He didn’t find anything interesting in the murky town. Its people were either some prestigious, rich snobs, who wouldn’t even bat an eye at Elias and mostly kept near the harbour, at hotels and particular houses, Elias wasn’t entirely sure what purpose they held. One stood out the most, for it was the busiest amongst them all. It was also the one, where those boys in beryl green coloured silk and sage coloured chiffon and tulle dresses were most present.

The others lurking around this town were sailors and drunks. Elias avoided them in big circles. The ones who didn’t belong in any of these categories were the ones who lived further up the street. These were the poor and the ones who lived day by day barely making ends meet.

Elias spent his time wandering around the town, trying to find some interesting places. However, he would never dare step foot in Bradfordshire after dark. He would spend his nights on the ship.

Once he saw someone break into a house. The man did it with only two metal picks. Elias remembered he saw Kian do it once. So that day when he returned to the ship, he went up to him placed a lock before him and said,

“Teach me.”

Kian looked at the lock disinterested and then back at Elias.

“No.”

“I’ll give you my portion of every dinner.”

Kian peered at him with screwed eyes, fixing him on the spot and then sighed. “Fine. Don’t tell the Captain I’m teachin’ ya these nonsenses.”

And so, Kian taught Elias how to lockpick.

As Elias quickly realised how dull and uninteresting the town was, he started to entertain himself with theft and he became quite good at it too. He managed to steal a peige there, another two, there and once he managed to steal a whole pouch of money.

Elias always made sure he stole from the rich, especially the ones who held themselves high or the ones who would shame, mock, and kick the beggars on the streets. Elias would target them, and he always stayed around to see their expressions when they found out something went missing.

But it wasn’t always just money he stole. It was also jewellery, food, or sweets - those were hard to come by, because of the lack of sugar. One night as he was just making his way back to the ship, munching down on a roll of bread, he came across two kids and a man yelling at them.

Elias hid in a side street and peeked around the corner.

“Get away ya filthy scum.” He kicked at a girl, who was holding her hands over a little boy. “How dare ya ask me for money?! Disgustin’ brat!”

The man kicked her again and stormed down the street. The little boy began to weep in the girl's arms.

“Shhh,” She hugged him closer. “It’s going’to be okay. We’re goin’ to get some peigs in the mornin’.”

The boy wept louder. Elias looked from afar. The pair, Elias presumed to be brother and sister, looked hungry like they hadn't eaten in several days. Elias looked down at the bread he was eating and the sweets he had stored in his bag.

He looked around to make sure the street was empty, pulled down his mask and approached the pair. The girl was startled, her brown eyes full of terror, as she looked up at the mask. The freckled boy with light brown hair in her arms began to cry louder.

Elias reached his hands up. “It’s okay.” Realising it was a mistake, he pulled down his mask and smiled. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The girl seemed to relax a bit when she saw that Elias was a kid just like them. He offered her the bread. The girl didn’t take her eyes off him. She didn’t want to take it. When the boy noticed the roll of bread Elias was offering, he ravenously reached towards him and grabbed it.

“A-Aidrien!” scolded the girl.

“It’s okay.” Said Elias and reached in his bag to pull out the sweets and a pouch of money. “Here, take these.”

“I-I can’t accept that. You need it too.”

“It’s okay.” He took her hand and placed it in.

“H-how can I repay ya?”

“You don’t have to.” He nodded towards the money. “Spend it well.”

Before the girl could say anything, Elias pulled down his mask and ran down to the harbour. He only heard the girl shout a thank you behind him, before he was too far down the dingy street. Elias’ heart raced as he reached the ship. Underneath the mask his smile was spread wide across his face.

One day Elias stumbled upon a market square. From the looks of it, he concluded that it was for the locals. He strolled around, not finding anything that would interest him. It was already evening, so he decided to head back to the ship. He entered a dark alleyway when he heard someone whispering to him.

“Hey, ya.” Elias tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. “Yes, ya.”

Elias turned to his right. From the darkness emerged a woman, her skin pale and covered in tattoos. Elias guessed she must’ve been a witch. He had heard stories from Filp about them. They meant no good.

“Do ya want to hear the future, kid?” Elias turned his head and continued his way. “Wait! I’ll do ya for free.”

Elias stopped and hesitated. Maybe she could really tell him the future. Would he ever be able to escape The Rose Sparrow? Would he ever be able to come back to Parahill?

Will he ever be free?

There were too many questions running through his mind. He turned back to the witch. She smiled and approached him.

“Ya were taken from yer home and the pirates killed yer parents.”

“You told me you would tell me the future,” said Elias, irritated. “I know of the past.”

“Nothin’ good awaits ya kid. Not here in Bradfordshire and not out there at sea.” She circled around Elias as if he was prey. She brushed her long nails down his back. “I see green embossed into the skin in yer back. Black mark, bonding ya to them. The silver lily will haunt you in nightmares. Oh,” Elias got startled at her change of tone. “It will also be the thing that’ll make those nightmares disappear.”

Cold sweat ran down Elias’ back. She scratched one finger down where his heart is. “A knife to the heart. A bond.” She smiled. “A strong bond. Oh, that’s interestin’. It’s her.”

