Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

flung him over the shoulder of the giant.
    “Run!” boomed the man.
    Up the stairs they went. When they reached the top, Robert dared open his eyes. The big man had swung around to check behind him, and as he did, Robert saw ten more soldiers blocking the way. They were not in a frantic hurry, nor did they look overly worried. They were arrayed in a diamond shape, with those at the back wielding long pole-arms while the front men carried shields and maces.
    “Give ’im up,” one of the macemen shouted.
    “Where’s the gate?” the woman asked.
    “Follow me,” the smaller man said. “As long as they don’t know…”
    The three rushed down the hall toward the defensive formation, then swung right. Robert was baffled. They approached a dead end of solid stone. The shadows across it were thick. The smaller man jumped at the wall, and just as Robert wondered what gymnastic trick he planned to perform, he slipped right through as if the wall were air. The girl followed next. Hope dared kindle in the old man’s breast.
    As the guards shouted behind them, Robert and his giant leaped through the shadows of the wall. Cool fresh air blew across Robert’s skin, and feeling it, he gasped.
    “Aaaand done,” said the smaller man, clapping his hands twice before the wall of the prison behind him. Something black and watery ran off to the ground, leaving a disgusting-looking stain.
    “Let’s take him home,” the woman said. Robert tried to smile at her, but the comfort of clean lungs was too much for him.
    He fell asleep, still slung across the giant’s shoulder.
    When they approached the guards, Nava brushed back her cloak and stood to her full height. With her dark clothing and the white cloth over her face, there was no doubt as to what she was.
    “We see nothing,” one of the guards said, repeating the line he had been instructed to say when one of the faceless sought exit from or entrance into the city, lest he and his superiors incur the wrath of the temple.
    Alyssa followed, still clutching Nava’s hand. She had no idea why they were leaving the safety of the walls, and the faceless woman had given her no explanation. They’d stayed one day in a dilapidated inn, just her and Nava. The faceless woman had sneaked in through the window, letting Alyssa be the one to pay using money Nava gave her. Yet come nightfall, with Alyssa still exhausted and wearing her torn clothing, Nava told her it was not safe and brought her back out into the streets. Alyssa could only guess why. Even with her father hunting for her, there had to be safe places in the city to hide, places like that inn.
    But why hide?
The thought slapped her like a wet cloth. Her claim to the Gemcroft line was most certainly severed. Perhaps she could flee to safety with one of the foster families she had stayed with for the past few years. John Gandrem would surely welcome her, though he might also report her whereabouts to Maynard. And of course there were the Kulls…
    They exited the western gate. The road leading southwest was packed tight from all the daily wagons and caravans of trade. Off the path, the tall grass was a deep green and grew as high as Alyssa’s knees. The tug on her wrist giving her little choice, Alyssa followed Nava into the wide fields. They traveled north, curling around the walls and toward the King’s Forest. As they neared the forest, the grass grew shorter, and by the time they walked through the rows of thick trunks, it had given way to carpets of fallen leaves.
    “Why are we here?” Alyssa asked, rubbing her shoulder with her free hand as if she were cold. She had spent many nights listening to her maids tell ghost stories of the King’s Forest, with its faithless maidens lost for eternity, chivalrous knights who had wandered astray, and scores of evil robbers and rogues eagerly awaiting a man foolish enough to enter alone. Of course the stories were just to keep the children away from the forest, where poaching was a serious enough offense to warrant death. Knowing this did little to fight back the ghostly chill that gave her goose bumps.
    “Do not ask questions when you should know the answer,” Nava said. “Why else would we enter the forest?”
    They would kill her, Alyssa realized. Cut her throat and hide her body so when Yoren asked what happened, they could tell him she was already dead when they found her, her blood spilled across the floor and rats gnawing on her insides…
    Alyssa waited until