The Thief of Dunmire and the Tear of Astra (The League of Sinister Means Book 1)

by H. K. MacTavish

  I can now pull myself up, check my sack and, it’s still a sack. I put the sheet rope back inside along with the contraption and maneuver to some of the central bars.

  I need to bend the bars to make room so I can sneak inside. I take out the slack of the sheets in my sack and wrap them tight around the bars. Now I pull out the contraption and secure it to the sheets so the teeth…catch…come on…get…inside the groove…get…inside…the groove…damn it! There! I got it. Now, snap it down, and twist the little dial.

  I twist the dial a little bit and I can hear the bars starting to whine. I look out over the horizon and see nothing but storm clouds.

  Crack!

  That got my heart racing. Let’s not spend any more time outside than I have to. Even the guards are leaving the walls. This is working out better than I had hoped.

  The bars are starting to bend inward. The more that I twist the dial, the more that the bars bend and the sooner I will be out of this weather. I am soaked!

  It only takes me a minute before the bars are bent enough that I can squeeze through. Yes, it pays to be a skinny thief.

  Flash, and break the window!

  Crack!

  I reach in, unlock the window, and push it in.

  I’m inside the vault! Oh, look at all the glorious crowns and, is that a scepter? Okay, that one is technically a tiara. But that necklace…I didn’t know rubies could grow so big! Come to mama!

  Carefully I look for those runes Veronica put down. I see them, easily enough, especially in the dark. Don’t worry, I’ll play with you soon enough. Give Veronica a buzzing in her ear that will make her heart race.

  All of you precious trinkets, crowns, tiaras, rings, everything, get into my wet sack. All this glorious treasure! It’s too bad we can’t keep it. Well, maybe a trinket or two. As trophies. Mary would like that tiara.

  So far, no one has come in to check on all this wealth. There are a few chests of gold but I’m not going to burden myself with those. Blaise can keep that. I have what I came for. And yes, the Tear of Astra is not here.

  If the heroes knew that their precious treasures were at risk they would come running. I think it is time that they did just that. Especially Blaise. I need Blaise to come. Time to call them.

  I find a rune and rub my finger over it.

  Nothing happens. Veronica didn’t change the runes, which is good for me. I step towards the window, pull in the wet sheets after untying them and drop them in a pile on the floor. I won’t need them from here on out. They’re too heavy. I keep the contraption though. I’ll need it later.

  I step out and see a small ledge. I step out onto the wet ledge, slowly, and shimmy out. There is a little bit of stonework that runs all along the wall. It’s about an inch wide, which for most people isn’t enough but an inch is plenty for me. I look down, which everyone says you shouldn’t, but I love the thrill of being so high up. My sister hates it. Hence why I’m out here and she’s inside. This acrobatic work is something I’m better at. She’d be peeing herself up here.

  I move to the next window and peer in. I see some guards loitering about but nothing else. I get comfortable on the ledge with most of my body out of sight.

  Someone’s coming. It should be Veronica with that key. She’ll get inside and see everything gone. Then she’ll tell Blaise and Blaise will lead me to the Tear of Astra. The real Tear of Astra.

  It’s Heinrich! What’s he doing…oh, he’s got something that hums or vibrates to the rune being disturbed, does he? What’s that in his hand? Oh! Is that one of Veronica’s earrings?

  He looks nervous, walking with purpose in all that shiny armor. You go Heinrich! Work that knightly suit of armor!

  He’s hustling. He’s gone around the corner. He’s gotten the attention of the other guards in the hall, I recognize him as one of the guards that is stationed next to that war room when I first met Blaise. The guard is leaving his post. He’s stepping around the corner after Heinrich. He’s saying something but I can’t make it out. Heinrich should be in the vault right about now…

  Something’s happened! I can hear screams and the guards are running around. But not Heinrich. What…oh? Did…did my sister get to the key? Oh! If she filed down part of the key the lock wouldn’t open and the trap would spring on the heroes when they tried to shove it into the keyhole! That’s brilliant! My sister’s so smart.

