City of Gold and Silver

Fleetness

Ariah breathed. In and out. In ... and out. The last of her panic crashed against the rocks of her pragmatism - someone had just tried to kill her. Why? Someone had been on the roof. Who?

Carefully, walking toe-first so as not to crunch against any of the ceramic shingles, Ariah made her way up to the peak of the roof. She glanced around, watching for movement in the dark, along other rooftops in the distance. Nothing caught her attention. The shadow had disappeared.

Satisfied that she was safe, Ariah turned her focus to the roof on which she currently perched. For the most part, ceramic shingles sloped away from her, one side angling towards the edge of the building from which she had just climbed, the other angling away in the opposite direction. There was however, a small flat area at the back of the house that overlooked the garden.

Crossing to the overlook was a little like walking a tightrope. Ariah took a moment to solidify her balance, then stepped lightly along the apex of the roof. Her thoughts were like the stars above her, too numerous and disorganized. She needed to arrange them, order them like the shingles under her feet. Someone had been up on the Archers' roof. Why? They could not have been there specifically to attack her - how could they have known she would be climbing up that pipe when moments earlier she hadn't even known herself? But why attack her in the first place? Why not just run? Running was always the smartest thing to do. 

Scatter when you're caught. Dash rather than fight. Fleetness is the mark of a true traceur. Words Ariah had lived by most of her life.

The squarish flat area that overlooked the garden was covered with a fine layer of sand, most likely from the last storm. Even the ledge along the roof where she had pulled herself up had been a little slippery with the stuff. A perfect medium for shadow feet apparently. The familiar outline and indentations of woven canvas greeted Ariah as she reached the overlook, along with two neat troughs running perpendicular to the edge of the roof.

Sandals, Ariah thought as the visage of black boots came back to her. So there were two shadows up here. She looked back to the side of the roof where she had managed to pop up, then considered the other set of deviations in the sand, envisioning the second shadow. You were kneeling, she concluded, stepping onto the overlook and kneeling down herself. But what were you doing?

She looked straight out over the garden, not being able to make out much detail in the wash of night. A fruit tree here, a glimpse of a redstone path through some of the foliage ... The overlook  faced east, roughly. To the north east, the hulking form of the Ridge could just be made out from the dark of the moonless sky. Something tracked, a pinch in Ariah's gut that she couldn't quite decipher. She glanced around again, wondering if she had missed something.

So, you tried to stop me from getting up here, is that it? Ariah considered, addressing the black-booted shadow. What didn't you want me to see? What was your sandal wearing friend doing?She picked up at the sand for a moment then stood up, unable to come up with an answer. There were no other signs to indicate what might have been going on up here. She exhaled. What was she doing anyway? Playing detective? Aside from the recent threat against her life, why did she care exactly? This smacked of noble intrigue, something she had a little experience in by way of past employment. Maybe it was as simple as a case-job for a future burgle. Ariah looked down at the kneel-marks in the sand and knew that wasn't the case, then frowned slightly at the thought. She could tell Malia's father what had happened, what she had found - if he'd even listen to her - but that would require her own explanation as to why she was on the roof. She doubted the two elder Archers, the uncle least of all, would be happy with her midnight excursion. What if they kicked her out? Her hand went to her stomach instinctually at the though. Whether she liked it or not, this was the one place where she was safe from Bael and her people.

This isn't my business, she told herself. Fleetness wasn't just about speed; you had to travel light, not let anything weight you down. Just go.

So she did.