Oberon's Dreams - By Aaron Pogue Page 0,62
inside the gate?”
“We find a way into the house. With any luck, undetected.”
“And then?”
Corin nearly missed a step. “Well…we find the sword.”
“How?”
Corin shrugged. “There is some reason to the way a house is arranged. Once we’re inside, we should be able to guess where Ephitel might keep his valuables—”
“But won’t those places be well guarded?”
Corin had to shrug. “Perhaps.”
“Then we will fight.”
“No. Not if we can avoid it. Fighting only draws attention. We’ll try to find something cleverer.” He brightened. “Perhaps you could pretend to belong. It worked in the dungeons.”
“Only because I belong in the dungeons. No. Ephitel’s house guard wear a different uniform, and…” He sighed, miserable. “They all know Ephitel would never choose me.”
Corin slapped him on the back. “You’ll make him pay for that. I’ve never been the favorite, Kellen. Never in my life. And yet somehow I’ve always managed to come out on top.”
The yeoman brightened. “We’ll make him pay. I like the sound of that.”
“Me, too,” Avery said from behind them. “Now quit gossiping like courtiers and pay some attention. This is careful business.”
As they approached the birch that Kellen had mentioned, Corin recognized it instantly. It grew out at an angle from the ground—a long, straight trunk just wide enough to scamper up, and tall enough to overhang the iron gate by perhaps a pace. It happened to loom over a lightly forested corner of Ephitel’s estate as well, which offered them some cover for the approach.
Corin went ahead, climbing the smooth trunk almost as easily as the rigging back on his ship, Diavahl. As soon as he was past the gate, he dropped lightly down and darted into the shade beneath a blooming cherry tree. Avery came right behind him, then Kellen landed with a muffled crash and a violent curse, but in a moment he was up again and standing with the others, peering out toward the mansion.
“I don’t see any guards,” Corin said.
“Maurelle’s commotion at the gates must have drawn them,” Kellen said. “No one ever disturbs this property.”
“I noticed. The people wouldn’t even look toward the house.”
“Ephitel has a fearsome reputation.”
Corin shrugged. “Well, today it serves us well. Let us move while they are still distracted.”
He went ahead, leading a darting path among the cherry trees, then dashing over twenty paces of open lawn to flatten his back against the stable wall. From there no windows on the property gave view, so he caught his breath while Avery and Kellen joined him. As soon as they were all together, he slipped down the back of the stable, listening for the sound of some attendants in the bays, but it seemed even they had gone to see what caused such ruckus at the front gate. Still, he eased his way around the end of that wall, peering into every shadow in the stable yard, then he dashed across the yard into the shelter of the house’s stable door.
Avery came after him, padding lightly as a cat, but Kellen tromped like a soldier in his heavy boots. Corin ground his teeth, but he said nothing. They were fortunate to have such a powerful distraction. He glanced around the yard one more time, saw no one watching, then tried the handle on the door.
He looked to Avery. “It’s open.”
“Then go ahead.”
“I cannot guess what’s on the other side.”
“One way to find out.” The gentleman stepped past Corin, unhesitating, and turned the handle. He threw the door wide and darted through, hands raised before him as though ready for a fight.
No one waited in the hall. Corin followed after Avery, and no matter how he strained his ears, he could hear no one in the house.
“We saw the dwarves come in, didn’t we?”
“They’re here,” Avery said. “Keep your focus. And, for your fear of reason, keep quiet.”
He threw a glare at Kellen, then slipped away down the hall.
“Why is he so mad at me?” Kellen asked, in a tone too near a normal speaking voice.
“He has a gift for stealth,” Corin said, pointing down to Kellen’s heavy boots. “You do not.”
The yeoman looked crestfallen, but before he could apologize, Corin shook his head. “You’re doing your best. Just…keep doing better.”
Corin darted after Avery, down the corridor and past a busy kitchen, unnoticed. The hallway branched to left and right, and Corin followed the flash of Avery’s black boots to the left. That felt right, anyway, moving toward the mansion’s heart, somewhere sturdy and secure. Somewhere far from windows and other prying eyes. But