Imperial Spy (26 page)

When Femke saw the rucksacks that Danar was carrying, she was delighted. With the rucksacks effectively being an extension of the uniform, there would not be many questions asked if a Royal
Guard were to wear one into the Palace. It would be the perfect way to carry the loot from their raid, together with some of her purchases from the alchemist’s shop.

‘Looks like we’re all set,’ Femke commented as she approached Danar at the rendezvous point.

‘Apparently so.’

‘OK, let’s nip back to the Baker’s Arms and get changed. We need to get to the Palace soon in case Reynik gets ahead of himself. Rabble-rousing is an inexact science. We
wouldn’t want to miss our opportunity.’

The Baker’s Arms was another mediocre inn that offered acceptable, if basic, accommodation at low prices. Femke had chosen the inn because there was a back exit. The back door was kept
locked, but the landlord had conveniently supplied them with a key each for the duration of their stay. The arrangement was not the safest, as it was ripe for abuse by thieves. However, as they had
little that was worth stealing and were carrying those things they valued with them, Femke cared little.

The back door of the inn opened onto a quiet alleyway. This led to one of the small side streets, which in turn led to one of the major thoroughfares up through the levels of Mantor. Danar and
Femke elected to slip in through the back door, change, and slide out again before anyone noticed their presence.

Danar carried his rucksack, in which Femke had carefully placed several glass vials of different-coloured powders wrapped in cloth. Half a dozen vials of blue powder on one side of the bag were
separated from a similar number of vials filled with green powder by lots more layers of soft cloth.

‘What are those for?’ Danar asked, as Femke took great pains to protect the integrity of the vials.

‘Let’s just say that if we need to use them, things will not be going to plan,’ Femke replied, her tone implying ‘And that’s that, so don’t ask any
more’.

‘I thought I’d ask in case I need to use them,’ Danar muttered grumpily.

‘You won’t be using them,’ Femke stated firmly. ‘If in some insane moment I decide to let you use the vials, you can be sure I’ll give you specific directions. Try
to forget they’re there, and don’t mess with them unless I tell you. Is that clear?’

‘Perfectly,’ Danar muttered.

‘Here – take this,’ Femke added, passing him a strange-looking circle of cloth. It was about three inches wide and laced with a stretchy material top and bottom. ‘If I
get the vials out, pull the cloth over your face and wear it like a mask across your mouth and nose. Keep it where you can get at it quickly at all times.’

‘Great!’ Danar said sourly, fingering the strange material and wondering what on earth it was made of. ‘Remind me why I’m coming on this trip again?’

‘Because you volunteered. Because you didn’t want to be left out. Because you can’t get your stubborn head around the fact that I could do this perfectly well on my own,’
Femke answered, counting off the reasons on her fingers. ‘And also because this way I don’t have to lug the spoils all the way back down through Mantor,’ she added with a grin
meant to soften the harshness of her previous comments. There was little point in taking him if he was going to sulk all the way. Silently, she had to admit to herself that one of the main reasons
for taking him along was because she loved looking at his roguish, little-boy smile.

Shand, but he’s cute, Femke thought, her heart leaping at the thought that this handsome young Lord was actively pursuing her affections. It was amazing to her that he still appeared
willing to leap into notoriety on her behalf, despite her dressing as a man and treating him as if he were an inconvenience. If this jaunt goes well, I’ll ease up on him a little, she
promised herself.

It was later in the afternoon than Femke had intended by the time they took up position close to the main gate to the Royal Palace. There they waited, keeping a low profile
until the first sounds of a rapidly approaching, angry mob reached their ears.

‘Sounds like Reynik’s on his way,’ Danar commented with a grin.

‘About time! At least he’s bringing plenty of friends with him. Come on, let’s go,’ Femke said, relieved to be moving again. The worst bit about a mission like this was
always the waiting. Once events were in motion and the adrenalin was pumping, Femke was in her element. Today was no different.

Together they marched around the Palace wall to the servants’ gate where they were admitted without question. Femke had never worried that her uniform would give her away, for she knew her
appearance was convincing. The one element of the disguise that worried her was her walk. Despite much observation and practice, Femke had never truly mastered the art of walking like a man. There
was something about the movements that were so alien she could not mimic them with authenticity.

