The short of it? They stare at me.
But none are looking at me. None of the servants are looking at me. None of the heroes or nobles are looking at me. I am a shadow, as I should be, fliting through the halls of this keep.
“I’ll be right back…oh! I’m sorry,” Blaise offers as he nearly knocks me down.
“Highness!” I say as I step back. “It is I who should…”
“No, no. I have other things on my mind,” Blaise says. He pauses for a moment looking at me. “Please, excuse me.” He rushes off before he can say anything further. Before he closes the door I see Princess Bridget in her bed. She looks pissed.
Best to leave that hero alone. I continue on my way following Blaise, and the Tear of Astra, down the stairs.
If I can get him alone, I could hit him over the head, take the Tear of Astra…but if he put it in Bridget’s room I would have exposed myself for nothing.
He is heading down the stairs and across the halls to the basement. To get something to eat? Yeah, that makes sense. But didn’t they just eat? Maybe Bridget is sick or something. Still I should…who is that to my left?
Bernice! You sly old devil. You did insert yourself into this. Who are you talking to? I can’t make out who it is. They are in a hall and I can barely even see all of Bernice. While Bernice’s insertion into my plot isn’t unexpected, what is unexpected is how visible the old rat is. Here I was, expecting to have to track down whatever fool he was using as a messenger when here I find he’s the fool.
I look right and see Blaise disappearing into the basement, heading for the kitchens. Or the dungeon. They have to be somewhere down there. I know I should scout out enough to at least find out where the door leading to the dungeon is. I should follow Blaise.
But Bernice is a better rat to follow. He is certainly no hero and it is late. What are you up to Bernice? A fence shouldn’t be making trips to the keep.
He looks around and I stand beside a servant looking at a tapestry. He doesn’t notice me as he turns and walks away. He’s heading out of the keep! I better see what he is up to. I have a silver coin in my pocket. Bernice won’t refuse free money.
“Sir!” I call out. I start to run after him. As I reach the little hall he was in I hear the heavy boots of whoever he was speaking with. I can rule out someone like Veronica or even Lady Winters. And Blaise was heading into the basement and Bridget was in her room and is far too light to make footfalls like that anyway.
Bernice pretends not to hear me. He pauses as he hears me call out but continues moving at a quickened pace.
“Sir!” I call out.
Quick Corvina! Look at where his pockets are. If he was given something it would be in one of those pockets.
Bernice turns around and I do the old bump into you and pilfer your pocket maneuver.
His pockets are empty! Damn it!
“Ohff…oh, I’m terribly sorry,” I say.
“Ye…yes?” he stammers, staring at me for a long moment. Boy, does he look scared.
“You dropped this sir,” I say, holding up the silver coin. He looks back at the corridor and looks at me.
“What, I…who are you?”
“Corvina sir,” I say. He is eyeing me carefully. He suspects he knows me.
“Why…why are you…” he stammers.
“I’m sorry. I think you’re confusing me with someone else,” I say.
“Oh! Oh, yes. Of course!” Bernice says. “So, no…no one gave this to you?”
“No sir,” I say to him. He takes the silver, because of course he does. It’s free money.
“Thank you,” he says cautiously.
He is too paranoid. And for a man who has promised to purchase the Tear of Astra he is in the wrong place. Not that I expected him to be honest. Bernice is a fence, not an honest man.
Bernice looks further down the hall past me. He then turns to look at me and just stares as if there is more he wishes to say but he just turns around and plods his way out turning back around to look at me not once but twice. I stand there smiling at him each time. I wait there and watch until he is past the gate and off to wherever he is intending on going tonight. I should follow him and see where he is going. I turn around and see some guards looking at me and I start to slowly walk back into the keep towards the kitchen. If I leave now I may not be able to get back in and I need to be here when Veronica wakes me in the morning. She may get me closer to the Tear of Astra.
Until then I will head down to the kitchen and see if Blaise is still there.
Moments Etched in Glass
There he is! Prince Blaise! I look around and all the women are just swooning over him. He’s swarming with women all bumping into him. Well, I guess it is time for me to do the old bump and pickpocket bit that I taught my sister. She’s okay at it, but me? I’m the master.
I slide past the swooning girls that are being told to get back to work. I look like I am working so I am able to get to Blaise.
There are no guards here. Doesn’t Blaise know that this is the perfect place for an assassination? Or a pickpocket?
“Umph, oh, I’m…your highness!” I exclaim, in a completely unexpectedly way. I take the Tear of Astra in my hand, but give it back to Blaise, placing it into his other pocket.
“Oh! Excuse me,” he says. “You. You were the one with my sister.”
“Yes,” I say, thinking on how we were so rudely interrupted and now I’m reminded of just how frustrated I am. “I hope she is well.”
“She is,” Blaise says.
“Is that for her?” I ask.
“It is,” Blaise says. “Why do you ask?”
“I could take it to her,” I offer. And finish what we started.
“That is nice of you to offer,” he says and then he looks at me for a long time. “You really care for my sister.”
