by Jane Glatt
going to follow the instructions sent to him and meet with Westley Stobert’s men - Brenna would follow by tracking them through old steel. Once Kane was with Duke Ewart, Brenna would join them. It was a simple plan, which Kane had approved. Brenna was glad they weren’t going to negotiate with Westley Stobert. The man had not wanted her to meet with Duke Ewart from the start and Brenna had no reason to expect that he’d changed his mind. She still wasn’t sure why, though.
Hand on her knife she reached through the old steel and checked the surrounding neighbourhood. She could sense Barton in another part of the city. The two Brothers a few streets over must be Kane’s escort. A message from the Brotherhood had been passed along by their hosts promising that Runner and Blaze would be saddled and ready by midnight. Their packs had been sent ahead to the stable, all except her small one. As far as the Brotherhood knew, Kane would return here for Brenna before they took the north road out of Silverdale. No one knew they planned to head east to Aruntun.
Brenna fidgeted with the curtain and looked out into the street again. She was ready, dressed in her black thieving clothes. Kane entered the sleeping chamber still dressed as the tradesman.
“It’s almost dusk,” he said. “Is there any old steel I need to worry about?”
Brenna shook her head. “I can see the Brothers you’re meeting. Lord Stobert’s farther away, with Jesson and Quint.”
Kane nodded and turned to leave. “Remember, keep as close as you can, but stay out of sight. And if you sense Barton near, be very careful. Don’t forget that the men with him will only have normal swords. Don’t rely only on old steel.”
Brenna nodded. “I’ll use all my abilities,” she promised. She’d eluded guards long before she’d known about old steel. Tonight would be no different.
“Good,” Kane said. “It’s dark enough now. I’m off. Give me a few minutes head start.”
With Kane gone, Brenna’s nervousness increased. She put a hand on her knife and followed Kane’s progress down the stairs and out of the house. She prayed it wasn’t her Seer’s abilities causing her unease. She blew out the lamp and looked out the window. It was dark enough that she could barely make out the tree on the corner. Time for her to go.
She hefted her pack onto her back, looked for Kane and noted his progress. She stepped up to crouch in the window and she reached up and hauled herself onto the roof of the house.
She crossed to the edge of the roof and jumped across a narrow gap to the roof of the house next door. From there she stepped onto the sturdy branch of a maple tree and crept to the centre of the tree. She edged around the trunk and out onto a branch that hung out over an alley. She took a few breaths and checked the alley. Good, no sounds or movements from below. She sat down and twisted until she dangled a few feet above the ground, then she dropped and rolled. Still crouched, she scrambled to the shadow of the fence. She sat there for a few minutes and listened to the still quiet night,
She checked Kane’s location again - he was already past this alley and headed towards the two Brothers. She checked their position and started to rise - and stopped.
Something was wrong. She reached again for the Brothers. The old steel was there and the Brothers were the same ones she’d felt before, but there was something about them, something she could almost sense through the old steel. Brenna frowned. She prodded at them through her link with their weapons. They were there, but something was wrong. If only she knew what to trust with this magic.
“Kane!” She shouted to him through his sword and was relieved to feel him stop. “It’s a trap.” She felt him back up a few paces – he was close to her alley now. Brenna sprinted down to the street. Kane was around here, close, she could feel him. She heard the clash of steel on steel and she automatically reached through his sword. And recoiled when the sword she was attuned to bit into flesh. She heard a wet gurgle and then she felt the sword pull out. There was a thud as something heavy fell. She stumbled into the fence before she steadied herself against it. Kane was just around the corner. She called his name, softly. She saw a shadow in the street and then he was there, beside her. His blade was drawn and dark liquid dripped off it.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded and tugged his arm.
“This way, hurry.”
She edged deeper into the shadow of the fence and Kane followed, his eyes focused on the opening to the street. Three dim shadows paused at the entrance to their alley.
It was around here somewhere. Ah, here. Brenna toed aside a plank in a fence and eased through. Kane followed. When he was through, she gently moved the board back in place.
