The boy waiting in the square was about Jimmy's age, though his face bore a sharper, more feral cunning.
Seeing Aldric approach, the boy rushed forward with an ingratiating, gap-toothed smile and bowed deeply. "Are you Maester Aldric?"
"I am. Who are you?"
"I'm Albert. Jimmy's best friend. Jimmy took a sickness in the night, so he asked me to take his place and guide you."
Sick? Aldric raised an eyebrow. "Did he tell you where we are going today?"
"Yes, my lord. Master Dondarrion's silversmith shop in the Inner Harbor."
Dondarrion... That was indeed the shop Aldric had agreed to visit yesterday. But he already knew the way.
A sudden, sharp prick of worry for Jimmy hit him.
"Let's go," Aldric said, his voice flat. "What kind of sickness does Jimmy have?"
"Just a wet cough, my lord. I gave him some boiled herbs. He's resting at his shack; he should be fine in a day or two. Follow me, please."
Led by the boy, Aldric and Kevin wound their way through the labyrinthine streets of the Outer Harbor. The prosperous storefronts quickly gave way to dilapidated warehouses and narrow, refuse-choked alleys.
This wasn't the way to Silversmith Street.
Aldric stopped walking. "You've taken a wrong turn, haven't you?"
The boy turned back, the subservient smile vanishing. He stuck out his tongue, made a grotesque, mocking face, and sprinted away into the shadows.
Before the echo of his bare feet faded, seven men armed with rusted daggers and iron hatchets stepped out from the intersecting alleys, blocking them in. Among them were the two thugs who had kicked over Jimmy's cart the day before.
"Respected Maester," the leader drawled. He was a dark-skinned brute swinging a thick wooden club spiked with nails. "If your brain isn't stuffed entirely with parchment, I suggest you hand over the heavy gold in your pouch. Do it quietly, and perhaps we'll leave you your tongue so you can earn bread telling stories."
The leader leered, stepping closer, his men fanning out to block the exits. "Think about it. Reading books for years in the Citadel, achieving nothing, only to bleed out in a dark corner... isn't that a pity?"
Aldric stumbled back a step, bumping into Kevin. He raised his hands, his voice pitching high and trembling. "W-what do you want? This is White Harbor! We are within the walls! Under the protection of Lord Manderly! Robbing people in broad daylight... you ignore the authority of the Merman!"
"Big Joey" laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "Lord Manderly? May the Seven bless his fat lordship with a long life. But the Manderlys are giants, and we are ants. A giant could crush us with a step, true, but why would a giant care what happens in a dirty anthill? Don't expect the city watch to save you. We chose this spot carefully."
Aldric's face went pale. He began to sweat. He screamed hoarsely, "Impossible! Even if you kill us, the bodies will be found! The watch will hunt you down!"
Behind him, Kevin gripped Aldric's tunic, head down, his shoulders shaking violently.
Seeing the prey's impotent panic made Big Joey even more arrogant. He sneered, "Are all Citadel Maesters this stupid? The warehouses on this street have been empty since the winter storms. No one comes down here. We slit your throats, toss the bodies in a cellar, and by the time you're white bones, no one will care."
A thin, vicious-looking thug interrupted. "Joey, stop talking. The Boss didn't say let them leave alive."
Big Joey scowled. "Are you an idiot? What's wrong with playing with the sheep? The Boss didn't say I couldn't—"
Aldric suddenly cut in. "Last question."
The panic in the giant's voice was completely gone. The trembling stopped. He lowered his hands, and his posture shifted from a terrified scholar to a coiled spring.
"How did you know I had gold?" Aldric asked, his voice low, steady, and terrifyingly calm.
"Hah! Yesterday you went all over Silversmith Street asking for—"
Big Joey stopped mid-sentence. He realized something was fundamentally wrong. The prey was looking at him with the cold, dead eyes of an executioner.
"You prepared well," Aldric said, rolling his shoulders. "Otherwise, finding you might have been tricky. I hope you considered your own needs when choosing this isolated spot. Kevin, can you handle the three in the back?"
Kevin stopped shaking. He looked up, a feral grin spreading across his face. The boy drew Aellie. "No problem, Master."
