Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

perfectly clear he was not joking. Kayla felt a knot swelling in her throat, and she swallowed it down.
    “What do you want of me?” she asked.
    “I will be leading this endeavor,” Senke said. “Will is coming too. We need a third, but it’s possible the attack on Aaron was orchestrated with the help of someone within our organization. We need someone clean. So what do you say? Want to help break into the dark dungeons of King Edwin Vaelor’s castle?”
    Insane
, Kayla thought.
Absolutely insane. We will be caught, and killed, all for an old man who may know nothing, nothing at all…
    Thren was watching her, they all were. She knew what saying no would mean. She would never join their private talks again. There would be no seat for her there on Thren’s council, not when her cowardice could win out over her loyalty. All hopes of wealth and power and fear would be lost forever.
    “I’ll go,” she said. “I’ll most likely die, but I’ll go.”
    “That’s my girl,” Senke said with a wink. Will only grunted.
    Knowing the dungeon could be the death of the old man at any time, they made their plans for that night. Many hours later, a new collection of daggers clipped to her belt, Kayla met the others in the deep recesses of the safe house.
    “Thren’s built tunnels leading out to a couple different homes and alleys,” Senke said as he adjusted his gray cloak, cinching it tighter about his body. Kayla caught sight of a long dirk tucked into his belt, the sides of its hilt painted red. The blade curved up and down like waves of the ocean, and she shuddered at the thought of its piercing her flesh.
    “There are times when no one, not even of our guild, can see us,” Will said. “Not going. Not coming. This is one of those times, you understand?”
    “I’m no child,” Kayla said. Will had painted his face gray to match the color of his cloak, and when he smiled at her he seemed like a graveyard wight come to feed.
    “Maybe,” Will said. “But when blood gets spilled, we’ll see if you cry like one.”
    “A most impressive silver tongue you have, my friend,” Senke said, slapping Will on the back. “It is a wonder you must pay the ladies to stay in your presence. I would think they would be paying you.”
    “After they see what I have, they do,” Will said. He glanced at Kayla, as if expecting her to blush, but she only rolled her eyes and gestured for them to move on ahead.
    “The tunnels are waiting,” she said.
    “Be serious if you must,” Senke said, “but remember to smile. It lights your face up so beautifully when you do.”
    This time she did blush, and when she noticed the begrudging annoyance on Will’s face, she let her cheeks bloom full red.
    Senke pulled up a few boards underneath a painting of a broken castle. Cut into the packed dirt was a hole curving deeper underneath the house, like some oversize rabbit hole.
    “There will be no light,” Senke said. “I’ll go first. Try to crawl slow and steady, and under no circumstances panic. If you get too close to me, I might kick you in the face, and I’d feel just horrible. It might feel tight at times, but keep crawling, and remember that if Will can fit, you surely can.”
    “I’ve never had a problem with enclosed spaces,” Kayla said.
    “What about the dark?” Will asked.
    “I said I’ll be fine.”
    Senke winked at her.
    “I hope you are. Count to five, then follow.”
    Headfirst, the rogue climbed into the hole and was gone. After a count of five Kayla followed. At first she could see, but when the tunnel curled lower the light of the mansion faded, and she stared into what looked like the gullet of some enormous monster. Her heart fluttered, but she imagined the jokes Senke might make about her, as well as what would happen when Will bumped into her from behind. Most likely push her on, she realized. Hand after hand, she crawled into the darkness.
    Gradually the tunnel narrowed. Instead of crawling on her hands and knees, she fell to her stomach and pulled herself along.
So much work just to keep our mission secret
, she thought with some annoyance.
    “How long did it take?” she asked, and was startled by how loud her voice sounded. Some part of her seemed to think the darkness would swallow her words, smothering them in the void.
    “Take to do what?” she heard Will ask from farther back in the tunnel. His deep voice rumbled in the dark, and she held in a curse as her head thumped the roof of the