Her hand on Kane’s arm, she guided him to the narrow space between the two houses. She shrugged out of her pack and held it with one hand as she slid into the narrow opening. It was a tight fit, but eventually they found themselves on another darkened street, a row of houses between them and their pursuers. From there, Brenna took them through backyards and alleys for half an hour before she felt safe enough to stop.
“Barton found us,” Kane said and Brenna nodded.
“Some of his men must have,” she said. “He’s not very close by. I noticed something odd about Stobert’s men,” Brenna said. “The ones you were to meet. They felt wrong in some way, like they were nervous or conflicted or … I don’t know. It felt as though they meant you harm.”
“Apparently they did - you warned me just in time,” Kane said. “Thank you. But then you should have left. I told you to keep yourself safe.”
“And I did,” she said. “And I kept you safe as well.”
“Yes,” Kane said. “But you took a risk. I’m expendable, you are not. If you hadn’t found that loose plank in the fence …”
“You mean the loose plank I found two days ago?” Brenna hissed at him. “The one I loosened even more in case I needed an escape from that alley?” Did he think she was witless? She’d been doing this a long time. “I know that Barton is out there. I know better than you that Thorold will never stop looking for me. So I planned ahead.” And by the gods there was no way she would ever consider Kane expendable.
“Oh,” Kane said.
He chuckled. What was so funny? She was furious that he’d lectured her about how to stay safe in a city at night.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m as bad as Westley Stobert and I know better than to underestimate you. Next time you might want to let me know when you’ve been out creating escape routes.”
“Next time you could ask,” Brenna said. Her anger would have to wait. “Come on, let’s find Stobert.”
Stobert’s old steel weapons were easy for Brenna to locate - she’d spent enough time on the road trying to read the man through them. She led Kane through dark alleys and shadowed streets as fast as she could, but even so, it was over an hour before they stopped behind some bushes.
The small house was near the road that led north out of the city. A guard was posted at the front door.
Brenna looked for old steel weapons.
“It’s Stobert and his men,” she whispered. “I recognize their weapons.”
Kane put a hand on her arm and pulled her towards a clump of trees.
“We need to be sure,” Kane said. “Barton could have captured them.”
She nodded and then realized Kane couldn’t see her in the dark. She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her as she circled away from the front door and the guard. An open window spilled lamplight out into the night and Brenna and Kane crept up to it. Soon they were huddled beneath the window in the shadow of the house.
“And what about the girl?” It was Stobert, his voice clear in the still night air. “What happened to her?”
“Dunno. When we checked the house she was gone. She didn’t leave by the door, though, we’re sure about that. We didn’t find her out by the horses neither. One of my men just got back from there.”
“Damn,” Stobert said. “I told you, Kane Rowse is nothing. It’s the girl we want dead.�
�� There was the unmistakable slap of a hand against flesh. “And now you’ve let both of them escape.”
“Sorry, my Lord.” The reply was more muffled. “Don’t know how he knew we was waiting for him.”
“Yes, well. I’m sure your master will make you even sorrier,” Stobert said. “Duke Thorold doesn’t take failure well, does he? Now go. Tell Barton I’ll co-operate as much as I can. The Brotherhood did not wait two thousand years to follow a thieving witch. I trust that when the time comes he’ll remind his lord that some in Fallad were friends before his son became king.”
Even in the shadows Brenna could see the fury in Kane’s eyes. He motioned for them to leave and slowly, silently, they backed away from the house.
They found a small park close to the outskirts of town and huddled in some dense bushes. Based on Kane’s directions, Brenna thought they were fairly close to the horses and she wanted to at least try to get them. She’d become attached to Blaze, and some of her herbs in the saddlebags were hard to replace.
“By the gods,” Kane said. “I never thought Westley Stobert would betray the Brotherhood.” His face was tight when he turned to her. “But you did. And I didn’t believe you.”
“I was never certain,” Brenna said. “I find it hard to trust anyone.”
“And you were right not to this time.”
Brenna hoped the bitterness in his voice wasn’t directed at her. She’d lived a life