Ok, how fitting that this chapter should start like the last few, with an apology for being late. Only this time I surpassed myself! Boo hiss!

Yeah exams and the like have really, really been getting to me. I’ve had pretty tough ones all through January and then I wrote another chapter over a short holiday in February. I gave it to a guy I know online to beta read, but he had some big problems and never managed to get around to it (not his fault) then we lost contact and I half forgot about this. I did at one point half heartedly rewrite chapters 5&6 but it was nothing major at all, just a few sentences turned around and a few mistakes corrected. Not worth re-reading.

Anyway, this chapter is where some new characters will be introduced. All of them should play a fairly central role to the plot, so I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 7: A traitor

So many mysteries, thought Yakin, so many damned intrigues. He was sitting in his room, a blanket wrapped over his shoulders and his hair still clinging to his forehead in wet strands.

The message in the statue had led him to yet another secure location. There he had had more information drip fed to him, and then another note, this time under a foot of mud, and so it had continued. It was ridiculous! Why send him walking out in the rain for all of a day when the Boss could have told him everything in person?

Even with the small bundle of notes in his hands he still knew precious little. He had a task - to gather a select few members of the guild for a secret meeting - but the reasons remained mostly hidden. “A traitor”, “a danger”, “all would be revealed in due course”. What was he supposed to understand from a mysterious person dressed in black, a dead body and a trail of breadcrumbs? He threw off his blanket angrily. Why should he be toyed with?

He stood up, sending his stool scraping across the floor. The bundle of parchments clenched in his fists he marched out into the cold night. He was going to see the Boss, no matter the dangers the guild was under, there was no reason to play these stupid charades any longer.

Pieter greeted him outside the Boss’ chambers with a worried smile. “Yakin. I don’t think the Boss has time to see you now.” He faltered under Yakin’s wet glare.

“Get out of the way before I shout everything in these goddamned letters to the whole guild.” He snarled. A few passers by glanced curiously at the scene.

Pieter paused a short moment before stepping aside. “There’ll be trouble for this.” He sighed as Yakin stormed past. “And I hope it’s not more than you’re expecting.” Yakin didn’t even bother replying. Steps and torches flew past him as he raced down to the meeting room. The door loomed out of the dark and Yakin’s heart slowed for a moment as he realised what he was doing. He was directly disobeying the Boss’ explicit orders. There could be consequences.

A memory of Rena, drenched and miserable as he left for his mission, sparked inside him and he regained his courage. He grasped the doorknob and pushed it. The room that greeted him was dark but for a candle and the gleam of a blade poised to throw. Yakin wasn’t the only one on edge it seemed.

“Oh no.” A familiar voice sighed. It was Mascero. “Put the knife down Boss, it’s just Yakin.” The glint died and the Boss stood up, his huge silhouette somehow adding to the darkness of the room.

“What are you doing?” he hissed quietly. “What are you DOING!?” Yakin jumped at the sudden spike of ferocity in his leader’s voice. “I can’t believe it. After all our precautions you’ve gone and thrown it all to hell?”

Mascero, his face visible by the light from the stairwell, bit his lip. “Yakin, explain yourself.” He said, then grimaced and mouthed the words “bloody fast.”

“No…” Yakin began. “No you explain yourself. Or should I say yourselves? Are you playing games with me? Why couldn’t you just tell me all the rubbish in these letters yourself Boss?” he strode forward and put them down on the desk. “I don’t understand. You send me on a wild goose chase to tell me that there’s a…”

“Quiet” The Boss hissed urgently.

“To tell me that there’s a traitor in the guild.” Yakin finished defiantly. “And why can’t you tell all these people to meet…” he was cut off as the Boss leapt forwards across his desk, sending papers flying in a whirl and landed on Yakin heavily, his huge hand clamped firmly across his mouth. Yakin struggled wildly under the mass of muscle until Mascero stepped forwards and twisted the Boss’ arm back.

“Let him go.” He said unevenly.

“Oh get off you fool.” The Boss snapped back, taking his hand away and brushing Yakin down. “It’s that damned shadow in the doorway again. I had to stop the lad talking.”

