Never having visited District 10 properly, SJ was amazed at the difference in the buildings that she was heading past. She had her map open on her display as she walked, knowing that Holly had stated that she lived out towards the outer wall. The District boundaries were not always exactly clear, but in this instance, there was a definite variance in the building structures. Many of the buildings were made from timber, even the larger ones, rather than stone.
As SJ weaved through various streets, small huts were positioned on their corners. They reminded SJ of the guard huts at the gates to Whitehall in London, where ceremonial guards would stand on parade.
‘What are these for?’ SJ asked.
“Probably fire spots,” Dave said.
‘What do you mean by fire spots?’
“You have already noticed that this District is pretty much built from timber. They will, on dry days, have spotters in these posts watching for the first sign of a fire. It wouldn’t take minutes for half this district to erupt into flames if a fire started.”
‘Seems very organised if that is the case.’
“You say that. It will probably be jobs for the youngsters to do. They will be lucky to earn a copper a day.”
‘That wouldn’t even get them enough food to survive off of.’
“No, but unfortunately, that is how many cities work. They will earn enough every couple of days to get some food.”
‘It is nearly as bad as slave labour.’
“The empire and its followers don’t condone slavery. That is why even menial jobs will earn coins. Slavery is common in various races, though. “
SJ could feel her temper rising as she considered the lives of so many within the city who may be working in similar circumstances. She was already well aware of the manner in which the brewers’ guild ruled over the coopers and controlled their income massively.
‘This city is so corrupt.’
“It isn’t corruption. They are paid, so they are not breaking any rules.”
‘But how can they get away with it? Not paying enough for a being to be able to eat daily should be a crime in itself.’
Dave didn’t respond as SJ contemplated the conversation she was going to have with the chancellor when she next returned to the tower. She knew it might be a pointless exercise, but she would have to say something. She had never been one for standing aside when she saw those being treated unfairly. That was one of the reasons she had become a forensic accountant: to wheedle out those who mistreated or stole from others. Every role in Killic was paid accordingly, and it was consistently fair.
As SJ approached the outer wall, the streets narrowed, and at places, the timber structures almost rested against each other. Beings were everywhere, even in the rain that had been falling. Stalls and pop-up stands littered the street sides. Bars with open doorways and staggering souls left them. There were very few shops that she could see this far out to the outer wall. The area seemed even worse than the outer streets of District 3.
‘Maybe the best thing to happen to this District is for it to burn,’ SJ thought. The address that Holly had given her wasn’t showing on her map as she viewed her display, having never been in the district. As she walked past a bar where several patrons sat outside under an awning, she asked for directions. The human male who replied to her looked at her with wandering eyes.
“Never heard of, but it’s probably by the pits? It’s the dive of the district,” he slurred as he replied.
“I am here to see a friend,” SJ said.
“You look too pretty to be a friend of someone from there.”
The fact that she was talking to a drunken being sitting outside a run-down bar towards the outer area of District 10, saying that the area she was to visit was a dive, made SJ dread to think of the conditions that Holly and her children lived in.
“Where is it, then?”
“You won’t miss it,” the man said as he pointed down the street, continuing towards the outer wall. “If it’s by the garbage pits. Just follow your nose.”
SJ turned away from the man and followed the initial direction he had pointed. As she continued, the street wound and got even closer together. It would be hard for the horse to fit down the street with a rider. A doorway opened in front of her, almost blocking the entire street, before an orc closed it and brushed past her, heading the way she had come. He didn’t look well dressed and stank. The whole area stank, the air filled with the smell of rotten food and waste.
‘I think we must be getting close,’ SJ thought, rubbing her nose. Her increased senses weren’t making the job of going further into the area a pleasant experience. Eventually, she reached the end of the narrow street and, to her surprise, was greeted by an open area. It stretched no more than a hundred feet towards the imposing outer wall of Asterfal. It really was the outer city area. The area was filled with large deep pits, and from the left side, a wide road led back out into the district.
‘I wish I had come that way.’
“At least you have a way back now,” Dave chuckled.
As SJ watched, a large wagon slowly backed towards one of the pits. The back of the wagon was full of rubbish. Looking at the contents, she could see where she was. Food and other waste were then unloaded from the back and shovelled into one of the large pits. That was when SJ noticed other beings trying to sift through the contents of the wagon as it was unloaded. The beings unloading started cursing and swearing at the beings, striking at them with their shovels or brooms, trying to drive them off. Every being looked as though they were in rags.
