They walked at a comfortable pace, arm in arm, north towards the bridge that would lead them over the River Bán and through the Market Square gate. The river ran south through the city, separating the Merchant Quarter and Slums from the other half of the city. Small bridges allowed foot and cart traffic across to the gate of the other sections of the city, each entrance guarded at all times. They say Eitane has walls along the border of each district, as a defence mechanism, but Selene knew the truth. Walls were there to keep people like her, and Gareth, from entering the nicer parts of the city, and becoming an annoyance to the rich and powerful.
The short, grey stone bridge came into view, as they rounded the corner of the familiar large tavern, The Hairy Lemon. Meeting place for anyone looking for a fine ale, and some conversation. People from all over the Slums, Warehouse District, and even some of the Merchant quarter came here for the atmosphere, which was due to the great music and the friendly owner. Gareth had been a close friend with the owner’s son since they were children, and when he rose through the ranks of the Thieves Guild, he ensured the Hairy Lemon was protected better than the castle itself.
‘You said you were held up by a contact this morning. Was there any news?’ Selene asked, as they approached the bridge.
‘Nothing useful. Another kidnapping last night, near the edge of the slums.’
‘Another? Now I'm even more guilty for allowing you to take me for coffee.’ She said, head bowed low.
‘Stop that. This isn’t even your job, we’re doing the job of that crummy City Guard. If they’d bothered investigating properly after the first kidnapping, they might have stopped it by now.’
A tall stone archway, the entrance to the Market Square, loomed above them as they passed through unhindered. The guards at the gate seemed to be deep in conversation and hadn’t so much as noticed them pass by. She wondered if this was the behaviour that had allowed the kidnappers to move through the city unseen. Allowed a small group of people to take so many children, even from their own beds.
The thought of it made her blood boil, and she spun around back towards the guards, fists clenched. The wind howled, and that cold breeze from the river swept around them, threatening to knock the lazy guards off their feet.
Her concentration broke, when a hand squeezed her shoulder, forcing her to turn around.
‘Selene, don’t stare at them like that, we don’t need trouble right now. Let’s go.’ Gareth said, moving her back towards the bakery.
She moved with Gareth, and said, ‘I hate them, you know? They get paid to protect the people of Eitane, and what do they do? They stand around chatting like old washer women, without a care in the world. I might have been dragging a body into the Market Square right now.’
‘I know, but giving them an evil stare will not help us move around the city right now. We’re just lucky that wind picked up when it did, it distracted them from your stare of death.’ He laughed a little and nudged her in the side.
Gareth always had a way of saying the right thing, he had the ability to lighten her mood, no matter what. ‘Careful, or I’ll be giving you my stare of death.’ She joked.
She saw the bakery up ahead, Sandra’s Sweet Treats, and in an instant she had forgotten about the guards, and the bad mood they’d put her in. Selene often thought of her sugar cravings as a sign of addiction. Addicted to sugar and coffee, there are worse things, she mused. That wonderful smell of fresh baked bread wafted through the street, filling her with a sense of urgency, she hadn’t realised just how hungry she was.
‘I know that look,’ Gareth said. ‘You’re going to devour this bakery whole.’ He laughed, as Selene looked at him unimpressed. ‘Perhaps I should have sent word ahead to Sandra, so she could bake extra red velvet cakes.’
‘I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a lady, and ladies devour nothing.’ She said, playful. ‘I shall request the finest, smallest, tea cake they have, and eat it with only the most expensive cutlery.’
Gareth exaggerated a low bow, and said, ‘but of course, Lady Selene. My humblest apologies.’
They both broke out in laughter and stepped into the bakery where a mound of the most indulgent looking pastries and cakes awaited them. Gareth had one thing right, Selene’s face told anyone who bothered to look, that nothing would remain when she’d finished.
* * *
Selene cast a long shadow across the rooftop of the third warehouse they’d checked that day. Every street, alley, and warehouse from the Slums entrance to there had been combed by her and Gareth. There was nothing to be found, nothing out of the ordinary that might even suggest, that the kidnappers or children had been there at any stage. She was becoming frustrated by the entire situation. It wasn’t that she’d expected to stumble upon them the first morning they’d gone out, but with the news of more kidnappings, and the city guard being less than productive, it was taking its toll on her.
‘I wonder if the others have had any luck yet?’ She asked, staring out across the vast array of warehouses and businesses in front of her.
‘You must be patient, Selene. We knew this might take weeks, even with the extra hands we scrounged up. We’ve divided up the district as efficiently as we can, it’s only a matter of time before we find them.’
‘That’s what I’m worried about,’ she began, sitting on the edge of the roof. ‘Time. We may not have it.’
Gareth sat down next to her and said nothing for a few moments, they gazed out at the city, both pondering Selene’s last words.
‘Maybe we should head back to the guild, the others will be on their way now. Someone might have had better luck than us.’ He said.
‘One more, and then we can go. I want to know we’ve searched as much as possible today.’ She said, dropping to the roof below her.
