A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish Read Free Book Online

daggers up to defend herself. Instead, she saw Haern dancing between the two soldiers, his dagger a blur of steel. Both soldiers were bleeding, and one in particular was soaked with blood from a gash underneath his arm. She watched as the boy ducked a sideways slash, spun on his heels, and then lunged to the side of a thrust. The sword pierced the air inches from his face, but he seemed not to care how close he came to death. His dagger punched underneath the breastplate, slicing open the flesh and spilling intestines to the cold dirt of the alley.
    He never hesitated, not even after such a cruel killing. The other soldier’s strike would have severed his spine, but instead it clacked against the ground. Haern slashed his wrist, danced about, stabbed his side, and then as the guard turned he continued dancing, continued twirling. His dagger buried into flesh, finding two more exposed slits in the armor. Blood ran freely, and when the boy kicked out his knees, the guard fell without the strength to return to a stand.
    Kayla shook her head in amazement. He would not one day learn to kill as well as her. He already did.
    Haern sheathed the dagger and joined her side.
    “Your limp,” she said, realizing he had shown no hint of the injury during battle.
    “I hurt it worse,” he said, wrapping his arm around hers. “But I’ve been shown how to ignore such things. Better to live torn and in pain than die in perfect health.”
    He spoke as if the saying were memorized, and the gasps of pain he made with each step of his wounded leg seemed to mock him.
    “We’ll never escape,” she said as they turned down a small alley between rows of houses that stank more like a sewer. “Not leaving a trail of bodies behind us.”
    “We just need to keep going,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where.”
    “Why not,” she asked.
    “Because my father’s eyes are in all places. Once we are seen, he’ll come for us.”
    Kayla smirked.
    “Can’t rely on your father like that. He’s not the Reaper, able to see out of all shadows and end your life with a kiss of his scythe. The night is deep, the soldiers are about, and if we’re to see the dawn we’ll need to hide.”
    Haern looked upset at her dismissal of his father, but he refused to argue the point.
    Kayla scanned the houses she passed, hoping to recognize one. Considering how she prided herself on information, she realized just how little she knew her surroundings. She was friends with the scum of the streets, but the eastern district was home to the rich and influential. She might know her way around, and list many names useful to blackmail, but not one could she count as a friend. Out of all of Veldaren, this was most definitely farthest from home.
    “Wait,” Haern said as they passed by a wide mansion surrounded by a thick fence. Its bars were made of dark iron, their spiked tops over ten feet tall. Behind them, oak trees with interlocking branches surrounded the building, giving privacy to the mansion with their beauty.
    Haern pointed. “We can hide here.”
    It took a moment for Kayla to realize where they were, but when she did her eyes widened.
    “Are you daft, boy? This is Keenan’s estate.”
    “Exactly,” Haern said, a bit of a smile curling his lips. “The one place no one would dare look for us.”
    The reasoning was sound, but looking at those enchanted bars, she wondered how in the world they would cross.
    “Follow me,” Haern said. Instead of climbing the bars, though, he turned and shimmied up the wall of a much more modest dwelling on the opposite side of the road. He clearly favored his right leg, bracing his weight on it as often as he could. It seemed there was no way up, but his feet and hands found crevices, windowsills, and indents in the plaster.
    Kayla knew she was good at climbing, but she doubted her ability to follow. Still, the shouts of guards chased after them, so she had no choice but to try. She made it halfway up before her foot