“Get away, you scum,” the being shouted as SJ headed towards them. The small grime-covered face of Harry, Holly’s son, turned and ran back away from the wagon, carrying several scraps of something from the wagon.
The sight of Harry stealing from a rubbish wagon made SJ’s heartache, looking at his small, terrified, but determined face.
“Harry,” SJ called as he ran towards another narrow street no wider than an alley. The small face turned and looked back, alarm showing. He looked away again and continued to run down the alley.
‘Damn it,’ SJ thought. There was no one paying attention, so she shrunk and took off, giving chase. At least in her miniature form, she could travel the narrow alleyway easily. She noticed Harry pull a piece of timber ajar further down the alley as he ducked inside before it fell back into place.
From what SJ could tell, the timber at the base of the building was warped by dampness, and the alleyway itself was covered in muddy water from the broken earth. SJ landed by the edge of the panel and peered in through the narrow gap that was left. It was pitch black inside, and even with her improved vision, she couldn’t see easily due to the little natural light available.
‘Better see if I can follow him,’ SJ thought as she squeezed through the narrow gap left by the panel covering the entrance, which had been drawn back into place. It was pitch black inside, and SJ stood for a moment, allowing her vision to adjust as best she could. The smell of dampness was concentrated in the enclosed space, and she pulled her cloak across her nose and mouth, the stench almost making her back out again.
After getting a grip of herself, she moved forward, reaching her hand out to the side of the passageway and feeling the slimy remnants of whatever covered it. She was glad she couldn’t see it clearly and shuddered at the thought of what she may be touching. Carefully, she made her way along the uneven floor. It was obvious this was the shoring of the building that stood above, and SJ believed that she must be under the floor.
Eventually, she reached a larger area, her hand suddenly losing touch with the wall. Looking upwards, she could now see dim light creeping through definite floorboards. She was underneath someone’s dwelling. Footsteps suddenly made her jump as some being walked across the floor. The creak and cracking of the wood above made her fear it would give way, allowing whatever being it was to stand on her.
As she headed toward it, she could see another passage across the area. The air was filled with dust, and every step above made more drift down. This place was hellish.
‘I wonder where Harry has gone,’ she thought.
Dave didn’t reply as she continued down the following passage. She wasn’t sure how far she had moved when she found an opening on the right, and the passage turned sharply, allowing the passage to guide her. She continued until she could see the light ahead and voices. This was when she came upon another open space, the likes of which made her gasp in shock.
The earth had been dug away, and she was presented with what could only be described as dwellings dug into the earth. In the centre of the open area was a small fire, which several beings sat by. Surrounding it were what could only be described as curtained-off areas and what appeared to be a wall made from stone and timber running along one side. SJ could hear the sound of laughing and joking coming from above and the continual banging of feet as people moved around on the floor.
The entrances to what SJ could only assume were living areas were covered with rags or old blankets. SJ scanned the area until she spotted Harry on the far side, just entering one of these such areas.
Still in her miniature form and not noticed in the poor light, she stayed at the top of the underground pit and flew across to the far side, where Harry had disappeared. Slowly, she dropped to the ground and peered around the makeshift door. Inside, Holly sat with Joel on an earthen bed. A small candle burned, giving off its faint light. Harry excitedly chattered to her as she turned the items over that he had brought back with him from the garbage pits.
“This is excellent, Harry. I may be able to get a couple of coppers from the peddlers,” Holly said, smiling at Harry fondly. She reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Don’t, mum. I’m not a baby,” he protested, pulling back. “That lady from earlier saw me at the pit.”
“Which lady?” Holly asked, frowning.
“The one from the tower.”
“The ambassador?”
“Yes.”
“I know she said she would visit, but I gave her a false address. From what I told her, she should never have been able to find the area.”
“Can’t exactly brag about living underneath a bar, can we,” Joel whispered glumly.
“If we didn’t have this place, we would be on the streets. Be grateful for what we have,” Holly said.
‘This is horrendous,’ SJ thought. ‘I can’t believe families are living underneath the city.’
“It’s a good job they don’t have sewer systems out here. Otherwise, they wouldn’t t be able to dig out the area,” Dave said.
