A gaudily dressed man stood in a dark room with one table two chairs and a lantern. He paced impatiently as he thought of the man who was to come see him. What if it’s a trap? He had asked himself this a million times as he paced and now he asked himself once more. In the corner two other men, both huge and with bovine looks on their faces, stood with much agitation at the other man’s pacing. Then there came a knock at the door. The two large men disappeared into the shadows as two cloaked men entered. One sat at the table and the other stood behind him. The gaudily dressed man sat across from them. The cloaked man at the table started the whispered conference, “I want possession of the Golden Finch by the full moon next month.”
“And just how much are you willing to pay?” inquired the other.
“My man here,” the cloaked man gestured toward the man behind him as he spoke, “will pay you fifty gold drebs total, but you will only get five gold drebs after this meeting is over. He will give you twenty for getting the job done and the rest for a man to blame it on.”
“In that case I have a boy who’s perfect for the job.”
“And this boy, I won’t have any trouble with him? I will need his full cooperation if my plan is to work.” said the cloaked one.
“And what is this plan exactly?”
“Well I will present the Finch to Lord Falon, and for my great deed, he will give it to me as a gift. Then I will be able to rule as King of this and all the surrounding kingdoms. Oh and for a reward for your help I may consider giving you some land.”
His man came up to them with a small money pouch and whispered into his ear, “My lord, you have a short ride tomorrow morning, and you should get some rest tonight.”
“I will leave you with your money. For now I must go but I will send my man every few days to check on you.” He finished the meeting, left the money pouch with the man, and departed without another word.
A Telishan guard saw movement at the edge of the forest. In the pale light of the full moon he saw the shape of a late night traveler hobbling towards the gate. When the traveler got closer, the guard saw that it was only a boy, but the deformity on his back caused him to hobble like an old man. The boy was dressed in thread bare, travel worn clothes covered by a dark cloak. On a cold night like this, the guard knew how insufficient the clothes were and the thought caused him to shiver and pull his cloak tighter. “The gate closes at nightfall. Come back in the morning if you want in.” He bellowed in a voice made harsh by the cold.
“Please sir, I’ve been traveling for days to see my dying mother. I haven’t seen her in many years and I only wanted to see her once more before she died.” The guard could hear the despair in the boy’s voice but he didn’t know if he quite believed it.
“Why ain’t you with your mother any way? Why did you have to travel so far to see her, shouldn’t you still be living with her?” the guard inquired suspiciously.
“My mom is a poor woman from a poor family and couldn’t find enough work in the city to support us so she sent me to live with her brother in the country. I begged her to come with me but she wouldn’t and now she is starving to death and has no one to comfort her at the end of her life,” here a sob escaped the boy, “and if I could only be with her as she dies I might not feel so guilty that I let her stay without me.”
The guard couldn’t see the boy’s face from the wall but he heard the pleading in the boy’s voice and his heart sank with pity. Letting out a tired sigh, the guard realized that if he didn’t let this boy in, he would be haunted for years by visions of this boy standing by a cold grave. On the other hand, he had a duty to his Lord and the law was that no man could enter the city after nightfall. With one last sigh, his head gave way to his heart and he disappeared behind a battlement. The bar on the gate was heavy but the guard lifted it easily. As the gate creaked open he spoke again.
“”Since I also have once had the worry of a dying mother, I’ll let you in this once, but hurry. If I get caught I’ll no longer have a job and my family depends on me.”
The boy passed through the gate with a look of relief on his face. Once past the guard, the boy hesitated for a moment. He pulled a battered leather flask from his cloak, said, “Thank you so much sir. You don’t know what this means to me.” passed the flask to the guard, and disappeared.
The guard returned to his post, looking to make sure no one had seen him let the boy in. When the guard settled back down, he looked at the flask. It was old and worn but the grog inside was good. He drank deeply and felt the warmth of it run through his veins. He drank some more. Then he looked up to watch the entrance feeling refreshed from the grog when he began to feel fuzziness in his head and realize that he had been drugged. Then he entered into a long dreamless sleep.
The guard had believed him, the boy thought as he lifted the cloak just enough for a small animal to come out from under it. A small gray furred animal with a black mask and black stripes on its tail replaced the deformity on his back. “Good job Zeb.” the boy whispered to the animal and offered him a bit of dried fish. The boy had never been in Telisha before that day but it had been easy to scout routes to his destination that morning because it had been market day and he was able to explore unnoticed. Though the shadows were unfamiliar, the boy allowed his instincts to guide him.
