To Kill A Chicken To Scare The Monkeys

"You are in danger."

Demenik cut a large piece of steak, sawing with his knife and lifting it to his mouth. He sighed and closed his eyes as he chewed. "No one else can cook a steak like the cook in this restaurant."

"I know you heard me." Mouse lifted a green vegetable from his plate and bit the end off.

"Life is dangerous." Demenik shrugged and took another bite.

"You've climbed the ranks fast, even by alley standards."

"I hold no rank."

"Officially, no, but the name Demenik Wrathen has become well-known."

"People speak well of me, both to my face and behind my back."

"That is a second problem, and one that does not help with the first."

Demenik speared a small white potato with his fork. "People say good things and that is bad?"

"It makes others resent you."

Demenik finished the food in his mouth, took a drink of red wine, and wiped his lips with a napkin. "Who resents me?"

"None and all. You appear to covet no one's position or wealth, yet you are building a large amount of money and influence on your own. You are bound to none."

"I belong to Lord Caladan."

"No one believes that. You do not sit on his court or conduct business in his name."

"So?"

"You move freely in both the alleys and on the main streets."

"That is correct."

"It is not correct. No one else is able to live in both worlds, to conduct business in the shadows and the light." Mouse leaned forward. "I know what you are doing from as much as you tell me and what I can piece together, Demenik, but to the average person, you are a mystery. A dangerous one."

Demenik waved one hand. "The average person does not spend a moment thinking of me."

"You know who I mean."

"Powerful people."

Mouse nodded.

Demenik pushed the plate away and dropped the napkin on the half-finished meal, nodding as the waiter appeared to remove it. "I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I'm busy. If someone is stupid enough to attack me then I will either defend myself or they will kill me."

Mouse chuckled. "Stick says it would take a small army to best you in combat."

Demenik smirked.

"It's not you that I'm worried about. It is those around you."

The sparkle in Demenik's eyes disappeared and his lips pursed. "Syntha."

"That's right. The best way to hurt you is to attack her."

"She is safe as well."

Mouse nodded.

"She is safe, right, Mouse?"

The attendant brought coffee. Demenik spooned sugar into it and watched the liquid swirl as he stirred.

Mouse took a sip of his coffee. "What are you considering?"

"That perhaps it is best to make an example for the rest to see. Choose an opponent and bait them into attacking."

"Want me to see to it?"

"Yes."

***

Cairn waited until she was ten steps ahead before he emerged from the shadows and followed.

For years he had paid his dues, starting as a street rat and building his skills. Life had not been easy for Cairn, but it never was in the alleys. It had taken him almost a decade to claw his way from the bottom to a place where he could begin to earn money and enjoy his life. He was fierce, loyal, and strong, all qualities that his alley lord rewarded. Everyone had been certain that he would be one of the youngest lieutenants, and this had pleased him.

Then Demenik had appeared and eclipsed not only Cairn, but everyone else as well. During the past two years, it seemed that everywhere he turned, the young lion was there, succeeding where others could not. Cairn and the rest had been forgotten. It had become so bad that his income was declining, and his gang had started to laugh at him behind his back.

Cairn hated being laughed at.

That would end tonight. He quickened his pace and gained on the young woman, quiet, to make sure she did not hear him. Cairn smiled. He would teach Demenik and his bitch a lesson tonight. He grabbed Syntha's arm.

After tonight, Demenik would learn his place.

***

Mouse dropped to the ground and waited unseen as Syntha and Cairn approached. A quick glance to his left and then above showed him the silhouettes of his two best apprentices. He nodded at the first on the ground and scowled at the one on the roof. The boy above was easily seen, not to the average person, but to Mouse. He would be given more drills to improve after this night was complete. Mouse picked the best to join him and his expectations were high.

Syntha and her attacker were less than two steps away from him. He would intercede at precisely the correct moment, striking from darkness so that Cairn would never know where the first hit had come from. He slowed his breath and waited.

***

Cairn halted. The girl jerked backward and spun to face him.

"It's not safe for a pretty young thing to be out on the streets at this hour."

Her eyes narrowed. "Gods, Cairn, you scared me!" She yanked her arm down but he held her tight. "Let go."

"How do you know me?"

"I've seen you with Demenik at the coffeehouse."

"Only once."

She shrugged.

"Good. Then you can tell him who hurt you. If you're ever able to talk again."

Syntha's eyes widened and her shoulders bunched around her neck. "You don't want to do this."

Cairn yanked her forward and his other hand came up in a fist aimed at her face.

At the last moment, Syntha swerved out of the way and lowered her shoulders, throwing her entire weight to the ground. The force pulled her arm from his grip and, before he could react, her foot shot straight up to strike him in the groin. Cairn dropped to the ground like a stone and his eyes bulged as he gasped.

Syntha was already standing. He reached out with one grasping hand and she stomped the heel of her boot onto his palm. Cairn heard a crunching sound and a new pain shot from his hand down into his arm. A moment later, he could only watch as she took two quick steps towards him and, with the other boot, kicked him squarely in the head.

***

Cairn lay motionless and Syntha looked down at him for a moment before raising her head and scanning the area for additional attackers. She spied Mouse in the shadows, ran a hand through her hair, and shook her head.

Mouse nodded and stepped back, disappearing from sight.

Syntha pulled a knife from her boot and knelt down beside Cairn. "Hey." She slapped him on the cheek. He did not stir. She pushed into a spot on his throat with her finger and, after a moment, his eyes flew open and he gasped for breath.

"That's better." She reached down and grabbed his left hand. "You tell everyone what you tried to do tonight, Cairn. Tell them you got stupid and decided to teach Demenik a lesson by hurting something of his. Then you tell them what happened after."

"Wha—" His voice was slurred. "What happened after."

"This." She drew the blade quickly across his little finger at the bottom knuckle, slicing the digit from his hand. Cairn screamed and tried to pull his hand away, but Syntha gripped it tightly and ground the bleeding wound against the flagstones. His screaming grew louder and lights began to turn on in the houses nearby.

When a dozen heads were sticking out of their windows and looking down, she nodded and stood, kicking Cairn in the face once more to silence him before strolling away.