Freelady Sinalas, once asleep, entered a state of Dreamwalking. She partially detached her soul from her body, and began to sense her surroundings in the peculiar way unique to someone whose soul had only been partly Demontainted. She had no eyes, but she could see. She had no ears, but she could hear. She had no physical body, but she could feel.
The room, though painted with scenes of a garden in full spring, appeared somewhat duller to her Dreamwalking senses. She still perceived the colors the right way - reds were still known to her as reds - but their sense was diminished to her unbodied soul. Or perhaps distanced was a better word for the way her senses felt. The effect would continue as she neared the limits of her abilities, Sinalas knew. Eventually, her soul would be nearly insensate, and she would have to turn back for fear of her soul detaching entirely. In that case, her tutor had taught her, she would die.
She would not have to go nearly so far today, however. As Lady Chaithia had found out through talking to the servants of House Fruymun, The body of Lady Sinalas was currently resting on a couch in a room almost directly underneath Prince Gudrol's chosen chambers for the duration of his stay. Sinalas floated up through the floorboards, ignoring the sensation of planks, dust, and what she assumed to be wood shavings in between the ceiling planks and the floor planks above.
The chamber she entered was dark, lit only by the setting sun outside and a small fire in the fireplace. Sinalas sensed the room's furnitures. A round, richly carved table stood near the fireplace, surrounded by chairs on three sides. To whatever extent the concept of 'behind' made sense to a disembodied soul that sensed things very differently to a human body, a double door was behind her. It would lead into the main hall, Sinalas knew. To her right in the far corner was another door, disguised as a piece of wall. A large bed stood along the left wall, flanked by wardrobes and a chest at the foot of the bed. Finally, and most promisingly, there was a desk between the two windows in the room. Next to said desk were two couriers' saddlebags, travel-stained and careworn. Atop the desk stood a small box. It would probably be where the prince kept his most secret documents. Sinalas approached the desk and saddlebags and began to investigate them.
The desk, like the other furniture, was finely carved in the Cannechian style resembling intertwining vines that twisted into different patterns. Atop it, Sinalas sensed the presence of writing tools and a small empty leather sack. The box Sinalas had noticed had a sturdy-looking lock of bronze. It looked to be made of wood, though it was various shades of grey, white and black. She thought she could guess the material. Her suspicions were confirmed when she tried to pass through to sense at its contents. Instead of passing through like with most other objects, she found herself unable to, instead colliding with the box. It was made of ghostwood. If she wanted to get at the contents of the box, she would have to break into the room. She did not think she would have the time for that. Instead, she tried searching a small pile of messages that had been written for carrier pigeons. She didn't take the time to visualize the sensations of ink patterns, instead imprinting them within her memory. She would check in a Wakedream later. For now, she would focus on gathering information as quickly as she could. Moving on from the desk, Sinalas passed through the saddlebags on the left side of it.
The saddlebag was made of thick, old leather. They were outfitted with buckles made of brass and contained assortments of items. The left saddlebag mostly contained several tools, some made from steel, others made of iron. She did not immediately recognize them or their purpose. Some carried an edge, others had points, some had neither, and looked strange or had unusual shapes, like oversized L- or pear-shapes. In addition, there was an unpleasant taste to all the tools that she couldn't quite place, though it felt familiar, like she should be able to remember their origin somehow, even though Sinalas wasn't at all familiar with any of the tools except for the small handful of knives that were stored among them. Curiously, she recognized the purpose of some of said knives from her father's butcher shop. Perhaps he used them for hunting. Uninterested in the prince's hobbie, Sinalas vacated the bag - she could figure out the purpose of the other tools later - and moved on to the saddlebag on the right-hand side.
The saddlebag on the right side of the desk on the other hand was where Sinalas found what she had been risking using her powers in such a risky way. Several papers lay within, as well as maps with markings painted in on a different ink to the type used to make the original maps. She committed it all to memory and decided to retreat for tonight. She hadn't spent long in the Dreamwalk, so she should have enough energy for at least a good hour or so of Wakedreaming before she would have to properly sleep.
Behind her, the double doors opened. Though she was disembodied, she was still so startled that she thought her body must have twitched in the downstairs resting chamber. Two men were standing in the opening, Prince Gudrol and the young priest that had been sitting next to Lady Sinalas. Though she was invisible as long as she was a soul, she had the eerie feeling of being watched when she took them in with her senses. The young priest's expression was cold, nearly as cold as the prince's usual expression.
Prince Gudrol turned to the priest, and they exchanged looks. Then, without a word, the prince strode through the room with long, quick steps over to the desk. He looked at the ghostwood box and touched it lightly along its side, near the corner. He stood like that, looking at it for a few heartbeats, before stopping to the left saddlebag, the one with all the tools.
