There was the bright, bustling part next to the docks, filled with merchants and sailors and tourists and honest men. And then there was the dark area on the outskirts frequented by enchanters and criminals. Decent people stayed away from these stalls, not wanting to know what things were being traded in the squalid dimness or what whispered words were pouring poison into ears and minds.
Lex was not afraid to move among such company. In the clothes of a mere cabin boy, no one was likely to pay him much attention anyway. From the look of him he certainly had nothing to steal. He always had his mouth, which had never let him down yet. And of course, Lady Luck was on his side. She always had been, really, even before he joined her church. It was just that, as an honest farm boy, Lex had not had the opportunity to discover his talents for fast-talking, quick-dealing and pick- pocketing before he left home two years ago. He had always had the capacity for it — always been ambitious with a strong craving for adventure and a disgruntled discontentment with his mediocre life on the farm. He’d known that he was destined for something more.
It had all started when, one fateful day just a week after running away, he had gone to one of the Games to bet his last penny out of sheer desperation. He’d never been to a Game before because his grandfather did not think they were suitable for children — what with the fact that at least one player usually came to a sticky end or lost a hand or a foot or some other limb before the Game was over. After all, it was a Game of the Gods so it was bound to be dangerous. But Lex found it all thoroughly exhilarating. He loved the huge circular stadium with the bustling noise and the activity of hundreds of spectators placing bets before taking their seats to watch the next round being broadcast in the gigantic crystal ball in the centre. The Box of the Gods, suspended high above it all and commanding the best view, was where deities could lounge about eating grapes and watching the Game.
There were always three Gods who each had one human player who would be put through three dangerous, exciting rounds. The winning God would experience an increase in popularity — oftentimes gaining a few more followers from other churches. For, once you made an oath of allegiance to a God, that oath was not for life and you were free to pick another God whenever you liked. The Gods were flexible and realistic about such things. As for the winning human… they got glory, fame, adoration… everything they’d ever wanted in fact. The only problem was that this only tended to last for a few minutes before everything more or less went back to normal. They’d sign a few autographs, pose for a few pictures. And then everyone would forget them. For the Games simply occurred too frequently for everyone who played in them to be some sort of superstar.
Lex handed over his penultimate penny to get admittance to the stadium — although it was standing room only by that time, which was just as well for Lex could not have afforded a seat anyway. The Game that day was between Haarii, God of Abundance, Jessope, Goddess of Fertility, and Manneron, God of Hunting. Each Game consisted of three rounds that each lasted for an hour or two, spread across a period of about three weeks. This Game was only just beginning and people had gathered that day to watch the first round. As Lex walked through he stopped to look at the souvenir carts selling t-shirts, lollies and lunch boxes, each emblazoned with the face of one of the competing Gods. There were flags for the kids too, Lex noticed, for — despite his grandfather’s feelings on the matter — there were quite a lot of children in the audience.
Lex bet his last penny on Haarii. As it happened, Jessope won that round and Lex lost the bet, but he strolled out of the stadium with three fat wallets in his pocket. He hadn’t meant to do it. He’d turned up fully expecting just to stand there and watch the Game with everyone else. But then he’d noticed a wallet sticking out of the pocket of the man in the top hat in front of him. Really it would have been stupid not to take it. It slid out as though it had been greased and soon it was buried away in Lex’s coat. And that was when he first discovered that he had light fingers.
With the money he stole on that first occasion he went straight out and purchased a set of fine clothes for himself. He had noticed a few people shoot him suspicious looks that first time in the stadium because he looked exactly like what he was — a farm boy and a poor, dirty, hungry, desperate one at that. So he bought himself a ridiculous-looking waistcoat and top hat and gloves and a shiny black stick with a golden knob at the end. Dressed like that no one would imagine for a moment that he was really a pickpocket in disguise. They wouldn’t be on guard around him and — if someone were to discover that their wallet had gone and raise the alarm (as, in fact, happened on more than one occasion) — then Lex could simply stroll out of the stadium, twirling his stick between his gloved fingers without any worry that the guards would try to stop him.
