A Woman Clad in Black

Aoric sighed as he fiddled with a dry leaf. The city was much more silent during the day than he expected. After spending most of the daylight walking around the streets and acquainting himself with his surroundings, he had climbed on the dark brick roofs.

The intricate, gothic architecture of the city made it trivial for him to traverse it. Even though most building were at least two stories tall, the ornate carvings on the walls or the large statures on every corner of the city were almost as good as ladders. He felt safer on the roofs. No normal person would have a reason to come up here after all.

He let out a bored sigh. This was the date she had given him, and it was already about an hour past dusk. Where was she? He couldn't help but feel annoyance. He had travelled so far for her – only for her!

Was it love? His lips formed a twisted smile. No, attraction, sure. She was beautiful after all. But that wasn't all that made him interested in her.

A job offer. Money. A way to survive in this world. She had offered him that, and more, though he chose to refrain from accepting anything more than a meeting. One could never be too careful after all, and she came from a rich family. Only someone looking to die would accept her rather… unladylike offer.

Aoric was not looking to die. He wanted to live, and to get out of this city.

He heard movement in the alleyway below. His ears perked up as he crawled towards the edge of the roof and peeked down.

A wolfdog limped its way from the main street and collapsed by the foot of a statue in the alleyway. Aoric held his breath. What was this beast even doing here?

Was it a stray? It had no collar, which led him to think that maybe it was. But that silken, clean, black fur couldn't remain clean like that for long without someone cleaning it. The beast licked its paw, and Aoric noticed a hint of crimson there. Was it wounded?

He gritted his teeth. He couldn't help the animal – he couldn't risk it. Not after what happened just ten days ago.

A while longer passed as he watched the beast lick its wound, until it eventually fell asleep. Aoric sighed. As much as he would have wanted to give the animal food, and some comfort, it simply wasn't worth the risk.

He continued waiting, though he grew more anxious with each passing moment. Was she not going to show up? Had she changed her mind? Or was this a trap? Were soldiers going to jump out of those windows as soon as he set foot on the street?

He almost chuckled. That last one was nothing but a wild idea.

A set of footsteps sounded, causing his ears to perk up. He carefully watched the street as a tall, beautiful woman turned the corner and paused as she noticed the street was empty. Her gaze lingered on the wolfdog for a short while. Aoric furrowed his brows, how come was she not scared of a beat almost as large as a horse?

He shook his head. That wasn't important right now. What was important was that this woman was not the one he had been waiting for. He gritted his teeth. A trap, he thought. Could it be?

But why? She didn't need that.

The woman waited, her gaze focused on the other end of the narrow alleyway. The cold breeze tugged at her clothes and blew her dark brown hair over her shoulders. She absentmindedly fixed her hair and smoothed her silken dress. Was she not cold in this cool weather, wearing something so thin? And did she not fear these dark alleyways at all, especially as her dress was so revealing?

She took a couple of quick, breaths, almost as if she were sniffing the air. Her lips curled up with a smile not a moment later as she glanced at the wolfdog again. Aoric's lips formed a thin line. Was he right to not trust that wolfdog?

The woman fiddled with the left sleeve of her dress, then pulled it back just enough to reveal a glimpse of golden jewellery underneath the black silk. A golden and sapphire bracelet that Aoric happened to know all too well.

His heart skipped a beat as the woman casually fiddled with the bracelet, gently stroking the large, central sapphire. He bit his lips – that was not the woman he was looking for, but it was the woman he needed to meet now.

He pushed himself up on his feet without making a sound and jumped down on the tall, intricate stone statue. It depicted an angel whose wings were pierced by spears. It covered its own eyes with its hands, blood oozing from between its fingers. Aoric balanced himself on the statue's shoulder and left wing, grabbing onto the spear thrust through the wing.

The wolfdog's ears twitched as it raised its head and sniffed the air. Aoric avoided looking at it, and instead focused his gaze on the woman.

"I shall assume we both know why we are here." The woman spoke, raising her chin. Despite being at least two meters above her, she somehow managed to make it seem like she was looking down on him. How she did that was beyond him, but it did get on his nerves.

"Yes." He said, making sure his face remained in the shadow of the hood of his cloak. "Though it does concern me that you are not the person I was supposed to meet." He added. If that woman lied to him once, there was no reason she wouldn't do so again.

"She was busy," The woman said, her lips curling up with a smile. She stepped forward. The slit of her dress revealed her leg as her voice reached Aoric's ears. "Now, shall we speak business?"