‘Jay, your knee is in my face.’
‘Uh, sorry’ mumbled Jay, barely daring to raise her voice above the whisper.
She needn’t have to worry though. The crate they were stuffed into was padded generously with straw, muffling their voices even if there was anyone that wanted to listen to what a chest had to say. Apart from this, the rumbling of the cart’s wheels over the cobblestones and the clanging noises that Rosalie made would drown the sound even if Jay decided to scream. And even if somebody had been graced with supernatural hearing, there was the wind that started to pick up just after they set out and a promise of thunder murmuring just beyond the horizon. This was the night when the first storm of the spring decided to make an appearance.
The crate rattled and shook with every move the cart made, sliding ever so slightly with every bend they took. Stuffed between Lethe and their equipment, Jay started to grow stiff.
‘Stop fidgeting’ growled Lethe as she tried to flex her arm a little bit. Jay grimaced and wished for nothing more but for this ride to be finally over.
As much as uncomfortable this way-in was, it seemed to be working. Jay was sure they were already in the borders of Magnolia Hill by now and at least few times they met either patrols or checkpoints of this high-security quarter of the city. But they hadn’t been stopped, the labels and stamps on the crate made it clear that the cart’s load was destined for the embassy. The stamps and labels were just another courtesy of the mysterious Mister Jarred, an easy way to circumvent some of the security. Jay just wished they had chosen a bigger crate.
The cart slowed down as Goreem drove through the back gate. There had been some mumblings from the guards and one was even bold enough to knock on the wood with the pommel of his sword, but a closer look at the labels made them back off- not one of them was stupid enough to mess with a delivery to the embassy.
The ringing and clattering of both the wheels and Rosalie’s plating stopped.
‘We’re here ‘a whisper percolated through the gaps between the boards. Jay started, pushing her elbow into Lethe’s ribs, earning herself an annoyed grunt.
‘The hell Goreem!’ hissed Lethe. ‘It they see you talking to the crate jig will be up.’
‘Don’t worry. No one’s here. Watch out, I’m gonna unload you.’
Jay felt a pull and the crate’s boards groaned, sliding off the cart. She gave a grunt when the crate hit the ground. There was a lot of scuffling and pushing, and then she felt the crate being lifted again and rolled over on coasters. Then nothing- they came to a stop.
Goreem knocked on the lid.
‘I’m off. Good luck’ he said.
There was a silence for a longer while.
‘It’s alright to come out now’ said an unfamiliar voice.
Lethe cracked the lid just a little bit. A small, tentative light crept inside the crate. After carefully peering out and making sure that the voice spoke true, she rolled out of the crate. Jay came out too, hoping that she won’t trip over her own legs that seemed to be asleep from the long ride in the cramped quarters.
Jay spat a straw that somehow gotten into her mouth, pushed her hair out of the way and looked around. They were in a large chamber, so large in fact that one could squeeze into it three rooms like the one Jay was occupying in Three Knocks. On one end, there was a hearth that was so large it would fit a small cart, shining with still-hot coals. It was armed with cauldrons, spits and pots on grates, and even with the fire almost dead, it gave high amount of heat. One wall was overtaken by steel-framed windows, letting in the darkness of the night. The entire middle of the chamber was occupied by a long table and the space under the wall was taken by its twin- a long sideboard that carried dishes and knives and other trade tools of cooks. This place couldn’t be anything else but a kitchen, a kitchen on a scale that Jay could have scarcely imagined. A large pendant-style magic lamp hung over the table, its yellow-tinted light low and soft.
‘A fine night you have chosen for it’ said the voice and as if in agreement, a thunder rolled making the glass panes of the window tremble. The voice itself belonged to a boy, not much older than Jay. He wore a shirt with a servant’s tabard hastily thrown over it, making him look as if he was roused from his bed. But there was nothing sleepy about him, neither in his face or his watchful, brown eyes. He had a scar on his face, running from his ear to the corner of his mouth- a line of raised white flesh.
‘The best night for it’ chuckled Lethe.
‘You must be James then’ said Lethe. James was the name Mister Jarred gave as their inside man, but Jay wondered if it’s the boy’s real name.
‘I am’ he said. ‘Now listen. I can take you as far as the third floor. That’s where the offices are. But you must do as I say or you’ll run into guards as soon as you leave the servant’s quarters.’
‘Sure we get it’ said Lethe. ‘Although if you as much as think of giving us out…you know.’
Lethe reached out behind his hip and tapped the hilt of his dagger.
‘I know’ said James solemnly and strangely unfazed with Lethe’s not-so-veiled threat. ‘I’m not going to do that, don’t worry.’
‘I always worry’ muttered Jay, but James already turned to leave.
‘Follow me’ he said.
They left the kitchen and passed along a corridor that felt almost freezing after the heat of the kitchen. They took a few turns and ended up at an entrance to even wider corridor. This one was long and curving. From the plans of the embassy Jay knew that this was the servant’s access to the main building- one of those passages that allowed them to move unrestricted and at the same time kept out of the view and way of anyone that was of any importance to the embassy or the ambassador. At the end of the corridor there was a large wooden door, tall enough for a horse to be brought through. James stopped before the door and motioned them to wait. Then he crept forward and cracked the door open just enough for Jay to look through the gap and see a large woman dressed in the guard’s garb. She was sitting in a chair, her legs stretched in front of her. Jay almost smiled when she heard her snoring. Of course, it’s not like there could be anything worth guarding in the servant’s quarters, could it?
