by Dean Cadman
Chapter Ten
Lusam returned alone to the barracks almost an hour later, but on his way there, he couldn’t help using his mage-sight to try and discover any potential spies who might be watching him from the shadows or rooftops above. He was a little surprised that he didn’t see anyone, and guessed that either they were very good at their job, or maybe the High Priest had been wrong about the whole thing.
As agreed, Renn stayed behind with the High Priest for a while after Lusam left the inner sanctum, to give credence to their story that he was receiving orders for a new mission. He planned to leave Lamuria that night as soon as it got dark, and promised to return in twelve days’ time—or sooner if he was unable to broker a suitable deal with the Nauroe.
The High Priest had eventually asked Lusam about the book pedestal, but had not pressed him for any further details once he’d explained that he was going to the location of the hidden Guardian book. He seemed to understand the importance of its location remaining a secret, and for that, Lusam was very grateful.
Neala heard the main door to the barracks open, and came out of her room to investigate.
“It’s only me,” Lusam said, closing the door behind himself.
“Did you see Alexia outside? She just left here no more than a minute or two ago,” Neala asked.
“No, I didn’t see her, sorry,” Lusam replied, as he kicked off his boots onto the bare wooden floor of the hallway.
“She waited for as long as she could, hoping to see you before she left for Stelgad,” Neala said, looking past his shoulder as if expecting her to reopen the door behind him.
“Stelgad? Why is she going to Stelgad?”
“She’s been temporarily stationed at The Sanctum of Light to help train the new recruits with Hershel. Apparently the paladins that were there left in quite a hurry when news of the Empire’s siege at Lamuria reached them. And before they left, they stripped it clean of all weapons and armour, not to mention horses and supplies. Just about everything was brought back to Lamuria to help defend the city. So they’re primarily going on a resupply mission to restock the armoury and food supplies.
“Alexia said it was Hershel’s idea to take all the new recruits. According to Hershel, the new recruits haven’t been performing as well as they might, and he blames the fact that they’re so close to their friends and families here in Lamuria. He thinks a few weeks away from them, undistracted, may speed up their progress,” Neala said.
“Was Hershel with her too?”
“No, he had some… disciplinary issues with one of his paladins,” Neala said chuckling to herself. Lusam knew she knew far more than she was letting on about these ‘disciplinary issues’, and raised his eyebrows at her in anticipation of her telling him more. “I can’t say, I promised that I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Neala said, struggling to control herself.
“I could just read your mind,” Lusam said jokingly.
“Don’t you dare!” Neala snapped at him, with a look of horror on her face. This time it was Lusam’s turn to laugh. He wondered what else the two girls had been talking about while he’d been away, but decided he better not push the subject any further, especially as it was his first night back in Neala’s room after his dragon nightmares had finally ended.
“So?” he prompted her, not really expecting her to tell him any more details, but she did. Or at least she tried to, in-between fits of hysterical laughter. Apparently, Morgan had been spreading rumours that as part of the food restocking process, the recruits would be going out on night-time hunting parties. Of course those hunting parties would naturally hunt where the most game was to be found, and according to Morgan, that was inside The Dark Forest. He backed up his claims by saying it was part of the normal training regime for a paladin, and they only usually lost about a third of the recruits, unless it was a particularly bad night. Apparently, his wild stories had caused three recruits to desert, and another to cause a self inflicted wound that confined him to the infirmary, preventing him from travelling to Stelgad.
To say Hershel was not happy with him, was an understatement.
Morgan had been demoted—again—and Hershel had reassigned him to the Stelgad trip where he could take his time over disciplining him. Neala cringed as she recounted all the things Alexia had heard Hershel say he would do to Morgan once they arrived at The Sanctum of Light.
Lusam didn’t know Morgan that well, but he did know three things about him, mainly from speaking with Hershel. The first was that his friends called him Beany, because he was so tall and thin. The second was that he seemed to be perpetually in trouble for his various pranks, usually aimed at the officers. And the third, was that Hershel had never forgiven him for coating the outhouse seat with tree resin three summers ago. Something Hershel swore he still bore the scars of to that day.
“It’s a shame you missed her, but she had to go and report to Hershel’s office, then prepare for their departure first thing in the morning,” Neala said.
“Yeah, it would have been nice to see her again,” Lusam replied, then erected a soundproof barrier around them both before continuing. “It’s probably for the best that I wasn’t here though.”
“Oh, why is that?” Neala asked curiously.
Lusam began recounting his meeting with the High Priest and Renn, and the plans they had made together. He told her of the Nauroe, and that Renn planned to leave that very night to seek them out. He explained how he intended to get the gold to pay for the Nauroe from the river in Helveel, and the fact that the statue unveiling ceremony had been delayed several more days beyond the end of the month. But he left it until the end to tell her about what the King might do to them if he discovered that they intended to leave Lamuria to rescue his mother. He knew Neala would be angry at the news, just like he had been, but her reaction was nothing compared to when he finally told her about the possibility of the King’s spies watching their every move.
