Chapter 2
Holy Spaces
Wrin squeezed out of the hole in the
wall at Alleyend, emerging into a dark and damp crawlspace of an alleyway. It
was one of the advantages of Alleyend that it was so far from the street. Even
Wrin wasn't sure exactly where it lay in the city, but it was deep into a block
of wide shops with oddly-shaped floor plans. It was through no small amount of
luck that Wrin found it when he'd first arrived in Aegis, and as the weeks went
by he began to wonder why no-one else had snapped up such prime real estate.
The answer became clear when he started bringing the other kids he'd pickpocket
with back to his secret place. Few had ever even gone that far down the alley,
and those that did assumed the place was already taken. In that sense, Wrin was
lucky he'd been so naive back when he spent his first nights on the streets.
That naivety left him pretty fast
though. It was his second month in Aegis, and he took another boy he'd been
pickpocketing with back to Alleyend. So far Wrin had befriended exceptions, but
this boy, as Wrin learned over the years, was the rule. He'd pulled a knife on
Wrin the moment he knew the way to Alleyend, and had it not been for the
intervention of Knife himself Wrin would've bled to death in a back alley at
the age of six. Knife had been a good sort, Wrin thought, but the truth was he
just had an immense talent for violence. Knife saw an opportunity there at
Alleyend. He could stay there and kill anyone who sought to take it for
themselves. He and Wrin had shaken hands on the deal, and neither said a word
to the other for the next five years.
The crawlspace ended, and Wrin
emerged into the more forgiving part of the alley. He used to be able to walk
upright here, but the years of growth spurts meant he now had to hunch, even if
only slightly. As he walked he caught himself
thinking about Khol's words. In truth, he absolutely was nervous, but not for
the reason Khol thought. Khol could read his emotions like a book, but he was
thick as a brick when it came to understanding their source. It was only sheer
respect for the lad that had made Wrin explain his thoughts so many times over
the years. That was the reality of things here on the streets of Aegis, there
was no trust, just respect and good deals. People weren't ever against you,
they were just for themselves.
Wrin stepped out into the street
now, enjoying the fresh river air. The wind was coming down from the north and
blowing out to sea, which wasn't a common occurrence in Aegis. Wrin enjoyed the
refreshing change from the smell of brine and damp wood. He turned inward to
the city centre, taking the route he had planned for himself. Some of the
others would have taken less direct routes, again to avoid suspicion. The net
effect was they should all be reaching the location at the same time. Of the
seven that were going inside, four were taking the front door. The other three
were the greasemen, who would climb in through pipes and forgotten passageways.
Once the heist was underway, each of them had somewhere to be. According to
Wrin, each movement was planned to avoid the men on watch inside the
labyrinthine Cathedral.
It was this Cathedral that Wrin now
stood before. It was one of the city's three attractions, the others being the
arena and the palace. It was normally busy in the square out front, but today,
admissions day, was even busier. Wrin squeezed his way through crowds, forcing
his way to the front door. A few years ago he would have been surprised at how
forcefully he could brush people aside, but these days he had become used to
his innate strength.
There was a queue at the door, but
looking ahead Wrin could see a sign with two arrows pointing in opposite directions.
One read Observers, the other read Admissions. Once a year, that sign was
put out and half the city would queue on the right hand side to watch the young
hopefuls say their pre-admissions prayers. The families would then stay to
watch for their beloved children, ready to cheer if they saw them saying their
vows of induction or console if they saw them back in the prayer room. Wrin was
one of the few dozen who would turn left at the sign, and that meant he didn't
have to queue.
The Cathedral was made up of two
main sections. One was the small prayer room, which the public could enter and
use at any time. The other was the Clericum, where the sick would go to be
treated. There were two other doors at the Cathedral's entrance, doors which
today were open. These led to the Academy and to a small viewing ring around
the two chapels where would-be Priests could be viewed on admissions day.
Wrin strode past the line of people,
some of whom turned to look at him as he marched past them headed for admissions.