SJ heard a loud bang. Looking with her vision, she saw a being moving a wooden panel from the wall. He then slipped through before it was replaced again.
“I bet that’s a cellar for the inn above,” Dave said.
‘Possibly, and probably where they come and go from. I wonder if the bar above knows about here?’
“Probably.”
“I lost her in the alley,” Harry said, continuing to tell his mum about seeing SJ.
“Good. We can’t have people knowing we live here. The city guards would come and remove us, and that would mean we would really be on the streets. It is only because of Old Man Jack, who owns the bar, that we have this place.”
“He still makes us pay to live here,” Harry grumbled.
“A copper a week is worth it compared to being on the street,” Holly replied.
As SJ watched the interaction, she noticed that the clothes they had been wearing at the tower were hung neatly on a rope line that ran the width of the small room. They were all now dressed in what could only be described as rags, and their dishevelled appearance was even worse than their poor state at the tower.
‘I can see why they went to get a meal at the tower,’ SJ thought.
“I don’t blame them,” Dave replied.
The thought that a family was living in these conditions underneath a bar and having to pay any form of rent to stay there made SJ’s temper rise. She moved the blanket to the side as she stepped around it and grew.
Joel screamed in shock as SJ suddenly materialised in front of the three of them. Now that she was full-size, there was even less room within the confined space of their makeshift home.
Holly sat wide-eyed in shock as Harry spun. “Damn,” he cursed. “I thought I had lost her.”
The two children were acting differently from when they had been at the tower, and SJ believed that much of it had now been an act. They were obviously exceedingly poor, but she was now not sure if anything Holly had told her was the truth.
Holly went to speak, and as she did, SJ lifted her hand, stopping her.
“I think we need to talk,” SJ said.
“What...what are you doing here?” Holly stammered.
“I promised I would visit,” SJ shrugged.
“Yes. But I never expected you would. Why would an ambassador want to come here?”
“I keep my promises. That is irrelevant now. Is anything that you told me the truth?”
Holly stayed silent for a moment as she considered the conversation they had had at the tower.
“Yes. My husband was killed working the caravans, and we did lose our home.”
“And you being a farmer?”
Holly hesitated again. “No. I was a barmaid originally, but when Mark died, I lost my job. We were broken, and I couldn’t work. How could I pretend to be happy and serve with a smile when my Mark was dead.”
“I see. So, you lost your home because you weren’t able to work?”
“No. We would have lost our home anyway. I could never have afforded the rent from my coin as a barmaid. Even with tips, it wouldn’t have been enough.”
“And now you live by raiding the rubbish pits.”
“How else are we to survive? I can’t get a job anywhere else. If I walked into a bar asking for work, they would laugh at me. Before Mark died, we were proud of what we had achieved since arriving in Asterfal, but since it has been hell.”
“Why did you not tell me the truth at the tower?”
“What would someone from the tower care about beings out by the outer wall? You all live in your luxurious homes, while a vast number in this city struggle to survive day to day.”
“I am not from Asterfal. I assume you know that an ambassador is someone from outside the city?”
“I know enough,” Holly nodded.
“I am from a town four days travel from here. A place called Killic.”
“I have never heard of it. We are from the village of Warshi, a territory north of here.”
“I see. Why did you not consider returning home?”
“There is nothing there for us. Warshi is a tiny village, and there is no work there. We also couldn’t afford the carriage to return. We had saved for almost a year before we moved to Asterfal.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Twelve years.”
SJ glanced at both Harry and Joel. Joel was the older of the two children and looked about ten. Harry must have been nearer eight.
“How much is it for a room at the inn above us?”
Holly frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“How much is it?” SJ repeated.
“2 copper a night, I think. I am not sure.”
“You’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, aren’t you?” Dave said.
‘You know what I am thinking, what I am thinking,’ SJ sighed in her mind.
“I know, but is it really the right thing to do?”
‘What would you have me do? Leave them in this filthy state? Looking at Joel, he doesn’t look very either.’
“You can’t take care of everyone,” Dave sighed, knowing what SJ would do.
“Is there a reason for you to stay in District 10?” SJ asked.
Again, Holly's confused silence lasted until she replied, “Where else would we stay?”
“District 11, perhaps?”
“You must be joking; even the cheapest areas in District 11 are vastly more expensive than District 10.”
“Gather your things. We are leaving,” SJ said, looking between the three of them.
