Something seemed to be leading his feet and he allowed his course to come to him naturally. He entered a wealthy neighbourhood, with high walls enclosing houses and private gardens. The trees planted along the footpath were well tended, and flower gardens grew at their bases. As he walked, he thought of Jaya – where had she gone? Would she come back? Had he really sensed her today? He’d thought about her often after his return, and part of him wondered if he’d insisted on returning to the keepers just to maximise his chances of bumping into her again.
Suddenly, what he saw ahead made him slide into the shadows. By one of the high walls, a figure was swiftly climbing a tree. It swung nimbly off a branch and disappeared over the wall. Bel moved carefully down the street towards the spot and stopped where the figure had gone over. He thought he heard the slight creak of a door closing. He went to the tree and hoisted himself up, wincing as he made the branches rustle, but no audible response came from over the wall. Climbing a good three paces up, he grabbed the same branch he’d seen the trespasser use and swung out over the wall. He landed on soft grass and jumped behind a nearby bush, waiting to see if he’d given himself away. He was in an enclosed garden, about twenty paces square. Ferns and small trees clustered about, and the outside wall of the house ran with chains of ivy. Bel saw that the back door was slightly ajar, and noticed scratch marks on the lock. The intruder had picked it.
Bel went inside silently. He stood in a kitchen of pale tiles, with a hardwood table in the middle and elaborate lantern-holders in the walls. As he made his way into the next room he was met by tapestries, paintings and a polished dining table with an interconnected row of candelabra running down its centre. With such wealth on display, Bel guessed there would be privately employed guards somewhere in the house. If he called out for them, however, the thief would also become aware of his presence. Instead he went from room to room, skirting the walls and pausing at doors to peek into the next before entering.
He came to a study with neat shelves of thick books that looked clean and unread, and stole up to the open door at the other end. Through it was a living room – plush red carpet, deep armchairs and a huge metal fireplace carved with flames. Around the walls were marble pedestals on which rested various display pieces: statuettes, carvings, a bust, and, on the one the thief stood by, a vase.
Moonlight crept through a window and Bel saw that the figure was hooded in a light green cloak and wearing black leather boots. She turned, revealing herself to be a woman as the moon chased the contours of her body. Of her face he could see nothing, for it was wrapped in strips of cloth, and the hood covered her eyes. As she lowered her head to the satchel, a lock of her hair came loose from under the hood and unravelled to full length, a dark red waterfall. She raised a hand to push it back into place with fingers long and clever. Bel froze, dumbfounded. It was Jaya .
She pulled something from the satchel and dimly Bel remembered that he was a keeper stalking a thief – a thief who was now behaving very strangely indeed. She held what looked like a water bladder, and unwound the cord that bound it closed. She upended the bladder and a black liquid poured out, filling the vase and spilling down its sides, staining it with dark streams. She slung the satchel over her shoulder and began to tread soundlessly back towards the door where Bel stood hiding.
Bel flattened himself against the wall, his mind whirring. What was the purpose of her odd intrusion?
Instinct took over as her shadow passed through the door frame and his hands shot out. She gave a low cry of surprise, twisting immediately and with surprising strength. Bel came away with nothing but her cloak, ripped from her back. She turned into a fleeting shadow, darting away through the dark house. Stealth was forgotten as Bel chased after, desperate not to let her escape, and not because she had broken the law.
He entered the kitchen just in time to see her push open the back door. Into the garden they ran, her red hair streaming now that her hood was gone. He caught up to her as she started up a tree, catching her arm and pulling her to the ground. She rolled to her feet and Bel heard a rasping of metal as she produced a sword.
‘Wait!’ he said, but was forced to draw his own. From the house came voices, and lanterns were being lit. Bel deflected her sword, their blades flashing silver in the moonlight. ‘Jaya, it’s me!’ he said.
‘Bel?’ she exclaimed in surprise. ‘What are you –’
‘There’s no time,’ he hissed. ‘You must escape – but promise that you’ll find me again!’
‘I was going to,’ she said. ‘I promise.’
‘Then go.’
She took a step away, turned to look at him again.
‘Quickly,’ he whispered.
She sprinted away into the garden as the door banged open. Four guards with swords emerged from the house and spotted Bel immediately.
‘I’m a peacekeeper!’ he called, tapping the badge on his shoulder.
‘What goes on?’ demanded one of them.
‘There was a thief,’ said Bel, ‘in the house. I don’t know where she went.’
‘There!’ shouted a guard, pointing to a silhouette that climbed a tree by the garden wall. As Jaya disappeared over the side, the guard ran to the garden gate, fumbling for his keys. Another guard gripped Bel by the shoulder.
‘What’s wrong, man? Are you hurt?’
Bel said nothing, just stared in the direction she had gone.
The man shook him. ‘Why didn’t you chase her?’
Bel looked at the man for the first time. What was he doing? As the gate opened and guards poured out, he realised he had better give chase as well, lest his actions look even more suspicious. He ran through the gate behind the guards. Out in the street, Jaya was hedged on both sides by high walls, without side streets to duck into. The guards in pursuit were catching up and Bel realised she was limping. She must have hurt her foot in the jump from the wall. Scant seconds later the guards had her, kicking her legs from under her so she fell hard on the cobblestones. One kicked her again so she rolled onto her back; another grabbed her hand as she went for a dagger in her boot. Swords levelled on her and she ceased all struggle, glaring up angrily.
‘Search her!’ ordered the head guard, and the others bent to probe her roughly. One emptied her satchel onto the cobblestones.
‘Thieves’ tools,’ he announced. ‘Nothing from the house.’
The head guard turned to Bel. ‘Why didn’t you call for help?’ he demanded.
‘What, and have her escape before I could grab her?’ he shot back. ‘I suppose, like you, I should have rampaged about the house like a pack of drunken mountain trolls, giving her ample warning of my whereabouts!’
The man scowled. ‘Yes, you did so much better than us,’ he said. ‘Did you see her take anything?’
‘No.’
The guard’s eyes narrowed and he bent to Jaya, taking a shoulder to shake her roughly. ‘What were you doing in the house?’ he demanded.
Bel had had enough. He pushed the head guard away so roughly that the man fell on his buttocks. ‘Back off, all of you!’ he growled. ‘This woman is a prisoner of Kainordas now. You may not touch her.’
‘We will question her!’ shouted the head guard, rising red with rage. The others took up dangerous postures.
‘You will do nothing of the sort, civilian ,’ said Bel, moving between Jaya and the men, his fingers drumming the hilt of his sword. ‘She will be questioned by an overseer, not subjected to thugs’ justice. Lower your swords!’ he bellowed, ‘lest you all be charged with treason!’