They sneaked past her following James deeper into the building. The walls were different here than in the service building. They were made of white stone polished to perfection, carved in patterns of clinging vines and inlaid with rose gold. Sconces in the shape of fans illuminated the place, each holding a small magical sphere that gave a yellow light. They were turned low for the night, making long shadows linger around the corners.
Moving forward, their footsteps muffled by thick carpets with rich floral patterns that ran like soft streams along the slightly curving corridors, they arrived at another door. Here James stopped again and reached under his tabard. Something was dangling at his waist. ‘A keyring’ thought Jay, but then she realized those weren’t keys as tall, those were thin straight rods with no bits at the end, just a tiny globule of glass on the tip. Then she noticed that each of those tips was shimmering slightly. Magical no doubt. In the meantime James picked one and touched the door with the shimmering tip. Noiselessly, the door cracked open. So they were locked and relying completely on magic to operate. Jay could almost hear Lethe’s interest rising even though he remained silent. A fully magical lock was something that neither he or Jay had encountered before. Then she realized that that kind of thing was to be expected- they were in Abrecari territory now. The masters of magic must be much more used to employing magic for even the most mundane of daily tasks. But also they had to make sure that their Adanish and Nyrah servants could use those too, hence the magical ‘keys’.
Jay peered into the next room over James‘s shoulder and stopped frozen in place. The chamber was tall and round, the heart of the palace that could be seen from outside- the thin and tall tower. Almost all the space inside was taken by a spiralling staircase that was ascending towards the higher floors like a gently twisting seashell. It was made out of the same stone as the previous corridor-highly polished and shining slightly in the light of the two lamps at its base. The stone bannisters were finished with rose-gold flourishes and each step was armed with a golden threshold.
But that was not what made Jay freeze. It was the two guards that stood there, guarding the staircase- a man and a woman, fully alert and armed. They wore silk surcoats over their chainmail bearing the crests of both the Adanish Kingdom and Abrecari Empire. Their arming swords were calmly resting in the scabbards at their waists, but their hands were busy cradling small repeating crossbows. The tips of the bolts flickered slightly; they were imbued with magic to deliver swift and sudden death to anyone who would find themselves in the path of their flight.
Jay could feel Lethe tensing behind her. She too felt her pulse starting to race. She was sure the guards must see them, standing in the doorway clear as sunny skies. Only after about a spit second she realized that they were actually standing a little bit off their field of vision. The supports that held up the landing overhead were casting just enough shadows for them to be safe as long as they won’t make a noise. Thunder rolled in the skies above. The deep rumbling reverberated across the vast staircase. Jay smiled. Lethe was right. It was the best night for it. Between the thunder and the howling of the wind no one would hear them.
James passed through the door and immediately stepped to the side. The light wouldn’t reach to the walls of the chamber and that’s how he led them, around the tower and towards the back of the staircase. Jay wouldn’t let the guards out of her sight, but they seemed at ease. The man said a dirty joke and the woman laughed uproariously. Quiet shift. Jay hoped that it would remain this way for everybody’s sake.
Behind the staircase there was a shallow alcove with two benches on both sides. James took another glass-tipped wand from his ‘keyring’ and the back wall of the alcove slid open. Jay immediately knew what it was. As the Duke’s mansion and all the homes of rich and powerful had service staircases, so the servants and other people that were not supposed to be seen, used. The wall closed behind them noiselessly. The narrow stair led them up, three flights before they stopped at a landing. There were two doors leading out of here, one at the long wall and the other to the side.
‘Here’ said James, stopping in front of the side door. ‘This is the third floor. Whatever you might be looking for is going to be here somewhere. There is a guard patrolling the corridor every few minutes but he won’t go in any of the offices.’
He turned around and opened the front-facing door, then picked another ‘key’ and after a moment hesitation opened the other door too. There was a small room beyond the side door. It was full of crates and old rags. Jay could also see some brooms and buckets in the shadows.
‘Now, you need to do something for me too.’
‘Huh? And what’s that?’ Jay could hear the suspicion in Lethe’s voice.
‘Hit me.’
‘What?’
‘Hit me and then lock me in this cupboard over here. It’s a part of my cover. I’ll wait until morning and then make a ruckus. When they find me I’ll tell them that you made me help you. Put a knife to my back. But I tried to struggle so you hit me over the head and stuffed in here. That’s my cover story.’
‘Fair enough’ shrugged Lethe and struck him across the face with the back of his hand. The force of the blow swayed the boy. When he straightened himself out Jay noticed blood dripping from his cut lip. He wiped it with the cuff of his sleeve.
‘Again’ he said. ‘It has to look good.’
Lethe struck him again, this time with his fist. More blood, this time from James’ nose.