Big Joey blinked in confusion as the timid acolyte drew a sword of impossibly fine steel.
"I thought this guy was a Maester?" Joey asked the thug beside him.
The squat thug from the market looked equally lost. "That little bastard Jimmy said he was..."
The words hung in the air as a massive fist flashed toward his face.
Dozens of heartbeats later, seven armed thugs were seven bleeding corpses in the mud.
Aldric stood over Big Joey, wiping blood from his knuckles. He nudged the corpse with his boot.
"Kevin, why didn't you remind me to keep one alive?" Aldric sighed. "They're all dead. Who do we ask for Jimmy's address?"
Kevin wiped Aellie clean on a dead man's tunic and sheathed it. "Master, you didn't tell me to leave one alive. You dropped the act and attacked without a word; I thought you had a plan. Besides, your acting was terrible. I was shaking because I was trying so hard not to laugh..."
Aldric scratched his head. "So what now?"
In a recessed doorway down the alley, the boy named Albert was covering his mouth, shaking violently. A dark puddle of urine spread beneath his bare feet.
He had planned to hide until the killing was over, hoping to scavenge some dropped coppers from the dead sheep. The killing was over exactly as quickly as he expected. But the ones left standing were not the ones he anticipated.
"Hey. Kid in the doorway. Come here."
The giant's voice boomed. Albert scrambled to his feet and turned to run.
Before he could take two steps, a cold wind brushed his ear. A heavy dagger slammed into the wooden doorframe inches from his face, burying itself deep in the wood.
Looking at the vibrating steel, Albert's vision swam, and his knees buckled.
When he opened his eyes, he was sitting against a brick wall. The two gods of death were squatting in front of him.
He tried to scramble away, but a massive, hot hand pressed against his forehead, pinning his skull to the brick.
"Don't move," Aldric said softly. "I'm having trouble controlling my strength right now. I might crush you by accident."
The sheer coldness in the voice sobered Albert instantly.
"Kid," Aldric asked. "Do you know the way to Jimmy's house?"
Albert shook his head instinctively, then nodded frantically. "I know! My Lord, I know where he lives! We grew up together! I'm his best friend! Please spare me!"
"His best friend?" Aldric's eyes hardened. "And you led him into an ambush?"
Albert argued desperately, tears streaming down his face. "I had to! Yesterday Jimmy told me a Maester wanted to hire him as a servant! He was so happy! He said he would give me his oyster stall for free!"
"Did you tell the thugs about my deal with Jimmy?"
"No! I swear! Big Joey heard from his spies on Silversmith Street that Jimmy was guiding a fat sheep with foreign gold! They came to his shack last night!"
Aldric fell silent. A sickening knot of guilt gnawed at his stomach. It was me. My gold brought the wolves to his door.
"And then?"
"Joey told Jimmy to lead you to this alley today. Jimmy refused. So they beat him. They beat him bad! I was there, so they made me replace him! They said if I didn't guide you, Jimmy and I would both be useless, and they'd beat me to death too!"
They beat him.
Aldric's heart tightened. He pulled his hand away. "Go. Take us to Jimmy's house. If you speak the truth, I swear by the Light, I will let you walk away."
Albert scrambled up and ran. He led them through a maze of squalid alleys. Children played in open sewage; adults stared from doorways with numb, hollow eyes.
At a low, rotting wooden shack at the end of a blind alley, Albert pushed open the door. "Jimmy? Are you okay?"
"Albert... where did you go?"
A weak, thready voice drifted from the darkness.
The room was cramped and smelled of mildew and old garlic. A cracked water jar in the corner held live oysters. Old clothes were tossed everywhere; the room had been violently ransacked.
Aldric crossed the room in two strides and knelt gently by the narrow cot.
"Little Jimmy," Aldric said softly. "It's me."
"Maester Aldric?"
Jimmy tried to open his eyes. One was swollen completely shut, an ugly, bruised purple. The other was a mere slit. Dried blood smeared his tender face, matting his hair.
Panic flashed in the boy's weak voice. "Maester... I didn't betray you! They offered me silver, they hit me... but I didn't bring you to the alley! I swear!"