But, of course, there was more to it than clothes. There was another week to go before the second round so Lex bought himself a mirror and then rented a small, basic room in a local inn where he spent hours practising various different facial expressions ranging from haughty to superior to smug to self-righteous — basically any expression that a young toff might wear depending on how he was feeling. After only a few days he had it down pat. He was quite delighted to discover that he was a born natural at this sort of thing and he didn’t even have a mentor telling him what to do and showing him the ropes. Lex did not fall in with a bad crowd who were a corrupting influence on him — seducing him to the dark side. Nor did a more experienced criminal take him under his wing and teach him all he knew. Rather it all came from within himself as if the predisposition had been there all along just waiting to come out. He instinctively knew what to do and he was good at it.
Lex also practised the posh accent to go with the clothes, which came in very handy when he went back to the stadium a week later for the second round, and a lah-didah lady in a ridiculous hat towering with waxed fruit turned round to catch Lex with his hand practically in her handbag.
‘Just what do you think you’re doing, young man?’ she demanded, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. If he’d been scruffily dressed she would have been shrieking accusations of theft at him already but his posh clothes and the way he held his chin so haughtily high threw her temporarily.
‘Oh ai say, ai’m most dreadfully sorry but ai fear you have just been robbed by some miscreant,’ Lex said, adapting a nasal drawl as he discreetly slipped her purse into his pocket. He gazed round until he found what he was looking for — a young, scruffy-looking boy with big, helpless eyes and wearing dirty clothes who was apparently there on his own — probably from the local orphanage — looking rather like a lost puppy and just a few aisles away from them. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. ‘Yaas, it was him over thereyah.’ Lex pointed with his gloved hand. ‘Ai just saw him with his hand in your bag and thought ai’d better do mey duty and come and inform you at once, you know-’
The frightening woman with the obscene hat was already storming towards the unfortunate young boy before Lex had even finished his sentence. Deeming it wise not to linger in case her suspicions should return to him once she discovered that the scruffy boy did not have her wallet after all, Lex slipped out of the stadium, sniggering to himself in satisfaction at his effortless escape from what could have been a most unpleasant situation. He was utterly gifted, there was no doubt at all about that. And to think how much time he had wasted embroiled in the toils of honest work… Slaving away on his grandfather’s farm like a sucker! His older, wiser, more experienced self practically shuddered at the recollection.
The third and final round of the Game was on a week after the second. The gaps between the Games varied but they tended to be at least a week apart for the simple reason that each round took place in a different location and the players needed time to get there. Besides which, the delay gave the spectators time to book days off work, obtain babysitters and so on, so that they could attend the stadiums.
Lex went to every round of that first Game, as well as the Winner’s Ceremony where the winning human was given a cup and some prize money before being able to escape gratefully home. By the time it was over, Lex had accumulated quite a respectable amount of cash and fine, leather-lined wallets. Then the stadium was empty during the day but Lex was bored with pickpocketing by that time anyway. It kept him in money well enough but it wasn’t exciting. He wanted an element of human interaction. Something to make it fun. Something to make him feel exhilarated and alive. Something to make it dangerous and risky. So he moved on to the next town, found another inn to stay at and started devising scams. They required careful planning and preparation but they were glorious fun and Lex enjoyed himself immensely, even when he was caught out and had to flee with what he had on him. Perhaps even especially then…
Lex walked through the midnight market and approached a few stalls until he found people who were looking to buy as well as sell. Over the next hour he purchased all the provisions he would need and sold some of the antiques and works of art he had stolen, insisting on a fair price and payment in mirror-gold rather than Withian dollars. M-gold was a universal currency that could be used anywhere on the Globe and Lex wasn’t sure how far he would have to go before he would find a town that would suit him. He was careful never to sell more than one or two pieces at each stall before moving on as he didn’t want anyone to see just how much wealth he was carrying in the grubby pack on his back.
Most of the traders in the dark part of the market carefully kept themselves to themselves but there were
