City of Light

Chapter Twelve

'I'm telling you, they weren't guards.' Selene shouted, for what felt like the hundredth time.

They had just entered the Thieves Guild Hall, and no sooner were they in the door, than Gareth questioned her again. The entire trip back from the upper quarter had been an interrogation. She had explained as much as she was capable of at the sewer entrance, but the parade was closing in behind them, and her first explanation had been rushed.

Selene expected to recount everything once they were safe and protected back at the guild, but Gareth hadn't waited.He pushed the entire way back, asking for every little detail, over and over, and when he didn't like the answer, he dug deeper, as if accusing her of lying.

Gareth stared at her with a strange intensity. She had seen that expression on his face countless times before, but always directed at people he didn't know or trust. If he was accusing her of lying, or worse, implying that Robert being taken was her fault, then she wasn't sure if she meant as much to him as he did to her.

'Just tell me again. You must be forgetting something. Some detail that will help us identify them, and get Robert back.' Gareth said, now pacing back and forth across the room.

The guild hall wasn't long, but it was wide. Vin, the guild leader had purchased several buildings in a row, and knocked down adjoining walls to increase the open space for his guild. Long wooden tables, like those found in the biggest of taverns, were spaced evenly along the entire width of the hall. You could seat a hundred people, with plenty of space in between for the barmaids to serve food and drink.

It was clear Vin had grand plans when he took over the guild. It went from being a small organisation of a dozen thieves, to over sixty people that lived far beyond the walls of the city. This, along with his reputation, stretched Vin's influence and power further than any guild master before him.

'Forgetting something? You think I'm forgetting some detail that may save my friend's life? There's no one in this guild that means more than Rob, if I remembered anything that might help him, I would tell you.' Selene said, anger now building.

She realised she was shaking as she turned away from Gareth. There were details she'd left out, not because she'd forgotten, or thought they might incriminate her in some way, but because she knew no one, not even Gareth, would believe her.

The people that took Robert moved far too fast, before she closed in on them, she knew they had moved from rooftop to rooftop with unusual speed. Then there were the inhuman reflexes of the masked man she fought. She had seen no one move that swift, and with an almost sixth sense, allowing him to anticipate her actions. And his final words, she'll never forget those.

Foolish mortal.

Selene wasn't sure what he meant, or who the mysterious figures were, but they had her friend, and nothing would stop her from finding them.

'Gareth, she left nothing out. I saw that one guy too, even put a couple of knives in him. There were no markings on his clothes, and his face was completely covered, we had no way of knowing who he was. By the time I'd finished crossing the rooftop to Selene, he'd vanished into thin air. Given his fighting and stealth skills, he had to be a trained assassin, and a good one at that. But who the hell would hire someone to take Robert?' Tom interjected.

'I doubt they were hired to take Robert, that was just a matter of convenience. It may have been a general contract to take members of the guild, and he's the first of many.' Gareth said, stopping in the centre of the room.

The room was silent as the group were deep in thought. They knew of no one in Eitane that would dare interfere with the guild or its business, but yet, someone had.