It wasn’t so much wanting to feel like she had done enough, Selene needed to feel like she had done enough. Every minute that passed without Robert home, increased her guilt. She knew he wasn’t a child that needed to be protected, but she still felt responsible. Losing him to those outsiders, people who couldn’t know Eitane as well as her, had been a major blow to Selene.
She had been recounting that day, over and over. There was no way they should have been able to evade her and slip away like that. It was her fault, she’d let Robert down.
* * *
Strong hands gripped her shoulders and pushed her down from the window she had been peering through. Selene turned to see Gareth pressing his finger to his lips and motioning with his hand to stay low. She didn’t understand why, but there was no need to question him when it came to that. He moved in close, his warm breath brushed against her neck, and even though they were casing a warehouse, she couldn’t help but get a little excited.
‘There are men moving around in side,’ he whispered. ‘Armed men.’
Selene couldn’t help it, danger aside, the thought these men might be the kidnappers, sent a wave of relief over her she had yet to feel since Robert had been taken. Gareth rose slow and steady, peered through the corner of the window, signalling her to follow suit. There were armed men moving around the warehouse, and they didn’t look to be moving cargo.
‘What do you think, are they the men you saw at the parade?’ He asked, still following every movement inside the warehouse.
She looked closer, studying every last detail of the men in front of her. ‘I’m not sure, they all wore masks, and there were no identifying marks on them. These might be our guys, but unless we see them dragging a kid across the warehouse, there’s no way to know for sure.’
A glint of light reflected on metal was all she saw before Gareth had a slim tool in between the window and its frame. He flicked his wrist, and the tool slipped in behind the latch and flipped it open. The window was up, and Gareth was stepping up on to a crate to climb through, before Selene had the chance to stop him.
‘Wait, what are you doing?’ She whispered as he put a leg over the frame.
‘I’m going to find the children. What did you think we would do when we found them?’
‘Well, considering Tom, and I, could barely handle one of these guys, I thought maybe we’d get some help, ya know, because there’s six of them in there.’ She said, emphasising the number of men.
Gareth smiled and moved his other leg through the window. ‘Well, you didn’t have me with you then.’
Sometimes she loved how cocky he was, it was all part of his charm, and he backed it up with actions, but this was not one of those times. If the fight on the rooftop the day of the parade was anything to go by, not even Gareth could take the six of them, even with her help. Selene felt like it was going to be a suicide mission, but she would follow him, no matter the cost.
His hand came back through the window, ‘well, Lady Selene, are you coming or would you prefer to observe from out there. We wouldn’t want you to chip a nail or anything.’ He said, teasing her.
She slapped his hand away and made her own way through the window, crouching behind a crate as she reached the floor below. The men were on the opposite side of the warehouse, speaking in hushed tones, barely audible. Other than the old wooden crates that were set out in long lines from one end to the other, the warehouse was empty. Selene was worried, if they were the men, then where were the children being kept.
‘There’s nothing here, Gareth, just endless crates. You don’t think the children are in those, do you?’
‘Well I imagine they’re keeping them through that door they’re all surrounding.’ He said, nodding towards the group of men.
Selene looked in surprise, she had completely missed the narrow black door just behind the men. She had been concentrating so much on whether they could take down the men, she’d lost her usual keen sense of observation. Hope, that’s what filled her. Six on two no longer mattered, she was ready, and already moving around the crate.
‘Slow down, where are you going?’ He asked, grabbing her arm.
‘We’re not leaving here without those children, we can do this.’
‘What happened to, ‘we couldn’t even take one, Gareth.’
‘Well now I believe we can,’ she said, removing her daggers. ‘Are you with me?’
He smiled and removed his own from beneath his coat. ‘To whatever end, my dear, to whatever end.’
Their actions were swift, silent, calculated. Selene had one man on his knees, dagger pressed to this throat before the others even looked in her direction. The five men had no sooner realised what had happened when Gareth pulled a similar manoeuvre on the opposite side. They had flanked the men, now four lay between them, swords out, bewildered looks on their faces.
‘Swords down, lads, if you will.’ Gareth said in a mocking tone.
‘Never gonna happen kid. Why don’t you and your girlfriend run away while you still can?’ One of the four said in return.
Gareth looked across to Selene, she nodded in return and he turned his gaze back to the four men.
‘How about you drop those swords, and show me what’s behind that door, or we drop the six of you, right here, right now.’
The man at the end of Gareth’s blade spoke softly, so as not to slice his own throat on it. ‘Open the gods damn door and show them, they’re not guards, and they clearly think we have something belonged to them.’
‘You better pray that you don’t.’ Selene chimed in from behind the four.
The men didn’t lower their weapons, but one signalled to the other and he moved across to the door slowly, opening it wide enough to see inside. There was a small room beyond, barely a storage room, more of a broom closet. Selene had the better angle, so she peered inside, careful not to release her grip on the man she was holding prisoner. A dozen or so small containers were stacked inside of the room, taking up space in the centre of the floor. A pungent odour filled her senses a moment later.
‘What, what is it?’ Asked Gareth.
‘Nothing, it’s just some boxes. The smell reminds me of something though I can’t place it.’
‘It’s opioids, okay, and they’re not yours, that much I know.’ Said one of the four.
