26 Maerryl
MAERRYL
I woke abruptly, with a start. Where… ? Oh. Right. I wasn’t in my own bed. Dove and I must have fallen asleep together here in her room after—
After that.
The whole night came rushing back to me. What she’d said. What I’d said back. Everything she’d shared about herself. The secrets, her magic. The words bubbling up my throat, needing to tell her the truth. Confess all.
Then her soft, insistent touch and lips capturing mine. Thinking just tonight. I’ll tell her in the morning.
The feeling of utter bliss, wrapped up in her love—our love—so completely, like nothing I’d ever experienced.
Then holding her tight, cradling her warmth in my arms as we fell asleep.
The best moment of my life. Dove lay curled on her side next to me now, and I sat up, taking care not to jostle her.
I shook my head slowly, trying to shake the fuzziness away and clear my head. What had woken me? From the darkness out the bedroom window, it must be the middle of the night.
Tap, tap.
There—a noise from my room next door. I slipped out of bed, covering Dove carefully with the duvet before grabbing my scattered clothes from the floor.
Tap. Tap, tap.
More insistently this time. It couldn’t be… no.
Clothes tucked under one arm, I pressed my palm against the adjoining door to unseal it.
With a quick look back at Dove—I hoped she wouldn’t wake to find me gone—I moved through the doorway, closing it silently behind me.
The slitling at my window, spotting me, began to tap again.
A steady, percussive demand against the glass with its razor-sharp beak.
“Shhh, shut up, you stupid bird.” I rushed over to open the window, backing away as it hopped inside once more and flew to perch on my dresser, a beady eye staring me down. Assessing.
I held my breath as we watched each other. Then it abruptly stuck one scaly leg out toward me. I slowly took the parchment tucked into its carrier. As soon as I did, it swooped back out the window, startling me so much that the clothes fell out of my grip.
Unfolding the parchment with shaky hands, I found a few words scrawled in dark ink.
Fifteen minutes. Front door. Be ready.
Fuck.
I threw on my shirt and shimmied into my pants, lacing haphazardly, then secured my belt of tools and weapons. Not bothering with my top leathers, I rammed both feet into my boots and left the room. Heart pounding, I moved through the dark hall with silent steps toward the front stairwell.
It made sense that this was the plan—almost no one ever used the front door, and it’d be closest to all the art in the manor’s entrance hall. Though it was strange that they hadn’t waited to get more info from me to confirm the safest route, the best timing. It all felt too soon, too weird.
The manor’s sounds, grown so comforting to me over the last couple of weeks, suddenly seemed ominous. Creaks of the wooden floors. A ticking grandmother clock in the hall. The heavy silence of the stairwell, with only the brushing whisper of my fingers on the railing.
Blood pounded in my ears. Fear tightened my chest. The heavy weight of guilt. My clan would be so disappointed if they could see me now.
I pushed down those thoughts as far as I could. My clan wasn’t here anymore. All that mattered now was Balfie.
Balfie would be disappointed too…
Clenching my fists, I crossed through the grand entrance hall like a shadow, stopping in front of the front door. After taking a quick peek through a side window and seeing nothing, I let out a slow, shaky breath and leaned back against the door’s solid mahogany. They weren’t here yet.
A few minutes passed—the longest minutes of my life.
Suddenly, a noise came from outside. The quiet turn of slow wheels on earth. It stopped, and I tensed even further. They’d arrived.
My hand hovered over the first of the three locks, shaking slightly. I should open the door. I had to open it for them. For the job.
A low rap against the wood, just once, and I jumped. They were here. Waiting. But my arms wouldn’t move. I felt frozen in time, hands shaking harder, mind cloudy.
Do it, just do it.
Another quiet tap from outside. I clicked the top lock open. Time stretched on. A small scraping of metal on metal, and the second lock—a dead bolt as thick as my big toe—slid smoothly out as I moved it.
One more.
And then, inexplicably, the third and last lock, above the ornate doorknob, twisted open with a clunk. My hand fell to my side as I stared at it. The turning of the doorknob had me instinctively slipping into the shadowy corner behind the door.
What the fuck was happening?? It was as if…
The door opened silently on hinges I’d oiled myself two weeks ago, just for this purpose. Now the sight made my stomach drop.
Stiv’s broad, bald head came into view as he stepped carefully through the doorway, followed by two other people I vaguely recognized from around the Takers Guild.
