The Ritual (3 page)

“
Now
what?” His anger was almost palpable, but anger I could handle, unlike his mocking courteousness.

“Were you planning to go out the front door?” I challenged him. “You may be good, but you’re not
that
good.” That barb did hit home: I saw his anger flare higher before he gritted his teeth and tamped it down.

“I take it you have a better suggestion?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. You could go out the side entrance, the way we two came in. Some of the guards will probably still be asleep.”

“Asleep, eh?” The contemptuous smile was back, curling around his mouth.

“Yes, asleep,” Shani cut in. “We don’t kill people. I’m a sorceress.”

At that, the second twin’s head whipped up and I saw pleased astonishment in his eyes as he gazed at my sister. His brother, how
ever, shook his head in disgust and turned. “Very well then, do lead on. It seems there’s no getting rid of you pests,” he hissed.

I glared at him as I
moved into the lead.
Pests! And that coming from someone who barely looks any older than we are!
I didn’t voice the thought, however, just took satisfaction from having broken his mask and focused my concentration back on our environment. As it was, we were lucky not to have been caught yet.

As we snuck our way back out of the building, I once again had the thief’s mastery confirmed. He made no sound at all when moving, and his ability to blend into the shadows was beyond anything I’d ever
seen. Naerev had not been nearly as good as that. It only made me more determined; I might not have been as good as this mysterious thief, but I was a damn sight better than a beginner, and felt the need to prove that to him.

Perhaps it was that ambition, or that spark of competition he lit in me, but
we very quickly became attuned to each other. We anticipated each other’s movements, and although our communications gestures were ordinary thieves’ cant, neither of us needed more than half a hand movement to understand what was meant. Shani and the other twin, too, fell into an easy pattern, both of them obviously used to taking their cues from us in the front, yet allowing each other room.

Mercifully we reached the side door without incident, though it wasn’t until we were all outside and
out of sight in a dark alley that I allowed myself to breathe more easily. I was acutely aware of the thief twin’s proximity, and although I wasn’t looking at him I could almost feel his midnight eyes boring into my back.

Now that the immediate danger was over I had nothing to distract me from my unwanted and unprovoked attraction to him, and I was struggling to find something to say. I wanted him a long, long way away from me, but at the same time I wanted to stay with him, get
to know him and learn from him. I had never felt this conflicted in my life, and it still infuriated me. Before I found any words, however, a subdued glow appeared behind me, and both of us whirled around, ready to face whatever had found us.

It wasn’t what I had expected.
Shani and the other twin stood facing each other, a large, red rose made of slowly swirling smoke suspended between their dark silhouettes. It originated from the second twin’s hand, and his teasing smile was meant for my sister alone.

H
er smile in return was guarded, but although I couldn’t see the expression in her eyes, her body language told me that she was more than pleased. She wasn’t going to give in to this man’s charms easily though – as I watched the rose slowly drift upwards and towards her, she lifted her hand and made a few gestures.

A dragon’s head, red and gold in the darkness, materialised beside the rose and delicately, almost daintily bit the flower off its stem.
I chuckled as both images disappeared, impressed as always with my sister’s imagery. The second twin’s delighted grin showed that he, too, was pleased with the exchange.

The thief gave a resigned sigh beside
me and I turned to him and commented, “Well, what are the chances of that, eh? Not just two identical twins, not just two thieves, but two sorcerers as well.” I revelled in the flash of annoyance passing across his face – anything to break that infuriating mask of arrogance and mockery – then walked up to Shani and her suitor.

“Long overdue, I suppose, but I think introductions wouldn’t be out of place by now,” I said, interrupting their absorption of each other. “My name is Chiarin, and this is Shaniel.”

“Shaniel…” the sorcerer repeated, as if to taste the sound. Then he focused on me and inclined his head. “Pleasure to meet you, ladies. I am Miorev, or just Mior. My grumpy brother there is Zashter.”

“And now that that’s over with, let’s go for tea and biscuits in the park, I’m sure everyone would be
delighted
,” Zashter said. Mior frowned, but before he could say anything his brother snapped, “Oh, for the love of the Gods, can we get going? We’ve already wasted more time than I would have ever thought was possible.”

Mior h
esitated, but now it was Shani’s turn to get annoyed. “So sorry to have intruded upon your precious time,” she hissed. “So sorry for getting in your way and presenting our purse for you to steal. And believe me, we are
truly
sorry for risking our own insignificant lives to try and rescue what we thought might be some kindred spirits!”

I should learn from my sister. It was the first time I’d seen Zashter truly taken aback, and this time the guilt on his face was unmistakeable. He briefly sought his brother’s eyes, then looked
down and fumbled inside his jerkin.

“Here,” he said, thrusting something towards me. It took only a moment for me to recognise
my purse, still heavy with coin.