Gareth looked shocked for a moment, then he realised. ‘Smugglers. You’re just smugglers?’
‘What do you mean, ‘just’? That’s some top quality merchandise right there. Gonna fetch a pretty penny around town, so it is.’
‘Selene, we need to leave. Now.’ He said, signalling her to come towards him. ‘Simple misunderstanding lads, I’m sure you can understand. We’ll just be on our way.’
Gareth kicked the man on his knees to the ground and grabbed Selene. They bolted towards the open window, smugglers following close behind. They had left the window wide open, facilitating a speedy escape. Gareth slammed the wooden frame down, drew a small throwing knife from within his coat, and used it to jam the window shut.
The smugglers reached the window a moment later, just as the blade had sunk deep into the wood at the top of the frame. He took the opportunity to show them a quick mocking gesture before pouncing to the ground and tearing after Selene.
FIFTEEN
A wave of heat hit Selene as she pushed through the door into the guildhall. With the sudden change in temperature, someone had taken it upon themselves to light the two great fires, one at either end of the room. The fireplaces were massive. Vin had had them built when he took over as the previous ones weren’t large enough to heat the newly created long hall. Now, even with few people in the room, the heat was comfortable and welcoming.
She spotted the twins first, seated around the fire at the far end of the room, deep in conversation. Next to them was Tom, his expression emulated Selene’s feelings of the past few days. Robert’s disappearance weighed heavy on both. Him more so, she thought, dragging a chair up beside Tom.
The twins turned to greet Selene and Gareth as they both sat down at the fire. ‘You two haven’t had any better luck, it seems?’ Marisa said.
‘None. Although we had a lovely run in with some smugglers.’ Selene said, removing her long leather coat as the heat had become stifling with it on.
Eric’s interest peaked. ‘Smugglers? Take anything nice from ‘em?’
It was Gareth who chimed in with, ‘we figured getting away with our lives was nice, but otherwise no.’
The twins laughed a little, and even Tom gave a half smile at Gareth’s comment. Selene looked at Tom thoughtful, wondering what she might say to ease his pain, but no words came. She imagined what it would be like for her if Gareth had been taken. It wasn’t something she even dared contemplate. She had worried about him enough in recent months while away on all the secret assignments Vin had sent him on.
‘Did you get through much of your area today?’ Selene asked.
‘Aye, the three of us searched four warehouses from top to bottom. Not a trace of anything out of the ordinary,’ Marisa said. ‘Did over hear something interesting though, from two guards sitting about on their arses.’
‘Oh?’ Selene asked, hopeful.
Marisa moved around in her seat to face the group. ‘Apparently there’s been reports for weeks now, coming in from all over. Children went missing on the east coast. Everywhere from Credne, to Murias in the north. Now they’ve even had reports from the midlands, outlying towns and villages, right over to the city of Falias.’
The group sat in silence for a few moments. The news of kidnappings from across Emeer wasn’t something they’d expected, and even Vin hadn’t seemed to know about it. Unless he did, Selene thought.
She realised Vin could have quite easily known, given his vast network of spies across the Kingdom. She wondered how long he might have known, and how much he’d known when he insisted she not look into Robert’s disappearance. He knew there was more to this, he probably even knows who these people are, she thought, not needing confirmation of it.
Rage was all she could feel, no longer at the kidnappers, or herself for letting them take Robert, but at the guild leader who she’d so despe
rately wanted to work for all those years ago.
‘Gods, did it just get colder in here? Someone throw more wood on that fire, it’s colder outside than we thought.’ Said, Tom.
Selene’s concentration broke when Marisa walked past her to get more firewood. It was only then she noticed she’d been clenching her fists so hard, she’d drawn blood from the palms of her hands.
‘Selene, what is it?’ Gareth asked, sounding concerned.
‘Huh?’
‘What’s wrong, it looks like you’ve got something on your mind.’
‘It’s nothing, I remembered I have to help Molly with something. I’ll see you guys later.’ She said, getting up from her seat and hurrying towards the door of the guild hall without another word.
* * *
‘This concerns me greatly. I won’t have my people fall victim to these men.’ King Torren, said, pacing around his private study.
Thyle had spent almost an hour going over everything with the king. Every official report, correspondence, and even letters pleading for aid, from the Lords of smaller estates around the Kingdom. No one had been spared by these men, save the towns to the North West. Thyle worried that they might be next once they’d finished with Eitane.
‘I understand, my Lord. It is only a matter of time before we find them, and find them, we will. The city watch on every entrance has been doubled, and nothing moves through those entrances without being thoroughly searched.’
The king stepped towards Thyle and said, ‘that doesn’t seem to help, does it Commander?’
‘Majesty, it is my belief now, that the kidnappers are still within the city. As I have said, it would not be possible for them to have left the city after each kidnapping.’ He said, before moving over to a map of Eitane, and continuing, ‘the only logical explanation, is that they are still here.’
‘Why would they stay within the city? If they can’t get out with a single victim, they won’t be able to leave with a dozen.’ King Torren said, seeming unimpressed with Thyle’s answer.
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