Neala stormed off towards her room without another word, refusing to answer his questions as to what she intended to do. He could understand why she was so angry at the King’s actions, especially after all they had done, for both him and Lamuria, but he couldn’t allow her to jeopardise their plans.
“Stop! Neala, wait,” Lusam pleaded, as she strode down the hallway buckling her knife belt on under her tunic. He knew he couldn’t let her leave the barracks, so he placed a magical barrier over the door to prevent her from doing so. When her hand met with the magical barrier and she realised what was happening, she spun to face Lusam.
“Let me out,” she said through gritted teeth. Lusam didn’t think he had ever seen her so angry, and thought quickly of what to say to defuse the situation.
“Neala, listen to me. I know you’re angry, so am I. But we have to be smart about this. We don’t even know if there is anyone out there yet, but even if there is, you can’t just go and kill them.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s no longer just about us. Let’s just say you do find someone out there and kill them tonight, what then? Even if nobody sees you do it, the King is bound to suspect us, and all he’ll do is send more spies to watch us. We need to wait until we’re ready. Sure, go out there and see if we are being watched. Find out who it is, and how many of them there are, but don’t act on it. Not yet. Not until we’re ready.
“The statue unveiling ceremony is in twelve days’ time, we’ll do what needs to be done then, before we leave for Thule. But I’d prefer not to kill anyone if possible, even then. We might not have any intentions of returning to Lamuria, but we have to remember that our friends will still be here. Alexia, Renn, Hershel, Darcie and even the children might be made to pay for whatever we do here,” Lusam replied in a calm voice. Neala looked at Lusam and nodded her head slowly, her shoulders visibly relaxing as she took a step back down the hallway towards him.
“Okay, we’ll do it your way—for now. But if the King even so much as threatens you, or one of our friends, it won’t be just his spie
s that I kill,” she said with absolute conviction. Lusam saw the look in her eyes, and knew she meant every word of it. He simply nodded that he understood, because he knew there would be no point in arguing with her.
Neala waited patiently until it was almost dark outside. She needed to know if it was just a single spy that the King had sent, or more than one. There was no way to gain access directly to the roof of the barracks from inside the building, so she planned to travel further into the city before doubling back on herself. That way she could watch for anyone following her, before she took to the rooftops to track down the King’s spy, or spies watching their barracks.
Neala’s old instincts had remained strong since arriving in Lamuria, and she already knew the best way through the city to lose anyone who might be attempting to following her. She knew which side of the streets offered the best shadows, both in daylight and moonlight. She knew which buildings were close enough to each other to allow travel by rooftop, and which ones were not. She even knew which offered easy access to their roofs, and which ones to avoid. If someone wanted to follow her and remain hidden, she could make it all but impossible for them to do so, and all without making it appear intentional.
The civilised life she’d been living in Lamuria wasn’t very compatible with the requirements of being a thief. It was all very good having a brilliant shine on your boots if you were attending an official gathering, but all it did for a thief, was give away their position to anyone seeing their reflection in the moonlight—something which could easily cost a thief their life.
She took a small bowl of ashes from the cold fireplace and coated her boots with it, dulling their shine completely. Normally she would have done the same thing with her blonde hair, as it too would naturally reflect any light and give away her position. The problem was, if she did that now it would look far too suspicious to anyone watching outside the barracks. Instead, she tied a matt black scarf around her neck and tucked it down inside her tunic. Later she could pull the scarf up over her head and conceal her hair with it.
Next she took a pitcher of water, and mixed a small amount into the bowl of ashes, making a thick paste with it. She scooped the paste into a small piece of cloth, folded it up so it wouldn’t leak out, and placed it carefully inside her pocket. After dulling the buttons of her tunic with a little more ash, she was ready to go.
All through her preparations, Lusam had watched silently from the bed. She couldn’t tell if he was more concerned for her safety, or that of the King’s spies. She made one final check of her equipment, then went over to the bed and gave Lusam a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Be careful out there,” he said, looking slightly worried.
“Always,” she replied grinning at him, then headed for the door. Although she would never tell him as much, the thought of plying her trade once more made her feel more excited and alive than she had in weeks.
Outside it was a cool summer’s night, offering just a hint of autumn on the stiff night-time breeze. There was still a distant glow on the western horizon, the last remnants of day, soon to fade into night. Neala knew the moon should be far from full at this time of the month, but she was still happy to see that the sky was covered by a thick blanket of cloud. She didn’t even bother looking for anyone on the rooftops or in the shadows as she left the barracks. If they wanted to try and follow her, they were welcome to try.
Neala made her way casually towards the main market square of the city, carefully choosing her route to allow anyone following her easy travel by rooftop. She didn’t even cut across the square, instead she skirted the edge, pretending to glance into the shop windows as she passed by. At one point, she thought she heard a roof tile slip somewhere above her head, but she purposely didn’t react to it. Instead, she continued on her leisurely stroll towards the far end of the market square. She was heading for a place called Baker Street, and as the name suggested, it was where most of the city’s bakers made their bread each day.
