Page 76 of Zel
The only way to unseat a tyrant wasn’t to wait for them to grow a conscience or grow bored enough to change, but to undermine them with the power of the people little by little with every small act they could. In the turmoil of a famine, it wasn’t easy, but Zel and Ulrich both knew well how to be patient. And it was going to take many more than just them to see the end of the evil Queen’s reign.
Noise from the mouth of the alley drew Zel and Ulrich’s attention. A young couple stood stunned, having come upon them clearly by accident. Old Thieves Guild rules said to leave no witnesses, but they didn’t serve the old rules anymore.
Zel grinned and held a finger to their lips.
The couple nodded and hurried away. People in these streets knew the winds of change were upon them. Zel and their parents would not be like Lothar. If any friends or family members of those slain ever embarked upon revenge quests against the Pipers, Ulrich, or the guild, they would not win. Because they had far too much to lose to let anything be taken from them again.
“Shall we?” Zel turned to Ulrich.
“We shall.”
ULRICH
“Magic Man!” one of the children announced when Ulrich and Zel entered the orphanage. The title was close enough to “sorcerer,” Ulrich supposed, and certainly better than most of his other monikers.
The sack Ulrich carried was filled to the brim with food from his garden. They brought it weekly as added sustenance for the children, but it wasn’t solely altruistic, since the matron of the orphanage was a Thieves Guild whisperer and gave them information on activity in the city. An adequate step on the road to being…
Good.
“Am I reduced to a charlatan and clown to you?” Ulrich asked grandly, but as he pretended to protest, he summoned the vegetables from the sack to float through the air, sending them toward the kitchen past the amused looking matron, but saving one small tomato to float in front of the child’s face like a large red nose.
The child giggled and pawed at the tomato, which Ulrich released from his enchantment to allow it to be caught.
“You better share that,” Ulrich warned, and the child ran off with a fervent nod.
They did not know most of the children well, but there was one particular girl Zel had an affinity for. She often pulled Zel aside, chatting excitedly. Zel explained once that they were responsible for her father’s death, but Zel had spared her, some of which Ulrich had witnessed himself before appearing to Zel that night in the guise of an old woman.
The girl wanted to join the Thieves Guild someday, as a pickpocket if not an assassin. Zel was hesitant to give her any promises, but Ulrich could tell the girl would not be dissuaded. ‘Twas the way with tenacious people once they set their hearts on a certain path.
Ulrich had been such an orphan himself once.
The children had no fear of him. Most would stare in simple awe, even after a filling night such as this one when Ulrich’s power glittered about him similar to the old days. The matron was another story, but her unease in Ulrich’s presence did not prevent her from passing to him tidbits of interest for the guild, while Zel chatted with the girl.
They could not stay long, but Ulrich enjoyed the unburdened expression he saw on Zel’s face while they were here. When once Zel had been looked on with jealousy by those who sawrapunzeldelivered to the Pipers’ doorstep, now Zel and Ulrich provided for those who had little.
“You realize I could simply magic the food here each week,” Ulrich said when Zel joined him again near the front.
“And use up your stores unnecessarily? Nonsense! Besides, I enjoy the visit.”
“As do I.”
“Does it remind you of when you were younger?”
“A little. Hopefully, there are no future budding immortal monarchs in our midst.”
“Don’t tempt fate!” Zel chuckled.
“Youdid.” Ulrich looked upon his beloved. “As did your parents. And how grateful I am for all of it.”
Zel flushed, still made bashful at times by Ulrich’s adoration. They might believe they were born with magical luck, but if one were to ask Ulrich, he'd swear the real luck was his.
“I am especially thankful that you had your parents, whereas these children and I did not.”
“You never did tell me what happened to your mother,” Zel noted. In the golden bundle of Zel’s braids, although their hood currently hid it, remained the emerald encrusted hairpin once worn by Ulrich’s mother.
“I never knew who my father was,” Ulrich admitted. “My mother might not have known either, given the many she sold herself to.”
Zel’s eyes widened, as Ulrich had anticipated they might when finally told this tale.