Mascero obeyed, releasing the Boss’ arm with a sigh of relief; for a moment his world had seemed at breaking point. “Sorry Boss.” He picked Yakin up and patted him gently. “Get Pieter to watch the door and turn all the torches on. I’d like to see someone listen to our meetings with every corner lit up like a bonfire.”

The Boss nodded and shouted gruffly for his doorman. His face, lit by the candle, showed heavy lines that had not been present even a few weeks ago, his hair was beginning to glint with grey. Yakin saw stress and a creeping fear in his eyes. If something was scaring the Boss, things were very bad indeed.

The lights flared and Pieter was stood in the doorway, his back to the room. Yakin sat with Mascero and the Boss around the table. The air was heavy with wood smoke and tension. “Now explain yourself.” The Boss said calmly, almost gently.

Yakin nodded, holding his anger in. This was not the time to be a fool. “First of all I’m sorry if I’m being an idiot, but I don’t understand what’s going on. You sent me away on a mission; that’s fair enough. But why the cryptic notes? Who was that person who apprehended me on the roof of the first house I went to?”

“Wait, stop.” the Boss interrupted with a wave of his hand “You met someone out there?” He exchanged a worried look with Mascero.

“You mean you didn’t know?” Yakin said softly. So he’d been wrong. That person hadn’t been working for the guild.

Both the Boss and Mascero shook their heads. “And you don’t know about the dead thief either?” Yakin asked.

“That we do know. It’s why Mascero and I were meeting when you… interrupted us. But how do you know about him?”

Mascero raised his palm. “Yakin. It would be simpler if you just explained everything to us from the beginning.” Yakin nodded and began to retell the events of the day.

Time had passed above the large room and Yakin was starting to feel the weight of a long day pulling his eyes closed. “So you definitely saw nothing that could hint at your attacker’s identity?” the Boss pressed.

“I told you, he wasn’t an attacker. And no, I couldn’t see anything of his face. All I know is he was dressed all in black, with some sort of mask or hood over his face.” Yakin replied, struggling with a yawn that had been building up inside him for an eternity.

“Alright. I think we can let you go for tonight.” The Boss said kindly. “I’m sorry you had to see such a terrible thing as a dead body… I had hoped the time when our brethren had to deal with those things was long passed.” He patted Yakin’s shoulder to show him all was forgiven. “Hand this to Pieter as you leave and tell him to gather all the people on the list for tomorrow morning. You should be there as well, as soon as the sun comes over the horizon.”

“One last thing then. Why didn’t you just tell me the situation directly? Wouldn’t it have been simpler than sending me around the town?”

The Boss’ eyes flitted briefly to sealed door. “Somebody’s been listening in on all our meetings recently. We see only a shadow in the doorway from time to time when the lights are down but there’s definitely something there and nothing we’ve done has enabled us to catch it… I fear that even now with Pieter standing right outside the door and every corner of this room lit we may still have an eavesdropper somewhere. Every time we get some new information or find something out about the traitor this person listens in and suddenly we might as well know nothing, the traitor’s a step ahead of us.

“I thought that in giving you all this information in writing we might be able to avoid revealing too much of what we know. So I split the information into about seven pieces and had Mascero scatter them about. Hopefully our traitor won’t be able to find out who’s been summoned and where we’re meeting and we can get enough trustworthy members together to begin rooting the traitor, or possibly traitors out.”

Yakin smiled as he stood up, trying to stop his legs wobbling, and picked up the list from the tabletop; scanning it once more as he left. Graham, Saeralyna, Rashid, Rena, Kirin, Argus, Mascero, Phillipe, Artur, Pieter… the list was short, but long enough for his eyes to blur with tiredness by the end. For now he needed sleep. Tomorrow he would face this mysterious meeting and perhaps get some answers. He waved in farewell, too tired to say anything more and then trudged back to his room where he pulled off his clothes, flopped down on his bed and fell asleep immediately.

What remained of the night passed almost unnoticed. Yakin awoke from an odd dream of bloody raindrops running down a window and dark figures in doorways to a cheerful knock at his door. Groaning he pulled his head out of the recesses of his pillow and yawned luxuriously. A gleam of dusty rose tinted dawn-light was seeping through the tiny window near the ceiling of his bedroom. Just in time for the strange meeting.