“Yes, I do,” I say. In ways you do not comprehend, I’m guessing.
“She’s asked about you,” Blaise says. My heart jumps. I don’t know why but I can’t stop it.
“Oh?” I ask. Tell me everything she said about me. Now!
“Did you help her into her bed fully dressed?” Blaise asks.
“I…I did. She wasn’t feeling well and in my haste…”
“She said she was under the covers without any aid,” Blaise says. Well, shit.
“If that is what she says…”
“It’s all right,” Blaise says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “It is nice that you care for my sister as you do.”
“Really?”
“Of course,” Blaise says, turning back to a plate he is piling with food. “You are willing to cover for her. That is admirable. But, if she is doing anything dangerous, you need to tell me.”
He thinks I am her confidant. Which I am, but not in the way he is thinking. Does he think I’m just going to swoon over him and tell him whatever he wants? As I turn my gaze quickly to the other women who all look on the verge of having happy little parties in their skirts I come to the conclusion that, yes, he does think I’m going to swoon and tell him whatever he wants.
“It would be improper of me to spoil Princess Bridget’s goodwill and kindness,” I say.
“A fine answer,” Blaise says. “But if it impairs her health…”
“I would never do anything to cause her harm,” I say, more convincingly than I thought I could manage.
“Another fine answer,” Blaise says.
He is probing me for answers. Time to probe back.
“If you don’t mind my asking, you see to be jumping at shadows,” I say. “Is…is Bridget okay?”
“She seems fine,” Blaise says.
“Oh, it must be the Tear of Astra,” I say. Blaise pauses.
“What do you know about that?” Blaise asks. Seriously? You were holding it on display a little bit ago? Why even ask that?
“Giving your love a precious little thing like that? How could I not notice? How could we not all notice?” I ask, turning a quick glance towards t
he gawking eyes of the other girls.
Seriously Blaise. We all know you’re giving Melinda the Tear of Astra. We have all heard stories about how much it’s worth. Not. A. Secret.
Blaise follows my eyes to the other doting women all hoping to get close to him. None of them are working although some are pretending, badly, at doing something else. Blaise turns back to me.
“I see,” he says. “But it is safe.”
He pats his pocket and his eyes go wide.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“The Tear…” he says checking his other pocket, feeling it, he pulls it out to make sure that it is the Tear of Astra.
“There it is,” I say, admiring it in the light of the lanterns lit. It shines just like a pretty glass bauble that…
Wait! It’s not a precious gem? It’s glass? As in, a fake? Blaise puts it back into his pocket and looks around.
“Few get a close up look at Tear of Astra,” Blaise says.
Yeah, but not me because that is not the Tear of Astra!
“It was gorgeous. Thank you,” I say.
Tell me where it is! The real one!
Wait. Does he know that it is a fake? Maybe he thinks that is the real one. Am I late? Did some other thief steal the Tear of Astra long ago, replacing it with that fake glass knock off? Even fake it is worth a little bit of coin, but compared to the real thing it is worthless.
“Call on my sister in the morning. I am sure she would like to see you,” Blaise says.
“I will. Thank you,” I say with a little curtsey. He smiles at me and turns to leave. He gazes past me as he walks past and after he is gone I turn to where he is looking and see Jennifer. I haven’t seen her in a bit. Where has she been? Other than catching the prince’s eye, I mean. I guess there is a servant that can turn the prince’s head. Jennifer is beautiful after all. The prince has good taste.
I walk over to Jennifer, all smiles.
“Did you see it?” I ask excitedly.
“See what?” she asks.
“The Tear of Astra?” I ask. The fake Tear of Astra.
“I did. You got a better look at it. Is it as priceless as I’ve heard?”
It’s expensive as far as small bits of glass go.
“It was everything I hoped it would be!” I say. Jennifer smiles and takes me by the hand.
“Let’s get a bite to eat together,” she says.
“Sure,” I say. As we approach the table with the left overs I see other servants picking at it including a young woman that turns to look briefly at me. I am glad it isn’t brightly lit down here.
“I was wondering,” I say as we approach.
“Yes,” Jennifer asks.
“I may not be able to get the real thing, but do you think a fake could be made to look like that?” I ask.
The young woman nearly chokes and looks at me.
“That’s illegal,” Jennifer says. “You can’t make a fake and pass it off as the real thing.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I say to her. “Just, you know, to wear. To pretend.”
“A fake like that would still cost more than you could make. More than we could make together.”
“Ah well,” I say. “Maybe, maybe I won’t ever get something that pretty around my neck, but something just like it made of glass?”
“Even glass would be too expensive. How will you pay for it?” Jennifer asks.
“Maybe I’ll learn to work glass and I’ll make one of my own,” I offer.
“That is something you could do,” Jennifer says.
“Before we eat I should go and check that old storage room first. Make sure I have a spot waiting for me,” I say.
“Oh, were you staying upstairs?” Jennifer asks.
“Well, I do want to be near Bridget,” I say.
“Oh,” Jennifer says, thinking more on my words than I thought I let on. “Let her rest. Stay with me and keep me company.”