“Take it, it’s all the apology you’ll get out of hi
m,” Mior commented. “My brother isn’t much for saying sorry.”

I gave a distracted nod, still staring at Zashter in surprise. “How did you manage to hang on to that in prison?”

That brought back the arrogant grin. “I didn’t,” he said. “Mazar’s prison guards are kind – or lazy – enough to keep the evidence room practically next door to the cells.”

“Well… Than
k you,” I said. He showed surprise for a heartbeat, then gave a curt nod, turned on his heels and stalked off without even checking whether Mior followed him.

I watched his retreating back with something akin to despair. The jumble of confl
icting emotions in my head hadn’t subsided yet, and I found myself still wanting to stay near him, both to satisfy my craving for a good teacher and simply because I was attracted to him. “Wait!” I called before I could stop myself.

Mior was the first to turn around, his face almost hopeful,
though he was looking at Shani, not me. Zashter took a moment longer, then he also stopped and turned around. “Now what?” It was snappish, but almost resigned, and somehow less forbidding than he had been up until then.

I didn’t know how to continue though, and stuttered through a few unintelligible syllables before I blurted out, “We’d like to go with you.”

From the corner of my eyes I saw Shani’s head snap towards me, but I didn’t look at her. If I did, I’d be lost. I had a sudden sensation, an unmistakeable feeling that we were at a crossroads in our lives, and that whatever happened here would determine our destiny. I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice as I continued, this time certain of what I needed to say.

“I kn
ow you’re a team, but so are we. I know how you two work together, because we work the same. We’re not nearly as good as you two are – I’ve never seen such mastery – but we can learn from you, and we can help you. You saw how well we worked together, without ever having done so before. Please, let us come with you. I don’t know why you’re here, or where you’re going, but I don’t care. Please.”

For several heartbeats no one moved. Zashter’s
face was unreadable in the dark and I held my breath, barely realising I was doing so. Then, as he seemed about to say something, Mior took two quick strides and started whispering in his ear. I could not hear any of it, but Zashter’s face turned pensive as he listened, until he finally gave a nod.

“Very well then,” he said, and I let my pent up breath escape. It seemed too easy a victory, but at that moment I was too elated to care. I resolutely pushed my conflicting emotions into a deep, dark corner of my mind and concentrated instead on the joy I felt at finally having a teacher again. My heart still fluttered whenever I looked at Zashter, but I ignored it as best I could.

“Right then,” he said, turning to business. “The first thing we’ll need to do is get out of Mazar. The ground is getting a little too hot under our feet here. Do you two have any belongings stashed anywhere?”

Shani
nodded quickly. “We hid our backpacks near the town wall before we came to find you. We figured we might need a quick escape.”

“Good, go fetch them,” Zashter said, turning away again. “We’ll wait for you near the west gate, there’s a spot near there where we can climb over the wall.”

“I’ll go,” I said, motioning for Shani to follow the two men, and was rewarded with an approving nod from both.

“You know rule number one then – trust no one,” Zashter said, a hint of mockery now back in his voice.

“It’ll be a long time before I trust
you
,” I muttered as I walked away, and blushed furiously as his rich laughter followed me down the street.

CHAPTER TWO

We spent a good part of the following day asleep, in a secluded hollow about half a measure away from Mazar. The night’s events had exhausted us, and although I was by no means certain that the two brothers wouldn’t abandon us, I could not have stayed awake if I’d tried.

Zashter woke me up, and for several heartbeats I gave him a bland, bleary stare, until memory came flooding back and I shot upright so fast that it made me dizzy. He quirked an eyebrow at me but said nothing, and I gathered my gear together as fast as I could, unwilling to be the last to be ready to go. I would have preferred to spend another few measures asleep, but didn’t think it would be a good idea to complain on my first day as a new pupil.

It was well into the afternoon when we moved out, staying off the main road to avoid pursuit and heading southeast into a landscape which was more exclusive country resort than agricultural heartland. That was to be expected, this close to the capital and the king’s court, and although it offered less opportunity for obtaining cheap – or free – food from local farmers, it would allow me to show Zashter what I could do. He spoke little to me that morning, but he did warn me that I would be taking a skills test that night. As a result I was a bundle of nerves, and registered little of my environment.

Naerev had never given me a skills test, but I knew that they were common enough within the thief community. Most thieves saw themselves as artisans of a sort and emulated proper artisans by taking on apprentices and teaching them the so-called ‘nightly arts’. I had always thought it pretentious, but knew better than to say so to Naerev, who had often lectured me on the proper way for an apprentice thief to treat his or her master.

