Chapter 10

Aco listened and turned back to the hall they had come in from, motioning for the other girls to get out of the ballroom. She followed then a little bit more slowly, her hips kept trying to collapse under her. She made it to the side passage she had come from just before the speakers entered the ballroom. She hid between two side columns to listen.

“She has to be around here somewhere, she couldn’t just walk through walls,” said Manfred. She knew that voice, the others she didn’t know.

“Manfred, you have never seen her perform before, I have. I saw her this morning on stage, and all she did there was a basic exercise for her and she earned quite a bit of coin. She could fit if she could squeeze in her hips and tits,” said the first of the unknowns.

Another voice cut in, “Unless she can pull her legs out of joint ... Oh crap, she did go out that vent. Where does it come out? Anybody know?” Nobody answered. “Ok, If she did get through the vent, I will bet she is hurting like hell right now.” ‘That one is too smart,’ thought Aco.

Then Aco saw Manfred, he was still holding her dragon mask in one hand. He walked over to the shattered pile on the floor and looked at it. She saw he was looking at it hard then after a full minute of study he looked up, “She has been here. The mask pile has been disturbed, and the one I left is missing. She can’t be far yet.” He looked around then swore, “Her clothing is missing too. We have to find her and kill her, or she will kill all of us.” Aco watched as Manfred examined the shadows as if she was going to drop from them and attack. “If she finds out what was done to the crone...”

Aco moved away from the entrance, stepping into another small side passage that led to a closet, a cloak room it turned out, full of the guest’s cloaks. It was nearly pitch black so she slipped behind a rack of long cloaks and said loudly, “I know what you have done, I am coming for you, The Judge of Souls demands your presence.” She went silent and stayed still and listened. All she heard from the men was a sudden cursing, and it sounded like panic as all she could make out was men screaming and running away. Manfred was calling them cowards and trying to get them to come back.

Aco knew a thing or two about cloaks. Many had pockets that could hold and hide things from view. She slowly felt around her, running her hands up and down each cloak within reach. She stopped when she felt something in one. Running her hand around the object, she found the top and carefully pulled the item out. She smiled at her find, a small hand dagger. She felt the tip and edge and was pleased it was sharp and though it was only six inches long, she could work with it.

Now that she had a weapon of sorts beside her hands, she could fight now. Her hips and left shoulder still hurt enough to slow her down and prevent her from moving the way she normally liked too. She began moving around the edge of the cloakroom behind the racks of cloaks when she bumped into an upright bin of some sort. It didn’t fall over, but the objects inside did rattle loudly. With her hands, she discovered it was full of walking sticks. She quickly felt across them, looking for anything that might be useful. Not finding a pommel type, she pulled one out and smiled again, a longer weapon to work with, and lean on. She could hear somebody outside the door to the cloakroom now.

“It came from in here I think,” whispered a man. Another shushed him and said, “Quiet you, idiot.”

Aco just shook her head and silently chuckled at the ineptitude of Manfred’s henchmen. One stepped in with a single candle, holding it up to try and see around the room. Aco turned her head away so the glow didn’t blind her dark adjusted vision. When the glow faded from her closed eyes, she opened them enough to see her targets. She wasn’t thrilled with the thought of killing, but it was her life or theirs, and she had things that needed finishing, so they just had to go. She slowly moved her hands up in a striking position and waited until he took one more step into the closet. He hesitated, waited to listen, then took that last step to look in the back of the closet when she struck. She knew she had to make this a silent kill and did so. She swung her left hand over his mouth and drove the dagger into the base of his skull up into the brain. He twitched a few times then went limp. Aco caught the candle with her right hand while holding him up to avoid a loud thump of the body hitting the floor. She lowered him and blew out the flame. She recovered the dagger then slid back into her cover and waited. When nothing happened right away, she moved closer to the entry but stayed behind the cloaks. The second man finally had enough waiting and quietly asked, “Bert? Is she in there?” He didn’t get a reply. Aco saw his form block what little light was making it this far into the corridor. She waited and the second man stuck his head in to see if he could spot his partner. He stepped in a few feet and stumbled when he stepped on Bert’s corpse.

“What the?” was as far as he got in his exclamation, Aco lashed out and caught him in the throat with the small dagger. She tried to catch him, but he was turning as he fell to the side away from her. The noise of his falling was loud in her ears and she expected to hear others coming to investigate.

Aco waited but no one came right then. She knelt down to see if either of the men had a better weapon she could borrow. The first had a long dagger, that she could really use, the second a short sword and long dagger. She didn’t even think about it. She took his dagger too. She also found their coin pouches on the outside of their belts rather than secured out of sight. These she took as spoils of war, it was war and she had just killed two men for no good reason. ‘Forgive me My Lady if I have sent you these two souls out of turn,’ she thought in a silent prayer.

