4

The two thieves came after three bells of awkward waiting. They were young, fourteen at the oldest, and their eyes darted around the room looking for any threats. Naturally I was against the entrance wall and slammed the door behind them. They were as brave as the fence had been but it was much less satisfying against a couple of kids. I did the whole light-up staff thing again to set the mood and then held up the necklace. "Tell me everything there is to know about this necklace, I'll know if you lie."

The two boys shared a glance, the fence was nodding at them in a way I recognized as "tell the wizard what he wants to know before he burns the block down." Like laughter, the pantomime describing the fear of seeing everything you own destroyed at the hands of indifferent fate was universal. I wasn't sure how I'd ended up seeing the latter more than the former but I suspected my guidance counselor was to blame. The shorter of the thieves spoke up "We took it off some kid, he was wandering the Sealord's Square yesterday."

"Was he alone?" If the two had split up already finding them would be immensely harder. White blond hair wasn't too common but enough had it that my chances of finding the correct children would drop dramatically.

"I don't know we only took the necklace because it visible and we didn't see any adults with him. The square is too well patrolled for pickpockets normally."

"Tell me more, was there anything strange about him, anything else you noticed?"

"He chased us when we grabbed the necklace, not too far but he followed. He didn't shout for the guards when he stopped either, he can't not have seen them."

Viserys stopping after a short distance was an encouraging sign. I had been eleven once and if I chased someone who stole my pentacle I wouldn't have given up that easy. If he was being watched by a knight, he probably had been taught how to fight a little and a big eleven year old could have thought he would win the scuffle. Unless of course he was watching his three year old sister, and had to keep track of her in the crowd. I put out my staff and pocketed the necklace. "I'm keeping this, if you're lucky none of you will see me again." I let myself out and began to walk towards the square to consider my next move.

The Sealord's square reminded me of St. Mark's in Venice. It was in front of the palace, open to the water on one side and held cast bronze statues of the previous Sealords. I had only been to St. Mark's once while teaching Molly about navigating the Ways, but the paved square had the same feel, where both tourists and residents went to people watch and wander. The necklace was a dead end, the two thieves had just taken the chance and the fence knew nothing. I considered going back to Iron Bank and admitting my failure but the square was near so it was worth a visit in case inspiration struck.

Reaching the square from the side of the Purple Harbor gave me a view of the entire area. As I expected it was bustling, street vendors, merchants and sailors wandering through as the first bravos made their appearance. I thought about using the necklace to track Viserys since he had always worn it but I wasn't sure I could do it. Possessions were a weak link to their owners at the best of times and being stolen twice could only further dilute it. I took the necklace out of my pocket hoping to see a strand of hair I'd missed during my inspection earlier, but none had miraculously appeared. I wandered around a little before deciding that as long as I was here it was worth asking the guards if they had seen anything. The first two I tried hadn't been on duty at the time but the third was more interesting. "No I didn't see them, but you're not the first person to ask about them."

Braavos was a large city but the odds someone else was looking for two kids of the same description who had money coming to them seemed remote. The guard didn't recall much about the other man asking questions, dark haired, short, no accent and dressed neatly, but enough that I could ask the bank if they'd hired others of that description. If they hadn't I had to worry about who else was looking. Either way going to the bank was my best move.

The bank was close to the Sealord's palace, there was probably some one-upmanship going on there with the height of their towers and most subtle opulence they could display without being gauche. I had been many times before, both to cash drafts and to deal with my account. I asked a teller for Noho and after a little waiting another man came and escorted me up to his office.

"No luck Dresden?" he asked after seeing I didn't have the kids. In response I set the necklace and the ruby down on his desk.

"I found the jewelry and its thieves, but the kids weren't with it or them. They got mugged in the square." Noho picked the necklace up and tried to fit the stone in, the ruby fit but one of the prongs, they were carved as claws, was broken off letting the ruby fall out.

"This is clearly the necklace" he agreed "but if Viserys has lost it then you can no longer track him?"

"Not with the necklace" I replied, "but if you let me into their house there might be something else that he'd have part of." I was certain that in a house the two had lived in for three years I'd find a hair or three, especially since the servants didn't seem too dedicated what with throwing out their new employers before the old's body was even cold. I'd have to fake something else though, I didn't want anyone to realize how much I could actually do and the bankers had already shown the ability to think about my power. "Another thing, do you have other agents out looking for the kids?"

Noho shook his head "No, our branches have their descriptions but we are a bank, even going so far as to hire you to track children is outside of our usual scope. If it wasn't for Ser Darry's contract with us we wouldn't even go this far usually."

That 'usually' was the stone the bank's reputation rested on, destroy one monarch and no one ever shut up about it. For all that I occasionally missed my reputation, the notoriety was nice to be without. I wasn't sure whether I should tell Noho about the competition but in the spirit of full disclosure I shared. He didn't add much but he admitted that the children of formerly prominent Westerosis might be valuable even without knowing of their inheritance. He wrote a quick note to present to the guards on Ser Darry's house letting me go in and telling the guard to record anything I took from the property and have me sign for it.

Armed with bureaucracy, I traveled back to the house with the red door, the guards let me in without trouble, their leader nearly walked into me as I stopped suddenly after entering. The entrance room to the villa was covered in dragon hangings. I knew that losers of the civil war had the dragon as their banner and from the looks of it Ser Darry was still pulling for them. There were dragons flying, walking, rampant, reposing and most of all burning. I knew that the Valyrians had ridden dragons once, but it was far enough in the past it didn't strike me. Here were the relics of a dynasty that had conquered most of the known world on the backs of flying lizards.