I wondered if Zashter would insist on such a relationship as well, and what I would tell him if he did. Naerev’s pompousness was one of the reasons why I had not missed him for even a heartbeat ever since leaving, but Naerev had been a human, and all humans were inherently pompous in my opinion. Somehow Zashter struck me as a man who wouldn’t give two hoots about how I spoke to him, as long as I delivered. Somehow the thought gave me a delicious shiver.

Towards dusk he pointed out my target – a villa selected at random, or so it seemed. Maybe he had ways of judging security levels that were better than mine, in which case I hoped he would teach them to me.

Shani and Mior made camp while I began my preparations, and Zashter watched me with meticulous attention, so that it took an effort to keep my hands from trembling with nerves. I was uncomfortably aware of his intent gaze, of the heat of his body as he bent close to me, and avoided looking at him altogether for fear of fumbling everything.

He nodded approval at my black velvet loot bag, but raised an eyebrow at my pot of black boot grease. “Why don’t you just use a mixture of charcoal and water?” he asked, and I blushed a little.

“It’s terrible on my skin,” I mumbled, dabbing at my face. I wanted to add that it wasn’t vanity, that ashes stung and made me feel ill, but held my tongue when I glanced at him. His mouth had lifted in his trademark mocking grin, and although he refrained from making any further comment, I stubbornly refused to make excuses for myself.

When I was finished he walked around me, and I felt like a horse being inspected at auction. I clenched my jaw and my fists, but when he bent closer to check my ears my temper got the better of me and I snapped, “Want to check my teeth while you’re at it?”

His generous laugh was unexpected, and it lifted the tension off me a little. I neither knew nor cared whether he had intended that effect, but took advantage of it and shifted my focus to the task ahead, moving off without checking whether he followed.

A little way out from our camp I stopped to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness, knowing that it would take at least half a measure for full night vision to take effect. The sky was clear but moonless, and I paced restlessly as I watched everything around me regain its contrast, shifting from pitch black to dark outlines to forested copse, until the branches and leaves were as detailed in the dim light of the stars as they were in the brightness of day. The air smelled fresh and spring-like, with a hint of wood
-smoke wafting towards us from our target villa, and the leaves on the trees susurrated in the light breeze. It helped to calm me down somewhat.

It was around a measure after midnight when we began to move towards the stately residence, and I was satisfied with the lack of noise I made as I crept through the underbrush. I assumed that Zashter observed how I moved, but he didn’t comment, and I expected a full report once I’d completed the job.

“Does your sister ever come with you?” he asked once, startling me with his breath on my cheek as he spoke in my ear. His voice was pitched at that level just above a whisper which carries the least through silence, and I matched it automatically.

“Sometimes. Not usually during burglaries, but she helps if I need something fancier than lockpicks, or if I need a distraction. She has less experience at being quiet though; my teacher was never hers.”

He remained silent after that, and for a while I could almost believe that I was on my own, and act accordingly. I made my way through the garden towards the house, located the servant entrance, then ignored it; the servant quarters would be very near to it, and the last thing I wanted was to run across someone. I needed a quiet entrance, and it never ceased to surprise me how often that turned out to be the front door.

When I reached it I spent several heartbeats with my ear pressed to the wood, holding my breath while listening for snores, whines, bone-gnawing or any other sounds a guard dog might make. There were none, so I took out my roll of lockpicks and took extra care in selecting the right one for this particular lock.

To my great relief the burglary went smoothly. The villa was a bit easier than I was capable of tackling, which compensated for my anxiety. Zashter did nothing but follow and observe, and although I remained aware of his gaze throughout the operation, I knew he would not interfere. This was my skills test, so I was required to demonstrate what I could do on my own.

When we finally returned to the campfire it must have been more than four measures after midnight, and I wa
s dead on my feet. Shani looked like she hadn’t slept, giving me a worried look when I entered the firelight, but Mior was snugly tucked into his sleeping roll and never stirred even when we started talking.

I gave Shani
a weary smile, and she started her usual routine of washing my face as Zashter settled down in a comfortable cross-legged position. Taking up his own cloth he scrubbed at his skin and asked, “Who was your teacher?”

It brought me out of my half-doze back to alertness – I had not expected an interrogation until the next day, when I would hopefully be more rested, but answered without hesitation. “A human called Naerev. I met him by chance, though I found out later that he had a reputation for being a skilled thief. I’d been trying to learn on my own, but wasn’t having much luck with it, and when I tried to pick his pockets he caught me. He could have handed me to the guards, but I guess he saw something in me, so he started training me instead.”

Zashter nodded. “I’ve heard of him. You didn’t complete your training though.”

“No, I didn’t.”

When it became clear that I wasn’t going to say anything else he narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”

I hesitated, then stalled. “Is it relevant?”

“Yes. If I’m going to commit to continuing your… education, I need to know that you’re not just going to run off on me. The commitment has to be mutual.”