"I think we shall be having words with good Lady Sinalas," he said in a cold monotone, hefting the saddlebag. With a cold feeling of dread, strong enough to make her actual body cringe, Sinalas realized what the tools were. She had missed it because she had been too focused on finding out if Ayalash was in danger, but the prince's words made it click. They weren't for hunting, or any such sport. They were instruments of torture. Sinalas hurried down through the floorboards. As she did so, she noticed the priest was still in the doorway, staring at a spot just past her. No, at her.
Taking back control of her body, Sinalas sat bolt upright. Chaithia was sat beside her, one hand having been on Lady Sinalas' head in a soothing gesture, the other on her drawn companion dagger. Her attention was focused on the door.
"Crestfall," Sinalas said, giving Chaithia the codeword for their situation. Chaithia barely nodded and stood up.
'Two guards have been posted, either side of the door,' she replied as she positioned herself to the right of the door, standing back so it would swing past her, 'The stable hands are ready with three horses. Third has our things,' she finished.
Sinalas, dropping her ladylike demeanor for the last time tonight, and probably for a long while, drew a dagger of her own. Like Chaithia's, it was straight-edged, but with a small crossguard to allow her to hide it in a dress or ballgown. Sinalas took up position on the left side of the door, dagger at the ready.
'Thought of everything, haven't you,' Sinalas signed affectionately, even as she steeled herself for what they were about to do.
I haven't used this in forever, she thought bleakly to herself, feeling the weight of the blade in her hand. The world was turning dangerous. In just two short years, the continent had enjoyed relative peace among the realms, apart from the ever-present war with the Hollow King in the north-east. The newly-formed Imperial Alliance of Druimar, as it styled itself, had single-handedly changed that. Now, they were a threat even to the greater kingdoms.
Chaithia flung open the door on silent hinges, and as one, the two spies took a quiet step forward and, with a jab from their daggers, shoved their daggers through the throats of the guards. Their strikes were precise, and despite Sinalas' worry, she had in fact not been rusty. Leaving the daggers in, they pulled the dying guards into the room before they had time to bleed onto the carpeted floors outside before retrieving their weapons and hurriedly cleaning them. Chaithia, who was expected to carry weapons, sheathed hers. Sinalas instead opted to hide hers by obscuring the blade in the folds of her sleeve.
"Lead the way, but quickly. The prince and at least one of his priests are coming, and they intend torture."
Without a word, Chaithia nodded and started down the corridor. Sinalas noticed she was resting one hand on her swordhilt, ready to draw at a moment's notice. If she hadn't just seen Prince Gudrol take tools meant for torture, declaring an intent to visit her, seeing Chaithia's reaction would have. Something nagged at her, however, though she couldn't quite place what.
The pair of Ayalashi spies hurried down the silent corridor. Behind them, muffled footsteps could be heard. If she were a betting woman, she would bet those were army boots on carpeted stairs, and that those boots belonged to the prince.
The hallways were quiet. A hush lay over the large manor house. They saw nothing of either servants, nor Lord Fruymun's own men. Lonely portraits of previous lords of the house lined the empty halls and seemed to follow Sinalas and Chaithia with judging eyes as the pair made their way towards the back entrance to the courtyard. That door was the quickest way to where the stables were. As they passed by the entrance to Lord Fruymun's rooms, a thought occurred to her.
"I think we might be expected to take this route," Sinalas said in a low voice.
"Why do you figure that?" Chaithia asked, not slowing down her stride. They were nearing the next bend in the house.
"Because the prince and the priest that discovered I had spied on them acted strangely. I can't put my finger on it, but something was off about the whole thing. Then there's the fact that he said he was paying me a visit. I'm thinking, what if he knows?"
"He'll burn you for sure, if that's the case," she noted.
"Well suppose he does. And suppose he knows I was in the room, as a soul. Suppose he wants us to make a run for it, and to go this way to get to the horses."
"Easier to make the guards take you, I'd say."
"Unless he wants a pretext for torturing and executing us that does not require explaining that he can track souls."
Chaithia stopped dead in her tracks, just before turning the corner. She turned, staring at Sinalas. Next, she drew her dagger again, and cleaned it more thoroughly before placing herself with her back to the wall. She held the dagger up and peered at its tip, using the polished blade as a mirror to peek around the corner. Her eyes immediately darted to Sinalas. Their eyes met. The look Chaithia gave her made Sinalas' stomach drop.
Sard. Sometimes, I hate being right.
'Any other exits?' Sinalas signed.
'Front. Nothing else.' Chaithia signed back.
'Lord's bedroom window?' Sinalas replied. The time for propriety was over. It was over the moment she was discovered, if not before.
Chaithia nodded. Together, they backtracked to the door they had just passed by. It was another double door, finely carved. More importantly, the hinges looked well-kept. Carefully, Sinalas pushed down on the door's handle, pushing on the door to keep noise to a minimum. The simple lever mechanism scraped a little, then slid open without further sound.