The young woman is giving me the evil eye. She should just mind her own business.
“Okay,” I say, trying to pretend to be excited. “So, where shall we go to eat?”
“I know the perfect place,” Jennifer says.
I wonder where Jennifer is going with this. She has certainly clung to me hard and, while she’s pretty, I’d rather be with Bridget. Ugh, what am I saying? If Jennifer wants to scratch this itch I have I’ll let her. Please be into girls Jennifer. Please!
No. She’s not into you Mary. Jennifer is married. Remember? I’m clearly not her type. I’m Bridget’s type. Poor Bridget, all alone, with her brother doting on her when I could be the…
No. Knock it off Mary. Focus. Think with your head not with your…just think with your head. Where is Jennifer taking me?
We walk past the guards to the stairwell and I swear they are whispering to one another while looking at us. They don’t do anything and Jennifer and I head up the stairs with our food in our hands. I follow her up one floor and then another…and then another? Where are we going? We walk down a hall on the fourth floor to another stairwell.
At last we are onto the top of the keep where a handful of guards are standing about, gazing out into the distance. There is a small stone that looks like it has been used by the guards as a place to have a quick meal themselves. We sit down with our plates and I look to my left and I see the countryside cast in shadows. I can make out the lights in the streets below, the edge of the wall; I can even make out the spot in the wall that has an old drainage tunnel. Beyond the wall I can see the road lit with a few lanterns sporadically. Some are moving along with some late travelers and others with guard patrols. Just beyond the wall along the road is a thick wooded area. There is an old cabin up there, long since disused, although I can’t see that from here. The curve of the hills and the forests as they rise up from the ground, it all looks so different from up here.
“I’m glad to have someone nice to eat with,” Jennifer says.
“Me too,” I say.
“You seem fixated on the Tear of Astra,” Jennifer says.
Do I?
“Who isn’t,” I reply.
“Yes,” Jennifer says eating a bite of cheese. “Everyone is, I guess.”
“It’s not like I could steal it even if I wanted to,” I say.
“If you did want it, I’m sure you could steal it,” Jennifer says to me.
Hmm? That is an odd thing to say.
“You really think so?” I ask.
Is this a trap?
“How would you go about doing that? Steal it I mean,” Jennifer says to me.
“Well, find out where it is first I guess,” I say, playing dumb. But not too dumb. That would be too obvious. There are many things you do before this step, like line up a buyer, weigh the worth of what you’re stealing with the chance of getting caught, or killed, coming up with a way to get into the city and the general area…
“And then?”
Survey the place, get information from all sorts of different people, formulate a flexible plan…
“Pick the lock and snatch the item,” I say. Jennifer laughs. “What?” Was I too dumb Jennifer? You’re not looking for pointers, are you?
“And if they use pick proof locks?”
“Well, I would have to find some other way in,” I say.
“And if there is no other way in?”
“Maybe use magic? Or seduce a guard. That happens a lot in stories,” I say. But almost never in real life. In real life guards aren’t that stupid. “You know a lot about security,” I say.
“I’ve been around nobles long enough to know how they protect their precious items.”
“With magic?”
“Sometimes,” Jennifer says.
Magic always leaves some rune or some enchanted glow or carving. You just need to look for something out of place. Usually it isn’t something lethal. It is embarrassing to get killed by your own security device. Magic isn’t the mysterious foolproof protection some people think it is. There was thi
s man once that decided to put a fireball trap on his precious cabinet. Didn’t tell his wife. She opened it. Boom. At least, that was the story that the wreckage and the bodies told.
“Well, if I can’t go in through the door, what if there is a window?”
“What if it is barred?” Jennifer asks.
“I should prepare for that by bringing acid,” I say.
“And if it is coated with something that protects it from acid?”
Then you use it on the stonework to loosen the bolts holding in the bars. This, of course, is beside the point that working with acid is dangerous. It is dangerous to make, dangerous to carry, hard to explain away, and pretty worthless if it happens to be raining and you want to use it on something outside. For example, it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Too much risk when there are better alternatives, like dwarven bar benders. Acid is a warriors way of thinking, I need to get into this door without bashing it in, but I can’t pick the lock. How shall I destroy the lock, but in a quiet manner? But sometimes even I use acid.
“I…well, I wouldn’t be able to use acid then,” I say. Why is she asking about stealing the Tear of Astra?
“What about through the floor or ceiling?”
“With acid?”
“Sure,” Jennifer says.
“Well, I would have to first find the room, then get access to the floor above it,” I say, like this flat and open rooftop which would allow me to walk over the vault, “then…well, wait, it’s guarded up here.”
“There is a reason why it is guarded.”
“I would have to take out the guards,” I say.
“Or bribe them.”
“If I had the money to bribe them, why would I want the Tear?” I ask, pretending I am ignorant of just how much money the Tear of Astra is worth.
“Oh Mary,” Jennifer says with a laugh.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says. She seems more relaxed now.
The Thief of Dunmire and the Tear of Astra (The League of Sinister Means Book 1) Page 8
