Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

shook his head and mumbled, “Speak for yourself. I’ve got plenty enough to worry about.”

After the group separated to return to their usual routines, Cooper showed the equipment diagrams to Dailen, “Is this something you could fashion for us?” Dailen examined the drawing and handed it back, “Once the smithy is fully functioning? Sure. Right now, I can repair things, but I can’t make something like this from raw materials yet. We' re still building the smelter.” Cooper accepted the drawing, “We need something like this to help with our rescue efforts. After the jailbreak.” Dailen raised an eyebrow, “It looks like a cage. How big is it?” Cooper turned the drawing upside down and replied, “It does look like a cage.” He turned it back right side up and continued, “But it’s actually a big basket. Large enough for several people to sit inside it.” Dailen replied, “Then that’s definitely outside of our smithy’s current capabilities. Four-” He paused, “No, six months from now, maybe.” Cooper shook his head, “We don’t have four to six months. I’ll have to find a smith that can do it.”

*****

It had become difficult, challenging at best, to manage to collect enough coin to feed himself. Information was a different matter entirely. It was a simple thing to gather enough information to keep the House Father off his back, but that did little to quiet the grumbling in his belly. Bennet considered changing his ‘hunting grounds’. It was becoming simply too risky to pick pockets and cut purses with so many Watch soldiers covering the Waterfront. He’d need to see how the other kids managed to cross the Bridges to the Trade Quarter.

It was his turn to organize some of the clutter and dispose of the garbage that had accumulated in the House during the past few days. The House Father insisted, on numerous occasions, the importance of keeping a fairly clean House, stating, “It’s bad enough having all you two-footed vermin underfoot. Leave trash lying about and before you know it you’ll be sharing your space with hordes of four-footed vermin. Keep this place tidy or I’ll throw everything out. All’a you included. Get me?”

He’d already bundled up the worst of the rubbish when the outside door opened, letting a stripe of morning sunlight paint the floor and part of the opposing wall. Bennet recognized the person coming in immediately, the red hair fairly blazed in the sunlight, Rukle.

Bennet scuttled to the farthest corner, ashamed to display fear but not so foolish as to pretend otherwise. Rukle was accompanied by another. One thing Bennet knew, Rukle was never alone when he visited. This time it wasn’t the ‘other one’; the one he’d seen earlier on the boardwalk. This one was someone he hadn’t seen before. Rukle looked agitated, not nervous or afraid, just excited. Like he expected there might be the chance of doing violence on someone and he was actually hoping for it. This other one was a few years younger, and looked completely calm. The boy looked around the room before his gaze settled on Bennet. He offered neither recognition nor greeting but Bennet felt he was being assessed in some way. The boy turned to listen to the discussion between Rukle and his House Father. It sounded like Rukle was pleased with the information but disappointed in the amount of coin. The House Father smiled and spoke a few words. Bennet heard his own name spoken and a few seconds later the House Father gestured in the general direction of where Bennet had been standing. When heads turned to look, he was already gone.

*****

It was nearly lunchtime and he’d spoken with four craftsmen already. After discussing the project on his fifth attempt, he felt confident that the man understood what he wanted. By then, Cooper had described what he needed so many times that he rattled it off with practiced ease. They settled on a price, which was higher than expected but he didn’t haggle since he needed it in less than thirty days. As he left, he told the smith, “There’s an extra gold crown for you if it’s done in three weeks. It might not be me who picks it up, though.” The smith nodded, “Well, whoever comes for it better not come alone. And they’d better bring a wagon. It’ll take several stout men just to get it into the wagon.” Cooper hadn’t thought of that. Considering the fact that the smith would probably need to hire a couple of temporary assistants just to handle the workpiece, perhaps the price wasn’t as high as he’d first thought.

He returned to the Ruins and was greeted by Mister Ysel waving him over. The man had initially gone right to work on regaining his lost weight and had started growing a beard, though recently his consumption had slowed. He was wearing a new set of clothes and was turning to model them for Birt and Miss Camilla. He called out to Cooper, “What do you think?” Mister Ysel had trimmed his beard down to a fastidious goatee and had changed his hair. As the man turned to face him, his entire posture and demeanor changed. Cooper tensed and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, “You look like Jarell. On purpose, I’m guessing. That’s supposed to be a good thing?” He unclenched his hand, which had involuntarily formed a fist. Miss Camilla smiled and clapped her hands, “Judging Cooper’s reaction, you’ve more than just a passing resemblance.” Birt shook his head, “I still don’t see it.” Cooper replied, “No. He’s got it. His skin tone isn’t right but otherwise… unless you knew Jarell or had at least spoken with him… but why?” Mister Ysel’s posture and demeanor changed, and he was once again Cooper’s Etiquette teacher, “Why? Because Jarell purchased the Ruins. He might not be known to the Planning Council, but as long as I maintain