CHAPTER TWO
The bitter taste of the sleeping potion was foul, but the aftertaste was even worse. Krayna tried to ignore it as she lay in her bed, head facing the wrong way so she could better listen through her door. Her aunt had been giving her regular doses of the sleeping potions ever since catching Krayna trying to sneak out of the house when she was younger. Over the years, Krayna had developed a tolerance to the potions. As long as she had a few guanaro beans to chew on, Krayna could overcome any sleeping potion, and her aunt kept a large supply of the beans to brew coffees with.
Alayna Shaddarsson, Krayna's aunt, was easily the best medicine woman in Kaerodan — not that she had any competition. Kaerodan was practically a crumbling ruin these days. Thirty years ago it had been a bustling city, receiving frequent visits from merchants eager to trade with the Wyvern Knights who stopped to rest at the Kaerodan Waystation, one of the fortresses that housed the Wyvern Knights when they were in foreign lands, but the knights had stopped coming after the Waystation had been built at Ballen's Bridge. The merchants had followed suit shortly after. A few still passed through to purchase casks of Kaerodan's famous beer, but not enough to sustain the city's commerce. Kaerodan had been practically abandoned, its population shrinking until it was no larger than a small town. The remaining inhabitants had pulled back to the center of the abandoned city, allowing the outskirts to fall to ruin and disrepair, even scavenging materials from the old buildings when necessary. Kaerodan had become a shambling corpse of its former self, unaware that it had already died.
Krayna hated the town, and she hated the way its people put on airs, as if they still mattered to the larger world. The wealthiest man in Kaerodan was a banished disgrace from his family. The handsomest man in Kaerodan had been treated for so many sexual diseases it was a wonder that any woman would touch him, let alone actually allow him to impregnate them, and yet they did. The only reason Alayna, a genius when it came to herbs and medicines, stayed was because Krayna's mother, Alayna's sister, was buried nearby.
Krayna listened to the creak of floorboards outside of her room. Alayna was still up, brewing potions. Master Kolbi had ordered a tonic to help with his wife's aches during her pregnancy, and Alayna was probably finishing the tonic so that it could be delivered in the morning. Alayna had a soft spot for pregnant women — strange, considering she detested children as much as Krayna. Tiny, filthy hands always grabbing at everything within reach, putting everything into their mouths... Krayna shivered, despite herself. As far as she was concerned, children were little more than trophies awarded for spending too much time being groped in back alleys and forgetting to keep your legs closed. Given the choice between children or lice... she'd probably pick the lice.
Krayna couldn't do anything until her aunt had gone to bed. Alayna's ears were too sharp, and she'd purposefully avoided fixing any floorboards to prevent Krayna from sneaking around. It hadn't worked, of course. Krayna's uncle had trained her too well, but Krayna let her aunt have her delusions.
Her uncle Raeridin had been the one who had shown Krayna that Kaerodan was rotting from within. Raeridin had insisted that Krayna come to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother had died nine years ago, which had caused a fight between Alayna and Raeridin. For some reason, Alayna blamed her sister's death on Krayna. Krayna had never figured out how a nine year old girl could have had anything to do with her own mother's death. Raeridin had overridden his wife's objections though, and insisted that Alayna take Krayna as her apprentice.
If not for her uncle, Krayna's life would have been a miserable one. She was an apt pupil, and had learned enough of her aunt's trade that Krayna could have struck out on her own if she wanted, and likely would have made a tidy living. Krayna hated the work, though she had to admit that being a medicine woman did make an excellent cover story for her real passion.
Raeridin had been a thief, the greatest in Kaerodan — the old city, not the crumbling town. He'd discovered Krayna's natural agility, grace, and cunning, and had been delighted to have someone to pass his tricks down to. Breaking into people's homes, making off with their valuables, and then walking among them the next day, with no one the wiser — that was what thrilled her. She felt no guilt for what she did. If her uncle hadn't taken her in, Krayna would surely have become a begging urchin on the street, with everyone in Kaerodan looking down on her. Still, she wasn't utterly heartless. She tried to keep her targets limited to people who could afford the theft, and even then she had avoided taking anything with heavy sentimental value, more because of the risk of someone else identifying it than anything else. Krayna was far more practical than sentimental.
She heard her aunt's door close. Finally! It was getting close to midnight, and Krayna wanted as much time as possible for her scheme. If she pulled this job off, she would finally have enough goods to fence in Ballen's Bridge and strike out on her own, following in her uncle's footsteps. Maybe she'd even find Raeridin, and reunite with him away from Alayna.