The reasoning was sound, and almost amusing in light of my earlier fear of being left behind. Yet still I hesitated – my reasons for leaving Naerev had been entirely personal, and I had no idea what Zashter’s reaction would be. In my experience, most men had little to no respect for women, never mind half-elf women, and I didn’t want him to disdain me simply because my motivation might be lacking in his eyes.

Then I checked myself – attractive or not, what was his opinion to me? I had been looking after both Shani and myself for eleven years, and could continue to do so with or without his aid. His teachings would be useful, and he was very easy on the eyes, but I’d rather be without his help than change myself to suit him.

“He busted my arse out of jail when I messed up once,” I said, lifting my chin and meeting his gaze. “Since I’d been destined for the gallows, he seemed to expect rather more gratitude from me than I was prepared to give.”

He raised a mocking eyebrow. “Meaning?” he prompted.

Suddenly irrit
ated beyond reason I snapped, “Fine, he expected me to fuck him. And as I wasn’t prepared to do that, we ran off. We preferred to make our own fortune instead.” I met Shani’s eyes and she smiled at me, bolstering me with her unwavering loyalty.

Zashter, however, didn’t let up. “He hadn’t tried to fuck you before?” he asked, sounding sceptical.

“I don’t think he dared,” I snorted. “Not so much because of me, but Shani would have burnt his balls off had he forced me. After the jail incident he thought he had leverage though, and he wouldn’t stop nagging. I got fed up with it and called it quits; I didn’t think I was learning much from him anymore anyway.” That last remark was pure bravado – I had been terrified for the first few weeks after leaving Naerev, convinced that I would get caught within days, but I had never admitted that to anyone, not even Shani.

“And why weren’t you prepared to fuck him?” Zashter proceeded relentlessly.

That was far too personal for my comfort, but he met my angry, indignant look without blinking and without losing that hint of mockery. Shani started to protest, but I waved her down, trying to see through his expression and fathom the reason for this level of scrutiny. Was he testing my mettle? Gods, was he interested? His eyes were unreadable, but why else would he be so fixed on this line of questioning?

“I can think of only two reasons why you would want to know the answer to such a personal question,” I said eventually. “You’re maybe worried that I’m susceptible to such, um, physical persuasions, so you’re hoping that I didn’t just refuse him because he was old and ugly.”

“And the other reason?”

“You want to fuck me yourself, in which case you hope that I didn’t refuse out of sheer professionalism.”

That reply had been a gamble, but he rewarded it with another exuberant laugh, and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief that his sense of humour had prevailed. “That still doesn’t give me your reason for refusing him though,” he pressed, still chuckling.

His reaction gave me the confidence to give him the truth. “My body is my own,” I said. “I may choose to share it with someone, but it’s not for sale or for hire, nor is it a reward. I’d rather starve to death than use it as such.”

I could have said more; that as a half-elf it was a matter of pride to me that I could get by without selling my body. As far as I knew, half-elf women were either slaves or whores or both, and it always gave me a sense of triumph to know that Shani and I were neither. Still, I had already told Zashter more than I was comfortable with, and even though he was a half-elf, I wasn’t sure that he would understand.

He scrutinised me, expression still unreadable, then finally gave a curt nod. “One more question on that topic. Have you ever fucked someone in order to rob him afterwards?”

I shared a smile with Shani. “Yes, but only if the man in question appealed to us.”

“Us?”

“Yes. We generally double-team them, and they get a
very
good night out of it.”

For the first time that night he looked taken aback, then his features went blank again. “So you do sell your body then.”

“Not the same,” I snapped. “
We
choose the man, and there is no set price. In fact, on a few occasions our victim looked a lot richer than he was, and we took nothing at all.”

“Such gallantry,” he sneered. “Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I won’t be rating your performance in that regard.”

“What, my performance in fucking, or in robbing people afterwards?” I said before I could stop myself.

The corner of his mouth curved up. “Either.”

I felt a sudden stab of disappointment and immediately got annoyed with myself for it. So far Zashter irritated and appealed to me in equal measures, and I was seriously wondering at the wisdom of having thrown my lot in with him and his brother. To bring the conversation back to business I asked, “So, how did I do?”

“You have a solid grounding and a good touch,” he replied immediately, switching to smooth professionalism. “You didn’t get distracted or lose focus, and you know what to take and what to leave.”

I started to smile, but he wiped it off my face when he continued, “But you took far too long at everything – the locks, locating the riches, moving through the rooms, stashing everything away… We ought to have been finished in half the time it took you. Moreover, you were sloppy. You left doors and boxes open, moved things out of the way without then putting them back. Neither is acceptable.”

My indignation rose and I opened my mouth to p
rotest, then hesitated. He was my teacher now, and what he was doing was telling me where I needed to improve. I could not allow the fact that he riled and unnerved me simply by looking at me play a role in that relationship.