‘I guess this should be convincing enough’ he said, wincing. ‘Now close the door behind me. They’ll lock on their own. And take my access wands. You should be able to open most of the door on this floor with them.’
He unhooked the ‘keyring’ from his waist and pressed it into Jay’s hand, then turned around to go into the supply room.
‘Wait’ said Jay. ‘Why?’
‘Why?’ James stopped and turned to her to speak. Because I still need to have this job in the morning.’
‘No I mean…why are you helping us?’
James looked at her. His face was already starting to swell and redden, only the white scar on his cheek stood out.
‘I had been working in the embassy since I was ten. And the old ambassador wasn’t so bad. Kept to his business. But the new one…’
For just a moment there was a quiver in the corner of his mouth, like he was about to cry. It was such a sharp contrast with his, until now, matter of fact and serious demeanour that Jay was taken aback.
‘I…Let’s say I have my reasons. Some very good reasons’ he said, the quiver gone as he bit his lip. Without a word more, he turned around and walked into the supply room and closed the door behind him.
‘Well that was something fucking different’ said Lethe. ‘Come on, the work is waiting.’
They poked their heads through the gap in the door, making sure that the guard James told them about wasn’t anywhere near them, then they slipped into the corridor. The office corridor was much better lit than the staircase in the tower. There was no deep shadows to hide in and that made Jay uncomfortable. Long boxes of rose gold-adorned stone held plants with strangely-shaped leaves and sculptures of solid silver as tall as Jay guarded each door. Their stares shone with magically-pressed jewels and for a brief moment Jay thought they might be a smaller and prettier version of Alloy Men. But they remained unmoving. Nothing moved in here apart for the plants’ leaves swaying ever so slightly in the draught.
The first door wouldn’t open, no matter what Jay tried to do with the glass-tipped rods. She thought that she got a wrong one, those worked like keys right? One stick to one door…or a type of door? She tried one after another.
‘Hurry’ hissed Lethe. ‘The guard might come through here any moment.’
As soon as he spoke the words, Jay could heard footsteps coming from the bend in the corridor. Her hands shook as she dropped the whole ring. It clattered slightly as they hit the stone. She scooped them off the ground and doubled her effort, touching the tips of the rods to the doors. ‘Open! Openopen open!’ she tried to force them to work with her mind.
The door opened a crack with no sound. ‘Is that how it works? ‘she managed to think before Lethe pushed the door open and pulled her behind him.
From behind the door cracked ajar they watched the guard striding down the corridor, his footsteps loud on the stone floor, the tip of the bolt in his crossbow shining fiery red.
It was darker here than in the corridor. Only a few wall lamps shone, their yellow light turned down low. Two long tables ran alongside the room shaped like a crawling serpent, full of curves. Papers and writing implements littered the tables and each had a score of upholstered stools pushed under the top. Clearly those were for the clerks to use. At the heads of the tables there was a small dais with a large crescent desk and a wide seat- a place for a supervisor to survey the work of their underlings.
‘That chest needs to be here somewhere’ said Lethe. ‘We better start looking.’
Papers! There were piles of papers stacked on the tables and in wooden containers under the table tops and to the side of the room. The chest they came for could be anywhere! The paper rustled as Jay pushed it off on the stone floor and as she overturned the containers. Lethe took to the storage unit that ran in between two tall windows, picking locked compartment after compartment and sweeping out the content. Soon enough it looked as if the storm that just started to unfold outside came inside, wreaking havoc in the office. Jay rummaged in the overseer’s desk in which she was joined by Lethe after he was done with the storage unit.
‘Heh.’
‘What? Have you found it?’ Jay almost jumped. It was going to be easy after all.
‘Nah, just some ‘sweets’ ‘he had a small flat box with nacre lid. Something rattled slightly inside. Under the lid a score of powdery pills rested in leather-lined interior. ‘I guess the supervisor must be bored during the office hours. ‘
He closed the lid and pushed the box into one of his pouches.
‘For later’ he said with a grin.
Jay shrugged. Drugs? That’s all there was in the office? The search of the supervisor desk revealed nothing more than a few coins of middling value. No golden-inlaid quill-tips, no jewelled inkwells and most notably- no chest they came here for.
‘It wasn’t here’ said Jay.
‘We have an entire floor of offices to check, and only a few hours, so shake a leg.’
The next office was smaller with just two curved tables and a supervisor’s desk with a large arched window behind it. The shelves of white mahogany ran along the walls bearing tomes and ledgers, chained to shiny metal rings on the wall.
They went through the room like a whirlwind, delving into drawers and sowing chaos among the orderly rows of books and tidily arranged records until they covered every flat surface. Jay found a hairpin with sliver shell adorning the end, stuck like a bookmark in one of the ledgers, while Lethe came across some square tokens of unknown purpose that looked like gold. Still the chest was nowhere to be found. Fighting the disappointment that was rising in her chest, Jay stuck her head out into the corridor, watching for the patrolling guard and pulling back into the room as soon as she saw him approaching. Then they both ditched the smaller office for the next room in line.
