The Spider's Lair

1. Trail, Error, and Imperial Coin

-Part One-

Chapter One

Trail, Errors, and Imperial Coin

It was early morning when the half-elf surreptitiously arrived at Jane's room. With a little luck, the Matron would still be sleeping, granting him some time alone with her. Theo knocked lightly, hoping to avoid disturbing anyone on the first floor. With his acute ears, Theo heard the shoeless feet of Jane dance timidly from within.

"Theo, is that you?" Jane whispered beyond the door. Theo tapped the door twice in answer.

The door slowly opened, and for a fleeting moment, her rich brown eyes of Jane captivated him as always. Her face was caught between the emotional lovers of fear and excitement as she moved aside to let him in. Theo breathed in the pleasant aroma of the room, catching the warm lit sunrise through an open window.

Jane locked the door then whirled. "What are you doing here?" she asked, smirking. Ever since they were children, Theo's complete disregard for following the Matron's rules had always stirred a giddy sort of thrill in her.

Theo gave an uninterested shrug then leaned back against her vanity table where several coloured vials stood sentry. "Maybe I just came to see you?" He suggested, flicking a thick curl of auburn hair from his eyes. She examined him suspiciously until Theo was forced to look away. He then took one of the perfume vials that suddenly grabbed his attention, tossing the vial from one hand to the other in feigned interest. He hadn't planned this far ahead, simply getting into her room undetected was a task alone.

"It's that guild, isn't it," she said in a hollow voice, "That's why you're here?" There was a long pause between them until Theo looked up darkly. The sound of betrayal on her words pained him, but he'd already made his decision on the matter.

"Matilda said you and Leo found someone from a guild and that he frequents here of late," Theo said flatly. "I need to know his name, Jane—what he looks like."

"And you came to me because you knew Leo would turn you down?" She spat. He could tell she was silently cursing Matilda's loose lips from behind the mask of anger. Theo looked down, offering his silence as atonement for the minor deception. He foolishly underestimated her insight, hoping instead to get his information covertly.

"You don't need to do this Theo," she begged, her sudden fiery rage melting in an instant, "you're going to get yourself hurt, or worse, killed. These people, this guild—well, they're dangerous men, Theo! Not some band or brotherhood."

Theo felt his palms press painfully around the corners of the blue perfume vial in his hand. He didn't want to upset Jane, but the voice of his dead mother drifted up from some dark fringes of his mind.

"Life is a bottomless pit with a short-thatched roof, Theodor. We have enough here. Others in the world have much less."

The denial in her words seemed to echo through Jane who wouldn't come to the realisation that they were trapped here. Maybe it was Margret's brainwashing that convinced his mother and Jane work at a whorehouse was the best life could offer them. Theo refused to believe it and only wished he'd convinced his mother as much.

"I know what they are!" Theo snapped loudly, causing Jane to anxiously glance at her door. It was her subtle reminder he wasn't supposed to be in here. Hushing his voice, he leaned in, "The same way I know what Margret is. We're as good as slaves here."

He turned his back on Jane, placing the perfume vial back at its post on the vanity table. "I will earn my freedom." He said absently, more to himself than Jane. Small hands stroked around his back to then unite over his stomach. He felt her small body press against him, her natural scent blended with perfumes and oils smothering him more than the embrace ever could.