Chapter 11: Unrest in the Lower Quarter

The Grubber had the same malnourished look about him from before in Jade Square and wearing some truly dilapidated looking rags, complete with a floppy brown hat that was just a little too big for his head. Underneath the hat however he had sandy, albeit dirty, blonde hair that ran down to his neck.

As Jack and Nolan spied on the young thief from their vantage point, they observed the boy deftly scaling the wall with little to no effort. He handily reached the top of the wall using small indents in the rock before grabbing a rope slung over the other side, apparently fastened to the worn top-of-the-wall by an iron ring.

He flipped the rope over to his side, which ran all the way to the ground, then jumped back down and signaled to someone Jack and Nolan couldn’t see. In an instant there emerged a much younger, but equally malnourished looking girl who was able to quickly climb the wall using the rope the young thief had produced for her.

The little girl waited at the top of the wall, staying low while the boy used the rope to get to the top in about half the time it took her, then he flipped the rope back over to the LQ side and the two were gone from Jack and Nolan’s view.

Without speaking Jack and Nolan exchanged a look of good fortune then raced over to where the two grubbers had climbed up. After Jack tried to use the holds to climb up the wall he conceded that they were too small for a full grown man to use.

Nolan let out a loud and emphatic string of curses at the dismay of coming up against yet another obstacle when victory had seemed so close at hand.

“Now what?” he cursed deflatedly.

“Here,” said Jack, picking up a stick on the ground. “Let me stand on your shoulders.”

“We tried that already mate, it didn’t work, wall’s too high,” rejected Nolan, gesturing up at the wall.

“Just trust me and do it. This’ll work, I promise.”

“Fine,” said Nolan.

Utilizing Nolan’s and Jack’s own impressive height they were able to reach just under the top of the wall, but not enough to climb on top. Jack then used the stick he had grabbed and hooked the rope and brought it over. Jack jumped down off Nolan’s shoulders.

“Ha!” they both exclaimed simultaneously.

“Ha yourselves!” said a menacingly familiar voice.

They spun around only to see the belligerent guard they had just recently encountered.

Jack quickly adopted his Lower Quarter face and spoke in a contrived accent.

“Uh pardon us sir. It’s a good thing you’re ‘ere. We weren’t doing anything untoward, just noticed this ‘ere rope. A right breach of the Kings decree it would be if it were left ‘ere. Any ol’ bloke could come along and traverse the Lower Quarter as they please.”

Nolan, being used to Jack’s impersonations adopted a similar expression and also tried to look somewhat subservient, however the effect was marred a bit by his formidable bulk (and lack of acting talent). They were now sandwiched between the wall and the guard, and this was looking to be a very unfortunate situation.

“I’m not buying it you filthy Grubbers. You lot were going to sneak into the LQ, a direct violation of the King’s peace, and as such I’m fit to punish you for said transgression,” said the guard.

“Now look here,” Nolan chimed in. “You don’t have any evidence we’re breaking the law, for all you know everything you see here is exactly as we found it. As citizens of Lazaras we’re entitled to a fair trial and due process, no matter what the perceived malfeasance.”

Jack was impressed at his friend’s knowledge of criminal law and the corresponding vocabulary. Many people thought Nolan was somewhat slow, but Jack knew better. Nolan simply focused on what was immediately relevant and useful for him to know, but mostly everything else was excluded.

“Under normal circumstances you’d be right, you disgusting cretin. But I don’t see anyone else here ‘cept for us three,” he said dangerously as he withdrew his short sword.

“Whoa, what are you doing man!” exclaimed Jack, dropping all pretense of his LQ accent. “You can’t just execute two citizens for nothing!”

Nolan’s face went grim and he stepped slowly to the left. Jack had done enough sparring with his best mate to know what needed to be done, and as such he quickly changed tactics.

The guard, seeming as though he had to work himself up to commit what amounted to cold blooded murder pointed his sword threateningly at the two, switching rapidly between Jack and Nolan.

“Oh I can, and I will. The Stalwart’s not what it used to be, boy. There’s a new power at work that finally gives us the authority we need to get you rubbish off the streets of our fair city for good!” said the guard, sword still pointed at Jack.

“That’s a fine little speech you ugly prick. Did you come up with it while you were humping your sister?” said Jack.

“What did you just say to me you cur!?” demanded the guard, readying his blade. “I’ll have your head for that!”

The corrupt guard shoved Jack up against the wall and put his sword to his throat and let out a menacing yell.

Confidently, Jack merely stood in place, unafraid as Nolan hit the guard squarely on the back of his helmeted head with a heavy wooden baton he had produced from the folds of his tunic.

Jack watched with casual amusement as the guard’s eyes lost their focus and rolled into the back of his head as he slumped into a heap to the ground. Relishing the moment, Jack became vaguely aware of the irony that he had come up against the point of a sword before he got to the LQ.

“Took you long enough, “said Jack.

“Whatever mate,” Nolan replied. “You’re welcome. Although I will say, nice job getting his attention.”

“Thanks. How on Talla Arcaya did he think it was okay to murder two unarmed Grubbers for a minor crime?” asked Jack, more to himself than Nolan in particular.
“I was armed,” Nolan supplied with a grin, hefting his stick in his hand.

“Yeah but he didn’t know that, I mean I knew that, but he didn’t. And what did he mean by there’s a new power in the Stalwart?” Jack asked. “That doesn’t sit right with me, gives me a bad feeling you know?”

“I know what you mean, if King Durgas is issuing decrees to have any Grubber caught outside the LQ killed without addressing the court or the knights…I just don’t believe he’d do that, he’s always been so good to the people of this city, no matter what Quarter they came from,” said Nolan.

Jack thought about that for a moment, eyes still on the unconscious guard.

The sky had remained an overcast dusty grey, and as the two friends stood over the now unconscious guard, it grew even colder as the wind blew up from the foothills far below the city.

“Well we can’t stand here and dwell on it; we have a thief to find, remember?” Jack reminded him.

Nolan paused for a few seconds, trying to dispel the uneasy feeling that had come over the both of them.

“Yeah, yeah you’re right, let’s go before more guards show up.”

With Jack first and Nolan second, they scaled the wall using the rope and entered the Lower Quarter.