It wasn’t in the next room. Or in the next. They all started to look exactly the same to Jay- long tables, short tables and desks all of white mahogany, the drawers ending with rose-coloured knobs. And all of the rooms were filled with endless amount of paper scribbled both with regular and magical ink, tomes with thick covers, ledgers with rows and rows of numbers, names and signatures. There was some loot to be had, a few pouches filled with coins of quite high denominations both gold and silver. A few small table ornaments of rose gold made for nothing but to entertain restless fingers. A couple of chests that looked almost like the one they were looking for. Almost. And almost every time Jay’s heart leaped at the sight of them, just to be drowned in disappointment.
As they moved through the corridor, diving from one door to another and waiting for a proper moment to avoid the guard, Jay noticed there wasn’t many rooms left. They were coming to an end of the corridor. The large window of a lovely, pale-blue stained glass loomed closer and closer, lighting up from time to time by the thunder outside.
But as she opened the next door she knew that this time it might be different. This time there was no office behind the door, just a small room with two cushioned benches under each wall and a large- intimidating door elaborately carved and gilded with rose gold. It must have been a waiting room, a waiting room for the office of somebody important. Behind the large door was the office proper- a large space luxuriously decorated. There was a central table with the top of polished stone and legs carved like cresting waves surrounded with wide seats padded with soft furs. A large lamp graced the centre of the table, its crystal body shaped like a precious vase, the residue of magic still glimmering at the bottom. At the end of the room there was a window, its stained-glass panes arranged in patterns of stars and triangles, its light and diaphanous curtains embroidered with pearls. Under the window, on a low dais, there was a desk. It was the biggest one they’ve seen so far, curving gently at both ends and decorated with flat carvings of seashells and waterfalls. Each corner was lined with rose gold and each carving-inlaid with silver. As they moved towards the desk, their feet fell into a carpet, thick as a moss. If they tried to run, their footsteps would be lost forever into its silky smoothness.
And there was the little chest too. It stood right in the open, barely covered with the papers around it. The little gems along the lid shimmered as the lightning flashed.
‘A-ha!’ called Lethe. Jay could hear the grin in his voice as he spotted their prize. Jay tried the lid, it was unlocked. Inside, on velvet lining, a couple of scrolls lounged side-by-side, each bound with silk ribbon and sealed with a wax seal.
‘This is it alright’ said Lethe. ‘Time to go home. And get paid properly.’
He picked up the chest, slid it into a leather pouch that he brought especially for this purpose and closed the flap over it. He tied it with a leather strap around his waist and now it was resting against his thigh, safe from being dropped and from the rain that was now drumming against the windows.
‘Ready?’
Jay looked around at the office. At the inlays of gold and silver, at the pearls dripping from the curtains, at the furs lounging on the seats. So much riches and so much effort that it would took to strip this place, dig-out the inlays and cut off the strands of pearls. Too many heavy furs to carry for just two pairs of arms!
‘Ready’ she sighed and opened the door to the waiting room. She took the position next to the door, listening to the now familiar sounds of the guard patrolling outside. When she passed, she peeked outside, waiting for him to disappear behind the corner, then gestured ‘all clear’ to Lethe. They snuck out into the corridor, moving silently over the carpeted floor, trying to reach the door to the servants’ staircase.
‘There was a noise coming from here’ a voice rang out in the air, carrying from somewhere deeper in the building. ‘Check it out immediately! Search the entire floor!’
They froze.
More voices responded to that sudden call and soon the walls reverberated with heavy footsteps and clanging of steel. Even that they couldn’t see them yet, it was clear that the guards are coming this direction. It would be seconds until they were upon them!
Lethe tapped Jay over the shoulder and pointed to the nearby door. Jay nodded and grabbed the ‘keyring’. She ran a few tips over the door, finally finding the right one. The door opened slightly and they slipped inside, closing them behind. Jay looked around. It was one of the offices they had searched before. Just tables and a supervisor desk. No big cabinets, no niches and shadowy corners- nowhere to hide.
Lethe grabbed one of the smaller seats and hauled it to the window. He waited for the right moment and hurled the seat through the glass as the thunder rolled in the skies, concealing the sound. The seat disappeared into the darkness beyond. Lethe brushed off the glass with his gloved hand and stepped outside, placing his feet on the windowsill, then moved to the side. Jay stuck her head outside and immediately she was struck by the torrential rain. Shielding her eyes she looked down. They were on the street side of the main building and it was clear that there was no point going down. There was only a small strip of paved yard underneath, leading to a heavily guarded gate. They needed to climb up and get to the other side, to the service building and out from there to the back streets.
When Jay started climbing, Lethe was already grabbing the ledge on the window above her, climbing slowly on the account of the stone being slippery with rain. Jay steeled herself. As much as she feared a fall made more likely with the rain, she feared the guards even more. She knew she stood no chance against their long arming swords or even worse, the magic-laden tips of their crossbow bolts.
Jay pawed her way up, grabbing the elaborate carvings over the transoms and carefully finding her way up the casements. She forced herself to work steady as the wind tugged at her clothes. She felt like every second was too long, every second took her closer to being discovered, either by guards investigating the broken window, or by the possible sentries that traversed the roof. Finally, she was able to haul herself over the ledge of the roof, standing over its flat-laid tiles. Immediately though she was pulled by Lethe into the shadow of one of the spires. And instantly she knew why. The guards were on the roof, because of course they would patrol this part even though they might not have heard the alarm raised downstairs. Their long oilskin cloaks covered them from top to bottom, hoods pulled over their heads, shining with the rain in the cold light of the small magic lamps at their waists.