He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't obey. A small wooden toy—a crudely carved duck—fell from his chest to the dirt floor.
Aldric pressed a gentle hand against the boy's uninjured shoulder. He picked up the duck and placed it back in Jimmy's hand. "I know. I know everything, Jimmy. Albert told me. You are a brave lad. A good lad."
Aldric reached down and slowly lifted the filthy, bloodstained quilt.
Without the cover, Jimmy's ruined body was exposed. His chest was a mass of dark, mottled bruising. One arm and one leg were twisted at sickening, unnatural angles. The flesh was swollen tight, the skin taking on a waxy, translucent pallor. The internal bleeding was massive.
Aldric closed his eyes, fighting the rage threatening to choke him.
He placed his hands over the boy's shattered chest. He closed his eyes, visualizing the sun, desperately trying to summon the Holy Light. He pulled at the dormant magic in his soul, trying to force it through the seal.
Heal him. Please. Just a spark.
Nothing happened. No golden glow. No warmth. Only a sharp, psychic pain echoed in his own mind. The Light remained dead.
Aldric opened his eyes. "Child," he asked softly, his voice thick. "Yesterday I asked if you wanted to be my servant. Have you decided?"
A faint, fragile light flooded Jimmy's remaining eye. "I... I want to! My grandfather said... serving a fair, highborn master is the... the best way out. Grandfather said..."
Suddenly, Jimmy's gaze lost focus. The light faded. In the midst of his desperate hope for a future, his head lolled back against the straw pillow. The remaining eye slipped shut.
Pressing trembling fingers to the boy's neck, feeling the absolute, hopeless stillness, Aldric felt something inside him tear.
Little friend. Was your greatest wish just to be a servant?
Aldric pulled the quilt over Jimmy's ruined face.
He stood up slowly. He turned to Albert, who was cowering by the door. "How do people here handle remains?"
Albert, realizing what had happened, began to weep openly. "The Silent Sisters at the Sept take them. If you pay them silver, they treat the bodies well."
"Kevin." Aldric's voice was devoid of all emotion. It was the voice of a winter storm. "Go back to the inn. Bring my armor. Bring the Serpent's Striker."
Kevin asked no questions. He didn't hesitate. He left at a dead run. He knew exactly what his master intended.
Aldric gathered Jimmy's small body in his arms, ignoring the blood soaking into his tunic. He carried the boy through the streets to the nearest Sept. He handed a heavy Silver Moon to a Silent Sister in grey robes, placing the boy gently on the altar.
"Sister," Aldric whispered. "Please care for him. He was a brave child."
The Sister nodded mutely, wrapping Jimmy in a clean shroud and carrying him into the cool shadows of the crypt.
Aldric looked down at his hand. He was still holding the wooden duck Jimmy had dropped. It was crude pine, whittled by a grandfather with a dull knife. It was worth less than a copper. But the smooth, worn patina on the wood said it was Jimmy's only treasure. His everything.
Aldric tucked it into his breast pocket and walked away.
Back at the shack, Aldric squatted before Albert, staring the boy dead in the eye.
"Albert. You and Jimmy were friends, right?"
Albert shuddered, then nodded.
"I'll give you a Silver Stag." Aldric put his heavy hands on the boy's shoulders. "One Silver Stag to do something for your friend. Will you?"
One Silver Stag?! Albert's eyes lit up, the grief vanishing instantly. "I will! My Lord, say it, I'll do anything!"
"The men who beat Jimmy. The Long Fish Gang. You know where their hideout is. Take me there after dark. Once I confirm the location, you take the silver and go home."
Albert hesitated, biting his lip. "My Lord... Jimmy is dead. Can you take me as your servant instead? I'm smarter than Jimmy. I'm stronger too."
Aldric froze.
A wave of profound helplessness and sorrow washed over him. He looked at the boy—a child willing to sell his dead friend's position for a chance at survival. This was the reality of the slums. This was the world.
But Aldric's face remained stone.
"If you perform well tonight..." Aldric said softly. "I might consider it."
Albert nodded joyfully, the tears he had shed for Jimmy still wet on his cheeks.