Saint Valen's Day, 14th of Frena (Febuary),1682... 14th year of the Q.E. (Queen's Era)

The gutter rats and cobble children were stirring even before the first light of the sun. The port city of Dys was bustling and fishermen were already casting out nets in the Bay as merchants bartered. However a waif of a girl was awake and for all the wrong reasons. Her mother having hit the drinking houses the night before, was waking up in a foul temper with an even fouler feeling noggin.

"Skye.....SKYE!!" Came an almighty screech of indignation as the addled woman stared up at her skinny daughter.
"Yes Ma?" she asked politely, earning a potent glower from two sunken orbs of ice blue.
"Where is my remedy? The one from Madam Ghut's shop...get it now!" The woman commanded haughtily and Skye inspected her mother for the briefest of moments. Underneath all that grime, drink and prickly attitude was a relatively attractive woman.

But the girl went and got the small pot of cream from a cupboard in the cramped bathroom. Their bathroom consisted of a chamberpot, wash basin and a cupboard for storage.
"Here Ma, the remedy." It was snatched from her grasp within moments by gnarled hands, Skye's mother had gotten them tangled in a fishing net when young. The net had sliced her clean open on several fingers and across the back of her hands. It had left thick silvery pink scars and caused her to have less use of some fingers.

As Skye moved away, her mother's long dark hair fell forwards over her shoulders and the young scuttle bug knew her mother's routine. She just knew that her mother was rubbing tincture into her temples as fast as her scarred fingertips could manage. It was hard living with her mother, though she never raised a hand to any of her four children...she had still taken a toll on them.

Skye went to her corner of the small ramshackle apartment and gathered up her rucksack and other items. A pained groan from her mother was ignored, as was per usual too. The inn had employed her as a messenger, giving her baths and her morning meal on a regular basis. Though this was only if she was the first one to complete all her message deliveries two days in a row. She left the dwelling and closed the crooked door as best she could behind her. Skye hopped down the stairway in a particular pattern and wobbled but never deviated. All residents in this four storey block knew that if you didn't follow the pattern, you would end up crashing through the wooden stairwell into the basement with the rats.

Skye didn't see this sort of life as harsh, she saw it as something only a fancy merchant's son could dream about. She knew vagabonds, tickle pockets and even the tramp whom lived along the Grand Avenue. She knew these living, breathing characters and she had a feeling that even she herself was a character in these better off children's dreams. She was someone who was dedicated to their work. But to work hard one must first find something that they're good at.

Skye's best attributes were her mind and her speed....though her face wasn't too scary to look at. Her nose was a little crooked from a fight with Patti Grady in her twelfth winter, but you should have seen how Patti looked after the scuffle. Her ears had been pierced in several places by a traveling gypsy troupe and they'd magicked her ears into healing perfectly to prevent infections. She knew her hair was short and she never intended to let it grow past her shoulders. She thought herself purpose built for the rougher parts of Dys, despite being young.

She came out into the street and slipped perfectly through gaps in the crowd until she took a right turn. It became a little easier as she was heading north along the Grand Avenue as most residents didn't go near the square until later in the morning. When she got to the town square she simply took her time, she was the only messenger about at present from what she could see. Though as the sun's rays started to illuminate the tops of the several storey buildings, she paid a pretty copper coin for a honey and fig loaf.

She was about to scarf it down before she saw a skinny girl holding the hand of an equally slim little boy. She tore the bread into halves and held them out to the pair. They went to snatch the morsels and she frowned, making them hesitate before taking the food as politely as they could. As they scampered off, she smiled softly before moving on and rapping sharply on the Golden Gate Inn's large wooden door.

The inn wasn't actually gold in colour, it was just one of the markers which would lead you to the brass and iron gates that surrounded the palace. Dys was the capital city of Illia...one of the largest islands in the Isle along the Sapphire Coast of Yanta. Though that was all Skye had really learned about the Magical Realm's geographical features. Her mother had been unable to keep paying for her schooling at nine winters.

The innkeeper's harsh glare melted as he saw her and handed a stack of messages to her for delivery.
"There ye go Skye, ye best be off." his accent always made her smile and she took the stack of parchment from him before looking down at the address to deliver it to. One of the merchant houses, for Rheys Hinkley in particular...she specialised in silks and spices. Now having where she needed to go and whom to deliver the neatly written message, she set off as if on a marathon. Better to save your energy for when you absolutely need it...rather than having a pistol to your noggin and your legs unable to even support you.