Aco peeked around the door and didn’t see or hear any movement nearby. In the distance, she could hear men shouting at one another. She carefully made her way back to the ballroom, hoping her legs would continue to work. Her hips were on fire now from what she figured were torn muscles. She made it back to the spot she had been in and could see the ballroom was empty of people for the moment. Using the cane she had taken, she made her way to the main entrance to the courtyard.

Staying out of sight as well as she was able, she looked outside and was shocked to see the gallows being set up. On the ground she could see people tied together, all stripped naked, it was her fellow prisoners. ‘That stupid bastard,’ she thought. The Prince, his son, and both their wives were with them. Also, Manfred had his wife stripped and tied as well. Her sister on the other hand was still dressed and carrying a large switch. She lashed it down on whoever she wanted at random, paying special attention to her sister who was bleeding across her breast from having been struck often and hard. Aco had to put a stop to this or innocent people were going to be murdered. She moved away from the doors and looked down another side passage. It had several lanterns that were still working so she could see a fair ways down it. On the left side were several waist-high tables that stuck out a foot from the wall, leaving the corridor a tight fit. What was on the table though, now that got her attention. It was piled with weapons of many sorts. Most were the small sort that could easily be hidden on a person. Her eyes lit and she moved to pick up her claws, her personal weapons. She seated the straps and locked them in place, then looked at the rest of the pile. Somebody had throwing stars on them? ‘Why?’ she thought, then grabbed them, they would come in handy.

She spotted what appeared the be a window a few yards down the corridor. It was and she was happy now. She had a clear view of the courtyard but was partially concealed from sight. She saw a guard that would be a problem right away. She was good with thrown weapons, so she readied several stars, picked her targets, then began throwing at them. She only wanted to hit them enough to draw several away for her to handle in safer conditions. Instead, she hit one in an eye, caught another in his throat, cutting it open. A third took one in the back of his hand, and the last one for some odd reason smacked into the forehead of one man and stuck there. She suddenly found that instead of two or three, she had over a dozen men running for the doors to come to find her.

“Oh shit,” said Aco and limped along as fast as her hurting legs would go. She found the door at the end was open so she ducked through it, pulled it closed. It had a bar that could lock it, so she dropped it in place, sealing the door from this side. She looked around and saw the only way out was up a ladder to the next floor. She realized she was on the base-floor of one of the battlement towers. Taking a breath, she began the climb up the ladder. She wasn’t quite hurting as much now, but her legs still felt weak and knew the pain would return if she pushed too hard. The opening at the top was not locked down, so she was able to get to the second floor. As she reached the top, pounding began on the door below, so she pulled up the ladder, closed the hatch with the board that was next to the opening. This room had an exit into the castle proper and she could hear metal shod boots pounding around to get up the stairs to reach her. She closed this door and barred it as well. She saw that she could use the ladder to reach the next level and did so. The next level had a ladder, so she pulled up the one she had been using, secured the hatch to study her surroundings. This room didn’t have a door into the castle like the one below. It did have curved stairs going up around a central pillar. She began the climb, not knowing if anybody was on the tower, looking down at the proceedings. She stayed as quiet as she could, but the stone chamber echoed with each tap of the cane on the stone steps. She tried a few steps without it, but her right leg wouldn’t take the steps without the support. She made it to the last turn and saw the hatch above was open and she heard a man speaking softly.

“Be ready to shoot as soon as she comes out. The boss wants her dead rather badly,” said the low, gruff voice.

“Why, she is just another split to use, why the fuss?” asked another. This one sounding much younger.

The first man snorted, “You kids, you never paid attention to the stories, did you? You really should, you know. The Claw is the thing of nightmares.”

“A nightmare, why should we be afraid of a dream?”

“You fail to understand boy. She is not the nightmare to fear. You call her to kill the fucking nightmare,” he snarled at the boy.

“Oh,” was all the boy said in response. He remained silent after that.

A third voice whispered, “And if she comes up here?”

There was a long pause, “Then we fight, we die and go to face our judgment as men.”

Aco heard this and decided to do something foolish in the extreme. She braced herself for battle and said in a calm, quiet voice, “If you wish to continue living to return to your families, leave the tower now, and I will not kill you.”

Everything above her stopped. After a full minute of waiting, she said, “Well? I’m waiting.”

She heard whispering she couldn’t make out, then the gruff old speaker said, “We will just use the escape rope and go down the side. Will that be ok with you Miss Claw?”

