"Now this is my sort of place!" the young man exclaimed, and slapped Siegfried on the back. "Come on, admit it, that Court is enough to put you to sleep, with gossipy hens shrilling in one ear and self-important asses in the other!"
"Well," Siegfried admitted with a slow smile. "Yes it does. But this does not suit me, either. I am not fond of cities."
Leopold looked surprised, then motioned to Siegfried to come with him. "Why not?"
Siegfried walked along beside him, keeping a wary eye out for trouble. Thieves often made the mistake of seeing a big man who moved deliberately as being an easy target. They always discovered their mistake. Depending on how old the thief was, that discovery could come at the cost of a broken finger, broken wrist or broken arm. "I'm not comfortable being in a place this crowded that is not an army camp," he said. "I'd rather be in the wilderness, or a small village. It's a matter of...knowing I always have to watch my back for trouble." He shrugged, saw a very young pickpocket approaching, and swung his foot out sideways to knock the boy's feet out from beneath him just as the lad reached for his belt-pouch, sending the child facedown in the road. Leopold raised an eyebrow as Siegfried walked on, leaving the young thief sprawled in the dust behind them.
"You're better than I thought," the Prince said. "Not as dumb as you look."
Siegfried shrugged again. "There are thieves in my land, too," he pointed out. "They are just usually a lot more obvious about it. Thieves where I come from tend to come straight at you, and bash you with something heavy. There's nothing subtle about trying to hit you with a club. The subtle dangers are from the wildlife. But once you learn what to be alert for — "
The child was back. Persistent. Possibly thought the tripping had been an accident. This time Siegfried waited until the fingers were on the pouch. Then, fast as a snake, he had the child's wrist in his hand and hauled the thief up by one arm until his face was level with the child's,
The boy dropped the tiny knife he was going to use to cut the pouch off Siegfried's belt. Leopold caught it. The boy's face was white.
"When I was your age," Siegfried said, carefully, so that the boy would be able to understand every word even though the Hero knew he had a thick accent, "I had already killed two poisonous serpents twice as long as I was, a wolf four times my size, a bear as large as I am now and a man. I had a necklace made of their teeth. Yes, even the man. In my land, someone caught trying to steal is killed. Now, I have learned that this is a land where it's not a good thing to kill every man who annoys you, so I am going to let you go. First, because you are not a man yet and there is no glory in killing you, and second, because killing you would disturb my friend. But I suggest that you find another line of work, because the next person who catches you with your hand on his money might not have a friend along, might not be as concerned about glory, or might have a hangover."
By now, they had collected a small audience that watched and listened in silence.
He dropped the boy, who landed on his rump, turned without looking to see what the child did and walked off in the direction Leopold had been going. The crowd, seeing that there was no more entertainment coming, dispersed.
Leopold ran a couple steps to catch up with him. "Clever."
"Not very. I've only discouraged the young and the less skilled. Now the most skilled will think I am a challenge." Siegfried sighed. "And I will have to break some bones. That probably will discourage the rest. It is difficult to ply the trade of thief with a broken hand, and weighing the odds of small profit from me against high probability of not being able to cut purses for a month, they will leave me a — " He reached behind himself and caught the wrist of the hand on his belt-pouch. It felt adult, so without even looking around, he twisted and jerked upward. He felt the bones breaking as he did so, and dropped the man before the fellow even started to scream with the pain. " — lone," he finished. "Well, that took less time than I thought. This must be a very sophisticated city."
Behind him, a man sat in the dust of the street, holding his wrist and hand against his chest, howling with agony. Siegfried had gone for the maximum amount of damage this time. It was possible the man would never be able to lift a purse again. "That's good. It means word will spread quickly. You were saying, Prince Leopold?"
Leopold grinned. "I was asking why you didn't like cities. Obviously it isn't because you can't take care of yourself here. So, is it a matter of needing to be absolutely alert all the time?"
They pressed up against a wall to let a wagon pass, then resumed walking.
Siegfried nodded, very pleased with Leopold's understanding. "Exactly so. I know the wilderness. I know it so well that I do not have to think about when I may be less on guard and when I must be completely on guard. In a small village, everyone knows everyone else, and I can tell by how they react to each other who cannot be trusted and who is harmless. And an army camp is disciplined and busy. A busy man does not have leisure to make trouble. Discipline keeps each man in his place, and when he is out of that place and up to no good, he stands out. Besides, in an army camp, a lawbreaker knows that troublemakers are going to be harshly dealt with. Army laws are harsh ones, you see. Thieves generally are hung on the spot."
"I suppose I have the same instincts — or maybe training — in the city that you have in the wilderness," Leopold said thoughtfully. "Interesting. Well, you will be safe enough from thieves in the tavern we are going to, if that makes any difference to you. Bar fights, maybe not. If a fight breaks out, the owner will eject the fighters if he can and guard the stock if he cannot, and then it is every man for himself. Card cheats, probably not — the owner doesn't care if someone cheats others in his establishment. But the owner has a charm on the place that keeps cutpurses and other thieves out."
Siegfried raised an eyebrow. "I have never heard of that, but it is a wise thing, if possible."
"Oh it costs him a pretty penny to get it renewed every month, but he told me that what it brings to his door in extra custom more than makes up for the cost." Leopold grinned up at him. "Think about it. If you were alone in this city, how much more for a room would it be worth to you, if you knew that anyone who was going to rob you couldn't get into the building?"
Siegfried mulled that over in his mind. "Quite a bit, actually. It would let me sleep sound of a night. A good sound sleep is worth more to a fighter than anything other than a good full meal."
They continued on in relative silence — relative, because a city is never quiet — with a wary eye on their backs on Siegfried's part, in case the fellow with the broken wrist had stupid friends. This was a fairly clean city; someone came along with a cart, scooping up droppings, quite frequently. And unlike places he'd seen where people just tossed nasty stuff into the gutters and waited for the rain to wash it away, it seemed that no one tossed anything into the street here.
There were just so many people...the only other time he was crowded like this, it was on a battlefield.
"And here we are." Leopold gestured at a building, which had the usual signs of a tavern and inn on it. A hanging sign above the door with the name of the place — which Siegfried could not read, since the gift of tongues granted by the Dragon's Blood didn't extend to the written language and a picture, a pair of crossed arms with a crown, which probably meant "The King's Arms." Down one side of the door frame were carved images of a wheat sheaf, a bunch of grapes and a beehive. So they served beer and ale, wine and mead. Down the other, a loaf of bread, a bed and a horseshoe. They served food, served as an inn where travelers could stay, as well as a tavern, and they had a stables. Above the door, a hammer and a leaf. They would admit and serve Dwarves and Elves.
Those were signs he hadn't seen too frequently outside of his homeland.