hood and a hem that went down to his ankles, didn’t look so out of place.  That meant that not only could he keep his ears warm, he didn’t have to worry about any of the fighters under his command seeing their Captain going into a whorehouse.  It was one thing for regular soldiers to rent a girl, if they could afford to.  In some squads, the figheters were even required to bed a whore at least once a month, to keep them from getting restless, but officers were expected to have higher standards.  As far as he was concerned, it was something of a relief.  He liked girls well enough, but he preferred to sleep with girls who actually wanted him.
	He loitered outside the door for a time, like every other prospective customer, and wished he lived in a normal city where people didn't have to skulk around all the time.  He stamped his feet to keep himself warm and pretended to be interested in the storefronts across the street.  Another warehouse had been burned to the ground since the last time he’d been on this street, and a few shop windows were covered with thick boards in place of broken glass.  He'd heard talk of rebellion against the city lately, and more people were growing unhappy with the way Marcus Keppler ran things, but he had never dreamed things would erupt this soon, or that anyone would have the courage to strike so close to the heart of the city.
	He retreated inside a few moments later, when the breeze shifted and blew a fine spray of snow in his face.  It was like going into a dimly lit, red-carpeted Hell.  The heat of the House lobby made him gasp, and the cloying perfume that had been sprayed in the air made him sneeze.  Neither were as bad as the shock of a pair of hands that grabbed him from behind and slid around his body to fumble with the buttons of his coat.  His hood was pulled back, and someone sighed in his ear.
	“It looks nasty out there.  Let’s take you inside and get you warmed up,” she said.
	“I’m warm enough, thanks.  I’m just here to see the Mistress,” he said.
	He knocked her arms away, a little more forcefully than he meant to, and the girl huffed and flounced away.  He thought she was some kind of wolf, but she wasn’t like any he’d ever seen before.  Her ears were the wrong shape and her fur was a confusion of yellow, black and white, which made her look like she’d been smeared with paint.  She was naked, except for her collar.  Under different circumstances, she would have been quite beautiful and it was more than he could do to take his eyes off of her.  She smirked, and cocked a leg up on a bar stool so he could see everything.  Ashamed of the lust rising visibly under his belt, he backed away from her until he bumped into the edge of the bar.
	“You never did have any taste in girls,” Elizabeth said.
	He hadn't noticed her when he came in.  He never did.  Even as old as she was, he had never met anyone who moved as quietly as she did.
	“Don't insult me, she's only a little girl,” Thomas said.
	“She's nineteen, that's old enough.  But you could just say no, you don't have to hit them,” Elizabeth said.
	“They shouldn't grab me, then.  I'm here to help, not screw around,” he said.
	He let himself relax enough to sit down on a nearby stool, and swung around to face her.  She waved a hand at the painted dog, who covered herself with her hands and ran up the stairs and out of sight.  Elizabeth grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the shelf behind her and bit the cork out.  She splashed the liquor into two large tumblers, and shoved one over to him.
	“Thomas, you are the most unsubtle fox I’ve ever met.  If you jump whenever someone touches you, you’re going to get found out.  Have you got a ship for me?” she said.
	“I may.  The Scylla just came into port two days ago and it’s one we’ve used before.  Captain Antony retired after their last trip, but his first mate owns it now, and he doesn’t like what’s going on, either,” Thomas said.
	He sipped the whiskey she'd given him, and shoved the glass away, as politely as he could manage.  Elizabeth smirked and tipped his drink into hers.
	“Are you still going to insist I take Keppler's new toy with me, too?” he said.
	“Oh yes.  I've got my best girl looking after her now.  Take them both, if you can.  I’ll pay the extra out of my own pocket,” Elizabeth said.
	“More trouble.  You know how closely they look at each ship before it sails. It's going to be tough enough to get one girl out of here, never mind two, and that's if I can get your girl out without her being spotted.  From what I hear, she's gotten really popular,” Thomas said.
	“Everyone wants her these days, it seems.  I told her it would happen if she wasn't more careful.  But Jessie takes these things personally.  She isn't going to let Megan out of her sight, not until she's sure the child is safe,” Elizabeth said.
	Elizabeth emptied her glass with a single swallow, and poured a second one.  Thomas had often thought that if she has been born male, the old vixen could have made a decent soldier.  She certainly drank like one, and the booze only made her sharper.
	“Why does this mouse mean so much to you?” he said.
	“Because I want her to be happy.  Jessie thinks she can save the world, but if she doesn’t save herself, she’s going to end up taking my place when I die.  That would crush her,” Elizabeth said.
	“Not if we do this right.  People are already turning against the city and speaking out against the slavery here.  In a few years, the House girls could get set free.”
	“People are turning against the Houses, too.  In a few years we might all get murdered because the same God who ordained our existence in the first place has evidently decided that, now, we’re the root of all evil.”
	“Do you really think so?  I know that’s what the priests are saying, but they’re always talking fire and damnation.  There can’t be that many people who take them that seriously anymore,” Thomas said.
	Elizabeth snorted and slapped her empty glass back down on the table  She filled it to the brim a third time and downed this, too.
	“It wouldn’t take many.  Just one person with a torch and a head full of nonsense could do a lot of damage,” she said.
	She picked up the bottle again, but he put a hand on her wrist.  She bared her teeth at him, but had the grace to look embarrassed.
	“The Scylla will be ready to sail for Viridis in a few days.  You ought to go, too.  If you don't, you’re going to get found out sooner or later,” he said.
	“I used to want to see the Triple Cities, but the time for that has passed.  I know what I need to do, and they don't frighten me anymore,” Elizabeth said.
	She picked the cork up off the floor and brushed it off, but she didn’t put it back in the bottle.  She put it in her pocket instead, and cradled the bottle in the crook of her arm.  It was still half full of hundred dollar whiskey and Thomas was certain it would all be gone before the day was over.