He began to pull his shirt off and was about to ask the person outside to wait a moment when the door burst open and a blonde haired girl rushed in giggling. Set upon by this new arrival, Yakin was forced backwards onto his bed. She was pretty, with a glowing, youthful face and her hair was tied back in a tail that hung just past her shoulders, held in place by a sky blue ribbon that twined round her head to join a copper circlet over her brow. Her features remained just on the delicate side of sharp with a pair of bright green eyes finishing off the whole.

Yakin saw none of this, his face pressed against the new arrival’s chest. He untangled himself with practiced ease and pointedly pulled his nightshirt, which was halfway off, back on. “Saera. Good morning to you too. You do realise that when you knock on someone’s door, it’s usually to check if you’re allowed in, not as a warning that you’re coming in anyway.”

Saeralyna, gifted with a name she adored and everyone else abbreviated, giggled and tousled Yakin’s hair in response. “Today’s the best day ever!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, as usual.” Yakin grunted. “Now can I actually get dressed?”

She turned aside so that she was looking into the reflective surface of Raka and Sasakis’ cage lock. Yakin rolled his eyes and pulled his clothes on under the bed sheets. When he was finished he climbed out and shivered at the sudden change in temperature. Steering Saera away from his monkey cage, he fished out his pets and put them on his shoulders before turning to her. “Now, what’s so great about today? It looks fairly average to me.”

“Don’t be so boring Yakin!” she sniffed back, folding her arms across her chest. She winked slyly at him “Today really is special. Want to know why?”

“Nope.” Yakin replied, not without some satisfaction. “Now I have to go.” Herding Saera out of the door, he locked it and walked down the corridor, knowing she would follow.

“You’re evil!” Saera sighed as she caught up at a jog.

“Yup.” Yakin said. Saera pouted and said nothing more, Yakin smiled, teasing Saera was easier than picking pockets. “Alright then, go on. Why is today so special?”

She brightened up immediately. “It’s a secret, but I’ll tell you anyway.” They left the building and stepped out onto the street. Saera put her hands on both of Yakin’s arms and pushed him against a wall then leant her head close to his, so her lips were by his ear. “Pieter came to see me last night.” She whispered theatrically, loose strands of her hair fluttering in her breath “And he told me that I had to come to a secret meeting today at sunrise as a matter of urgency.” She giggled at the drama of the moment. “Don’t tell anyone though.”

“Yeah, I’m going too.” Yakin sighed, unimpressed.

“You knew?”

“What? You mean you didn’t know I was going too?” Yakin said angrily.

“No… why? What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.

“What’s wrong?” Yakin hissed “What’s wrong is that you just went and told me a guild secret when you were supposed to keep it to yourself.” He grabbed her wrists and spun round so that she was pressed against the wall then looked menacingly into her eyes “Saera. Answer me, now. Who else have you told this to?”

“N… nobody!” She stammered; her airy tone lost. Her voice was weak but she held Yakin’s gaze as she spoke. He sighed in relief, her face was… different when she lied; he was sure she was telling the truth. He released his grip on her wrists as gently as he could and stepped away from her.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I had to be sure.” He explained as she stared at him with hurt in her eyes. He looked about to make sure nobody was listening “You understand, there’s big problems at the moment. The Boss suspects there’s a traitor in the guild. Someone’s already been killed and we don’t know who did it. If we’re lucky the traitor doesn’t know we’ve got wind of him, but going around blathering about secret meetings is the best way to make sure he does.”

Saera nodded quietly and followed Yakin, her head hung low. After a few hundred paces she asked hoarsely “Yakin… are you…” her voice cracked “are you still angry at me?” she wiped a single glittering tear away from her eye. Yakin laughed and paused to let her catch up then put his arm over her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic squeeze. She hiccupped once or twice then fell silent again; her tears often dried fast, Yakin found. He led her gently out of the guild compound with his arm still around her and through the windy streets to the old dockyard warehouse where the secret meeting was taking place.

The building was almost empty, save for a few broken crates scattered about and rotting straw littering the dusty floor in places. The warehouse roof was thatched, perfect for holding cheap goods in the dry season, useless for keeping out the rain in the wet season. Silence and empty space greeted the pair as they walked in, shivering from the cold. Yakin and Saera looked over the room, trying to find the telltale eye of the guild. There was nothing. The walls were bare and the floorboards, although knotted, twisted and broken, were devoid of any symbols.