There were two of them, watching this part of the roof. In a brief flash of the lightning she could see similar pairs, holding their vigil just a bit farther away. She turned her gaze back to the two in front of them, confronting the thought that there was no way around them. The spires provided little shadow, too little to be relied upon, and were at the mercy of the lightning that could uncover them at without warning. There was no way around the pair. Only through.
Lethe tapped her on the shoulder and gestured towards the guards. Jay nodded. He was taking the one on the left; hers was the one on the right. Jay unsheathed her dagger, crouched and waited. The moment the next thunder rolled through the skies, they struck simultaneously. Jay leaped forward from her crouch, building momentum by running those few steps that separated her from the guard. She grabbed the cloak and pulled to the side at the same time slashing low with her dagger. She felt the blade biting deep into the tendons under the knee. There was a cry of pain and alarm, immediately drowned by another thunder. Jay pulled the cloak even harder and could feel the guard losing balance, going down onto one knee. Quickly she let go of the cloak, diving under its billowing hem and to the front of the guard. She grabbed the fold of the chainmail coif and pushed her blade deep into the gap between the metal, striking flesh underneath. Hot blood poured over her hands. For a split second she was staring into infinitely surprised eyes of the woman, her thin lips moving soundlessly. The guard dropped her crossbow and tried to wrestle Jay’s hands. Jay pushed the blade even deeper as the guard pawed feebly at her wrist, then pulled it out. The guard toppled forward, blood still gushing from her slit throat mixing into a puddle of rain.
A helmet rolled under her feet, silent as the thunder shook the air. Jay took off her eyes of the dead woman and looked to the side. Lethe was sitting on the back of his guard, the man trying to tear him off as the Kou stabbed at his face and throat. Blood spurted from the wounds; the more he struggled the more he bleed. His flailing became weaker and weaker until they stopped completely. His arms fell along his body, just a second before he went down on his knees. Lethe jumped off his back just before the guard crashed to the ground.
‘Tough bastard’ she saw him mouthing, wiping his dagger.
The way to the gardens side of the roof was now clear. They grabbed the ledge and peered down towards the dark expanse of the grounds.
‘Well fuck’ said Lethe and Jay had to admit that he was absolutely right. The darkness was like a sea and, as the sea carry ships with lights on their prows, the darkness carried silhouettes with lamps that shone with strong white light. Guards? Or…Jay remembered the rows and rows of heavy armour glinting in the sun they saw from the deck of the airship.
‘Alloy Men’ she mumbled.
‘Yeah’ Lethe mumbled back. He took a look to the side, at the other pair of guards on the roof and Jay realized that there is only one way- down. Down, unless they want to fight a small army over the cold and wet tiles of the roof.
Lethe already swung his legs over the edge of the roof, grabbing the front of a stone drain, and then started his descent. Jay hoped that her gloves won’t slip over the rain-soaked surface of the stone as she started to climb down next. Rain in her eyes, she crawled down the pipe, fighting each second to hold her grip steady. Thunder clashed overhead, almost deafening her with the sound reverberating across the stone. A second later she felt something whizzing past, a red-hot trail of a buzz, like a pebble cast with an enormous strength. She looked up and in a moment illuminated with another lightning, she saw a face peering down on her. A face encased in helmet and a point of blazing bolt cocked in the crossbow.
It took her a whole second to stare into the piercing death the bolt promised. Just a second to choose between a hot death and hardness of the ground below. Then, as if in a dream, she let go of the pipe. It felt like being suspended in the rain, for a briefest of moment, and then she tumbled down, falling and grasping the air. On her way into the abyss, she caught Lethe and pulled him off the pipe. Together, they plummeted down. There was a crash and sharp, still-leafless branches of the trees poking at her. She tumbled a bit more, slower this time, eventually finding herself looking up into the stormy sky through the shadows of the treetops.
She rolled on one side, wondering if she still has all her limbs intact, only to be confronted with Lethe lying sprawled on the ground beside her. Groaning and cursing, he was gathering himself up. She could see his face twisted with mixture of pain and anger. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance, something came whizzing through the branches and exploded in tongues of red magical flame.
‘Run, Jay, run!’
Jay didn’t need to be told twice. Hissing with pain she scrambled to her feet. They ran further into the shadows of the gardens as the magical bolts flew all around them, crashing to the ground and erupting into nests of angry, hot fire.
They hit the evergreen shrubbery and tore through, finally getting out of the range of the crossbows and their deadly bolts. The darkness of the garden surrounded them. Far ahead there were little lamps in shape of spiralling arches, illuminating benches and nooks hidden between the trees. Their light was soft and inviting, creating small halos as the rain hung onto their glass casings. And there was the illumination of the Alloy Men-the white glimmer of the runes inscribed within their armours, as sharp as a knife in a back alley. In a way it was to their advantage. They always knew when their pursuers were approaching. The light, the very thing that should have been helping in the search was warning Jay and Lethe, causing them to pause and wait in hiding until the way was clear again. A couple of times they dove between tree trunks and under shrubbery, letting the guards to circle fruitlessly before moving on. The Alloy Men were even easier; their simple brains making them act predictably, never deviating from their paths. As long as they remained hidden from their fiery-red gaze they were safe.