  The guards are running around now. They’re getting help. Whatever they trapped the door with I bet Heinrich fell into it. Now I just wait here for Blaise to show up. If he’s hidden the actual Tear of Astra somewhere else I’m screwed. Well, as I pat the sack filled with loot, we’re not really screwed. We won’t get the Tear of Astra but this can be melted down. I know, it’s easier to just rob merchants or something to get the same amount of wealth easier, but it’s a consolation prize at this point if I can’t get the Tear of Astra. I just know Blaise has the Tear of Astra somewhere up here. There’s another window around the corner, I should move there and get a better look and see what happened to Heinrich.

  I make my way across the ledge, past a bedroom window where, from the looks of it, the king and queen are residing. Past this is the corner.

  Corners can be tough. You get used to using muscle memory up here, one foot sliding in front of the other. The corners can throw that out of balance.

  I ease myself forward, hugging the wall as I step around the corner. I take a deep breath and continue to step forward.

  Crack!

  Hold steady Corvina! Hold steady. You’re almost there. Another few inches and…I’m there! Now to continue on my way to that window so I can see what’s happening in the hall.

  I reach the window and I see a knight, Heinrich, standing perfectly still and he’s covered in something. It’s kinda shiny and moist. They did use Thief Tar.

  Good old Thief Tar. Heinrich is a statue and none of the guards or heroes can help him out. It can be washed off. Salt water will dissolve it, but it takes time. And you need a lot of water, hence why it is so often used; thieves don’t break into a place with barrels of salt water and a lot of time to wait for the Thief Tar to dissolve. What I’m saying is Heinrich is going to be there for a while. Teach you to go charging in to the rescue. Some heroes just can’t help but play with their swords any chance they get.

  I put my ear as close as I dare to the window to try and listen in. I can hear the guards talking nervously while looking at Heinrich. They look scared. None of them are laughing. I would be laughing. I am laughing, on the inside. I’m not laughing on the outside because I’m wet, cold, getting tired, wet…oh, I mentioned being wet, didn’t I? Come on Blaise! Hurry up! I’m getting tired out here! And I’m wet.

  Mysterious Shadows

  I take a few pastries before I leave the kitchen to woo my way into Bridget’s dress. By the time that I make my way up to the first floor I see that the feast the heroes were enjoying is in a shambles. Some of the heroes are loitering around. They apparently don’t know what to do.

  No one saw me sneak out of the basement, which is good. Once they find Veronica, the molasses monster…I can’t stop laughing. Okay, get a hold of yourself Mary. You don’t want to be tied to Veronica. Or stuck to her!

  Okay. Focus Mary. Just slowly make your way up to the second floor. I walk past the guards who are too busy talking to one another about the pepper powder attack in the kitchen to think about stopping any servants from walking past them. Why should they? We’ve done nothing wrong that they know of. Maybe that’s just my thief paranoia thinking that I should be getting stopped all the time. Regardless, I don’t have any issues getting to the second floor.

  Upstairs on the fourth floor is where all the action is. But it’s the action on the second floor that I’m interested in.

  I knock on Bridget’s door softly. I don’t want to get anyone else looking at me.

  No answer. Did I knock loud enough? I can’t stand out here for a long time or I’ll look suspicious. Maybe Bridget is downstairs. O
nly one way to know for sure.

  I open the door.

  Unlocked? Bridget, you are entirely too trusting.

  “Hello?” I ask softly to an apparently empty room. She must still be downstairs. That is disappointing. Not that I can do anything about it. I put the pastries down on the dresser and show myself out of her room.

  As I close the door I look around and see Blaise heading upstairs in a hurry following a guard. Jennifer is right behind him but she stops when she sees me. She comes running up.

  “What are you doing?” she asks.

  “Me? Nothing,” I say.

  She looks at the door and then at me and smiles.

  “Have you seen anything odd?” she asks.

  “No. Why? What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Jennifer says as she looks past me. “It’s someone else.”