Alayna had discovered Raeridin's secret profession three years ago. She'd been furious. Both of them had forbidden Krayna from hearing the argument, and had sent Krayna to watch over her best friend Winna, who had been suffering from bone ache fever. Had it been anyone else, Krayna would have sneaked back, but she hadn't been able to ignore the sight of Winna in such pain. She'd heard the screaming start as soon as she'd left for Winna's house, but she hadn't realized just how badly the fight would turn out. She'd encountered Raeridin on her way back home, and he'd told Krayna that he was leaving. She'd cried herself to sleep each night for the rest of the week. Alayna had been a bitch and said nothing. To this day, Alayna still hadn't said a word to Krayna about Raeridin.
Remembering her uncle brought a tear to her eye, but Krayna wiped it away. After tonight, she wouldn't have to put up with Alayna any more. That thought brought a smile to her face.
She moved carefully to the hidden space in the floor of her closet and retrieved her gear. Each piece of equipment had been a reward from her uncle for passing one of his many tests. A kit with a set of lock picks and probes, small mirrors, and a listening cone. A rope made from a silky material, strong and fire retardant. Three hooks to go with the rope. A small medical kit with common first aid items, bandages, ointments, alcohol, and the like. Another kit containing a nastier set of herbs: poisons, most of them designed to render people unconscious, and a few antidotes as well, in case someone guarded their treasures with a poison needle or contact poison. She even had a few vials that could be used as grenades, filling a room with noxious fumes. Her uncle had been as much a genius with poisons as Alayna was with medicines, and he'd passed that knowledge to Krayna.
Krayna checked over the equipment quickly, but with an eye for detail. She didn't have much time, but she couldn't risk anything going wrong with her gear while she was on the job. Satisfied that everything was in proper repair and that nothing was missing, she set them aside and returned to her hiding spot. She pulled out several neatly-folded bags and sacks, each a mottled gray and black color. She'd never needed to use all of them at once, but tonight's job might actually call for just that. Setting those aside, she pulled out the outfit she called her "blacks." They were actually they same mottled blacks and grays as her sacks and pouches, but she liked the term better than "thief costume."
The blacks were formfitting, and more than a little scandalous, but the idea was for people not to notice her, not to protect her modesty. They were light enough that she could wear them under a dress without betraying anything, assuming the dress was long enough to cover all of her legs. She was as tall as most men, much of it leg, and had needed to alter the blacks as she'd grown older, but her excellent manual dexterity had proven useful for more than just picking locks and lifting purses. Needle work wasn't that hard, and Krayna was a competent seamstress, if not an elegant one. She pulled the blacks on, trousers first and then shirt. A few hair clips bound her long auburn hair close to her head and neck. Finally, she pulled on the soft-soled
boots and gloves, both with rough grips to help aid her climbing. She belted on the rest of her gear, and checked herself over in the mirror to be certain everything was where it should be. Satisfied, she pulled the last of her treasures from their hiding place.
They were a pair of daggers with black hilts. While the rest of Krayna's equipment was utilitarian in appearance, these daggers were exquisite. Their blades were sharpened on both edges, and the tips curved ever so slightly. They were perfectly balanced, good for either throwing or for use in hand to hand combat. Krayna had trained to fight with a dagger in each hand, and their balance made them perfect for that style of combat. The daggers were each inscribed with the same message, "Shadows Hide You," the same words Raeridin had said as a farewell to Krayna the day he'd left, when he'd given her the daggers.
Krayna understood the value of sentimental objects.
As she carefully placed the daggers in their boot sheathes, Krayna couldn't help but remember that last meeting with her uncle. He'd explained some of the argument he'd had with Alayna, but Krayna had known him well enough to tell that he was still keeping something back. Then he'd told Krayna that he was leaving, before Alayna exposed him to the town. He was going first to Ballen's Bridge, and from there he would begin his search to make contact with the Shaddar Haakan, the Shadow's Guild, a criminal organization that loosely controlled the majority of crime in every nation. He'd promised to come back for Krayna after he joined them, and help her also become a member, freeing Krayna from both her aunt and from Kaerodan. Three years had been a long time to wait, and she couldn't wait on Raeridin any longer. After tonight, she wouldn't have to.
Krayna pulled her door open as gently as possible, and peeked out to make sure Alayna actually had gone to bed. The fire had been damped down to where it was safe to leave it unattended. Alayna had placed a kettle over the fire, and Krayna could smell the concoction brewing within. Perfect. Everything was set up exactly the way Alayna preferred when she went to bed with medicines still brewing.
Krayna moved quickly, but lightly, barely touching the floor so she could avoid the creaky boards. When she reached the front door she opened it carefully — Alayna didn't oil it and used the creak in place of a bell like everyone else.
Once outside she darted for the nearest shadow, feeling filled with exhilaration. She was most alive here in the dark, safe from everything. Her eyes cut through the darkness, the starlight as bright as the lanterns along the roads.
One last job and she would be free. The night rejoiced with her as she raced through the streets, cloaked in shadow.
About the Author
Grant Hoeflinger was born and raised in Ohio, where he currently resides with his wife and children. Laeryk's Proving was his first book.
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