“W-who?”

She leaned to his face and clicked with her tongue. “The one who started it all.”

Elias opened his mouth to ask further when someone screamed in the market square. Elias hastily pulled down the mask and ran out of the street. They were people gathered around someone Elias couldn’t see.

He pushed through the crowd to make his way through. When he finally made it through, he saw the woman, who made the mask for him, sprawled on the ground, a man, clearly drunk, as he was still holding a bottle in his hand, shouting.

“I’ve said tell me!” The woman just shook her head rapidly. “What? Can’t ya speak? I said, tell me ya bitch!”

He stepped towards her. Elias didn’t even think when he grabbed one of his knives and threw it towards the man. it caught on his coat and fixed him to one of the markets stalls. The crowd gasped and then went quiet. Elias ran to the lady and helped her get up.

“W-what?” The man struggled to process what just happened. He reached towards the knife and pulled it out. “Ye, scum!”

He launched towards Elias who had his back towards him. Elias saw the terror in the woman’s eyes, but he was too slow. As he was reaching for his dagger he turned around and the man sliced him across the left side of his jaw, knocking his mask off.

The crowd gasped again, and Elias could hear them whispering It’s just a kid. Pain spread through his face like a flame and he felt blood drip down his neck. He ignored it.

“A kid?!” Elias could smell the alcohol reeking off him. “A kid, dears to humiliate me?!”

He tried to approach him, when suddenly the crowd backed him away.

“Ya dare hurt a kid!?”

“He’s bleedin’!”

They pushed him away and Elias took that chance to pick up the mask and the knife the man dropped, took the woman's hand, and pulled her away in a street Elias knew wouldn’t be crowded. When he reached it, he stopped and turned to the woman. Her face was pale, and her worried eyes jumped from Elias’ face to his wound.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

The lady managed a nod after some time.

“Are you hurt?”

She nodded off. She reached her trembling hand towards Elias’ jaw, but he flinched away.

“It’s okay. I’ll stitch it up. Will you be able to get back to your shop?”

The woman nodded. Elias was about to leave when the woman took his hand. She placed the other over her heart and bowed her head down. Elias figured she was thanking him.

“No problem. Try to get to your shop before dark.”

He released her hand and ran down into the street. Try to get to your shop before dark. He should get somewhere before dark. It was already dark and Elias was far across the town. He had no intention of running around Bradfordshire at night. He hurried down the streets looking around at the rooms where lights weren’t on.

Only now did he register the pain spreading in waves through his body from the jaw, where his wound throbbed. Blood was still diligently oozing from the slit. His vision was beginning to fog and with that, his mind was growing hysterical. He had to get somewhere safe and stitch up the wound. Elias pressed his hand over the wound and ran further.

He was in Fedir ally when he heard someone approaching. He hid in the narrow side street. A man and a woman walked past him, stopping by a door with a red mark on it. The man knocked on the door. Nobody answered it.

“I told you.” Said the woman. “He’s always in Galssop this time of the year.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right dear. You should listen to me more.”

The man smiled and took her hand. They continued walking the path. “We’ll visit him next time.”

When the street was clear, Elias ran to the door. He pulled out his lockpicks and went for the lock on the door. He struggled a bit, having to blink hard several times to stop his eyes from fogging, but eventually, the door opened. There was a staircase leading up to a trapdoor. Elias went up and carefully opened it, making sure there was no one in the apartment. When there came no sound, he fully opened the trapdoor and climbed in. He closed it behind and looked around.

There was a small room barely enough for a bed, closet, and a table with two chairs. The moonlight shone through one window.

It would do for the night.

He placed the bag on the table and pulled out a needle and a threat. He went to the mirror and lit up the match to sterilise the needle. He grabbed a cloth and put it in his mouth to prevent him from shouting. When he stitched it up, he put away the needle, in the bag. He took off his coat, but kept the dagger and knives close to him. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes.

This would do for tonight.

First thing in the morning, Elias went straight back to the ship. Nobody came to the apartment, but Elias couldn’t sleep for even a second. Every creek, every whisper of the wind would startle him to the bone. He had to get to his net and get some sleep.

When he embarked the ship, he noticed Nick up by the helm. Maybe Elias only imagined it, but he thought he saw relief across his face. It was gone in a second, followed by a simple cheery wave. Elias waved back and went below deck, taking his mask off and putting it in his bag.

As he was going down the stairs, Pit passed him, brushing his hand slowly and deliberately against Elias’ arm. The boy stopped and looked over his shoulder, his brows furrowed. Pit wordlessly grinned at him and continued his way up on the deck. He reeked of alcohol.

Elias in the past year began to know and understand each of the men on the ship, but he could never quite understand Pit. He was odd. He would always watch Elias, but not like the others did. There was something that could only be described as slimy about him, though Elias couldn’t quite pinpoint what that meant. He would also regularly see him linger around that big house everyone called The Jade Paradise.

Elias brushed his hand where Pit touched him trying to shake off the disconcerting feeling.

He didn’t quite understand it at that time.