After bounding up the stairs to retrieve her book, Skate returned and sat down heavily in front of the crackling fire. Either Rattle or Belamy had recently placed two new logs. She spoke the words to change the hue to blue, and began reading about the history of dragons, likely from the land of Brebully. I need to ask Petre about that, she thought as she brought her finger to the point on the page where she’d left off.
Rattle came in with breakfast (scrambled eggs and fried toast), then floated back to the kitchen to clean up. As Skate took bites of the toast and ran her free hand along the words, unease set in. Would the Ink send people after her when it became apparent that she was not going to be stealing from Belamy? Or would they be sufficiently concerned about the might of the wizard and war hero that they’d leave the wizard’s house alone?
They don’t know he’s led armies. They won’t fear him for that. Even if they do stay away, the streets won’t be safe for me anymore. I’ll have to become a shut-in like Belamy. It made her sad to think of, but did nothing to change her resolve; handing over the wizard to slavery under threat of destruction of his soul was unthinkable now that she had finally made her choice against it. She returned to her reading and had gotten through the current page when white light filled the room.
Skate turned toward the door, shielding her eyes from the invading light. There were several people outside. One of them was in the doorway itself, someone tall and thin. “Morning, girlie.”
She leapt to her feet, making the book flop onto the floor, pages-first with a dull thump. Kite came into the house proper, not bothering to shake any of the snow and ice off of his shoes as he did so. His band of ruffians followed him in, most of them older than he.
The noise of their entry had gotten Rattle’s attention. It poked its body into the room, took half a second to realize none of these people belonged here—Especially not Kite, Skate thought—and blasted out of the kitchen, its body a whirl of spindly legs attempting to connect with anything and anyone to cause harm.
Kite smiled his feral smile and threw something at Rattle. A net of heavy metal wrapped itself irresistibly around Rattle, sending it tumbling to the ground in a tangled mess. Two of the crew jumped on the mess, holding Rattle down as a third moved in with a thin ball of rope.
Kite walked past the tussle and straight up to Skate, that same heartless, snakelike grin on his face. He stood for a moment, almost twice her height, and paused. He moved, and Skate doubled over; he had been so quick that she couldn’t follow his motion as he drove his fist right into her stomach. The breath had been knocked out of her, and it took a moment for her to recover long enough to even begin coughing. She fell to her knees. As she tried to catch her breath, Kite bent over and whispered in her ear, “Payback, girlie. Didn’t think I’d let that knock to my jewels go by without a fight, did ya?”
Skate coughed a few times more before she was able to get her breathing back under control. Once she did, she climbed back to her feet and shot Kite a hateful glare. He went on smiling.
Kite turned to the rest of the crew, those who were not busy with Rattle. There were two of them, and they were eyeing the walls lined with books. Skate knew the look well. They were appraising value, trying to determine if there was anything worth taking while they were here. “You lot,” Kite said, “get to work. Find something expensive enough to be worth putting your soul into.”
“What? What are you doing here, Kite?”
“The Big Boss was worried a little brat like you wouldn’t be smart enough to take full advantage of the old man’s absence. So he enlisted Boss Shade to send a crew. I volunteered because I missed you so much.” A flash of hate crossed his face so intensely that she worried he’d hit her again. However, it passed, and he stood at an angle with his arms crossed, hands within a comfortable distance of his blades. “I figure you don’t even know where the thing you’re supposed to take actually is, so we’re gonna look around for you. Just to help, you know?”
He’s gonna look for it and turn it in for himself to get all the credit from the Bosses. Skate’s mind raced furiously. She realized with a jolt that she was not necessarily defenseless. This house has magic stuff in it.
“I know where it is,” she said, crossing her own arms. “I can go get it right now.”
Kite arched an eyebrow. “No kidding? You know where it is?”
“I said I did,” she said, flashing out anger of her own. “Lemme get ready to go out and I’ll snag it.”
Kite searched her face, then waved one of his arms. After you, the gesture said, though Kite’s persistent mocking grin told her he didn’t believe her or trust her. “New plan,” he said to the thieves who were rifling around in one of Belamy’s many bookshelves. “Follow girlie here. Make sure she doesn’t make a break for it. She says she already knows where it is, and that she’s gonna go get it.” The two thieves looked at each other, shrugged, and walked over to Skate.
“Whenever you’re ready, kid.” There was no emotion in the man’s voice.
Skate knew this guy would kill her immediately if he began to worry about her loyalty or intentions. She assumed the other brute would be the same, though he stayed silent. “I’m gonna get dressed, grab some extra stuff I wanna take, then come down and show it to you.”
The talking thief looked at Kite, who went on smiling and said, “Follow her up.”
Skate stared daggers at Kite but went to the stairs without another word. She spared a glance at Rattle, who’d been double hog-tied with the twine. The eyeball struggled under the weight of the metal.
Kite saw her glance and said, “Big Boss was interested in this thing, so we’re bringing it to him. Maybe in one bag, maybe several.”
Skate looked away and entered her room. The men followed her in. She was already wearing her clothes, so there was nothing in the dresser she was going to need. Instead, she walked over to the desk and took out the slate and chalk. She erased the notes she’d written (including the name of still undiscussed Brebully, home of the Lost Brink Islands’ likely first dragon). “Either of you lieutenants?”
They shook their heads. The talking one asked, “Why? What are you writing?”
“I was gonna ask you how to spell ‘gotcha,’ but I guess I’ll do my best.” She scratched out a simple, one-word message and signed it with her initial:
TAKEN
–S
“Gotta give him a little something to think about, y’know?” Neither of them spoke, so she placed the slate and chalk on top of the desk and wiped the dust from her hands. Then she edged past her guards and went into the library.
“What’s in there?” The talkative thief was gesturing to Belamy’s bedroom.
“Nothing worth anything. It used to be his bedroom, but he doesn’t sleep anymore. I’ve been in there; anything worth money rusted or crumbled years ago.”
Skate walked across the library to Petre, by the window. She picked his globe up and brought him close, pretending to examine the glass for scratches. Petre showed up looking very concerned. “Help me,” she whispered to him. He understood at once. He spoke into her mind as he had when they’d first met.