Most kept their eyes ahead as the line shuffled forward inch by inch. Reaching
the sign, Wrin turned left through the usually-closed door and down a long,
tall corridor. He slowed his pace here, letting himself revel in the easy
summer breeze that followed him down the hall. The walls were bare stone, but
along them was a series of white tapestries adorned with the red crest of the
Protector. Wrin slowed to look at the first few, expecting some form of
scripture to be woven into the fabric. But alas, they were all bare. It was a
shame, he thought, but it didn't dull the sense of boyish excitement growing in
his stomach.
At the end of the hall was a large
open arch on his right. He stepped through it into the first chapel, where the
Priests-to-be knelt to pray before admissions. Wrin walked to the door on the
far wall, trying not to feel embarrassed at the loud sound of his shoes against
the floor. Once there, he scribbled his name in the ledger. Wrinlett Leeve.
Taking a quick glance at the half dozen names before his, he couldn't help but
feel intimidated by how neat all their handwriting was. Wrin's looked like that
of a child. Then again, he'd only been a child when he was taught to write.
Walking back to the pews, Wrin
caught a glance of the crowds above. The second story, some ten feet above the
ground, was full of Aegis' citizens pressing their faces to the glass to watch
Wrin and his silent companions pray. Wrin did his best to ignore them and took
a seat, bowing his head in the semblance of prayer. Again his doubts in his
plan surfaced.
'You
don't even know the words of prayer! You'll never get in. Remember what your
dad told you about the Priests? They know magic before they come here, not
after. You've got nothing, you're just the urchin Wrin.'
He pushed the thoughts aside, even
if they were right. He'd made the plan, there was no good reason for it not to
work. And if it didn't, he lost nothing. He had his excuses prepared, none of
the boys would suspect a thing.
"Parsons, Krayner" came a
voice from the far door.
Wrin looked up, then ducked his head
back down when he noticed no-one else had raised their head. There was the
sound of footsteps growing distant, then there was silence again. During his
brief glance, Wrin had seen a tall, thin middle-aged man with a well-trimmed
beard. He'd been dressed in bright white robes adorned with red markings and
the rose crest of the Protector.
A pang of nerves hit him then, the
quiet shock interrupting his mouthed bluff of a prayer. He was already nervous
about his plan, so what was this? He was nervous, he realised, about being
caught. But no, there was no reason he would be caught. He hadn't deviated from
the plan he'd given the boys, and by the time he did it would be too late for
them to find out. In any case, each of them should have bigger things to worry
about right now, and none of them should be here.
"Trim, Hareld." came the
voice again. This time Wrin didn't look up. The sound of Hareld's footsteps
echoed away down the hall and once again the room was silent.
There'd been six on the list before
Wrin, so there were still four more to go. The admissions were held in a
different room than the ones the public could see or enter. Wrin had only the
tiniest of ideas of what happened in that room. Still, that didn't matter. He'd
been planning this for years, had gone to great lengths to find the blueprints
they'd used. He knew all the details, and it was going to work. It had to work.
Two more people entered the room,
walking over to the ledger beside the far wall and signing their names on it.
There would be more of them throughout the next hour, the last hour in which
admissions were open. No sooner had the boys left the ledger and taken their
seats did the Priest re-enter the chapel.
"Beleren, Jarvis." said
the man. It made Wrin jump a little this time, but he managed not to show it.
He could have sworn the voice had been softer the first two times...
It had been maybe five minutes
between each name being called out, so Wrin's timing couldn't have been more
perfect. Right now, the greasemen would have let Khol's crew in and together
they would have cleared out all the necessary halls and rooms. Khol himself
would have split off to find the Paladin's quarters so that he was in position
when Wrin made his move.
The man came in and called out
another name, then another, then another. Wrin's stomach tumbled and lurched in
excitement as he waited those last few minutes, and for some reason he couldn't
help but feel like he desperately needed to pee. It was nerves though, all
nerves. He knew that much. Khol would be well in position by now, expecting
Wrin to start a fire in the chapel. But Wrin did no such thing. Instead, the
man walked into the room and called out the next name on the list.
"Leeve, Wrinlett."
Wrin stood up, keeping his eyes off
the crowds above, and strode over to the door, following the priest through it
and into the hallway beyond.
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