Valkyrie of Desire

29. Hell'Gina

Faith if for a foolish flame

Has hellish heat hammering

Journey south between wide thighs

Dig deep and grunt or love dies

Praise the beauty in the dark

She has hooks in every heart

Dare not open the shutters

Her face is melting butter

Truth kills dreams quick as mornings

Sleep on or no more darlings

Do not fear the delusion

Be a coward towards the sun

Brave loneliness is much worse

Than a false hope as a curse

—Edgewick Redswear

Hildr clears her nose, pinching one nostril to blow a glob of clear snot out the other. It spreads as it spirals into the sewer ditch beside her where bubbly brown water flows into a grated drain. She steps over it, crossing from street to sidewalk.

The day is warming and her sinuses have cleared. The medicine from Agro is working. His advice for residence should work too. She follows the sewage to pipes attached to a row of brick townhouses.

Tall and thin, their walls are straight and their matching doors and windows are evenly spaced. Hildr nods. The working-class aesthetic will compliment keeping a low-profile nest. Except for the first home, which has a clay tile roof, silky curtains, and a bronze doorknob. She taps her lip and approaches the stylish abode.

A girl runs out of the home's front door, wearing a ragged dress and a brown-stained apron.

"Take me, nun!" She trips on a cobblestone half way to Hildr and sprawls.

"Easy, now." Hildr jogs over. "Tell me—"

"I submit!" With a viper's speed, the ragged girl grabs Hildr's ankle. "Please, let me submit to Hierophant's wisdom."

A squat man charges out of the same house with a horsewhip and a dog collar. Hildr pats her bare hip and frowns. No weapons but her wit and charm.

She kicks her leg free. "Careful, child. You endanger me."

The man snarls and squints his left eye, stained by the red half-moon of a burst blood vessel. "Baelu, leave dis nice lady-nun alone. Return to your chores." His knuckles whiten. "Do it now, and I won't be mad."

The girl sniffles and sits up. "Let me go home. I need to help my mommy with—"

"Aww, quit dat false whine." He coughs and spits a tablespoon of phlegm onto the street in front of them. "And, don't be spinning tales for a stranger's sympathy."

Hildr sighs. Another girl desperate for rescue. Is there some kind of sign hanging from her aura advertising heroism?

The man squats and slaps the ground with his whip. "Embrace da hard truth. Your loving parents gave you to me until d'ey can pay rent, which d'ey never will. If you don't satisfy ... Well, you've got a red-headed little brother, right? Such boys fetch a premium as apprentices in da guild district."

Fire flickers within Hildr. The girl's arms are rail thin, and her breath has a rasp. Left as collateral for rent, she is more hopeless than that spoiled lass from the mansion. Without an advocate, this one is destined for a bad end.

Smoke drifts up from between Hildr's legs, and a final shiver of sickness is burned away. Those so-called parents should be held to account; not this broken child. Hildr grits her teeth and sucks in a deep breath through her nose, calming herself with a promise to act.