He came to an alley that would lead him to Lord Falon’s castle, but something about it didn’t feel right so he passed it. When he got past it he heard a dog sound an alarm. He had to pass many alleys that would have led him straight to Lord Falon’s castle but he knew that if he was to succeed, he couldn’t take chances. He would have to stay safe and unnoticed in the night. The moon had just passed the center of the sky when the boy finally made it to the castle. While keeping to the shadows, he circled the castle trying to determine the best way to enter. He decided to enter through a door, most likely a kitchen door, with a small window close by. “Okay Zeb you know what to do.” the boy whispered to the animal on his shoulder. The animal crawled down and headed in the direction of the window. The boy sat in the shadow of a nearby tree as he waited for Zeb to open the door. Normally the boy would never use Zeb to open a door but his lock picks had been missing for a week. Zeb used the small window to enter the castle and it took him a while to unlock the door but the boy was okay with this because it gave him time to think about the best route out of the city. He could use the same route as he did coming in unless there was nobody in the alleys he had passed by, then he would use those alleys since they were faster. The door crept open silently and Zeb returned to the boys shoulder as he entered. Leaving the door ajar, the boy entered a large kitchen. The kitchen had been deserted for the night but the boy knew the cook would begin breakfast preparations in a few hours. That’s okay he thought I won’t even need one hour to get out. There were two doors out of the kitchen: one led down a hallway of pantries and servant sleeping quarters, the other led to a dining hall. Looking around the dining hall, the boy was disappointed to find that it was not there.
Kathline had been fuming since the fight with her father. Now she had a plan to prove to him that she was right. She would run away and then he might understand. She quickly changed into the breeches she had begged her father to buy for her. Then she found a small sack and put soap and a brush into it. She knew she needed more clothes but she only had one pair that was fit to travel in. That meant she would have to buy some; she had a few gold drebs under her mattress. Those she placed in the sack with the soap and brush. She thought of taking her blanket but it was too big to carry comfortably; she would get a lighter one from the servants’ cupboard. She would also need some food which she would get from the kitchen on her way out. She decided to leave her father a message to tell him how she felt and then she left.
She slipped down to the kitchen silently so she wouldn’t wake her father. Her plan was to grab food and a blanket and then leave through the kitchen door. She would then stay in the city until the next market day and slip past the guards then, but when she entered the kitchen and found the door ajar, she took a detour from her planned route. She knew that the cook would never allow the door to be left open and if she found that it was open, she would skin whoever had left it open. A suspicion crept into her head so she slung her bag over her shoulder and followed her instinct through the dining hall.
He left the dining hall and entered a ball room, at the other end of this room stood a fireplace that made the boy look like a small child. The mantle was plain and above it stood a mirror. The only thing that sat on the mantle seemed insignificant compared to the grandeur of the fireplace but somehow it drew peoples’ eyes. It was a small golden statuette that resembled a small bird. The boy held his breath in anticipation as he approached it. This was it he thought, this was what he had been sent for, the thing that made this whole trip worth while, the entrance fee to the Realm of Thieves, the legendary Golden Finch. He reached out and touched it with tentative fingers while noting the way it bathed the elegant mantle in soft golden light. As his fingers gently closed around it, his breath caught in his throat at the sound of rustling clothes and footsteps. Oh know, if I don’t succeed, how can I become part of the Realm of Thieves? He thought while he turned around. The boy found himself staring into the legendary crystal eyes of Kathline, the beautiful daughter of Lord Falon. Her proud face and slender figure made almost every man who saw her fall head over heels in love, but at the time the boy saw her with fear. Not noting her beauty or even her clothes. Before she could scream, the boy pulled her into his arms and covered her mouth. His mind raced through ideas of escape but in the end he knew he would have to kidnap her. He still had one more flask of the drug he had given the guard. In seconds, he calculated how much he would need to keep her asleep until he reached Crystalline Falls and leave her memory in tact and made her drink it before she had time to evaluate her situation. Before she collapsed, the boy hoisted her onto his shoulder.
He silently reentered the streets, noting that the moon had moved a ways and it was just past 2 o’clock. He followed the same path he had come in on. He was almost to the gate when he turned into an alley with a dog in it. The dog barked and the boy knew he had to get back into the shadows and away from this dog before his master woke up to see what was wrong. His heart raced as he ran. He ducked into another alley and stopped to take a breath. Then a man’s angry voice reached him, “Yuh stupid cur. That ain’t nothin’ but a stray ol’ alley cat.” At the sound of the reprimand, the boy’s heart beat slowed. He silently reprimanded himself for being careless and not sensing a dog that was so close. He continued to the gate without trouble. The guard he had encountered earlier was passed out near the gate with the drugged grog in his hand. The boy guessed he had drunk enough to sleep ‘till morning. Once outside the gate, the boy waited long enough for his pet to knock the bar back into place and climb over the wall, then he left.