Skulking through the shadows, Jay saw the white wall of the embassy gardens, glimpses of iridescent grey between in the night and blindingly white when the lightning struck the skies. Jay was almost tempted to touch them, to probe for any hand- and foot-holds. But they both knew better than to risk it. There were wards running alongside the perimeter, alarm at best, burning and agonizing death at worst. They kept going, slowly closing on the service building, hoping to exit the same way they’ve entered- through the kitchens. When the long shape of the service building showed up between the branches Jay took a deep breath and released it slowly. Through the wet scents of rain she could almost smell the cobblestones over the streets beyond the embassy. So close. There was just the matter of sneaking into the service building. There was a chance that the people inside it were still sleeping. Just a picked lock or two and they would be out. They pushed through an ornamental group of bushes that stood planted between them and the side door and…
Jay didn’t hear Lethe say anything, but his silence was louder than the clasps of thunders. Her own heart almost stopped beating too at the sight before them. There were four of them, four Alloy Men all walking the entire length of the building, the light emanating from their bodies pooling under their feet- overlapping circles that bleached the ground under their feet. Jay watched their routes; they both did for a few minutes. Not once there was a time when the automatons weren’t in each other’s direct line of sight. Not once there was a door or a window that wasn’t covered by their flaming-red gazes. They clanged and stomped, treading their short patrol routes, the earth trembling slightly under their steel feet.
Both Jay and Lethe have seen everything that there was to be seen and then they both turned around, passing through the bushes and between small groups of ornamental trees. Jay pushed her back against a trunk and took another deep breath. The scent of rain so full of promise felt now oppressive instead. They were a pair of fish in a dark pond where an outflowing creek was dammed and was soon to be dragged through with fine-eyed nets.
‘The trees’ they whispered to each other, remembering the other way out of the premises of the embassy. The trees that had grown over the measure of the wall, brazenly reaching with their limbs over the street outside of the embassy. Jay closed her eyes briefly, remembering the place she spotted from the deck of the airship. Past the service building and alongside the wall.
They started out again, backtracking and following the ghostly shape of the wall, sneaking between the statues and gazebos, using the stones for cover as the guards and Alloy Men sniffed in the corners, looking for them. After a few minutes Jay thought that she can see the clump of the unruly trees ahead, a dark splotch over the wispy-grey shade of the wall. Then she was sure. Two trunks twisted around each other and branches overdue to be trimmed, growing wild like a pair of shameless lovers.
Safety! Freedom! Jay made a dash towards them, following closely on Lethe’s heels. So close!
She didn’t see it coming. Was she too slow? Not careful enough in making her leap? She didn’t know. All she knew was the something ploughed into her side like a careless freight-ship hitting a quay. The blow had sent her flying. There was light and ringing in her ears and the ground that leaped at her. She wanted to get up and run but found that she no longer can move any of her limbs. Dazed and disoriented, she was lying on her side watching the last signs of Lethe disappear in the darkness.
She felt something grabbing her, a pair of hands like steel tongs. They took her forearms into a vice grip and pulled up, forcing her to stand on her feeble legs. When she was stretched to the limits, barely able to touch the ground with her tippy-toes she raised her head, just to look straight into the face of her captor. It was an Alloy Man, his brightly-lit face set like a steel mask, his eyes with magical energy pulsating within him. A number was etched above his eyes, a brightly lit thirty-four. He measured her with this gaze for a brief second, then threw his head back and opened his mouth wide, the flap swinging on riveted hinges. He emitted a shrilling whistle like an alarm siren blaring then the monstrous mouth closed and fell silent, frozen into a stance, still holding Jay stretched in his hands.
She tried to wrestle herself from the grip, pushed with her legs and kicked but she might as well try to wrestle a rock. The robotic man stood unmovable, impassive, with no emotion showing on his face-mask. She writhed even harder when she saw a golden light of a lamp coming closer- the guards. They arrived, three of them. Two stopped on both sided of still-writhing Jay. The third, a woman that carried a lantern in one hand and a long metal rod in the other, stood next to the Alloy Man
‘Thirty-four, release. Thirty-four, release’ she said.
Obeying the command, the Alloy Man opened his vice-like fingers, letting Jay slip from his grasp and fall. As she hit the ground, she was immediately hauled up by the guards on both sides. She was no longer held by a machine, but the grip of the men’s gauntlets was no less tight. She wouldn’t be able to break that grip either. That didn’t mean that she didn’t try. The woman in the meantime barked another command to the Alloy Man and he walked away, his metal feet thumping over the stone footpath.
‘Stop squirming or I’ll punch your lights out’ the woman said to Jay. Jay glowered at her but stopped struggling. The woman, satisfied with that, approached Jay. She took her loot pouches, her lockpicks and her dagger.