“That will be fine, and it is just Claw, I was never a Miss,” replied Aco. ‘It can’t be that easy,’ she thought, ‘They will try something, I’m sure of it.’ She waited, and as she expected, she heard a footstep on the loose old stones of the steps above her. One or more was going to try to ambush her on the stairs. ‘Fine, have it your way.’ She didn’t wait for them to come to her. Aco took a deep breath and willed the pain to let go, it didn’t, but she launched herself up and around the central pillar. All three men were there, wide-eyed as terror overtook them. She was looking right at them with the mask of fangs and red eyes, right in their faces. She lashed out with both claws and gutted the lowest man, more of a boy across the stomach. He dropped his small sword as his hands went to his guts to try and hold them in. He started to fall towards her so she stepped to the outer edge of the stairs. The boy rolled past her, his guts falling out as he rolled down a few steps then caught on the edge around the corner. He groaned in agony with the last of the air in his lungs and bled out. She didn’t take time to see this, she charged the second man up and managed to slice open a hand. It was the one holding a lantern, the sole source of light, so he dropped it, breaking the glass, spilling oil down the steps towards her. Not wanting to be burned, she leaped up two steps, letting out a groan of her own, driving one claw into the throat of the second man. He fell and caught on her legs before he could go far, stopping her from going up right away.

The third man stopped and dropped his weapons, two long daggers like the ones she had used earlier. He was white with fear, shaking and a stain was spreading down his legs. “I guess it would have been wiser to have accepted your offer.”

Aco nodded, she didn’t want to kill this man, but she knew he would try to come at her again if she allowed him to continue living. “I regret the necessity, but I must kill you to stop this coup.” She grinned at a thought, “Turn around and get on your knees.” He did as ordered. She lashed out, striking him in the back of the head. He fell without a sound. A quick check showed he still lived so she tied his hand behind him with cloth she cut from his tunic and left him to be collected later.

Aco knew she was running short on time so climbed the stairs as well as her hurting legs would let her. The brief fight had taken a lot out of her, making her want to wait and think. She thought she heard a noise from above, but wasn’t sure. Her heart was pounding in her ears from the strain and making it hard for her to be sure of anything right then. As she came around the final turn of the stairs, she began to hear clearly what sounded like a small war taking place. The clashing of sword and shield, the scream of injured and dying men. Aco made her way up and through the open hatch, crawling toward the edge that looked down on the courtyard. She raised herself just enough to see what was happening below.

Men in city uniform and armor were pushing the followers of Manfred back and away from the gallows. She didn’t see anybody in the noose, so she had high hopes that she had delayed them enough with the stars to prevent any hangings. As she watched the fight, one man in fine civilian clothes stood up and staggered off to the side nearest the castle. He was dragging a loaded crossbow with him. He made it to a shadowed alcove and waited for something. Aco looked around the tower and spotted a crossbow, also loaded by its former owner. It was leaning against the inner wall across from her. She stood up carefully, then limped across the small platform. This tower was part of the oldest section of the castle so was smaller than most of the others. She got to the weapon, picked it up, then almost fell over from the pain in her shoulder. With her good arm, she dragged it back to her viewing spot. She looked for the man in his hide and spotted him. He had the crossbow up and was aiming at the men and women that had been imprisoned. She didn’t know who he was after, but she wasn’t about to let him get a clean shot. She pulled her crossbow up and braced it as well as she could in the narrow opening. Aco aimed and rather than wait, she pulled the trigger, sending the bolt down at the man below. She watched as the bolt slammed into the stones next to his feet. She had missed her one shot. The bolt impacting so close to him did startle him though. It caused him to jerk reflexively and he pulled the trigger before he was on his target. The bolt went high and sank into the old wood of the gallows. It was directly over the head of the prince, the heir apparent, the son of the sitting ruler. Aco watched as the guards closed in and one group formed a living wall around the royal family. The other squad, seeing the direction of the bolt charged the shadowed alcove. The man, injured as he was, still put up a fight but was brought down and bound in ropes taken from the gallows. He was going to be hung on the spot, but the young prince ordered the fighting to stop, and it did. He looked around, spotted the man, walked over to him then struck him across the face. He raised his voice and yelled, “Take as many alive as you can, they will stand trial and face the headsman if found to be guilty!” The guards quickly began checking for any that lived, “And find out who shot at him from the old tower. They saved me from that bolt.”

Aco just sat there. She was too tired and hurt to badly to try and get away again. She kept her mask on and pulled her hood tight around her head. She didn’t want the men that would arrive soon to panic and shoot her. She waited and waited and nobody came. Then she remembered, she had barred all the doors on the way up. Nobody could get in to reach her without battering the doors down. Even thinking of moving caused her to groan. “I need a vacation,” she said to nobody.

“That works for me Aco,” said Bruce from behind her head on the outside of the wall. “I figured I might find you up here.” He pulled himself over the edge and sat down next to her, breathing hard from the effort of the climb. He was hurting from the beating that had been laid on him after she had escaped the cell. “I figured the guards and staff would have beaten me up here.”

