Senke asked, not at all fooled by the mask.
“Not Aaron,” the boy said. “I’m Haern. Aaron is dead.”
Senke shook his head, hardly able to believe it.
“How many have you killed?” Senke asked as he shut the door.
“Five,” said Haern.
“Five?” Senke laughed. “You’re out of your mind, Aaron. Sorry. Haern. I thought you were with the priests?”
“I escaped,” Haern said. He dropped his smaller knives and took a larger pair from the bodies. Cleaning the blood off, he tucked them into his belt and tightened the mask over his face. “I’ve come to stop this, Senke. Will you help me? Or must I kill you too?”
Senke shook his head, torn between horror and hysterics at the boy’s audacity.
“I won’t help you,” he told him. “But I won’t stop you either. I’m getting out, Haern. Tonight.”
“Out?” asked Haern. “How?”
Senke shrugged.
“In about an hour the king’s soldiers will surround the estate. I’ve told them of your father’s plan. If there’s a god, Thren will be here when they arrive. I’ll be just one of the many bodies that’ll get consumed by the fire.”
The way Haern stood, he clearly was not prepared to hear of such betrayal from as close a friend as Senke.
“Why would you betray him?” he asked.
Senke chuckled.
“Actually, because of you. You got me thinking. I’ve collected plenty of money, far more than you can imagine. I could buy a home, some land, and plenty of women. I joined the Spider Guild to escape from the life I was living, yet the life I have now seems no better. Watching what Thren was doing to you, slowly, methodically killing everything good in his own son…”
He shook his head.
“I’m done. I don’t expect much in the way of eternity, but maybe Ashhur will forgive me if I get myself out while there’s still time. Looks like I wasn’t alone in thinking that, too.”
Haern’s cheeks lifted, and Senke could tell the boy was smiling.
“I survived the priests,” he said, clearly proud. “They can’t defeat me. No one can.”
“Don’t get cocky; I could still whoop you with one hand…”
He stopped. A dozen men had begun shouting from the main entrance, Oligart’s voice the loudest.
“Stay here,” Senke told Haern. “Lock the door. I’ll go see what’s going on.”
Senke closed the door behind him, waited until he heard Haern lock it, then hurried toward the entrance. He saw a few thieves dashing around the corner, too far ahead for him to ask questions. Oligart’s shouts were the only ones that he could understand above the throng, and what he heard filled his gut with lead.
“Guards, guards!” shouted Oligart. “We got guards to smash!”
Senke dashed through a dining room, turned left down a hallway, then hooked toward the main entrance. Over a hundred thieves lined up along the windows facing the front of the house. Oligart towered among them, staring and pointing.
“What is going on here?” Senke shouted.
“Soldiers!” Oligart shouted, spinning to greet Senke. “Royal soldiers, too! They showed up and started surrounding the place. I count at least five-hundred. We got heads to smash, boys, and lots of them!”
While Oligart might have been enthused, Senke’s face paled. The soldiers had arrived too soon. Thren wasn’t even there yet. What was wrong with them? Why had Gerand not waited?
“We need to delay them,” Senke said. “Hold the doors as best we can.”
“They got armor,” one rogue beside them argued. “Platemail, for cripes sake. Helmets, shields, swords…we got daggers and leather. What the fuck you think we can do against that?”
“I expect you to kill them,” Senke shouted, a bit of his hardness returning. “Or do you really think they’ll let you live if you run out the door with your hands up and your tail between your legs?”
Oligart pulled Senke aside and lowered his voice.
“We got a traitor,” Oligart said. “You know who?”
“Not a clue,” Senke lied. “We need to hold. Perhaps once the fire is set, we can escape during the commotion.”
“Or we’ll roast like roaches.”
The two leaders stared eye to eye.
“I don’t see any other way,” Senke said.
“Then we fight,” Oligart grumbled. “And we hope for Thren.”
“They’re coming,” several shouted at once. The soldiers rushed through the gates, swarming like metallic ants. They surrounded the complex, this time within the gate instead of without. Most wielded longswords and shields, though some held halberds, spears, and giant mauls. Four carried a thick log with metal handles bolted into the wood.
The men with the log approached the door, a squad of ten protecting them.
“Hold the door,” Senke