The boy had chosen a nearby area to camp since he would be out so late and the animal followed him, wiping away the trail with his tail. The boy paused several times to adjust the awkward weight of Kathline but he didn’t stop completely until he reached a small clearing filled with moonlight which reflected off a waterfall and the pool below it. The boy gently laid Kathline- whose face seemed to glow like that of a goddess in the pale moonlight- down near the pool and splashed cool clear water onto her beautiful face.
Kathline awoke with a start. She looked around with a bewildered look on her face. She had no recollection of how she had gotten into the forest until she noticed the boy. She recognized his dark hair and dark green eyes. She didn’t quite remember why she recognized him at first but then she remembered his hand closing around the Golden Finch. Then, without thinking of anything else, she began her demands, “I demand that I and anything else taken from my home be returned immediately. Furthermore, I demand that you pay for any damages to my father’s property and then I will have you hanged.” It only annoyed Kathline further to see the boy standing unflinchingly silent and unreadable. How dare he show me such disrespect, she thought indignantly, he should be begging for my mercy and forgiveness. Then she sneered, “Well have you nothing to say for yourself or are deaf and dumb? If you will not return me to my home, then I will have to find my own way back and then I will see that you are hunted down and then hanged.” Although she knew she didn’t have the slightest clue where she was, she hoped he would fall for her bluff and with her head held high she turned around and stalked off in the wrong direction. Before she got far the boy reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. In response, she turned to look at him with the most reproachful look she could muster. But in seeing him, she noticed that there was gentleness in his eyes. They were sad and pleading, they also seemed to ask forgiveness for what he had done and may still do. She also saw that he was a mere boy only a little older than her, maybe seventeen. She wondered what his life was like and how he came to be a thief and kidnapper. She even felt sorry for him as she gazed into his eyes. His appearance changed in seconds and her attention was caught by a movement in the shadows. From some bushes a gray cat-sized animal with long back feet, a striped gray and black tail, and a strange mask-like marking on its face came towards them. It crept without sound all the way to the boy and continued on to the boys shoulder.
The boy patted the creature on the head and gave it a bit of dried meat from his pocket. “Good boy Zeb.” The creature, Zeb, held a small cloth sack in its hand and gave it to the boy when he was given his treat.
The appearance of the animal made Kathline forget about her demands and the boy’s eyes and ask, “If you won’t take me back, you can at least tell me what that thing is and who you are?” her curiosity showed plainly on her face though she tried to hide it.
“I guess I could. He’s what scholars call a raccoon. There aren’t any native to this forest but there are plenty in the forest around Sanial. His name’s Zeb.” The boy had a quiet voice that contradicted his strength. “There’s a place not far from here that is safe for us to sleep.” He turned and walked away into what seemed to be a wall of plants, leaving Kathline alone in the moonlit clearing. This action had a slow effect on Kathline, for as she stood, watching the boy disappear, she was thinking that he had not answered her whole question. Then when she looked up again, he was gone and she realized that she had never been alone in the forest before and especially not at night. She ran towards the wall of plants and grew angry when she found that there was no visible opening. Her anger gave way to ranting, “Boy, boy? Come out here this instant and show me how to get in. What stupid plants. I hate plants. I bet that was part of your plan too. Drag me through plants which I hate…” Without her knowing, the boy had appeared just a little farther down the wall and was watching her in amusement because even a boy in his pitiful situation couldn’t help but laugh at such a refined lady yelling at a bunch of plants. When she finally gave the plants a kick and in fear of her new experience and began to cry, the boy whispered, “over here.”
Kathline let out an angry humph and in an indignant voice said, “You horrible brute. To leave a Lady out in the woods alone and to laugh at her distress is too much even…” but before she could pour any more insults on him, the boy dragged her over to where he had entered the wall of plants. He gently took hold of a few vines and being careful not to bruise the plants pulled them aside to reveal an opening to a maze through the plants.