“I don’t get it.” Yakin sighed finally. “This is definitely the place we’re supposed to be in.”

Saera shrugged and sat on an upturned barrel, her arms wrapped around her body. Yakin stopped pacing and listened carefully for sounds of talking. He heard nothing. Groaning in frustration he put his monkeys on the floor to let them run about. “So shall we just wait for somebody to show up who knows where to go?” he asked finally.

“I’d say you should just use your brains for once.” Said a voice from the doorway. Yakin and Saera jumped and looked up. A boy was standing in the doorway, his dark brown, almost black hair hanging loosely about his head, his eyes a steely grey. “It seems fairly obvious to me.” He continued, striding across the room to an old ladder that lead up to a storage platform high above ground level. He tested it with a shake then vaulted up it two rungs at a time. Yakin and Saera looked up in time to see a cascade of old straw fall on them. “Well the eye isn’t exactly difficult to see from up here.” The boy said mockingly.

Rolling his eyes, Yakin followed Saera up the ladder, Raka and Sasaki clambering eagerly up the walls beside them. “So where’s the eye then Graham?” He asked as he clambered over the edge of the platform.

“See for yourself.” replied Graham gesturing over the ledge, “Personally, I saw it as soon as I came in.”

Yakin and Saera leant over and looked down. The eye of the guild stared back at them. The barrels, crates and straw had been strewn around the room in such a way as to form the shape of the thief’s eye. Yakin growled in annoyance, it was pretty obvious, he had to admit. Still, Graham was exaggerating the ease with which he had found the eye, if Yakin was any judge, he’d probably come in an hour or two early to make sure he could show Yakin up.

“Well,” Yakin said, standing up and brushing the straw off his trousers. “I guess you were right Graham. See you down there.” Then he flung himself off the ledge towards the opposite wall, hurtling downwards as gravity caught him. His heart raced against his ribs at the exhilaration. He had time only to register a little squeal of surprise from Saera before he collided with wall, expertly folding his legs and arms to spring out again and land in a crouch on the floor below.

Graham descended the conventional way and looked darkly at Yakin, who smiled smugly. “Come on, hurry up, we don’t want to be late now, do we?” He asked. A voice inside him told him that this was a petty victory, but the reluctantly admiring look on Graham’s face made it worth it.

After a short search, they found a well concealed trapdoor at the centre of the eye, which they opened silently and slipped through. Beyond was an almost pitch black passageway with a tiny glimmer of light at the end. Saera gave a muffled shriek as something brushed past her feet in the darkness. Yakin stooped and grabbed it, holding it up to the light. It was a huge rat, about the size of his forearm. Its eyes gleamed brightly and it extended a little pink tongue to lick a welcome to Yakin.

He laughed happily “It’s ok. It’s one of Kirin’s rats, he must be here too.”

“That’s right!” said a voice happily from somewhere in the darkness. A short, thin boy wrapped in very baggy clothing, his head covered by an old sack cloth hood crept into the light and embraced Yakin, laughing.

“Kirin! It’s been a long time!” he grinned happily, clasping his best friend’s hand in his own.

“I had to spend a few weeks in the royal manor house as a servant. We’ve been scouting the place out for months now; my babies have been helping me along the way.” He whistled and his body began to shift and move as five or six rats began to crawl out from different parts of his clothing. Saera made a noise of disgust at the sight and Yakin patted each one in turn, letting Raka and Sasaki go to play with the animals, a few centimetres bigger than they were.

A polite cough echoed from the end of the passage and Pieter’s voice called out to them. “The Boss asks if you could finish your reunion later. We are waiting only for you to begin the meeting.”

Yakin and his companions all nodded in obedience and walked together, Saera keeping a safe distance from Kirin, and entered the brightly lit stone chamber below the warehouse where almost twenty faces turned to stare at them as they walked in.

“Now.” Said the Boss pointedly as they walked in, “Perhaps we can begin the meeting, which I fear may mark the beginning of a trying time for our guild.” The Boss paused and gazed at the far wall for a moment before blinking and shaking his head “Two of our members have been killed already our guild has a traitor and somebody is attacking thieves up on the rooftops. Our time is sadly growing shorter by the hour, as, I fear, may be our lives.”