The walk back to the embassy building was brief. The guards walked briskly, half-dragging, half-carrying Jay between them. She expected them to say something, anything, but the trio remained silent all the way. No jeers or threats, no promises of revenge for the two killed on the roof. Just the coldness of their gauntlets and silent unfriendliness of their faces. On their way they met another guard. The woman spoke to him briefly and he run off, perhaps to report Jay’s capture.
They walked into the building, then up the spiral staircase to the office floor and into a room. It was the room where they took the chest from. The lamp in the centre of the large table had been refuelled and was now shining brightly. There were two more guards in the room, standing at attention on the both sides of the desk. And there was someone else in the room too. As they entered the room that person was sated at the desk, but stood up to come closer.
It was a man, a very tall man. He towered over his guards by a head, even though they both weren’t short at all. He wore loosely fitting shirt of blue silk and a robe thrown over his lean frame, informal attire but of the highest quality. His clothes was not what took over Jay’s attention though, it was the colour of his skin. Everywhere where the fabric wouldn’t cover it, his skin was a shade of silver, one that could be only found in the sheen of a pearl or on the underside of a poplar leaf. His eyes were of the colour of the midnight sky when the moon is full and clear as a polished coin- a deep shade of navy. His diamond-shaped face was surrounded by long, dark hair falling straight over his shoulders.
‘An Abrecari?’ said Jay without thinking. She had never seen an Abrecari up close until now. There weren’t that many of them in Arklington. And those that did live or visit here usually kept to themselves. Sometimes Jay would see a glimpse of their silvery faces peering from behind curtains of a passing carriage, mysterious and aloof. And apart that it was the first Abrecari that she ever seen up close, she also couldn’t remember the last time she saw anyone that striking, filled with almost perfect grace.
A guard to her side clouted her in the ear with his gloved fist.
‘You’ll speak only when addressed to, thief.’
Jay hissed and pulled her head between her shoulders. The guard raised his hand to strike again but the Abrecari stopped him with one gesture and the man let his hand fall to his side without striking another blow.
‘Yes, an Abrecari’ said the silver-skinned man, smiling slightly. His voice was pleasant and oddly familiar to Jay. ‘An Abrecari prince to be exact, although I prefer ‘Ambassador’ these days.
A prince? An Abrecari ambassador? Jay wrinkled her forehead. She was now sure that she had met him before even that she thought that she’s remember meeting an Abrecari and a Prince on top of that. Then suddenly she remembered. It was the night they had worked the Duke’s party. The party itself was thrown in honour of this man, Prince Aimar. And she did meet him, if eavesdropping on somebody from the rafters could be considered a meeting.
In the meantime, the female guard spread all the things that she took from Jay over the stone table. The prince looked them over. He paid little attention to her lockpicks and wasn’t very interested in the ring of ‘keys’ James gave them, passing them over to glance briefly at the pouches. None of those Jay had to store all the little trinkets that could possibly come her way as big enough to hold the chest. As soon as he realized that, he moved on. He picked up her dagger and unsheathed it, looking at the blade and the hilt with some interest.
‘There were two of them I have been informed’ he said to the female guard.
‘Yes Prince Aimar.’
‘I assume that the other malefactor had absconded successfully?’
‘I am afraid so, my Prince’ she said. ‘We’re still conducting the final search but all points to the other thief no longer being on the premises of the embassy.’
Jay let out the smallest breath of relief. It looked like Lethe got away. It was a small comfort at her present situation, but a comfort nonetheless.
‘I see’ said the Prince. ‘And the documents haven’t been redeemed either?’
The woman started to answer, but the prince interrupted her.
‘I shall act accordingly then.’
The woman fell silent.
The Prince turned his attention to Jay again.
‘If I was to ask you who engaged you to purloin the chest from my bureau, would you answer truthfully?’
Jay shook her head then shrugged.
‘Even if I gave my word to return your freedom to you? Would you speak to set yourself free?’
Free! Jay could not imagine another thing that she wanted more right now. She couldn’t think of anything that she wanted more in her entire life, to be free and to feel the coldness of the night again, away from this place. All she needed to do was give up Jarred and Munoz. And Lethe.
‘No’ she said and glared at the Prince from under her lowered head. She expected him to scowl but he was still wearing this slight smile that seemed to brighten his handsome features.
‘No matter. In a way, there shall be time aplenty for me to learn about this. Instead, would you tell me about this?’ He gestured to Jay’s dagger that he was still holding in his hands. ‘Where did you acquire this? Purloined or just purchased perhaps? It is an antique. Is it common for people that ply your trade to carry antique weapons?’
Jay looked at the graceful fingers handling her dagger. Somehow she now felt naked without it.
‘It was given to me.’
‘Given?’
Jay didn’t respond. She was not about to tell him what had happened deep under Arklington and how she got to be there.
‘Now that is a tale that I would find worth listening’ amusement crept into that slight smile. ‘I shall be looking forward to it.’
‘The hour grows old now’ he continued. ‘And there is nothing here would not bear waiting until morrow.’
‘Captain Adhel’ he addressed the female guard.