The boy led Kathline through the maze and to a stone passage that led to a small cave behind the waterfall. Inside, the cave was large enough for a small group of people to stay. The moonlight through shining through the water fall provided enough light for Kathline to see that there was a small stack of wood on the far side, a medium pack and a bedroll sat next to a fire ring. Above the fire ring, a crack in the rock provided a natural chimney. Kathline knew that this must be one of the thieves’ hideouts that she had read about in one of her father’s books. Oh how she loved to read. She even had one of her father’s books in her pack which was still on her back. Unlike a thieves’ hideout though, a pleasantness hung in there air despite the cold and dark. “This is a thieves’ place isn’t it? You’re a thief aren’t you?” Ignoring Kathline’s question, the boy began to start a fire. Kathline the boy watched in amazement. She had only ever seen her maid start a fire and her maid never seemed to be friends with the fire and call it into existence as the boy did. When the fire was started, Kathline watched it intently, trying not to remember what the argument with her father had been about. She was saved from thought by the boy speaking, “It used to be,” Kathline was confused by what he said until she remembered what she had asked him. “It was forgotten when Galleo lost the kingship.” Kathline was again confused because she couldn’t recall any king named Galleo and she was sure she had read about them all. “It was known only to the men who followed him loyally and most of them have died except the one who told me about it and he made me swear never to tell anyone how to get here. You are the only other person who has seen it and I’m quite certain that even if you could find the entrance again, you would get lost in the twists and turns of the maze. So I know it’s late but if you’re hungry I’ve got some bread and cheese to eat.” Kathline had not eaten dinner and was now very aware of being hungry but she knew that she couldn’t just give this boy a kind answer because she didn’t want him to think she was one of those weak girls who couldn’t fend for themselves.
After a moment of thought, she said, “Well after being drugged and dragged across Tanten, I deserve a meal fit for a Queen but I don’t suppose the likes of you could provide that so bread and cheese will do.” She had expected him to get angry and say that she was lucky he was feeding her at all but instead his face showed shame and agreement. She scolded herself for the pity she felt but couldn’t understand why it was so hard for her to detest this boy who had kidnapped her. His shoulder were slumped like a dejected dog as he pulled a loaf of bread and a small lump of cheese from his pack and again Kathline wondered what his life was like. He was a thief and kidnapper who felt ashamed of his work but didn’t quit.
They sat in silence. Kathline was pondering who this mysterious boy was and the boy was pondering his next move. He knew that his situation was bad and something would have to be done about this lady but he hoped that the Realm of Thieves would accept him and then they could deal with the Lady. He just hoped she wouldn’t get hurt. He could avoid the thieves until she was in a safe place but Jod, the king, might not let him in if he was late. He had told Jod it would be done that night and that he would return the following afternoon. He couldn’t jeopardize his chance to get into the Realm of Thieves; they were the only family he had ever known. He might just keep her hidden and they wouldn’t know until after he was part of them. They would understand; he was sure of it. Now he only worried what they would do with her when he told them, but if he didn’t even tell them and found a way to get her back without endangering himself everything would be okay. Kathline was curious about what the boy seemed to be thinking so deeply about but knew she couldn’t ask so instead she said in a self important manner, “You never answered me when I asked who you were. I’m sure you won’t ever let me tell anyone so why not just tell me? And where are we going so late at night? And what were you doing?”
“My name is Damuck and I was going to visit my sick mother.” He said the last part with a smile at how well the guard believed his story.
“I highly doubt you were visiting you mother in my home but I guess I probably can’t even trust that your name is really Damuck.” Kathline sneered. “I suppose though that I must call you that since I have no other way to get a name.”
“Oh really, tell me why I should not have been looking for my mother who was a maid in the castle of Lord Falon last time I saw her in your home and why should I lie about my name?” Damuck wasn’t really in a great mood to lie to this girl about his job but he didn’t suppose that she would take it well if he told her that he was trying to steal the most precious object in her father’s possession. So instead of allowing her time to think about it further he said, “I suppose we should sleep. The grounds hard but that bed roll is thick so good night.” Kathline saw that he was still sitting on the rock when she had lain down and she saw his sad eyes watching her so she rolled over and stared at the wall while she tried to get to sleep. While listening to and watching Damuck, Kathline had found it easy to push the argument with her father to the back of her mind. Now with her mind clearing for sleep, the argument flooded in. They had argued about her needing to be married. “All dignified Girls are married to a good man before they turn sixteen; you are going to turn seventeen in two weeks.” That’s what he had said. He had told her that the prince had asked him if he could marry her and he had said yes so that meant that she would become queen. He told her that he had been planning the wedding for a week and that she was to be married tomorrow. He hadn’t even had the nerve to tell her until the night before. So she had planned to run away. She hadn’t expected to be kidnapped but now she began to wonder that it wasn’t better that she had been kidnapped. If she would have gone into the forest alone she would probably be sleeping in a cold dark place in the forest and she would have gotten lost and starved, but that’s only if she wasn’t found the next morning. The instant before she dropped into a dreamless sleep, she silently thanked the mysterious thief Damuck for kidnapping her.