Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

door. He waved her to him. Two other men sat with him, one on each side. She recognized neither.
    “Kayla, I would like you to meet two of my most trusted friends,” Thren said. The man on his left stood and outstretched his hand. She took it and accepted his kiss on her wrist.
    “My name is Senke,” he said. “I am honored to be in the presence of such beauty.”
    He was a handsome man, although some of that was hidden by the numerous scars along his cheeks and neck, like fleshy pale crosses.
    “Senke is, to put it bluntly, my enforcer,” Thren said. “He ensures my orders are obeyed, without any troublesome deviations.”
    As Senke sat down, the other man stood. His skin was dark, and his eyes were darker. He had thin lips and wide eyes, and his clothes seemed about twenty years out of fashion. His enormous frame seemed to dwarf the table.
    “My name is Will,” he said. He did not offer his hand.
    “Will trusts no one,” Thren said as the giant man returned to his seat. “And I may be partly to blame. He has been with me since the very beginning, and every turncoat and sellsword knows that if he deals with me dishonestly, he will find Will beating down his door.”
    “I don’t like liars,” Will said, as if that explained everything.
    “Neither may be the smartest counsel,” Thren said, smiling a little at Senke’s feigned offense, “but they are honest with me. Too many quiver at the notion of the word
no
when in my presence. However, you are braver than that. I looked into you, Kayla. Twice you have turned down recruiters seeking to add you to my guild.”
    Kayla shifted her weight from one foot to the other, trying to hide any discomfort.
    “Guilds aren’t for me,” she said. “At least, not at the time.”
    “You’re skilled,” Thren continued. “I’ve gone over the events several times with my son, heard everything you have done. You once made a living selling information. No, don’t tell me to who, for I do not care. But you operated within my territory, refusing to join my guild, yet you not just survived, but thrived. Four years ago you turned down the first recruiter. Four years. Yet now you aided my son. Why?”
    Kayla wished she had a better answer, but she gave the honest one.
    “I thought I could make a profit,” she said.
    She expected him to be angry, but instead he laughed.
    “As I hoped,” he said. “You do not lie, do not hide, do not waste my time. Your skill is undeniable, Kayla, and your motives are as pure as I might hope for. If it is money you want, I can give it to you. If it is power, I have that as well. Already I owe you greatly for saving the life of my son, and if you are willing, I will give you a chance others could only dream of.”
    Kayla glanced at Will and Senke, wishing at least one of them might give a hint as to what exactly was being offered.
    “And what is that?” she asked.
    “Join me as part of my council,” Thren said.
    “Sink or swim, to put it most simply,” Senke chimed in. “You’ve got potential, and given this whole fight against the Trifect, we’re not much for wasting time. You’re good. Are you good enough?”
    “I want you to aid Will and Senke tonight in an endeavor,” Thren said.
    Kayla took a seat before them and crossed her legs.
    “What might that be?” she asked.
    “Those who betray me must be punished,” Thren said. “Loyalty until death. Death to the disloyal. I have based my entire life around those two laws, and I will not break them now. The king has imprisoned Aaron’s former tutor, an elderly man named Robert Haern.”
    Kayla’s cheek twitched at the name, and Thren misinterpreted this as a sign of recognition.
    “Indeed, the king’s former tutor was also my son’s. When the soldiers stormed his home, Aaron insists Robert helped him escape. I must know if this is true. I must know what part Robert played in that fiasco. If he saved my son’s life, then I owe him as dearly as I owe you. If he was a willing member of the attempt…”
    Will cracked his knuckles.
    “You want us to break him out of prison,” Kayla said. “I’ve never once heard stories of you doing so for any of your other members. Why risk all this for one old man?”
    Senke nudged Thren’s elbow, clearly amused. Thren was not.
    “Someone was behind the attempt on my son,” he said. “Someone with the power of the castle. I must know who. I will not assassinate a king until I am certain of his guilt.”
    His tone made it