‘My Prince?’
‘Please escort my guest to the proper quarters. And captain?’
‘Yes my Prince?’
‘I would be rather displeased if any accident befell my guest. Are my instructions sufficiently explicit?’
‘Yes my Prince. I’ll post one of my most trusted guards to make sure nothing happens.’
‘Yes, that would be adequate.’
The Prince waved his hand, indicating that he was done with them. Before Captain Adhel made the guards drag Jay out of the room, she noticed the sunny smile wouldn’t leave Prince Aimar’s face.
They took her through the corridors of the embassy, up another floor and a few corridors more, finally stopping at a door. Behind those was a room that after they lit the magical lamps on the wall, reminded Jay much of the guest room in the Duke Kingston’s mansion. It was a large space filled with soft carpets that bore patterns of colourful lines and geometric shapes. There was a table in the centre, a very low one with sofas surrounding it like hands holding a shiny fruit. Further on there was a bed with asymmetric headboard that was carved to resemble a crashing wave. The bedding was invisible under a cover of expensive furs. There was another door out of the room and Jay made herself a promise to check those immediately as soon as the guards leave in hopes there would be an exit through there.
Before she left, Captain Adhel checked the windows. If Jay had any hope of getting out through there before, she had to reconsider it right now. The window looked much sturdier than the ones in the office, and Jay doubted there was anything that she could use to break it. Captain Adhel gave Jay a stern look, a look that said ‘don’t even think about it’. Jay waited for the woman to say something, but there was nothing but the wary gaze of her brown eyes. ‘We killed two people under her command’ thought Jay. The recollection of blood over her hands almost startled her. Yet the woman’s sword remained at her waist and wasn’t plunged deep into Jay’s chest. With just a tightening of her lips as the only indication of her thoughts, Captain Adhel left Jay in the room, closing the door behind her. Jay raced to see if there was any way she could open them, but those too were that kind of door that required magic to open. Jay slammed her palm against them in frustration. She turned around and thumped her back on the wooden surface of the door. Then noticed the other door in the room. Almost forgot!
She thought that they would be locked, the same way all of the doors were around here. She tried them carefully. They weren’t! She pushed past the threshold, disbelieving that she would be left with an opportunity like this. She was right to disbelieve. She found herself in a smaller chamber, all inlaid in glossy moss-green tiles. There was a crystal mirror upon a marble table and towels like puffs of clouds. A candelabrum with thick yellow candles was lit here, giving the place a warm glow. The most of the space was taken one of those bathtubs you descend into like a pool she knew now the rich folk were so fond of. But no windows, no other door, not even a vent to squeeze her way out to freedom. Dejected, Jay left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Now what?
She looked at the window and found some small object that looked like they might help her break the crystal panes. But no matter how hard she pounded on the crystal, she failed to make even a scratch. In the meantime the storm outside passed, leaving just a faint growling of the departed thunder and wet darkness of the continuously falling rain. In the blackness, the lights of Arklington shone like false stars. Somewhere among them was Lethe. Maybe jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Maybe half-way to the Whaler already, thinking of a full bottle of gin that was awaiting him there. Jay felt an emptiness opening in the pit of her stomach. She paced towards the bed and sat down, sinking into the furs. In her mind’s eye she could still see Lethe’s back disappearing into the night. She knew that there wasn’t anything that he could have done, him alone against an Alloy Man and the guards that appeared soon after. Nothing at all. He did what he had told her to do so many months ago: ‘In case of a total screw-up, run. Run and don’t look back’. He ran. He was free. She will never see him again. Better to forget about him. Forget. Forget…
She rolled herself on the bed, pressing her face into the soft furs and shutting her eyes tight. There was nothing left for her to do but sleep, embrace the dreams however they would come as they were her only way out of the room. But no matter how she tried, there was no sleep. There was only the current of her thoughts, torrential and unstoppable. What will happen to her? Ostrah Gate that for sure. Maybe a beating before that. The Prince forbade any harm to be done to her now, but what about after he’s finished asking whatever questions he has? There was Captain Adhel with her dark and watchful eyes with unfathomable thoughts behind them. And also other comrades of those two up on the roof…
And then Ostrah Gate itself, the prison where they lock up all that were caught breaking the law. There had been a man living on Amaranth Street back in the Drowns. He’d drink in The Magic Lamp and brawl with the best of them. His fat, red cheeks had always been full of healthy bellow and the foulest jokes to be had. Jay had been there when the city guards dragged him away, for what she had never learned. And she had been there when he came back too, after a year or two. He’d still drink at the Lamp, but that was all he ever did. The fat, red cheeks hollowed out, whittled to the cheekbones, the bellow and the jokes had gone. The Ostrah Gate had eaten both up. All that had been left were the procession of tankards that he’d pour into himself. It had been Jay that found him after one night when the mud was high. She had been out digging in whatever effluvia the mud brought with it, hoping for some errant coin. ‘Drowned ‘ they’d said. Drowned in a foot of mud and shit.
She slipped off the mattress, too soft for her to sleep comfortably. She wrapped herself in fur and sat on the ground, her back supported by the foot of the bed.