  My sister you mean.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Time to see just how much you trust me.

  “No,” Jennifer says.

  “Okay. Well, if you think I can help later, let me know,” I say.

  “I will,” Jennifer says. She pauses and looks at me closely. “Actually, why don’t you come with me? Help me look through the second floor.”

  “Sure. What are we looking for?”

  “Someone out of place,” Jennifer says.

  “What do they look like?” I ask. She hesitates. “You don’t know?”

  “No. It shouldn’t be hard to spot him. Or her. Just look for someone out of place.”

  And now to tie a rope around Bernice’s neck.

  “How do you even know about a thief?” I ask, knowing all about Bernice.

  “We have a source,” Jennifer says.

  “A trusted source?” I ask, knowing full well that the word trusted has never been used by anyone who has ever met Bernice.

  “I don’t know,” she says.

  She’s lying. She knows. She must have met Bernice at some point.

  “What if your source is the thief,” I say.

  “He…is the thief?” Jennifer asks. She pauses. It never occurred to her. Strike it home into her mind Mary!

  “Well, I would make sure to keep a hold on your source just in case. If he knew about the thief, you have to ask yourself, how did he come across this information and, why give it to the prince. I’m assuming he talked to the prince.”

  “He did,” Jennifer says.

  “Have you met him?”

  “No. I’ve just heard from…the prince,” Jennifer says. “You’re still thinking about what we discussed before, aren’t you?”

  “I am! It’s just so, exciting!” I say, smiling and all giddy. Exciting because the Thief of Dunmire is right here in front of you and you have no idea!

  “I’ll let the prince know that he should be careful of his source. But, I have a feeling he already suspects our source,” she says as she knocks on a door. “At least he better,” I hear her mutter.

  A servant opens up the door dressed better than the rest of the staff of the keep.

  “Yes?” he asks. He’s arrogant, as if he’s a noble.

  “Is there anything wrong?” Jennifer asks.

  “Nothing,” he says, implying heavily that we could be the answer to that question by bothering him.

  “Okay, thanks,” Jennifer says and the servant quickly closes the door.

  “Doesn’t that get annoying?” I ask.

  “What?”

  “All the arrogance in this place?”

  She laughs.

  “You’re not used to it?” she asks me.

  “I could never get used to it. I try and tolerate it.”

  “I guess I just walk the line of tolerance and trying to not be like that.”

  “I hope I’m never like that. Arrogance can get you into trouble,” I say.

  “It can,” she says.

  Jennifer seems different as we walk down the hall, knocking on doors, checking each room. Most of the servants are pleasant enough. Others seem annoyed to be disturbed. At last we come to Veronica’s room. Jennifer knocks and one of her perfumed servants opens the door.

  “Yes?” she asks, her nose held high. I really shouldn’t have expected Veronica’s servants to be different than her. It’s too bad she couldn’t join her mistress. Oh, the image just popped in my head. Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh!

  “We’re just checking the rooms,” Jennifer says. “Has there been anything out of place recently?”

  Like the Molasses Monster knocking on your door?

  “Nothing,” the servant says.

  “Lady Veronica has not returned?” Jennifer asks.

  She’s gummed up at the moment.

  “She has not,” the servant says.

  I’m sure Veronica will slog her way up here sooner or later.

  “Okay, thanks,” Jennifer says. “Let me know if there’s any problems.”

  “I’m sure our lady will return shortly. She adheres to a strict schedule.”

  Oh my god, don’t laugh!

  The door closes and Jennifer turns to me.

  “Are you okay?” Jennifer asks.

  I nod. I can’t speak but at least I’m not smiling.

  “There is just one more room,” Jennifer says.

  I nod again.

  Okay, compose yourself Mary! Remember, you know nothing of Veronica’s tacky situation.

  Jennifer doesn’t hesitate but heads right for the storage room.

  “It’s closed,” she says.

  “Maybe someone is…you know…” I say.

  “Ah,” Jennifer says. She’s quick.

