Inkthief

Prologue

Disclaimer: Characters and locations found in the Inkworld Trilogy belong to Cornelia Funke, not us. We only own the characters we create. :)

A/N: Updates on our writing progress and a few little extras can be found on our Twitter page. You can find the link on our profile page. Thank you. :)

Prologue

Dustfinger carried his youngest daughter in his arms, his oldest walking beside them, carrying the bag containing his supplies in her small hands as they made their way through the trees, back to where the Strolling Players stayed every time they performed in Ombra. A smile played across his lips as he looked at the two children he called his own, Rosanna's small dark curls bouncing in time with the way Brianna's fiery red hair swished from side to side with each step she took to match his.

It had taken quite a bit of convincing from him and pleading from the girls to get Roxane to allow him to take the two of them with to his performance, even if it was only an overnight trip in Ombra. He loved the way their faces lit up as they watched him, but it was so rare for his own family to see him perform in a crowd since Rosanna had been born. Over the past year, Roxane had taken to staying home more and more often, preferring to raise their daughters in a home that didn't change every few days.

She had even begun to grow disappointed whenever he left to perform with the Motley Folk. His response was always the same - he loved spending time with her and their girls, but he'd never lived in one place for long, and he just couldn't grow used to it no matter how hard he tried.

He ran a hand over Brianna's hair as they walked, the corners of his mouth lifting as she looked up at him with a grin that revealed the single gap where a tooth had been just a few days ago. She was full of so much energy compared to her younger sister. Whereas Brianna was practically skipping along the path, Rosanna was slowly drifting off, her head drooping every so often before she jerked it back up again. Eventually, she laid her head against his shoulder with a small yawn, pulling one arm in to rest between the two of them as the other reached up to brush her fingers across his cheek.

Her breathing was just beginning to slow when Dustfinger was jerked backward by the collar of his shirt before being shoved against the trunk of a tree, causing the child to jolt awake with a small cry quickly followed by Brianna's scream as she pressed up against him, clinging to his legs. Before he could react, the sharp edge of a knife pressed against the skin just under his chin as an all too familiar face appeared out of the darkness.

"Hello again Fire-Dancer," the man said in a low voice, making Dustfinger tense, his grip immediately tightening on both Rosanna and Brianna.

"B - Basta," he forced out. "I wasn't expecting to see you around here."

"Or your leader," he added, his voice softening in surprise as Capricorn, the head of the feared group of fire raisers stepped out from behind another tree, the cold smile on his face just visible in the pale moonlight.

Dustfinger's muscles tensed even more as he felt Basta's breath against his face, the man having moved closer in order to be heard over Rosanna's sobs.

"I told you I'd be back for you," the fire raiser hissed. "I'm going to finish what I started and then you'll be so unrecognizable, even the minstrel woman won't recognize you."

As Dustfinger swallowed nervously against the blade, he could feel Brianna press herself closer to him, trusting him to protect them. He laid his hand on her back, hoping that the darkness hid the slight tremor of his fingers as he held her close to him.

"Come now," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I'm sure you've found another woman you want by now. There's really no reason to finish this."

His gaze flicked over to Capricorn for an instant, just long enough to see the man lean back against a tree, an expression of amusement on his face as if he was about to watch an extremely entertaining performance, before he looked back to see Basta looking at Rosanna with an expression of utter annoyance.