The reason she had chosen that particular street was simple, the buildings there were built with a much wider gap between them due to the inherent fire risks involved in the baking industry. That meant whoever was following her, would not be able to traverse the gap between the market square rooftops, and the rooftops of Baker Street. They would have only two choices, either drop down to street level and continue following her, or backtrack all the way around the market square rooftops, then try to pick up her trail again at the opposite side. For Neala it didn’t matter which they chose, as far as she was concerned, she had already won.
When she reached the intersection of Baker Street, she turned down it—and the race began. She walked briskly, but not in an obvious hurry to the next alleyway, just in case she was still being watched from above. As soon as she turned the corner and was fully hidden from view, she began to run as fast as she could. Opposite her, at the far end of the dark alley was another building. One which would put her on the same market square rooftops as her foe, except they would be separated by the buildings on Baker Street. From up there she would easily be able to see if her foe had dropped back down to street level, or as she expected, started to make their way back around the rooftops of the market square, hoping to once again pick up sight of her on the other side of Baker Street.
Neala had checked out this exact building several weeks earlier, shortly after they had defeated the Empire’s invasion force. She never liked being in an unfamiliar place without knowing of at least a handful of escape routes, just in case she should need them later. She remembered feeling a little silly after spending the day scouting out this particular one, but looking back now, she was very glad she had.
The moment she reached the building, she started to quickly climb up its black iron drainpipe, and was soon climbing over the lip of the flat roof above. Instinctively, she remained low and covered her head with the black scarf she had prepared earlier. She rolled to a shadowed area of the roof, then carefully peered over the stone lip into the alley below for any signs of her pursuer. As expected, there was no sign of anyone. They had remained on the rooftops, and would now be making their way as fast as possible to her current location. Now all she had to do was find a good hiding spot, and wait.
Neala knew that the adjacent building had a series of sloping peaked roofs, but it was much higher than the one she was on. It would make a perfect vantage point from which to follow her quarry, but first she must reach it unseen.
She slowly crawled towards the edge of the building that faced the market square, and peered carefully over the stone lip of the roof, whilst staying hidden by the shadows as best she could. Then she watched intently for any signs of movement on the rooftops opposite. She needed to make sure that the person following her, had indeed decided to stay on the rooftops, and was not somehow flanking her position right now. It took her a few moments to spot the almost imperceptible movement opposite. Whoever it was, they were good, but they had just made a big mistake by sacrificing their stealth for speed. If she had been intent on killing the spy, that mistake would have just cost them their life.
Neala now knew how far away the spy was, and could clearly see that she had the time to prepare for their arrival. She ducked back down behind the stone lip of the roof and rolled onto her back. She carefully removed the small square of cloth she had placed in her pocket earlier, and began to apply the paste of wet ash onto her face and hands. Once she was happy with the results, she carefully refolded the cloth again and returned it to her tunic pocket. She then rolled back over onto her stomach, and checked the position of the spy once again. It was easier to spot the subtle movements of the spy now that she knew roughly where to look. Carefully, she crawled slowly backwards towards the drainpipe she had used to gain access to the roof, all the time keeping an eye on the spy’s progress.
The moment the spy was obscured by the chimney on her own roof, she slipped over the edge of the building, and quickly climbed back down the iron drainpipe to the ground below. Her feet ha
d barely touched the ground, before she was once more climbing the adjacent building’s drainpipe. It took her longer to reach the higher roof, and when she did, she wished she had done more to keep her fitness level up since reaching Lamuria.
Trying hard to control her breathing, she made her way up towards the peak of the roof that overlooked where she had just been a few moments earlier. The tiles on the roof were a mixture of new and old, but she carefully chose to climb on the old ones. The new ones were shiny and slick, whereas the old ones were pitted with lichen growth, and gave much better traction for her boots.
When Neala reached the peak of the roof, she carefully peered over the edge. It didn’t take her long to spot the spy making his way around the rooftops towards her end of the market square. She could clearly see that it was a man now, as he paused momentarily at each road intersection to check for any signs of her, before moving on to the next. She smiled to herself when she finally saw the change in his body language: he knew he had lost her.
Neala expected him to give up and drop back down to street level, but instead, he retraced his steps once more, checking each and every street on his way back around the market square for any signs of her. ‘He obviously isn’t used to losing anyone he follows,’ Neala thought to herself, with a wry grin on her face.
Now it was her turn.
She needed to know for sure if he was working alone. She suspected not, for several reasons. Not least of which, was the fact that she was surely a secondary target after Lusam, and yet this man had followed her tonight, whilst leaving Lusam alone at the barracks. If he had been working alone, he would have stayed at the barracks just in case Lusam emerged later. Another reason why she expected more than one spy, was that they were on the King’s payroll, and that alone almost guaranteed more than one. What she needed to do now, was find out just how many there were.