  She knocks on the door and we wait.

  Nothing.

  “I don’t hear anything,” I offer.

  “Neither do I,” Jennifer says. “Let’s open it up.”

  “Okay,” I say, twisting the door handle. I shove it but it won’t open.

  “It’s stuck,” I say.

  So many things are stuck today.

  “Let me try,” Jennifer says. She shoves the door just like me. “It’s barred on the other side.”

  “Someone wants privacy,” I say.

  “It may be something else,” she says, concerned. “Let me go and get a guard. Wait here.”

  I wait there by the door, lightning flashes outside the window near me. I don’t see any sign of Blaise. Or any other heroes, actually. Where is everyone?

  Jennifer comes down with two guards. They are walking at a quick pace.

  I step aside with Jennifer while one of the guards stands in front of the door and knocks.

  “Hello! Open up!” he yells. I hear the door to Veronica’s room crack open and see two faces peer in through the crack of the door. Some other servants down the hall are all looking at us.

  The guard twists the handle and shoves the door but it remains stuck.

  “I’ll help you. On three,” the other guard says.

  “Okay,” the guard who knocked says.

  They count down to three and shove the door open. I can hear some wood breaking. They try a second time and the door flies open. I can see that it was a chair propped up against the door that broke.

  “There isn’t anyone in here,” one of the guards says.

  “But, how did the door get blocked with no one in here?” I ask. I know perfectly well how, but by asking I can look innocent.

  “Magic?” the other guard asks. Jennifer is looking around the room. She’s too smart to let the mystery linger for long.

  “No,” she says approaching the window. She looks down and sees the water on the inside of the closed window. “Someone left through the window!”

  “Out there? In the storm?” the guard asks.

  “We need to find out where she went,” Jennifer says.

  “We’ll send word to the other floors to stay vigilant,” the guard says.

  I leave with Jennifer but I’m having trouble keeping up with her. We turn around the corner and there, waiting by her door, is Bridge
t.

  “Highness,” Jennifer says with a bow.

  “Highness,” I say, bowing as well. Bridget smiles at me and I at her. But on seeing Jennifer’s serious face Bridget’s smile fades.

  “What’s wrong?” Bridget asks. “My brother left in a hurry from the feast. What’s going on?”

  “The Thief of Dunmire has struck,” she says.

  “He has?” Bridget asks.

  “Yes,” Jennifer says, not correcting the pronoun. I think Jennifer knows the Thief of Dunmire is a woman. The only thing eluding her is that the Thief of Dunmire are actually women.

  “What’s been taken?” Bridget asks.

  “The crown jewels, I think,” Jennifer asks.

  “Really?” I ask.

  “All of them?” Bridget asks.

  “What your parents brought with them,” Jennifer says.

  “So the Thief of Dunmire has left?” I ask.

  “No,” Jennifer says.

  “I would have,” Bridget says.

  “In the storm, it would be easy to escape, yes?” I ask.

  “Perhaps,” Jennifer says.

  “Where is Blaise now?” Bridget asks.

  “He went upstairs to check the vault. He asked me to check this floor while Kincaid checks the third,” Jennifer says. “The others are waiting on the first floor, guarding the entrances.”

  “Blaise should have come back down by now,” Bridget says.

  “He should have,” Jennifer says.

  “I’m going up to check on him,” Bridget says.

  “No!” Jennifer says, a bit too forcefully. “It’s…too dangerous. If the Thief of Dunmire is still about, it would be safer if you remained here. With Mary,” Jennifer adds, placing a hand behind me and pushing me towards Bridget.

  Please, you don’t have to push me towards Bridget with too much force.

  “Okay,” Bridget says at last. She takes my hand as Jennifer runs upstairs.

  She took my hand! I look at her and can see we’re not going to have fun sexy times. And…I’m all right with that. Why am I all right with that? She’s a hero! I should be trying to humble her. Right?

  “Do you want to come in?” Bridget asks.

  “Yes,” I say. She opens the door and we both enter. I close the door behind me.