All muscular and tall, probably chosen by Zephyra for this job because they could haul the art away quickly.
They hadn’t spotted me yet, and a big part of me wanted to slip away into the shadows.
Sneak back upstairs into Dove’s bed and try to ignore that this was even happening.
But that was a coward’s route. And Kirims were no cowards.
Plus, I thought, eyeing the assortment of knives that the three thieves carried, I needed to watch them. Make sure they didn’t get any bright ideas and decide to explore the rest of the manor. Find some extra treasures for themselves that they didn’t need to hand over to Zephyra.
I doubted that they’d go against her orders, but you never knew with types like them. Like us. Look what happened to me…
I stepped out of the shadows, and Stiv swiveled, a blade drawn faster than I could blink. Seeing me, he relaxed.
“Finally,” he said, deep voice at a quiet whisper. “What was the holdup?”
I moved closer, forcing a scowl onto my face. “Sorry, but I wasn’t exactly given a warning. How did you unlock the—”
“Got a letter from Z. She wants us to haul out everything in this room, right quick. Let’s move. Point out the costlier paintings to us first, then we’ll do the rest after.” My frown deepened, but Stiv gave me an unusually hard look. He stepped deeper into the entrance hall, and I followed.
I flung a hand at a few of the pricier pieces in the most ornate frames, skipping a couple that I knew Dove enjoyed.
They’d all be taken in the end, but I didn’t need to be the reason they got pulled off the wall first. The three thieves worked fast, loading up the large covered cart they’d brought almost as quickly as I could lift the paintings down onto the marble floor.
They were near silent too, almost spookily so.
The quiet horses stayed still, trained for jobs like this, with not even a whinny.
We grabbed the few pieces from the ballroom next door too.
Then I darted up to Lady Iris’s closet on silent feet and shoved the gold from her safe into a large pouch, spelled to deaden any noise—very popular tools in the guild for hauling away ill-gotten goods.
Holding it tight to my roiling stomach, I averted my eyes as I passed Dove’s door and made my way back down to the front hall.
The others were wrapping up. All that remained hanging was the Wistrallo family portrait in the entrance hall, large and looming.
Dove’s young face gazed down at me, and I averted my eyes.
“Z said everything.” Stiv came up beside me. I handed the pouch off to him, and he grunted approvingly, tucking it in a large pants pocket. The pain in my stomach intensified. Dove needed that coin. It was hers by right. I shouldn’t be doing this…
“Why? She won’t even be able to shift this. It’s too recognizable. Let’s leave it,” I said. “As a—a statement to the family.”
He didn’t look at me. “Everything.”
After they hauled away the portrait, tucking it carefully in the massive wagon, I brushed my hands off and turned to the crew. “Well, good work. See you back at the guild later.”
But they ignored me, continuing back into the hall and toward the front stairwell. I darted over. “Wait, wait, wait—” I whispered urgently, “What’re you doing? The job’s over. Get out of here before someone wakes up and finds you!”
Stiv paused beside me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder as the other two padded up the stairs silently. “Only half done. Our thief on the inside tipped us off that there’s one more thing upstairs that Z wants.”
“What? I’m supposed to be the one on the inside,” I said. Stiv gave me an almost pitying look. “Who is it? Hanc? The stablemaster? That fellow’s slipperier than an eel, never did catch his name…”
“We need to go. Get this over with,” he just said, squeezing my shoulder lightly once before following the others up the stairwell.
With no other recourse, I went along. Upstairs, we moved along the quiet hallway, with one of the thieves pointing at doors we passed as if counting.
My throat constricted when we came to Dove’s door, but the group just continued along.
Finally, we came to—Dove’s studio? Everyone slipped inside, and after a second’s hesitation, I followed.
Closing the door gently behind me, I turned.
One of the unnamed thieves had lit a small but bright magelight, and they all moved around the studio slowly, avoiding the scattered mess of Dove’s painting miscellany around the floor.
I stayed by the exit, feeling a surge of possessiveness as the three of them walked around, eyeing her artwork.
“What exactly are you looking for?” I asked. “I can help. I’ve been here for weeks.” I needed to get them out of here as soon as possible. Get them out and change those locks first thing tomorrow.
Stiv ignored me. “You two, stack however many of these paintings you can carry in one trip and load them in the wagon. I’ll meet you down there.”
