Aery went to her urchin's territory. One of them, the eight-year-old "mother" of the group--Silly, they called her, short for Silania-- was standing guard.
"Ho, Silly! Is Tazz here yet?"
"Nay, mum." The girl's voice was soft.
"Oh, stop it. I'm no "mum," I jus' tryin' to take care o' you lot. Don' suppose ya can call one o' the older ones, can ya? Mebbe Gray... Nah, call Liza. I gots something for you lot. Actually, nah, call the whole family, would ya? They'll all wanna see this."
Silly whistled three notes, and was answered by a faint echo from about two streets over. A few moments later the rest of the family trotted out from a dark alley.
"Aery! We glad to see you!" three of the little ones came up and tackled her into the muck. She rolled to save the stuff that was in the pack on her back, and quickly got to her feet.
"Hey, now, none o' that, ya hear me? I brought stuff for you."
At that moment Tazz came at the run up the alley. "Aery? What're you doin' here? And where's yer lady friend?"
She resisted the urge to hit him. "It don' matter, Tazz. Wha' matters is that I'm here, an' I brung food and water an' new clothes and flea balm for all o' you. Also..." She let the weapons fall to the ground.
"Y'all needs to defend yerselves. The slings are for the sentries. On'y, don' take out no windows with them, ya hear me? That happens, and I come and take them away again. They're to get rid o' the other bullies, a'right? Tazz, the big knife is for you. You'll need it when bullies hear yer crew got food and clothin'. The rest o' you, grab whichever blades you like, no more than two a piece." She gently guided Ame, one of the four-year-olds, away from the long knives. "On secon' thought, no one younger'n six can have one."
To the group she said loudly, "These things come at a price. My lady tol' me tha', I ken buy you lot weapons and food and stuff, bu' you all have t' help her. Y'all are everywhere. All the other street kids, they respect you, nay? The older ones don', I know, bu' all the little ones want to be a part o' yer family. They be everywhere. So you let them be a part o' yer family; ye greet each other as cousins, with family all 'cross the city; and ye talk. Ye tell each other about the doin's in yer parts o' the city, and all o' that comes to me. The city is wil', an' if anythin' starts in th' streets, we coul' get rid of the king whose put us all on the streets in the first place. So ye jus' listen, and tell me what ye hear."
Tazz nodded seriously; so did Silly. "Aright, mum. We be listenin'."
Aery took off her pack, handed it to Tazz, kissed Silly on the cheek, and then went quickly down the alley back onto the main road, where she all but ran into Celaena... Wearing full court dress? She looked at the sun and cursed. In about ten minutes there was a ball and she had totally forgotten about it. Celaena didn't know who she was... Maybe that had to change. After all, the woman had saved her life. And she'd proven her loyalty by killing those guards.
"Oh, hi, Celaena. I've kind of got to rush...I'm supposed to be the Prince of Fenharrow's dance partner... in ten minutes. Totally forgot about it." She blushed, embarrassed.