"Any shiver?"
"Nah. Nobody has. You ain't heard one of Gaedren's Lambs got pinched?" the gaunt man said, speaking softly, gnawing on a bone he held delicately between two long fingers.
"Nope. Never heard that. Which one was it?" the other replied, watching the first, his eyes sunken and his shoulders shaking, though it was a warm night.
"New girl." Crunch crunch. "Forgot her name. Guard's all over now. Gonna be a couple of days til things quiet down."
"Days?" the shaker whined. "I can't make it that long."
"Can't help you. I can't sell what I haven't got."
The shaker stared at him for a minute, his hand slowly reaching behind his back, for the dagger tucked in his belt. The gaunt one dropped the bone on the street and licked his fingers.
"What did she look like?" a third man said, startling the first two. A big man, broad shouldered and tall, approached them, a massive hammer slung over his shoulder.
"What did who look like?"
"The girl that got pinched," the big man said. He was a local Varisian, a laborer from Old Korvosa by the look of him, but he had that big hammer. "You said you didn't know her name, but do you know what she looked like?"
"Maybe I do," the gaunt man said. "What of it?"
"I'm looking for a girl," the big man said. When the shaker giggled, the big man's face turned hard, but his voice stayed low. "Not like that. My sister disappeared. I've heard stories about this Gaedren you mentioned, and I've heard my sister had been seen with his 'lambs,' so I want to know what the girl you're talking about looked like."
"Easy there," the gaunt one said. "This one weren't no relation to you. She were Chelish, to look at her. I don't believe Gaedren's got any Varisian girls lately. You might ask about the harbor. You never know what a sailor might take on board when it comes time to weigh anchor." He snickered, stepping past the big man.
"I've asked. She's been seen at the market, not the harbor."
"You got a name?" the shaker said, a cold grin spreading across his face. "You know, so's if I see her, I can say you was looking?"
"Jakob," the big man said. The two thieves were on either side of him now, and they went for their knives. They knew there was no way this Jakob could bring that huge hammer to bear before they cut him. They hadn't seen the curved sword at his waist though, and the shaker's belly was slit open before he noticed it. He dropped his knife, trying to hold his insides inside, and Jakob turned to the gaunt one.
"A Varisian girl," Jakob said, softly. "Brown hair, like mine. Blue eyes. Missing one of her front teeth. You said you might have seen her?"
"One of Gaedren's lambs," the gaunt man. "Just like you said. I wasn't going to try anything. That was all him. You know what shiver does to their minds."
"I know," Jakob said, sheathing the scimitar. "Where do I find Gaedren?"
The man shook his head. Now he was starting to shake a little. "Please. I can't. You don't know what he'll do to me if I tell. He'll...."
Jakob never found out what Gaedren would have done to the thief. He smashed a fist into the man's face, and left him sprawled across the body of the other one. He walked out of the alley, looked up at the stars and whispered. "I'll find you, Hannah. With Erastil's help, I will."