I bit back a furious cry before it escaped.
Controlling my expression back into what I hoped looked like a bored scowl, I looked away from the two thieves piling Dove’s beautiful paintings on the floor.
This was wrong, all wrong. She’ll never forgive me.
All that work—her art that she poured her soul into…
I couldn’t watch. Stiv held the door open for the thieves after they extinguished the magelight, and they slipped back down the hall with their bounty. He motioned for me, and I followed him down the hall.
Where he halted in front of Dove’s suite. My heart stuttered.
“There’s nothing of significant value in there,” I whispered. “I searched it myself.”
“We’ve been assured there is.”
“And what if you can’t find it?”
“Don’t you mean we?” he asked, voice hard.
I swallowed. “Of course. What happens if we can’t find it? This is a big manor.”
Stiv shifted on his feet, then said, “We aren’t to leave without it, unless absolutely necessary.”
My stomach plummeted. I knew what that meant. The knives arrayed on the thieves’ persons took on an extra-menacing edge, and my mind raced.
“Alright, then. I can get us in,” I said, keeping my voice as level as possible, even as my hands shook.
Standing in front of Dove’s flower-carved door, I paused. It was a risky plan, but I couldn’t think of anything else. All that mattered now was keeping her safe. I could do this. I could do this.
As quietly as possible, I whispered over my shoulder to Stiv, “Step back. It’s a magically sealed door. I need space to undo the charm.”
After checking to make sure he’d moved back a few paces, I pressed my palm against the wood before he could second-guess me.
As soon as I felt the familiar tingle of it unlocking, I opened the door as little as possible, slipped in, and whirled around, slamming my palm against the wood again to reseal it immediately.
The swoosh of it locking just audible above the fierce pounding of my heart, I backed away.
A sigh sounded through the wood. From the other side, I heard Stiv jiggling the knob once, though I’m sure he knew there was no point. His man on the inside surely had told him about the strength of Dove’s door charms. She’d given me access to this second one some days ago, thank the goddess.
“Maerryl, don’t do this,” he said. “Z won’t be pleased.”
“Just go. You’ve got everything you need. There’s something else going on here, you must know that. This isn’t how Zephyra operates.”
Another resigned sigh. Then, so quietly I almost couldn’t hear it: “I’m sorry it had to come to this, kid.”
I backed away from the door. Was he going to try and break it down? Exactly how sturdy was this door? I couldn’t risk it—I had to get Dove out of here, now. We could use the window, shimmy down and hide in the woods until morning. Until they left. Then grab horses. Ride to the priory?
My mind raced, trying to plan through the panic. Chest tight, I tried to breathe.
“Mae? What’s going on?” a sleepy voice came from behind me.
I turned around, and Dove stood in the doorway of her bedroom, lit only by the moonlight pooling through the windows. She pulled her robe closed, peering at me.
“Who is Zephyra?”
I turned, stricken. Dove’s sleepy face stared back at me in the darkness. She waved a hand to ignite a couple magelights around the sitting room, moving closer to me.
Fuck. Fuck! What should I do? Think, Maerryl, think.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Frozen, I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment while trying to wrap my head around this situation.
Dove clasped my forearms, as if trying to shake me out of a trance. “Mae? Maerryl, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” she asked, a flicker of fear appearing. My gaze slid to the closed door, and hers followed. “Was someone at the door? Is—is someone in the house?”
She squeezed me, and I nodded once, jerkily. Her breath caught.
“Dove,” I croaked, “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“What do you mean? You’re not making any sense.” She rubbed my upper arms like she wanted to warm me up. I felt ice cold. And I hated the comfort I got from her touch in this moment, but it very well might be the last time she touched me like this.
I had to tell her.
“I’m—I’m not who you think I am,” I said, avoiding her eyes, my voice hollow. Swallowing, I forced myself to go on.
“I’m a thief. I was sent here to get information. To help my boss—Zephyra—organize a heist. I didn’t have a choice. But now it’s all gotten out of control, and they’re here, they want to get to you for some reason, I don’t know why!”
She dropped my arms and stepped back. Something shattered in my chest. I didn’t stop her.
“I should have told you—told you as soon as we started… as I began to have feelings for you. I should have told you everything. I thought we had more time. I just thought—fuck, we can’t do this right now.” I pulled at my hair, slamming a fist against my forehead.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, love. But we need to leave. Now.”