Shadows & Lace (Spellbound Prequel)

Chapter 8: What We Do In The Shadows

Aurelian was lying in bed in the opulent guest bedchamber he'd been assigned contemplating his next move when he heard a soft rap on the door to the balcony. Frowning, he cast his sheets aside and swung his legs over the edge. Who would visit him this late at night? Disregarding that, who could even get to his balcony? Grabbing his trousers he pulled them on and padded over to the partial glass door. He hesitated a moment to ponder if he should arm himself and decided against it - if someone bothered to knock they were hardly there to attack him - then pulled the door open.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, but once they did, he found the vigilante casually leaning against the railing. Interesting. He glanced over the edge; the ground was quite a distance below. Was this man part monkey?

"Good evening." He smiled at the vigilante as the young man had yet to speak. It was too dark to see the eyes clearly, the only thing visible between the hood and face cloth, but it almost appeared as if he was staring. Aurelian made a gesture towards his bare chest. "You must excuse my state of undress, I wasn't expecting visitors at this hour."

A moment's silence, then the vigilante cleared his throat. "That's all right. I found a way in to the Treasury."

"Excellent news! I haven't even discovered where it's located yet, no one will tell me." He grinned. "Not that I've asked outright, even I know better than to do that."

The vigilante scoffed, almost as if he questioned the truth in those words. Aurelian quirked an eyebrow, but the other man didn't comment.

"How did you get to my balcony, anyway?"

"I'm good at climbing." The vigilante shrugged. "Get dressed and let's go."

"As you wish." Aurelian quickly pulled on a shirt and his boots while the young man hovered at the balcony door. "I hope you're not suggesting that I climb that wall with you?"

The young man jerked, as if the question had startled him, and came fully into the room. "No, we can walk from here." He quickly crossed the room and opened the door to the hallway, peering outside. Motioning for Aurelian to follow, he disappeared through the doorway.

Slipping a knife into his boot-shaft, Aurelian followed. They moved quickly through the dark hallways of the castle, sometimes stopping as the other man peered around a corner, presumably to make sure they weren't discovered. Aurelian found it intriguing that the vigilante seemed to know his way around. There was no hesitation in his steps as he led them wherever they were going. He must either work in the castle or live in the castle. Since he could read and spoke well, it would have to be in the position of a learned person, maybe a clerk.

Finally, they stopped in front of a large wooden door at the end of a hallway.

"Now what? Do you have a key?" It wouldn't surprise him at this point.

"No, but I hear they keep a spare inside for when the clerks do extra work."

Aurelian raised his eyebrows. "And you know this how?"

"I hear things," the vigilante snapped. "Do you want my help or not?"

"If the key is on the other side of this locked door, how are we getting inside?"

The other man pointed towards the intricate transom above the door. It had large stained glass panes with a beautiful scene of a grassy meadow painted across it. Aurelian had seen similar ones over some other large doors in the castle, but noticed that this one had a pane missing. It wasn't a big hole, but probably just about big enough for this slender young man to squeeze through.

"How long has that been broken?"

"A couple of days, I hear."

"How convenient." It seemed too good to be a coincidence, and Aurelian was suddenly not so sure the vigilante was on his side after all. This could all be a trap.