Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

chipped in.
    “Make it clear you’ll fine the mercenaries themselves,” Kayla said. “Keep them worried about their pockets.”
    “I will do what I can,” Gerand insisted. “Though it won’t be easy.”
    “Third,” said Kayla, “and most importantly, the Trifect has hundreds of merchants in their employ that have not paid their taxes. That money is instead going to the mercenaries, and for years you have turned a blind eye. That stops.”
    “I’ll collect from them what I can,” Gerand said.
    Thren shook his head.
    “I don’t want them taxed. I want them arrested.”
    “Arrested? What for?” When Thren reached for the rapier again, Gerand paled. “Very well. Tax evasion is a serious crime. Most will plead out and pay their fines within a day or two. Will that suffice?”
    “That’ll do,” said Kayla. “When the Kensgold ends, we’ll leave her be.”
    “I’ll even give my word to never again threaten harm to her,” Thren said. “But only if you cooperate. Is that clear?”
    It was.
    Kayla slid open his door and looked out. When she saw no guards, she pulled her gray hood over her head and beckoned for Thren. Just before the guildmaster left, he knelt close and whispered into Gerand’s ear.
    “I won’t kill you. I’ll chain you to the wall in a cell, your wife’s body in front of you. Once I cut off your eyelids, you’ll watch her rot until she’s nothing but bones. Pass the laws, and make sure you
enforce
them.”
    Kayla dashed out the door, and Thren followed.

CHAPTER
20
    O nce Gran calmed down she finally offered to listen to what the young thief had to say. Of course, that was only after her attempt to beat him with a pan had failed, and he’d knocked her into a chair.
    “Please listen,” he said once she quit shouting for help. Delysia stood at her side, stroking her hand and doing her best to reassure her.
    “You stole into my house, killed a man, hid from the guards, and then expect me to sit still and listen?” Gran asked. “Even for a young pup, you’re a fool.”
    “Gran,” whined Delysia.
    “Oh all right. What is it, boy?”
    “His name is Haern,” Delysia said.
    “Fine.
Haern.
” Gran spat the word out as if it were a curse. “What do you have to say?”
    “Delysia is not safe in the city,” Haern said. He leaned against the pantry door. Pieces of dry leaves stuck to his outfit from when he had brushed a hanging tomato plant in the dark. He held one of the two candles Delysia had lit; Gran held the other.
    “No one’s safe in the city anymore. Why is Delysia any different?”
    “Thren Felhorn of the Spider Guild ordered her father dead,” Haern said. He kept his eyes on Gran, as if ashamed to look at the girl but too proud to stare at the floor. “I was there when it happened.”
    “You mean you were to take part,” Gran said. “I’m not daft. Look at the colors you’re wearing: thief guild colors. What were you, a spotter? Were you to watch for the guards, or just loot her poor father’s corpse after everyone was gone?”
    Haern slammed a fist against the pantry door. The motion knocked one of the leaves free from his sleeve, and Delysia watched it fall to the floor.
    “It doesn’t matter,” Haern said. “The man I killed was sent to finish the job. With him dead, Thren will send another, and another, until the job is finished. He doesn’t leave things undone. Delysia needs to get out, as fast and secretly as possible.”
    “I think he’s right, Gran,” said Delysia.
    “Of course you do,” Gran said dismissively. “You’re a young girl ready to believe any story a boy tells you. What if he’s wrong, and Thren had nothing to do with your father’s death?”
    “You know damn well the Spider Guild is responsible,” Haern said.
    “You watch your tongue with me, boy, or I’ll wash it out with lye!” snapped Gran.
    To both their surprise, Haern shifted from foot to foot and lowered his head.
    “Sorry,” he said.
    “Well, at least you have some manners,” said Gran. “Though I’m worried that you’re right. That horrible murder in the street was bad enough; having a thief break in is just as bad. I may be old, but I’ve kept enough wits to know that wasn’t a coincidence.”
    “Where can we go?” asked Delysia. She looked close to tears. Given how horrible her day had been, Gran couldn’t blame her.
    “There’s no
we
in this, child,” the old woman said. “As much as it pains me to say it, we have to put you where