Ranger surveyed the Black District with a sort of subdued interest as he walked along the narrow streets and alleys that made up the city’s largest area of crime and debauchery. Somewhere behind him, he heard Fairna and Amira shift and turned to glance at the sisters as Amira pulled her hood further overhead and cast a suspicious glance around them, whereas her sister simply kept her head to the ground. Ranger quickly turned his attention to the streets around them.

Contrary to popular belief, you were actually rather unlikely to be attacked or robbed in the Black district; it was far more likely that you would be mugged in one of the other five districts. The Black District was simply where illegal trade happened out of sight of the guardsmen that patrolled the town. Black markets lay festering all over this part of the city, thus giving the District its name. Ranger didn’t much like venturing down here, especially with Fairna or Amira, but it was occasionally necessary in order to find the more lucrative jobs. The more dangerous jobs were far less likely to be given out by the nobles in the higher districts, and even less likely to be given out by the peasants and the working class.

Ranger came to a sudden halt in front of an old, abandoned looking building. Not anticipating the stop, Amira walked right into him, and cursed, rubbing her nose as she glared daggers into his back. Without knocking or paying any mind the grumbling woman behind him, Ranger threw open the door to the building, startling the frail-looking shopkeeper, who had been polishing his counter.

He narrowed his eyes at Ranger and the woman as they came up, and Ranger sat a large burlap sack on the counter.

“So, you’ve got it then?” he rasped, revealing his sharp fangs and forked tongue as he spoke, looking up at Ranger with his snake-like eyes.

“No, he put a random sack on your counter.” Amira snapped from the back of the shop as she pulled off her hood, revealing pointed ears and long black hair.

The shopkeep slithered out from behind the counter, his scaly lower half carving a slug-like pattern on the dusty floor. “Maybe he did. I have no way of knowing, Princesssss,” he hissed, before opening the bag to observe what was inside and removing a large, glittering jewel.

Fairna watched this exchange with relative silence, and as Ranger turned to glance back at them again, she smiled and brushed a lock of snow-white hair behind her ear, while Amira frowned at her reflection in the mirror, working to scrub the dirt off of her dark skin, and scowling as she only succeeded in spreading it around and making herself look even filthier.

Ranger turned his attention back to the shopkeep, who seemed to deem the jewel was genuine. He slithered back behind the counter and placed the gem away, before withdrawing a large bag that clinked as the coins within jostled one another.

“Your payment,” he said, “assss promissssed.”

Ranger took the bag and bowed to the shopkeep, before he and the princesses left the shop for the streets once more as the sun began to rise, casting long shadows across the cobbled streets, and making the dark stone buildings appear even darker.

Fairna frowned at the sunrise. “We need to get back to the palace in the Heart District. If anyone realizes Amira and I were gone…”

“We’ll make it in time,” Ranger assured her. “We always have.”