Bone Diggers - Chapter Fifteen

Loading... Chapter Fifteen

"How did you manage to strike out at the brothel?"

Daniel glared at Lance before he glanced back towards the rest of the guild that was gathered for a meeting.

It didn't matter if Daniel didn't find amusement, Lance sure did. So much so that everyone's side conversations were lost. "You can either pay for company," Lance said, weighing the choices on his hands. "Or apparently, you can bring your own now."

"You know that silk pillow on your bed?" Daniel asked.

Lance tilted his head trying to figure out where that came from. "Uh...yeah?"

"Good," Daniel said. "Because if you go on, I'm going to smother you with it."

An offended gasp reshaped Lance's mouth without much force. He pulled his hand up to hold his heart. "I'm starting to see why you weren't so lucky now."

Gael moved to the center of the room, and cracked his fingers. It was more of a nervous tick than anything. "Don Ambrogio Spinola Doria has come into town. As part of the Order of Santiago, I can't emphasize enough how important this event is. Unlike the rest of us, leaders like this nearly seem to vanish into thin air when not out mixing with the people. It's our duty to find out why he is here. His tie to the knights is apparent, and if he is planning anything, we need to know beforehand." He paused, gauging the room for interest, worry, or any other reaction. "I can't promise there will be any good drops to have, but I'm requesting volunteers all the same."

Daniel leaned forward in his seat. Silently considering the offer before tilting his head to towards Lance. "Shall we?"

"I do love annoying the knights," Lance said.

The day turned from sunny to gray. Daniel watched the clouds as the handful of thieves gathered around. Not everyone could, or even wanted to group up. Despite being a big guild, they generally worked in small groups, but those who did volunteer gathered again that evening.

The thieves blended in with the staff or shadows whenever they could. Daniel, however, had a different idea. There was a balcony that everyone else seemed to ignore. Why hide below when you could get a top down view? One simply had to get up there. Easy enough. Daniel folded his hands together, holding them low so he could boost Lance high enough to reach the railing.

Lance pulled himself up to the balcony before spinning back around, and reaching a hand down. Daniel took a few steps back to have enough space to run up the wall, and grab Lance's hand.

After being pulled up, he bounced to stand on the solid ground of the second floor. "Go team."

Lance smiled. "Allons-y."

The advantage of being up here became instantly clear. This floor looked over the first part of theater seating. Servers were buzzing around like busy bees from one patron to another. The knights didn't have the most members, but they definitely had the most money. It showed in how free the wine was flowing. Some drank up, while others just used the shimmering glasses and decadent food as a show of class.

Daniel focused on finding Ambrogio Spinola. As he searched the crowd from above, he spotted a woman with a green corset with black flowing skirt. Hadn't he seen that outfit before? A man walked up to her offering his arm, dressed to match. Daniel felt like he'd seen him before, too.

Then it clicked.

"Amilia." He felt like the word had been ripped from his lungs.

Lance fell in line with Daniel, line of sight following his friend's. "And the Don."

The man at her arm appeared too young to be the same person. Daniel forced himself to look away, soon finding another man in his mid-thirties. This one was old enough, and wore armor suggesting a military background.

The group was brought over to a table, where someone else was already sitting. Daniel couldn't place him, and Lance didn't offer any more help in the matter. The first man, a brother maybe, considering the way he touched Amilia. Close, but not lingering like a lover. He whispered something, then left her alone amongst men who greatly outranked her.

"It has come to our attention that you are working with thieves," said, and watched her carefully. "Is that true?"

Amilia shook her head. "No, sir, that is not."

"Care to explain to us then?" The tone was careful, as if he was only giving her a single thread to walk along.

"I apologize for what happened at the church, but in order to carry on the façade, to act the part, I had to do it."

Daniel turned his head away. He should have signaled to the others, but couldn't even spare a thought if they were still looking for Ambrogio or if everyone else was distracted by the coin purses of others.

"Why did you choose to learn their ways then? When your family has an existing deal with us?" the second man asked, as Ambrogio edged on boredom. If he dealt with bards before, he didn't seem to care for them.

Amilia turned her head towards her shoulder, almost as she knew she was being watched, but didn't turn enough to spot Daniel as he watched from above. Slowly her eyes found her way back, giving the question the seriousness he desired. "I'm doing this for the knights."

"And the boy?"

Her head twitched to a tilt before she righted it just as fast. "He's of no concern, sir."

"Good." His tone didn't sound fully convinced. "You don't want to get your family back into the trouble your father had."

His expression tired like the time he had allotted for her nonsense had simply evaporated. "This is your only warning."

Amilia bowed her head. Respectfully in part, and also so he'd be encouraged to consider the matter finished. Daniel's nails dug into the railing with such force that he was leaving scratch marks in the wood. He didn't even notice the vice grip that was starting to make the bones in his hands ache until Lance put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"We need to get moving," Lance whispered.

