Read Online Cloak and Spider: A Shadowdance Novella by David Dalglish - Free Book Online

instead of cutting it. The wince was also for the sludge his fingers dug into, and he was beyond thankful that it was dark, and he would see very little of what he was about to crawl through. Hoisting himself up, he slid into the chute once another patrol had passed, and that done, he put down elbow after elbow as he made his way up the castle’s asshole.
    Claustrophobia set in only once, after about five minutes of worming his way through. The chute was slick, which prevented him from getting stuck, but the smell was overwhelming, and worse was how he had to keep his head low to it due to the cramped space. Slowly he breathed in and out, pushing away the maddening certainty in his head that the walls were closing in on him. As he did, he heard motion behind him, followed by a gagged whisper.
    “Move it, Thren, or I’m pushing my way past. Not staying in here a second longer than I have to.”
    Thren smiled, and the last of his claustrophobia passed. Elbow after elbow, until he reached the initial opening of the sewage chute. No doubt the room was actually dark, with only a little light filtering in through the crack beneath its door, but to Thren it was a shining, glorious paradise. Putting his bare feet on the cold stone, he wiped them as best he could before putting on his shoes. After that he stripped to his bare chest, hurling the rest of his outfit back into the sewage hole. Grayson did the same.
    “Ready?” Thren asked, checking the lone short sword tightly strapped to his thigh. Thankfully the scabbard had protected the blade from the filth.
    “You owe me forever,” Grayson said, taking a moment to gather himself, breathing heavily with his back to their entrance. “And yes, ready.”
    Thren had learned everything he could about the layout of the castle from the few members of the Spider Guild who had been inside. From what he knew, the crown would be kept in the royal treasury, which was on the lowest floor. They themselves were on the second floor, reserved mostly for the servants’ quarters and to house the castle guard. Not the best place to be, but the night was deep, and the soldiers who were awake were busy manning the walls or protecting the king and queen’s bedchambers, as well as their son, Edwin.
    Exiting the room, they hurried down the hall after a brief moment to confirm their location. To their right was a long corridor with many doors, which Thren guessed to be bedrooms. The other way led to the stairs, and down these they went. At the very bottom waited two soldiers, their backs to them. Thren motioned to the left, and Grayson nodded. Not a noise made by their steps, the two attacked together, simultaneously cutting the soldiers’ throats before they could let out a single cry. That done, they sheathed their blades, hooked a right, and rushed as fast as they could down the quiet hall.
    “No hesitation,” Thren whispered as they neared a corner, around which he expected to find the treasury.
    No stealth this time; instead they ran about with weapons drawn…only to find two soldiers laying facedown before an open door, twin pools of blood spreading beneath their necks. Stepping inside, Thren glanced around, and wasn’t surprised by what he saw.
    “Well shit,” Grayson said, and Thren couldn’t help but laugh given how their night had gone.
    “There’s a reason he’s called the Swift,” Thren said.
    The crown was gone, and despite the many bars of gold around him, Thren was sure a few of those were gone as well. Jorry had beaten them there.
    “What do we do now?” Grayson asked. “A few bars of gold will help ease the pain, at least make it worthwhile to suffer through that damn shithole again.”
    Thren turned, put a dirty hand on his friend’s shoulder.
    “I knew he’d beat us,” he said. “I had to see for certain, just in case. But it looks like it’ll be the hard path after all.”
    “The hard path?” asked Grayson.
    At that, Thren only smiled.
    *  *  *
    After