There are many different levels in the society of Penrith. When you come down from the nobels; rich people who run the country, leaders of armies, people you know of but have never met, you get the big three. They each run a segment of the towns underworld so to speak.
You have Druugel who operates the criminal activity.
Garot who controls the assassins.
Finally, the lovely Miss Ivory who operates the prostitution rings.

Miss Ivory is a kind woman, she protects the Silver Ladies (the women working in her salons), and she brings in orphans to help keep them safe from the rough streets. The older orphans are the outerdels, who serve as a security team protecting the people working under Miss Ivory, while the younger orphans are the urchins keeping their eyes and ears open so Miss Ivory always knows what the town is thinking.

We love being outerdels, a part of Miss Ivory's family, without her we definitely would have died.
Miss Ivory loves us to, "I've never worked with twins before." She said with delight as she cupped our dirty, blood stained faces.
My sister, older by two minutes was very stubborn, demanded to know what Miss Ivory wanted from us. If anything that made Miss Ivory more curious, apparently no one had ever stood up to Miss Ivory before. Something about disrespecting a lady? She said she would teach us.

My sister learnt to fight and survive while I studied under a scholar who was one of Miss Ivory's clientele. Not a private client but someone who owed or paid Miss Ivory. It's unimportant. So now I'm the clever younger brother and she is the stubborn older sister. This was one of MIss Ivory's favourite way to describe us. Miss Ivory did ask if we had names but I can barely remember mine anymore. It's not like it was important, I'm one of a twin and that's all I need to know. 

When Miss Ivory travelled into the Ebony forest we siblings were sat watching. We were to report on who went inside the forest. Miss Ivory knew we were here and she didn't care that we saw her go in. 

"She's playing the game." I said. 

"We should follow." Replied my sister.

"Does she want us to?"

We followed her inside. She knew we would see her, which means we aren't in her way.

Games are simple, if you enter the game your a player, since we are twins we have entered together, we are now a player, a single player.  Crossing the border felt no different from stepping out into the street. There was no big flash, no sudden sense of dread nor any green arrows symbolising the start of the game. It was cold and dark outside of the forest and it's cold and dark inside of the forest, although the wind isn't quite so sharp. I looked back at my twin, she shook her head at me; a silent 'don't'. She's right. How many men had come to this forest in search of a murderer and died? They all must of felt this air of normalicy too. I shouldn't underestimate this place. All the best assassins kill in the most unnoticable ways, this lack of 'welcome' shouldn't come as a shock to me. Whatever this thing is, it knows we're here. 

***

One foot at a time, keep a steady pace, reveal nothing. Just because ones presence isn't a secret doesn't mean the essence of surprise is lost. The words of my teacher drifted through my head.
"Your an innocent. Naive.  A female killer. A child." Remember who I am but also what I appear as.  I grab his hand. He may be in the front but we both knew I was leading. My instincts are faster, I take immediate action, while he calculates. Give me something. A tug on my hand, the other direction. I change course, marching forwards then I see it. Under the larger bushes, skillfully hidden are drag marks of big skirts. Lady Ivory's trail. It's not surprising that she came to the woods. Losing Ebony hit Lady Ivory hard. Harder than the public realises. It was only a matter of time before she came here. Not for answers or revenge.

"Revenge is futile. A silly man's game, I simply wish to even the playing field." This is what Lady Ivory says. However, to come here so unprepared is very unlike her. Something must be wrong. Was her hand pushed? Is her dominance being threatened by this thing so that she must take immediate action?
The trail stopped. No broken branches or shrubbery in the immediate area. No foot or drag marks on the floor, even the smell of her perfume had vanished.

"Like Ebony."I shot him a look. He raised his eyebrows. I sighed. He isn't wrong. 

A branch snapped, left side. We continue moving. Quickly and carefully.

"When tracking remember that you are the hunter. Move as one. Quiet and quick. Only erase your tracks if you are not the hunter." My teachers trainings arise in my head as needed.

He steps in my footprints. If someone does follow us then it would appear as an adult woman with dainty feet rather than two children.
For now the priority is stealth though. I can do that, he can mimic.
Now we just have to track, this new thing isn't Lady Ivory. There are no skirt marks and it's incredibly fast. We won't catch it, but if it doesn't cover it's tracks we can continue to follow. Whatever it is, it doesn't appear to care about pursuers. Therefore, it's either an animal or a person knowing that stealth is futile in Ebony's game. In theory neither option is good. If we enounter an animal it's both useless and may attack us. On the other hand if this creature is smart then it must either have a strong understanding of these woods or similar training to myself. I don't know which answer I prefer but either way it's slightly better than wondering around aimlessly, at least it provides the false sense of being the hunter rather than the hunted. 

The trail is starting to become thin. More distance between each new track. It doesn't make sense, if it knows that we are following then why not just stop leaving a trail? Why go through the energy of leaving scattered tracks? There's no benefit, it's still a trail. We slow the pace, looking for the next sign. 

When I realised it I could have slit somethings throat then and there.
He clucks his tongue in a quiet laugh. He's impressed.

Whatever we were tracking had taken the initiative to follow what appeared to be a wild boar from the looks of these hoof prints. Then disapear, leaving us following the wrong tracks which had blended in. Not only was it brilliant but it was also another way of telling us to 'Get lost'. 

I've neer felt more like a child.