Both Danar and Reynik had assured her they felt her approximation was passable, but for Femke nothing less than perfection was acceptable. The knowledge that it was something she could not
totally master had left her feeling irritable.

Because Femke knew precisely where she was going, there was no hesitation as she led Danar from the gate to the nearest door into the main Palace building complex. Servants and courtiers alike
passed them by within the crisscrossing maze of corridors with no more than the usual courtesy nods of acknowledgement, so they progressed quickly and without incident into the heart of the
Palace.

Exactly as the young guard had said, there was a plain door a little way down the corridor from the entrance to the main chamber of the King’s Court. Femke paused at the door and looked
Danar straight in the eye.

‘Remember – don’t say anything. Let me do the talking,’ she said firmly.

‘Whatever you say, sir,’ Danar replied with a wry smile and a cheeky wink.

Femke groaned silently and hoped he would not do or say anything stupid. All was going smoothly, but the next few seconds were crucial. Taking a deep breath, Femke opened the door and they
stepped through into the short corridor on the other side, closing the door behind them. Four torches lit the corridor, casting a flickering light from where they were mounted in brackets on the
wall.

The two guards at the far end of the corridor saw them instantly and their hands moved to their sword hilts instinctively. On seeing the uniforms they stopped short of drawing their weapons and
their stances relaxed a little. Femke and Danar walked confidently down the corridor towards the two guards until they were ordered to halt and state their purpose.

‘One of the captains sent us,’ Femke answered. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t know his name. We haven’t long since started our training, but the captain ordered us
here to relieve you. He wants you at the front gate. It sounds like there’s a riot going on down there – a protest about the Emperor of Shandar coming. The captain’s words were
quite colourful. “Get your arses down to the Treasury door and send the two numb-knuckles you find there to the main gate. Even you should be able to stand in front of a locked door without
looking like a complete pile of horse—”’

‘Captain Mikkals,’ the two guards chorused together, grinning at one another with a knowing look. ‘Any other instructions?’

‘No. Get down to the main gate and help was all he said,’ Femke replied with a shrug. ‘If you could go quickly we’d appreciate it, because . . . well we didn’t
exactly know where the Treasury was and it’s taken us a while to find you. You know what the Captain’s like. He’ll skin us alive on the next training session if he thinks
we’ve been slack.’

‘Oh, he’ll give you a hard time anyway,’ one of the guards replied, still grinning broadly. ‘That’s Mikkals. I’m convinced he’s a sadist. Come on Wils,
we’d better get down there and see what’s up.’

‘I don’t know. Shouldn’t one of us go and confirm the order? It’s highly unusual to be relieved mid-shift,’ Wils answered uncertainly.

‘How many riots have you seen at the Palace gates?’ the first guard asked impatiently, clearly wanting to get in on the action. ‘None! And neither have I. Come on. We’ve
been given a chance to do something interesting and you’re worried about leaving the most boring duty there is.’

‘Well, I just think . . .’

‘You think too much. Come on, let’s go.’

The two guards started to move down the corridor. ‘Hey, what’s with the rucksack?’ asked Wils suspiciously as Danar passed him.

Danar opened his mouth to reply, but Femke jumped in quickly.

‘We were on our way to the training quarters when the Captain collared us. Sodan here trashed some of his kit so badly during the last training session that we had to go and buy him a
replacement set before the next inspection.’

‘There goes the training pay, huh?’ the other guard said with a tone that held a mixture of sympathy and amusement.

Danar nodded glumly.

‘Bad luck, Sodan. Still, look on the bright side – it’s only a couple of months until you start getting more than a couple of silvers a week.’ The two guards laughed and
continued down the corridor at pace. ‘We’ll try not to be long. Have fun,’ they called back as they disappeared out of the door.

The door closed behind them and Femke remained motionless for two or three seconds before whirling around and peering with an expert eye into the lower of the two locks on the solid metal door
behind them.

‘That went well,’ Danar commented as Femke drew a lock pick from her pocket and carefully inserted it into the lock.

