Magic Of Light

Night Job

Tiiv crouched behind the wooden plank across the street, peering out to watch the Condredar residency. It was huge, at least a hundred paces long, made of polished stone and shiny wood. It had three floors, making it the tallest building in this part of the town.

The night was silent and dark. Clouds hid the stars and the falciform shape of Golatran. The torches on the building's wall left patches of shadows between them.

"Let's do this, kid," Gerlo whispered into Tiiv's ear. He looked the street up and down to be sure nobody was out in this late hour, then he left their hiding place and crossed to the other side quickly but silently. Gerlo was higher than Tiiv with a width of a palm, but crouching in the shadow at the corner, flattened to the wall he was almost invisible. It wasn't only the decades of experience that made Gerlo one of the best thieves, but he also had a talent for stealing. It was as if he was made to be a thief. Tiiv hoped that he could learn some neat tricks from him.

Tiiv saw Gerlo's signal only because he was watching the older stealer. He looked around, saw nobody else, so he crossed the street mimicking Gerlo's movement as much as he could. They hunkered, hugging the wall of the Condredar building. They listened.

Lord Condredar wasn't at home. The noble attended a ball at the Palace, most probably drinking expensive wine and stuffing himself with roasted venison. He wasn't expected to return home for a few hours more. Enough time to do the job.

Tiiv didn't know how Querr Lockhead, the head of the Nightstalkers gang knew all about this, and he didn't want to ask. Tiiv was too low in the Nightstalkers hierarchy, he didn't have a say and he didn't have the right to ask questions. At least not from Querr, who always kept his distance from the gang members. Gerlo was different. The older man had taught him, corrected his mistakes and made sharp comments when he did something stupid. Not like his father, who looked ashamed when learned that Tiiv joined the Nightstalkers.

They waited. Querr promised a diversion to draw away the attention of the staff. Nothing happened so far. Gerlo looked calm as always when doing a job, immobile, watching the surroundings only with small movements of his head. Time crawled by like a lazy snail, and Tiiv found hard to stay put. His calf and thigh started to ache because of the unnatural position, and his nose was itching. He forced himself not to move, instead he concentrated on imitating Gerlo, slowly looking around, checking the street, the houses on the other side, the windows of the Condredar residency, though he had limited view from this angle. They waited.

After an agonizingly long time they heard a frustrated neigh, then another. It came from the other side of the building, where – as Querr told them earlier when going through the details of the job – the stables and hutches were. Something must have scared the horses. Then dogs barked and chickens clucked. Something was happening in the back. It was time.

Gerlo stood up and wrapped his left hand in a cloth. Someone shouted somewhere behind the house, Tiiv could make out the word "fox". Did Querr released a fox near the outbuildings? Considering the growing noise it may had been several foxes.

Gerlo looked around once more, then stepped to the outermost window and hit the lowest of the panes. The glass shattered. Tiiv winced, thinking that everyone in the house must had heard the noise. Gerlo stood motionless for a while, listening. No one came. The shouting at the back continued, Tiiv could recognise several voices mixing with the noises the scared animals made.

Gerlo reached through the hole and undid the latch. He pushed the window open, and in a moment he climbed inside. Tiiv followed him.

Tiiv had never been in a Lord's house. In the dark he couldn't see much, but he could make out the shapes of a canapé and two armchairs around a table, bookshelves standing next to the walls, and a huge dark painting. Tiiv wanted to make some light to see the golden and silk and crystal ornaments, to touch the plush cover of the canapé and the thick carpet. This was how he imagined the very rich people lived. They didn't have time for that, they came to do the job.