The Baerney market was a shadow of its former glory, where it once boasted goods from across the Veyra empire; it now only contained a few local stalls owned by farmers and blacksmiths, a far cry from the merchant guilds of the past. The market had become less populated by customers and more populated by children orphaned from the Second Great Unification War.
Two of these orphans were playing around in the dusty Danaru Guild store, which once sold luxury clothes all the way from Raevon, the capital of Veyra. The store, like the market, was a shell of its former glory, where it was once perfectly maintained; it was now covered in dust with wood peeling off from the walls. Where it once sold to local lords and wealthy merchants, now the only 'customers' it had were the two orphans who came there to play.
The store was quickly abandoned in the first months of the war due to being unable to earn a profit and workers being conscripted. The store, like many, never reopened in Baerney after the slaughter at Gillamoor, which killed more than half of Baerney's able-bodied men who were conscripted to the war efforts, crippling Baerney's economy since the fateful day.
The orphans were play-fighting with planks they pulled out from the store's aging walls. Bang, the planks collided with the smaller boy's fingers, causing him to drop the plank "Aaaaah", the boy screamed out in pain.
"Shit, don't tell Meredith, please, Tovis," The larger boy said in a panic.
The smaller boy sneered, "Fine, Kaelen, I won't tell, but only if you give me today's food handout",
Kaelen looked shaken. He hesitated for a moment "I thought I already told you, Meredith doesn't give me food handouts anymore, says I don't need them."
"Please, as if I would believe that. You are even bigger than lord Baerney's kids. You expect me to believe you got that big without Meredith's food."
Kaelen thought for a moment, deciding whether or not to tell Tovis the truth "I'm just like this... I get food from elsewhere," Kaelen lied.
"Okay, then give me some of that", Tovis demanded.
"I... can't right now"
"Bullshit! Look, if you aren't gonna share with me, I'm just gonna tell Meredith, maybe she will give me some extra out of pity", Tovis marched out of the abandoned store.
"Wait, I ca..." Before Kaelen could finish his sentence, he heard powerful footsteps approaching them. Kaelen recognised instantly that they were not the footsteps of the orphaned children but of adults. As they got close, Kaelen heard a sound that engulfed him in fear; it was the repeated sound of a slight knock. Kaelen instantly recognised that to be the sound of a sheathed sword hitting a soldier's leg over and over "A knight", Kaelen thought to himself. He looked over at Tovis only to realise Tovis had yet to hear the sword wielder approaching.
Kaelen moved instantly, swiftly grabbing Tovis on his mouth to ensure his voice could not be heard, and with great haste, he hoisted him only by his back while still holding onto his mouth. Kaelen quickly moved towards a now-empty closet at the back of the store, stuffing Tovis and himself inside with great haste.
Kaelen acted with this instant action because he feared that merchants of the Danaru guild had returned to reclaim their store. If they had caught Kaelen and Tovis, they would be trespassing, which would leave them in violation of the Veyra Empire law; the two would not only be orphans but criminals as well. Nobody would care what would happen to them, maybe not even Meredith.
Kaelen recalled what had happened to Lucan and Elira, who were caught trespassing in one of The Gilded Scale's stores. They were branded as thieves and forced to work without pay in the store until it finally closed around 5 years ago. Kaelen could not afford for that to happen to Tovis and him.
Kaelen feared that if he were to take the time to explain to Tovis why they must run and actually begin to run away, the individuals would spot them, and Kaelen knew a knight would have no trouble chasing them down.
The thundering footsteps became louder and louder until Kaelen could finally make out a voice.
"Sir, you will love it. While I will admit it will need some repairs, some of the brats in the village tore up the place, took anything of value from it, but it has an incredible location and decades of wonderful history. At this price, you simply would be a fool not to purchase it"
Kaelen heard no reply, only the footsteps slowly approaching. They approached so close that even the angered Tovis began to hear them and finally calmed down once he understood Kaelen's intentions.
The footsteps stopped; the individuals had entered the dying store. The voice Kaelen recognised from earlier began explaining all the benefits of the places. Kaelen noticed a clear problem the man had failed to mention: the fact that the markets' only customers were these days were farmers and orphans. With even the lord of Baerney only now shopped for anything but produce at Drevain's market, which was a 3-day ride away from Baerney.
The man listened without saying a word for around a minute until finally he spoke.
"Garrick, you failed to tell me this place is already occupied"
"Already occupied?" Garrick questioned.
In an instant the man drew his glistening blade and, in one precise, slashing motion, cleaning cut the front of the closet smoothly off, revealing Kaelen and Tovis standing in shock and fear.