Nearly three months had passed since Robert’s son Seth was born. I visited Cecilia more often, to join her classes and get to know her and the Inquisitor better. Other than that my life had been routine.
“I want you two to be careful, you understand,” Eric said while I pulled a black sweater over my head. “If anything goes wrong, you always abort. Your safety comes first, are we clear?”
“Yes, Eric crystal clear, now hand me the charcoal please,” I responded bothered by his pep talk.
“Get in, get out. Unseen is unscathed.” Eric stood above us wringing his hands. Katrina and I busily darkened our skin with charcoal. In the shadows we’d be invisible, and so long as we didn’t touch anything, we’d leave no trace. There was no real danger in it. After all, most of the merchants had never even noticed that their things were gone.
I carefully rubbed my hands with the charcoal and darkened my face. Looking in a mirror I made certain that no skin was left visible. Our light skins were too easily spotted in the darkness without any cover. If we failed to hide our identities, we would be hung the next day.
Eric and I used to do the break-ins, when Katrina was younger. As both aged, Katrina became the more agile one, taking Eric’s spot. Despite his consent, I could see the terror in his eyes every time we left. It was no different that time.
While I fixed Katrina’s jacket, Eric gave us our last instructions. Every full hour past ten o’clock, night patrols walked through the streets to make sure that everyone was in their homes. We left shortly after midnight and planned to make it back before one o’clock, avoiding both patrol shifts.
Following my lead we sneaked down the road to the Merchant District. Tiny snowflakes trickled from the sky and filled the streets that had been cleared that very morning. I stopped in the shadow of the masonry, a safe distance from the gate where Robert and his partner stood unchanged, blocking the entrance.
“You think the midnight patrol is gone?” asked the other guard.
“By now they should, the streets are clear,” Robert said glancing over to both sides. “Seems like no one was out, we can lean back now.”
The other guard removed a flask from his belt and popped the lid open. Holding it close to his nose he inhaled the stinging scent of alcohol with a relieved face. Suspiciously he peered over at Robert.
“No worries old friend, we all need a good drink once in a while,” Robert reassured. “Here, try this,” he unbuckled his own flask handing it over to the other guard, “it’s some heavy liquor, don’t drink it all at once.”
“I am sure I have had stronger,” he said before taking a large gulp. With a wimpy cough he remarked, “Damn, not bad that stuff. It’s sweet and burns right in your throat.” He handed the half empty container back to Robert, and luxuriously leaned back against the gate’s walls. Smacking his lips, he caught a few droplets of the liquor with his tongue.
Katrina got anxious, “Why is Robert taking so long? We have less than fifty minutes to get in and out.”
“Watch,” I said pointing at his partner, who had dozed off. Quickly I peered down the vacant street and rushed over into the gate.
“What did you do to him?” Katrina asked.
“One of my sons helps out in the hospital, I told him to get me some of their tranquilizers. Those herbs work wonders,” he said with a chuckle. “Now go! Try to be back here in half an hour. I don’t want you to run into the one o’clock guard, and this one isn’t going to sleep forever.”
“Thank you Robert,” I said observing his passed out partner. “Remember to sound the signal whistle if anything happens.”
Carefully we moved on with our heels in the air, leaving no tracks and yet advancing in a brisk pace. At one point we seemingly levitated over the boulevard. At this hour the streets were vacant and most of the torches had burned down or been extinguished by
“I want you two to be careful, you understand,” Eric said while I pulled a black sweater over my head. “If anything goes wrong, you always abort. Your safety comes first, are we clear?”
“Yes, Eric crystal clear, now hand me the charcoal please,” I responded bothered by his pep talk.
“Get in, get out. Unseen is unscathed.” Eric stood above us wringing his hands. Katrina and I busily darkened our skin with charcoal. In the shadows we’d be invisible, and so long as we didn’t touch anything, we’d leave no trace. There was no real danger in it. After all, most of the merchants had never even noticed that their things were gone.
I carefully rubbed my hands with the charcoal and darkened my face. Looking in a mirror I made certain that no skin was left visible. Our light skins were too easily spotted in the darkness without any cover. If we failed to hide our identities, we would be hung the next day.
Eric and I used to do the break-ins, when Katrina was younger. As both aged, Katrina became the more agile one, taking Eric’s spot. Despite his consent, I could see the terror in his eyes every time we left. It was no different that time.
While I fixed Katrina’s jacket, Eric gave us our last instructions. Every full hour past ten o’clock, night patrols walked through the streets to make sure that everyone was in their homes. We left shortly after midnight and planned to make it back before one o’clock, avoiding both patrol shifts.
Following my lead we sneaked down the road to the Merchant District. Tiny snowflakes trickled from the sky and filled the streets that had been cleared that very morning. I stopped in the shadow of the masonry, a safe distance from the gate where Robert and his partner stood unchanged, blocking the entrance.
“You think the midnight patrol is gone?” asked the other guard.
“By now they should, the streets are clear,” Robert said glancing over to both sides. “Seems like no one was out, we can lean back now.”
The other guard removed a flask from his belt and popped the lid open. Holding it close to his nose he inhaled the stinging scent of alcohol with a relieved face. Suspiciously he peered over at Robert.
“No worries old friend, we all need a good drink once in a while,” Robert reassured. “Here, try this,” he unbuckled his own flask handing it over to the other guard, “it’s some heavy liquor, don’t drink it all at once.”
“I am sure I have had stronger,” he said before taking a large gulp. With a wimpy cough he remarked, “Damn, not bad that stuff. It’s sweet and burns right in your throat.” He handed the half empty container back to Robert, and luxuriously leaned back against the gate’s walls. Smacking his lips, he caught a few droplets of the liquor with his tongue.
Katrina got anxious, “Why is Robert taking so long? We have less than fifty minutes to get in and out.”
“Watch,” I said pointing at his partner, who had dozed off. Quickly I peered down the vacant street and rushed over into the gate.
“What did you do to him?” Katrina asked.
“One of my sons helps out in the hospital, I told him to get me some of their tranquilizers. Those herbs work wonders,” he said with a chuckle. “Now go! Try to be back here in half an hour. I don’t want you to run into the one o’clock guard, and this one isn’t going to sleep forever.”
“Thank you Robert,” I said observing his passed out partner. “Remember to sound the signal whistle if anything happens.”
Carefully we moved on with our heels in the air, leaving no tracks and yet advancing in a brisk pace. At one point we seemingly levitated over the boulevard. At this hour the streets were vacant and most of the torches had burned down or been extinguished by
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