Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

of them from his current perch. Tapping his dagger to give himself courage, he climbed down and approached the mansion.
    The place lacked the security of higher wealth. No worn paths circled the building from a patrol of guards. No fence surrounded it, and no dogs prowled about. Many times Senke had led him to various estates, pointed out weaknesses, and made him sneak in when the night was young. He never had to steal anything valuable, just something to prove he had gone deep inside the home. From what he saw of the Eschaton mansion, Aaron thought Senke never would have given him a place so easy except as a warm-up.
    Aaron slipped around back, checking each of the windows. He found one unlocked near the very back. His heart stopped as he realized that Dustin may have been the one to unlock it. Stepping back, he scanned the area, seeing no footprints. There was undisturbed dirt on the windowsill. Carelessness then, Aaron decided. Thank Ashhur for that.
    He slid it open, doing so quicker than he might have normally. He didn’t have time to be patient. If Dustin spotted him, he’d want to know what was going on. Aaron might be able to get the jump on him if he hurried. With the window halfway open, Aaron slipped inside and onto the hardwood floor within. His landing made far more noise than he’d have liked. If any of his former teachers had been there, he’d have been given a solid, but quiet, smack to the head.
    It took him another moment to decide what to do about the window. Part of him wanted to leave it open for a quick getaway. Then he realized that if he was trying to make a quick getaway, he had already failed terribly. Better to make sure Dustin got no wind of his being there. He shut it and readjusted the curtains.
    Aaron could only guess as to the layout of the mansion. Thick curtains covered the windows, making the rooms far darker than it was outside. He waited a minute for his eyes to adjust, then worked his way toward the back. When his feet touched carpet, he smiled. Off of the hard surface, he’d make much better time.
    He had entered a long hallway with three windows facing out. The direction he’d guessed led him to a small kitchen, small by rich men’s standards, anyway, though it appeared well stocked. Aaron slipped on through, drawing his dagger as he exited into a short hallway ending at a door. He pried it open, cringing at the noise the hinges made. An alert guard might have heard, but inside he saw only a large bed. An elderly lady slept on the side closest to him, her mouth open, drooling. Her hair was completely gray. Lying beside her was Delius’s daughter.
    Aaron couldn’t believe it. Her father murdered that morning, by the Spider Guild, no less, and no one had thought to give her a guard? Not even a man of the house? Instead she was with an aunt or a grandmother. Helpless.
    That’s what I’m for
, Aaron thought as he scanned the area. The room only had one door. If Dustin was to get to them, he had to go through the kitchen, followed by the short hallway. Knowing his time was running out, Aaron planned through the upcoming encounter. When Dustin arrived, he was determined to have surprise on his side.
    “You’re sure that’s where she is?” Dustin asked, dancing a copper piece along his knuckles.
    “Yeah,” said the drunken man opposite him. “Delysia’s not old enough to be by herself, not with her brother off being trained to be some kind of mage or whatnot. Her granny’s with her. Stupid old bag, I’d have slapped her a dozen times if she wasn’t so quick and eager to call her son to save her.”
    “I don’t care about her,” Dustin said. “Why wouldn’t they take Delysia elsewhere?”
    The other man shrugged. He looked ready to pass out. When Dustin had begun asking around the bars about the Eschatons, he’d been given blank looks until, at the fifth, a man had pointed to the corner.
    “Ask for Barney,” he’d been told. “Guy worked for him, guard or something.”
    Barney had actually been a gardener, though he had often implied that he’d been an actual guard when asked what he did. Dustin had been worried about loyalties to his employer, worries that quickly died when he found out Barney had been fired earlier in the day.
    “Windbag thinks they can’t afford me,” Barney grumbled. “I’ll show her. Bet that Delius bastard had a ton stored away. No one just gives their shit to the poor. They’ll say they do, but they never do.”
    Dustin had