Kyah sits idly on the small chair held together by string and tree sap. Her eyes locked on the portly dwarf now pacing the short line of orphans, barely examining each child as he passes. Kyah knows he’ll chose one of the littlest. They always do.

The dwarf pauses as the far end of the line and twirls on a single to reverse course. Keep eyes denote the silken shoes with guarded toe which allowed the portly man to nimbly about face, but Kyah notes the dampening of the sounds surrounding him. The ancient floor boards moan beneath the slovenly children adjusting their weight, and yet the belly-heavy dwarf makes barely the sound of a breath as he traverses the floor again.

He pauses just to Kyahs left to look at Leroy. Leroy is a well build and smart boy. He will eork hard in any trade he is trained.

But he’s not one for the shadows.

“I require a nimble hand boy. Might you have one?” The silky baritone voice overwhelms the groans of the wood as he examines Leroy.

“Yes sir. Very much so sir. “ the boys stands and Kyah notes the tremor in his hands. The dwarf takes a few steps closer, back facing Kyah. In his pocket a small bundle of papers pokes out, on which Kyah can see the names of a few of her peers. As the dwarf intently watches Leroy perform a card trick, Kyah traipses across the floor and stumbles behind the dwarf and toward the door to the street.

Not an eye moved off of Leroy, especially not the dwarf. Smiling, Kyah pauses in the street outside the orphanage and thumbs through the paper. Sheet for virtually every child in the orphanage are stacked in a small volume and noted of theirs skills are annotated with used. Leroy’s reads, “Heavy handed, at best.” Smirking, she turns to look back at the demonstration, and her nose is met by the belly of the fat dwarf.

“Well Kyah, clearly my notes on you are true. Natural blending. Excellent hands. Over confident.” The dwarf smiles as his thick hands take a hold of Kyahs face. “There’s work for you in the town. And you’ll do it for me. You’ll be rewarded for your success. Generously. And you’ll be punished for your failure.” His pauses making eye contact with her. “Brutallly”.