Aco chuckled softly, “I barred every door to the tower as I climbed up. They will have to batter them down unless of course, you want to open them for me.”

“I guess I should. Can you walk?” he asked.

“Not well nor far for now. My legs are a wreck, and the left arm isn’t doing so well, plus I think I am bleeding again from all the cuts and scrapes I took in the vent.”

He looked her over and saw spots of blood on her gown. He wasn’t sure if it was hers or the three on the steps. “I can help you down if you like.”

“I like. Bruce, I hurt.” She sagged as he started to lift her to her feet. He ended up supporting her all the way down to the first door. He released the bar and it was shoved open from the castle side. Two men with a ram came plowing in and across to slam into the pillar. They fell to their knees, cursing loudly. When they turned to look to see who had opened the door, they saw only the rest of the squad.

One of the men pointed back up the corridor, “They went that way,” said one, pointing. “Ok, let’s get this tower checked and secured. His men split, some going up the rest down to open the other doors.

Bruce half carried, half dragged Aco down through the old castle. “Now we have to face the music Aco.”

“Hold on a minute Bruce, we need to discuss payment before you up and vanish on me.” She leaned against the wall, then decided to hell with it, sank down to sit on the cool stones. “First is the base fee. Then getting caught in a palace coup, which I think you knew was coming. Add on the injuries I took being captured, then escaping. Add on the fact I had to kill five in the attempt to rescue everybody, well, the Thieves coffers will take one hell of a hit for this job.”

“You will have the note to the bank by sun-up, for our part.” Now he chuckled, “You helped save a high member of the Brotherhood, they have to pay, the palace will be more than happy to pay for the effort you put in by saving the young prince. Aco, my dear, you will be quite well off for this night’s work.” He went silent as he listened, “We are about to have company, Aco.” She just nodded and waited.

A full squad of men in full battle armor walked into sight, they froze when the spotted Bruce and Aco sitting against the wall. “Identify yourselves,” said the squad leader.

Bruce didn’t stand but replied, “I am called Bruce. Most simply call me The Nightmaster of the Thieves Guild. This here is Aco. She is an associate and friend.” He waited for the inevitable reaction.

“Nightmaster?” The squad leader went pale. “Are you in need of assistance?” he asked.

“Actually yes. I took a serious beating by those thugs and Aco has serious leg and bodily injuries that will need tending.” Bruce tried to lift himself back up, but his body had decided to go on strike and the pain, combined with exhaustion caught up with him and he collapsed. Aco had already fallen asleep and didn’t respond at all.

The squad leader, Harison sent a man to find stretchers for the two. It took a few minutes and in that time, the men that went up returned. They had one man between them, the one Aco had knocked out.

“This is the only one left alive, sir. It looks like he will have a large knot on the back of his head, but will live.”

Harison started to ask Bruce, but was cut off by Aco who had woken up, “I left that one alive. I had to kill the other two though.” Her head sagged again and she fought the not cry out in pain from her legs when she shifted a little. She had hoped that they would hurt less by now, instead, it was worse. She ran a hand over the area that was hurting and felt her legs had swollen from the damage. “I need a cold soak for my legs,” she muttered.

Harison heard her and whispered something to another of his men. He took off down the stairs and vanished. Aco asked, “When will I be able to leave, I shouldn’t be here now.”

“I don’t know the answer to that, but you will be free to go soon. Just a few issues to clear up.”

“Is her Ladyship well? I heard several things that have me worried.”

Harison looked around then knelt by Aco so he could speak in a low voice. “Manfred will be dead by morning. It is known what he did and will not be allowed to live for all of his crimes against the crown.”

“And his men,” Aco asked.

“Most will be imprisoned for their part in this, a few others will join him as a guest to the headsman.”

“What of his wife and her sister?”

“His wife will be free to go, she had no part in this night. Her sister, on the other hand, will get the ax for her part in the raping of her Ladyship,” said Harison with some disgust in his voice.

“What of the money he owes?” said Bruce.

“That will be between her and the Guild I think,” said Harison.

“Figures. Well, once we get downstairs, I need to vanish,” said Bruce. “It is bad enough I had to be here in the first place. Now I am trapped in plain sight with no way to escape, and the woman I am supposed to be the control for is hurt pretty badly.” He paused, looked around but didn’t see any of the street rats around. He snorted, ‘I am in the castle for heaven’s sake. Of course none of them are in here,’ he thought.

“I will see that you and she are sent on your way as soon as we can get you down to the entrance. How does that sound.”

“We can live with that. I will see to the care of Aco. She has more than earned her fee and beyond tonight. In fact, the Royal House may owe her a bit as well for that well-placed bolt and a few dead and captured rebels,” said Bruce.