‘Hmm,’ Femke replied, already engrossed in her work.

‘Anything I can do to help?’

‘Yes, actually,’ Femke replied absently as she manipulated the metal tool within the lock mechanism. ‘You can empty the vials out of the rucksack to make room for the gold. Be
careful how you handle them. Keep them wrapped in the cloths, keeping the two different types well apart. Oh, and put them somewhere you’re not going to tread on them. When you’re done,
you can watch the far door for anyone entering. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if someone comes into the corridor and catches me picking these locks. Now, shut up and let me
concentrate.’

Danar did as he was told, handling the glass vials with extreme care as he took them out of the rucksack. He made two separate nests of cloth, one on either side of the corridor. Then he took up
a guard position a little way down the corridor towards the exit, and listened for anyone coming. He knew there was little chance of hearing anything unless they happened to be talking as they
approached. The plush carpeted floors of the main corridor outside silenced the steps of even steel-capped boots.

Seconds ticked by into minutes and Danar found himself looking over his shoulder nervously at Femke. She was still concentrating all her attention on the lower lock.

‘What’s the matter?’ Danar asked in a hoarse whisper. ‘I thought you were good at this stuff?’

‘The matter? Nothing’s the matter. I’m staring down the barrel of one of the best locks I’ve seen in years, that’s all,’ Femke replied. ‘Short of magic,
the King couldn’t have put a better safeguard system on this door.’

‘Magic! That’s a thought. Are you sure that the Treasury isn’t guarded by some form of magic?’ Danar asked in a worried voice.

Femke paused for a second and looked over her shoulder at Danar. Exasperated scorn was clear in her features.

‘Don’t be stupid, Danar – this is Thrandor, remember? They haven’t allowed magic here for two hundred years. The King is the least likely person in Thrandor to use
magical protection. Doing so would undermine the laws by which the kingdom has been ruled for centuries. Now, have a little faith, give me a little space and . . .’

Femke turned back to the lock and gave a twist of her lock pick. There was a satisfying ‘snick’ as the lock opened and Femke gave a smug glance over her shoulder at Danar.

‘. . . your patience will be rewarded,’ she finished. ‘One down, one to go.’

‘Look, I don’t want to rush you, Femke, but we’re rather vulnerable here. We could get caught red-handed at any second,’ Danar pleaded.

‘Yes, yes, I know,’ Femke replied absently. ‘Fortunately, whoever installed the lock system used virtually identical locks top and bottom. Good they might be, but when you know
how to open them . . .’ There was another loud snick. ‘. . . they drop like flies,’ she said, with a purr of satisfaction in her voice that spoke of pure pleasure.

‘Great work!’ Danar congratulated. ‘Come on, let’s get what we came for and get out of here.’

‘Yes, let’s,’ Femke said with a grin and opened the door, gesturing for him to enter first.

Danar dashed back up the corridor, grabbed a fresh torch from a small stack on a shelf by the door and lit it from one of the burning torches. With the flaming torch held ahead of him, Danar
entered through the open Treasury door. He had gone no more than a pace or two inside before he stopped and stared in utter amazement. Of all the things he had expected to find, he had not expected
this.

‘There’s nothing here!’ he exclaimed in amazement. ‘The whole Treasury set-up is a hoax!’

‘It does rather look that way, doesn’t it?’ Femke replied, calmly stepping through the door behind him. ‘Would you mind moving forward a little further so that I can get
inside as well? Thanks.’

Femke swung the door closed gently behind them. It shut with a dull thud against the frame. Then she started feeling around the doorframe, obviously looking for something.

‘What are you doing?’ Danar asked, a tinge of panic starting to set into his voice. ‘We need to get out of here. Have you gone mad?’

‘No, Danar, I’m simply finishing the job we started. Ah, here it is!’

Suddenly a slight grating sound came from the far wall of the empty room and a section of it rotated through ninety degrees to reveal a second room beyond. The room was filled with treasures of
all kinds. There were stacks of gold and silver bars, together with bags of gold pieces and precious gems, but there were also works of art, sets of rare pottery, beautiful dresses mounted on
special manikins and much more. It was breathtaking.