"Yeah," Daniel said weakly. He took another look at Amilia, who was now moving towards her seat. He knew he needed to focus. He had done this long before Amilia and would continue long after her.

They ventured further, spotting a guard who was unfortunately—for the guard—stationed in the wrong direction. His job was to stop people from coming up from the first floor, not someone already upstairs.

Daniel seized the man from behind, grabbing him in a chokehold. The guard's strangled attempted for air proved useless. "Say your prayers," Daniel whispered, as he lowered the man to the ground. Fate could decide if he ever got back up again.

Their fellow thieves had moved silently through the crowd. From above they had blended in perfectly, but now that the duo was on the same floor, they recognized other uninvited faces. Their pockets must be nearly bursting at the seams now.

A surprised cry cut through the room. Everyone turned in rare union despite what group they belonged to. One of the thieves must have failed a check, and the quiet party now had a woman hugging her purse close. An annoyed knight had drawn his sword pointing it towards a young thief like he wanted the man's liver for dinner.

"You forgot my invite," Lance called out. Suddenly, everyone's attention was on him, and by his wicked grin he seemed to enjoy it. His hands were held out like he was the true threat in the room.

The guards snapped to attention in agreement, the humor just as unwelcome as their presence. The bold move gave the young thief enough time to run off. Lance waited for the right second then countered the first attack, slitting a guard's throat with an eerie smoothness as Daniel ran a dagger straight through the spine of another.

"Sometimes I fear you forget that we are thieves, and not musketeers," Daniel said, as he ended up back to back with Lance. There would have been enough time to counter if a wave of guards didn't ruin it. They had to keep them busy enough so the rest of the thieves could either run or draw their own weapons. Many did run. A handful of others were confident enough to join the brawl. Outing themselves as they downed the nearest knight.

"You know maybe this isn't our sort of party after all," Daniel yelled over the chaos. He turned, flicking two throwing knives at men who tried to flank him, and slid over a table taking advantage of the new ground he earned.

Lance didn't make it far as more men cut off his escape. Amilia's uncle, Dimitri, was in this new wave of more than just the armored guards now fighting to rid themselves of the party crashers. Lance twirled the sword around in his hand, a move that was nothing more than show. His movements were as fluid as water with every attack. A guard managed to get close to Lance, but instantly crumbled and fell back, holding his stomach as Lance returned a dagger back to his belt.

Daniel was helping usher anyone out that was trying to get away from the fight, whether thieves or just party goers. One of the knights decided that taking a swing at him would be more important. He dodged, and the man's fist hit the door with a thud that could break bones.

Getting back to Lance was key so sheer numbers didn't overwhelm him. Daniel jumped on a chair, tipping it forward to run over, and across, tables. The last of his throwing knives landed in someone's neck before his feet touched the ground again.

Both Lance and Daniel had been trying to ignore Dimitri, since he was obviously important to Amilia, but that consideration came back to bite them. He threw a punch to the jaw that was so unexpected, Daniel dropped his daggers in order to catch himself. Dimitri took the opportunity to kick Daniel when he was down, in a manner that felt all too personal. Daniel choked out a wheeze as momentum knocked him to his side.

If he was going to play rough, Daniel would have to play fair. He grabbed one of the daggers waiting on the ground and drove it into Dimirtri's foot. His cry of pain covered up Amilia's own scream as she stood and watched it all play out in front of her.

Daniel scrambled to grab the second dagger off the ground, and pulled himself back on his feet. He watched Dimitri cautiously until the sound of his own name drew his attention.

"Go." Daniel twitched this time at the sound of Lance's voice. "Go," he repeated. "I'll be right behind you."

With a nod, Daniel turned and bolted for the door again.

Lance blocked a sword with his arm. It wasn't the best plan, but it was that, or something far worse. The sword cut through his sleeve and into the base of his hand. His breath came out unevenly in an effort to cope with the sharp pain. A pool of blood gathered in the palm of Lance's injured hand, and he tucked his left arm into his side. Red droplets slipped between his fingers.

He was close to the exit, but became so outnumbered it really didn't matter if it was an inch or a mile. Pride might be the death of him if he decided to keep fighting, or be could hope to be taken prisoner.

The sword fell purposefully to the ground to signal his surrender. A tightness in Amilia's chest lessened as she swore she could hear it rattle on the floor. As Lance lifted his hands up, the cuff of one white sleeve was stained red. Someone grabbed Amilia's shoulder, and she yelped. She spun around ready to fight, but found her escort there. "Run home," he said, looking past her for a second.

"But Celio," Amilia objected. She started to glance towards her uncle again, but he stopped her.

"No, go now," Celio insisted, "I'll go help my father."