I wasn't there to geek out about dragonriders no matter how metal they looked. Riding Sue through Chicago during a zombie apocalypse was up there for album covers but I didn't feel that it would beat fighting dragon to dragon over two armies. Reluctantly I tore myself away and asked the guard where the children's rooms were. He didn't know since he worked for the bank, but we climbed the stairs and investigated. The house was trashed, the servants had indulged themselves in their temporary wealth. Luckily all of the bedrooms except the largest were untouched. A small one looking at the courtyard with a tree out its window yielded several white hairs from the pillow. I palmed them while acting like I was looking for something. The guard didn't know who I was or my methods but I didn't doubt that he'd report all he saw to Noho. Noho was aware of my claimed limitations so I needed something that could conceivably work.

Daenerys's room was a bust on that front, there were some clothes but nothing that could fake a link. We then left and eventually found Viserys's room. I found and took more hair, with that I was sure I could find them, and then saw what I wanted. His desk had papers on it, after scanning them a few seemed ripped from his journal. It was an expensive habit before mass production but Ser Darry was apparently able to sponsor him. The ripped pages also fit what Noho knew about my skills, finding the book using the ripped pages was similar to the necklace from the stone and I was sure he'd buy it. The only issue would be if Viserys left the journal somewhere the bank discovered it, but it seemed like a negligible risk. I told the guard I was taking the papers and signed a receipt. If I hurried I might be able to make it home for the change of the tides and locate the two children tonight.

It was a close call but I made it. Maggie was home, escaping the drizzle that had caught me for the second half of my trip. I invited her up to watch the magic but she had seen me do tracking spells a hundred times and when I told her that she couldn't do the spell this time she declined. Kids, give them reality warping powers and all they do is ask what else. Tying Viserys's hair over the model I was somewhat surprised he had longer hair than his sister, but then again she was three and long hair was fashionable for the young. This case had been more work than I expected, but hopefully this last search would lead me to the children. Once again the tides changed and I exerted my will. The hair flew directly to a poorer district, it was a far better link than the ruby. The hair hung over it for a moment then the pause of the flow ended and it fell. I grabbed the hair, pocketed it and headed out.

I walked this time and every island I crossed to I tried the tracking spell. When I was about halfway there I started getting a pulse in the same direction I was going, there was a reason I never let anyone have my hair or blood and this was it. Even the slightly running water of the canals wasn't enough interference to stop my spell. The bravos were out in force now, prowling the streets with one hand on their swords. A few looked speculatively at me, but when they saw I wasn't carrying a sword and was wearing dark clothes they moved on. It was just as well, I could win a fight against almost any number of the bravos but their ensuing humiliation would sweep the streets and bring me into the public eye.

Braavos at night was a different city, the fog that was irritating during the day became something grander in the dark, softening the edges and adding a little mystery and glamor. After two years I was used to it and kept marching through. Six bells rang across the city as I arrived. The hair led me into the island, the streets were cramped and while the buildings were still stone they looked flimsy.

Triangulating by going down a few alleys gave me a fix on their location. I strode into the shadows off the main street and resisted the urge to illuminate it. Overt magic never went over too well even if most did better than the fence this morning. "Viserys, Daenerys, are you there?" Meeting lost children was always a little dicey, one of my first cases back into Chicago had been very similar to this and had almost ended with me arrested for kidnapping.

A blonde boy wearing the remains of expensive clothes stepped forward brandishing a rock. "Who wants to know?" The boy, who I was sure was Viserys, pulled his arm back as if to throw the chunk of stone.

I held up my hands conciliatory, trying to look non threatening. "I'm Harry Dresden. I was hired to find you by the Iron Bank." Viserys looked conflicted until another shape came out of the shadows.

"You work for the bank? Ser Darry says you're all snakes we can only trust so far as your contracts run." The little girl, Daenerys, walked up trying to pass her brother who stepped in front of her.

"Don't go any closer Dany."

I crouched down, Viserys was small for his age and I'll always be a long way up for a three year old. "Ser Darry left you his wealth and house. The servants who threw you out have been arrested, you can go home." Daenerys looked excited, apparently she was ready to leave the streets but Viserys was more hesitant.

"How do we know you're not working for the usurper?"

I snorted. "Kid I can't even name the king over there. Come with me to the bank, I'll stay twenty yards in front of you the whole way. Let's just get your sister to a warm bed and you can talk to the bankers." He searched my face and apparently decided to trust me.

"Alright, you go first and straight to the bank." Shepherding two children at night through Braavos wouldn't be the hardest thing I'd ever done. I turned to leave the alley when a man stepped into its mouth.

"He may not work for the Stag King, but I'm sure your heads will get us something over there."

The gloater had brought friends and they spread out to clog the alley. I looked back at the two children panicking children, "Stay there for a moment." I turned back towards the thugs but I wasn't too worried over the vanilla mortals. I readied my shield bracelet and as the men hefted clubs or drew swords I gathered my will and lowered my staff.

"Forzare." The wave of force, nothing to what I could really do, hit the men like an offensive line. The mass of them were on the ground scrambling and there was definite terror as they saw my glowing staff.

"Infriga!" My second spell was harder, losing the Winter Mantle had made ice less reflexive than when I bore it but some of the finesse had lingered. I drew the moisture out of the air and froze their clothes and weapons to the ground. They would escape eventually with no permanent damage but well after we were gone. "Viserys! Daenerys!" I shouted as I turned, "It's time to go." Apparently dealing with assassins had proven my bonafides, the two stuck close to me as we passed the iced over men. Both were staring at me with awe and Viserys's mouth was opening and closing in shock.

I pulled them both in closer as we hurried through the streets. If there was one band of cutthroats out there, there might be more. I also didn't know how they had found the children, could they have followed me? The thought sent ice through my veins, if they had followed me they would know where I lived, they would know where Maggie lived.