The room on the other side was dark, apart from a fire. The lord was absent. Hopefully, he was still at dinner, playing host to his occupiers, even though several of the ghosts had left. That way, he stood a better chance of avoiding blame for anything. Such as a pair of dead guards in a resting chamber. Or three horses stolen from the Druimari retinue.
Chaithia walked ahead to the windows, glancing to either side through open doors that led into the lord's study and his bedroom. Sinalas followed, climbing onto the couch under the window as Chaithia undid the hasps. Moments later, Chaithia had slipped through the window, turning to avoid striking her sheathed rapier against anything that might make sound. Sinalas had an easier time of it, lightly armed as she was. She bit down on the dagger's handle and lowered herself out the window.
As Sinalas hit the grass below, Chaithia drew her rapier and used it to gently close the window as much as possible from the ground, then put it back in its sheath. The courtyard lay dark and empty. Light streamed out from most of the windows, making dagger shapes the color of fire, ringing in the courtyard. The two women, likely the only Ayalashi left in all Cannech, made their way to the courtyard. In case anyone was watching for movement in the courtyard, they avoided the light from the windows. As Sinalas looked around, she spotted movement in the windows. Shapes running past, momentarily shadowing the windows, as they made their way around the manor.
"They're coming," She hissed ahead to Chaithia. The two women broke into a run, breaking across the courtyard for the stables. Moments later, the entrance they had meant to use earlier burst open, and three guards ran out, weapons drawn. One was winded, he doubled over and heaved for air. Unable to shout, he pointed frantically at Sinalas, repeatedly stabbing his finger through the air.
"Run ahead, the horses should be tied to a rope in the middle of the stable floor," Chaithia said, calm as nothing, as she drew her rapier and companion dagger. She strode with determined steps.
Sinalas ran, though she could not help but keep an eye on Chaithia, as the latter engaged the first of the guards. He swung an axe at her, but missed as she lurched back before lunging. The guard brought his shield up in front of his face, causing the rapier to glance off. As if she had intended that all along, she twisted the blade and let it run down the shield's rim before it plunged into the soldier's upper chest, in the crook of his arm and into his right lung. The guard gasped and stumbled back, falling to the ground. Blood shone darkly in the light of the windows, covering a handspan of Chaithia's blade. The soldier thrashed in the ground, kicking himself away from her. The axe lay abandoned at her feet. The second and third guards advanced, though they looked a lot more wary now, having seen what she could do. Sinalas slipped into the stable. Sure enough, there the horses were. Two were either black or dark brown, while the third was dappled. The dapple was saddled with their effects, and had a long rope attached to its The stable hands were nowhere to be seen. Not bothering to untie the rope holding the reins to the post, Sinalas drove her dagger into it and, tying the reins of the closest of the dark horses and the rope of the dapple loosely to the saddle horn of the middle horse, she climbed atop it and kicked the horse into motion.
As she emerged from the stables, Chaithia was fighting a guard armed with a spear. The original three guards lay on the ground. The first was still kicking, but weaker than before. The other two lay still. Chaithia stabbed the guard through the shin, causing him to fall with a scream. Through the wide-open door, the sound of rapid heavy footfalls echoed, coming closer. Chaithia whirled around and climbed onto her horse with an agility that belied her having just defeated four soldiers of the prince's own guard. As they rode under the arch connecting the courtyard with the open fields beyond, doors opened on either side, and more soldiers came running out. Sinalas kicked at the one closest to him as he tried to get a hold of her horse's lead. He stumbled back and into another guard coming up behind him. To her left she heard another scream - a man's scream, so she didn't bother turning her attention there. By the sound of things Chaithia had the situation well in hand. Instead, she looked back to see High Prince Gudrol running out the door, surrounded by more soldiers. They locked eyes momentarily before he turned to sprint into the stables, screaming orders to his men. With any luck, it was too late. In moments, Sinalas and Chaithia were out in the open, galloping into the dead of night. Mercifully, only Ialylai's moon was yet out, casting a dim light over the road. It provided just enough light to avoid missing the road and risking gopher holes or hidden roots, but not enough that the two lady spies would be easily seen for at least another hour.
That should give us enough time to lose them, Sinalas thought to herself. Something tugged at her attention. She looked back towards the manor. Pursuers on foot were shadowed against the light spilling from the manor front. What drew her attention however, were the silhouettes of two figures standing stock still in the windows over the courtyard archway. Something made her think they must be. If so, where was the third? Sinalas couldn't say why, but the sight of them, and the thoughts they spurred, sent a chill down her spine. Sinalas encouraged her horse to pick up more speed, and hoped she would be able to disappear into the night. She suddenly felt like that wouldn't be so easy as she had first thought.
