14 Great Wealth (1/2)

A dragon's great greed for gold,

Does not tary nor grow old.

-Prophecy of the duskbringer

Seventh day of the first week in Autumn, Morning….

Guppy carefully squirreled away the gold weights in one of her pockets and got to experimenting.

She failed over and over, sometimes sending the lead weights flying towards or away from her. Sometimes she froze them, or lit them on fire, they blurred into shadows or emitted a bright lights.

When one flat out melted through the table and floor Guppy decided it was time for a break.

After such a multitude of mishaps she decided to make a quick trip to Bombas's bakery for some food to quell the ever increasing hunger that was paining her.

Guppy picked clothes that covered as much skin as possible and slipped on a hooded cloak to hide her changed appearance, after she was assured that no glowing tattoos could be seen she exited the apartment.

Striding quickly down the streets Guppy made sure to avoid bumping into anyone, deftly weaving her way through the crowd as she traveled to Bombas's corner bakery.

Once inside, she scooped up a few loaves of fresh bread and made her way to the counter to pay.

On her way there Guppy passed a display of bottled jams and froze in a sudden realization.

'The jam Bombas gave me yesterday, I never got to eat any!'

Guppy had a moment of despondency when she realized the fate of the jam she had been so excited about only a day ago, she had no doubt that it was thoroughly disintegrated in the blast.

'Wait a moment, I'm going to be rich from now on, one bottle of jam at 10 coppers is a trifling amount'

Guppy may have justified it in her mind, but years of living as frugally as possible still made it a difficult choice.

She gritted her teeth and snatched a jar off the display, bringing it to the counter with her selected loaves of bread.

”Will that be all missus?” Bombas's wife Marigold asked.

Guppy felt a slight shock and pain that Marigold treated her so unfamiliarity, before remembering that she currently looked like a completely different person.

Not wishing to make a scene she quietly paid and left.

Deep in her thoughts of what she had lost she walked absentmindedly back to her apartment

Out the door, through the market square…and successfully ran straight into someone.

She rebounded off them and stumbled back, her hood falling off as she fell on her rear.

......

Seventh day of the first week in Autumn. Four hours ago. Law Officer Precinct building...

Jacques and Hadoom signed back in by the 4th morning bell. Their drooping eyes and tired movements bore testament to the slim few hours of sleep they managed to snatch last night.

They walked over to their desks in the corner, sat down in their chairs, and utilized an extremely important skill they had both cultivated through years of being a tin canner.

They fell asleep with their eyes open.

Thankfully the other officers weren't on speaking terms with them and they managed to catch a couple hours of rest before the sixth bell rang and their patrol shift started.

They grudgingly geared up and headed out once more to begin their street patrol, walking down their all too familiar route.

”Let's pay a visit to miss Brights' family first.” Jacques suggested.

”While there's a good chance they've heard already, someone should make sure they know what happened. The rumor mill will spin a tale a mile long, and it's never good on the heart to hear that version.”

”Sure lad, why not, there's not much else to do this early anyways, unless you feel like helping old Codswallop lay another complaint about his neighbour's pet Zugzug eating his flowers again?” Hadoom said as he finished off a mystery meat pie he had procured from one of the stalls.

Jacques stilled his face to prevent a grimace, the complaint would only be the two hundredth and eleven this year.

Hadoom licked the gravy off of his fingers before continuing.

”We'll head down to the workers square then, someone there ought to know where to find them.”

Jacques nodded and the duo shifted their course.

The seventh bell had barely rung when the two Tin Canners found themselves entering the workers square, a well known, affordable and popular market for the locals.

Jacques came to a stop by the fountain and looked around for an idle beggar to get directions from.

All of a sudden he felt someone collide with him, hard.

Jacques was knocked off his feet and fell face first into the fountain, it was not a pleasant experience, while not winter the water had long lost its summer warmth.

Sputtering he pulled himself out, dripping wet, cold and tired, ready to give whoever shoved him an earful and a week in jail for assaulting an officer of the law.

He heard Hadoom's hearty laughter focused his eyes on the offender.

Kneeling on the ground with her face full of despair was the most beautiful girl Jacques had ever seen.

His fiery words caught in his throat as he saw her tears spill, suddenly seeming inappropriate in this moment.

On the ground in front of her was a smashed jar, of what appeared to be berry jam.

Jacques coughed, a little awkwardly, to draw her attention.