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“I—” The fellow slumped, his whole body buckling. He hit the ground, and the other two drunks reacted.
“What did you do?” asked the one to my left.
“Get her!” said the one to the right. Both let go of me at once and lunged for the woman.
I could have fled—no one paid me any mind—but I didn’t. The woman who’d come to my rescue might have retreated a few paces, but she still faced two men, one armed with a knife, the other a length of jagged wood.
When they dove for her, the veiled woman danced. She swayed under a swinging ham fist. She spun and planted a foot that hit another, throwing off his thrust. She swayed left. Then right. Always moving ahead and looking poetic doing it. She ended up behind my assailant and put her hand in his face.
He fell to the ground. The last man standing decided to run.
She snorted. “Typical. Bullies only when the odds seem in their favor.”
“Are they dead?” I asked, creeping from my spot on the wall, remaining hunched down so as to minimize my nakedness. I had spare clothes, but I’d have to get to my hidden stash first.
She toed the body of one. “No. Not dead. Bodies draw too much attention. As do naked girls.” She did something and held out a scarf to me. When I would have wound it around my torso, she sighed.
“Not like that. Let me.”
I said nothing as she draped the fabric in a way that covered me. Before I could say thanks, she knelt by one of the downed men. This time I saw her flicking a ring on her hand and waving it under a nose before she leaned close to whisper something. She then repeated her actions on the other fellow.
“What are you doing?” I asked. Was it sorcery? Mama had spoken of it but in terms of a story, not something real.
“I’m ensuring that the next time they wake, they will think twice before they bother a child again.”
“How does putting them to sleep teach them a lesson?” It had been a year since the deaths of my family, a year of trying to survive in a harsh world. I’d led a sheltered life and could have never imagined the violence that existed elsewhere.
The woman rose and tucked her hands in front of her. “They are hardly having a restful sleep. When they wake, they’ll be regretting the error of their ways. They won’t be hurting any other children.”
“How can you be sure?”
“If I didn’t think it would work, I’d be employing a more permanent solution.” A flat statement. “Now, let’s not linger in this alley. My home isn’t far.”
I retreated a few paces. “I’m not going with you.”
“Oh yes you are. The streets are no place for a beautiful girl. Come with me and you’ll have shelter. Food. Protection.”
It sounded too good to be true. Suspicious, I blurted out, “Who are you?”
“They call me Tizana Butterfly.”
My eyes widened. “You’re the highest paid whore in Thaasky.”
“I see my reputation precedes me,” she replied dryly.
I backed away from her. Living on the streets these past few months had taught me more than I ever wanted to know. “I am not going to spread my legs, not even for a warm meal.”
“While I applaud your intelligence in recognizing potential danger, I am not the one you need to fear.”
“You want to bring me to a gradeena,” I stated. I might be young, but I knew what they did in the pleasure houses. The same thing these men had planned.
“I promise, no one will touch you. Gradeenas are actually the safest place for young girls without a home.”
“Says you.”
“Yes. You’ll have to trust me.”
Not an easy thing to ask, but at the same time, she’d come to my rescue. “How is a gradeena safer than the streets?”
