Stalking Darkness

dainty boots stood before a door at the far end of the corridor. A stout pair of shoes next to them warned that the young woman did not sleep alone.
    Seregil stifled a grin. Alec was in for more than he’d bargained for, in more ways than one.
    Alec lightly fingered the latch, found the door unbarred. The delivery was his task tonight, more training in the ways of the Cat. This sort of job, though hardly as significant as their recent work for Nysander, required a high level of finesse and he was anxious to prove himself.
    Sliding his lightstone back into his tool roll, Alec took a deep breath and lifted the latch.
    A night lamp burned on a stand beside the bed. The hangings were open and inside he could see a young girl with heavy braidsasleep on the side nearest the door, her face turned to the light. Beside her, a larger form, her mother or nurse perhaps, stirred restlessly beneath the thick comforter.
    Creeping to the side of the bed, he took out the token, a tiny scroll pushed through a man’s golden ring. Left to his own devices, he’d simply have put it on the lamp stand and been done with it, but Lord Phyrien had been very exact in his instructions. The ring must be left on his sweetheart’s pillow.
    Bending over the girl, Alec placed the ring as specified. Too late he heard Seregil’s sharp intake of breath. The heavy ring immediately rolled down the curve of the pillow and struck the girl on the cheek just beside her mouth.
    Startled brown eyes flashed wide. Fortunately for Alec, she saw the ring before she could cry out. Her look of fear changed instantly to one of mute joy as she mistook his muffled form for that of her lover.
    “Oh, Phyrien, you
are
bold!” she breathed, stealing a quick look at the sleeping woman beside her. Grasping Alec’s hand, she drew it gently but insistently under the bedclothes.
    Alec blushed furiously in the depths of his hood. Like most Skalans, she slept nude. He didn’t dare resist, however. Any kind of struggle would not only seem suspicious, but probably shake the bed enough to awaken its other occupant.
    “You’re so cold!” she said with a hushed giggle, pulling his hand still lower. “Kiss me, my brave lover. I’ll warm you.”
    Holding his hood in place with his free hand, Alec pressed his lips hastily to hers, then motioned warningly at the other woman. Pouting prettily, the girl released him and tucked the token away beneath her pillow.
    With his heart hammering in his ears, Alec extinguished the lamp and hurried back out into the corridor.
    “Seregil, I—” he began in a whisper, but his companion cut the apology short, grabbing him by the arm and hustling him off the way they’d come.
    Damn, damn, damn!
Alec berated himself.
A simple little delivery job and I cock it up
.
    Braced every moment for an outcry, they hurried down to the kitchen and weaseled back out the storeroom window. Outside, Seregil was still implacably silent. Climbing over the wall, he set off at a run. Alec followed, grimly convinced he was in disgrace.
    Three streets from the villa, Seregil suddenly stopped andhauled him into an alleyway, then bent over, hands on knees, as if to catch his breath.
    Braced for a scathing lecture, it took Alec a moment to realize that Seregil was laughing.
    “Bilairy’s Balls, Alec!” he burst out. “I’d give a hundred sesters to have seen the look on your face when that ring rolled away. And when she tried to pull you into bed—” He sagged against the aley wall, shaking with laughter.
    “But it was so stupid,” Alec groaned. “I should have seen it would slide off.”
    Seregil wiped his eyes, grinning. “Maybe so, but these things happen. I don’t know how many times I’ve pulled a blunder like that. It’s the recovery that counts and you did just fine. ‘Learn and live,’ I always say.”
    Relieved, Alec fell into step beside him as they headed for home. Before they’d gone another block, however, Seregil let out another snort of laughter. Leaning heavily on Alec’s shoulder, he moaned in a lilting falsetto, “Kiss me, my brave lover. I’ll warm you up!” then staggered away, cackling into the wind.
    Perhaps, Alec thought in exasperation, he hadn’t heard the last of the matter after all.
    Back at Cockerel Inn, they nicked a late snack from Thryis’ pantry and crept up the hidden staircase on the second floor. Warding glyphs glowed briefly as Seregil whispered the passwords. At the top of the stairs, they crossed the