She had a point, and Kell hated it. “That was more of a mess than a success.”
Jubilee’s restrained grin dissolved. He’d won the argument, but Kell hated that too.
“Any theft you can walk away from is a good one,” Saeldian said. They caught the eye of a half-drunk young woman and left the girl staring after them as they kept walking.
Saeldian the scoundrel was back, then, and Kell didn’t have any reason for sympathy now.
“Right,” Kell said, putting a little more distance between them. “Let’s get this thing back to Briona and get paid.”
Chapter Eight
Just One More Thing
In Which Our Adventurers Are Not Given a Map
Saeldian had to make it just three hundred more steps down the Street of Bells before they could sit down, and only twelve of them were actually stairs. There wasn’t a carriage or cab with their hire lanterns unlit from Sulmor Street to Waterdeep Way, and certainly none to take them back to Righthoof Manor.
Jubilee walked a wavering line so she would seem a bit drunk. Kell was so tense Saeldian’s jaw ached whenever they glanced his way. Lorzok, still a tabby cat, had taken to running along the knee-high stone walls that lined the sidewalks on the route from east of the High Road in the North Ward to Waterdeep Way.
Two hundred seventy-two. Seventy-one. Righthoof Manor had its own clowder of cats, and Saeldian knew the swivel of an annoyed cat’s ears. Lorzok could have shifted back without anyone noticing more than once. He hadn’t, and Kell had given up trying to apologize a mile ago.
Saeldian forgot their count and kept walking. Lorzok’s mood wasn’t their business. They’d gotten away clean, and that was all that mattered. Kell had the gem. They would hand it over, get paid, and find out when they had to go to part two and put it back.Saeldian didn’t want to set the gears in their mind to planning. They anticipated nothing but falling into whatever bed the Golden Rose had and not moving until someone brought them breakfast on a tray, around when everyone else would be stirring to see noonday.
There were so many people on the street. All the shops were open, after all—Goldenight was celebrated with dances, feasts, performances, and bargains. Even the banks were open, in case someone needed to deposit their riches or withdraw just a few more dragons for something irresistible. Goldenight bargain-hunting was more fun than their birthday, but Saeldian couldn’t even think about shopping.
Next year—no. Not next year. Only Waterdeep celebrated Goldenight. Saeldian hated walking into another ending, but they couldn’t stay with the Righthoofs any longer. The voice that called them down the road had spoken. Jubilee would understand, eventually, how close she’d come to becoming someone she wouldn’t like.
Do the job. Get paid. Pick a direction, and start walking into a new chapter…and Saeldian couldn’t explain why to Jubilee either.
They reached for the heavy, cool amulet and sighed when the Rose came into sight. Not long now. Fifty steps into the music-filled main floor, and then climbing another twelve, and—
Briona and Mariel were in the sitting room Saeldian had barely seen when passing through it to have dinner. Mariel’s helmet lay on the floor next to the plush reclining couch she rested on; the ends of her unbraided rose-gold hair shivered and danced as Briona gently brushed one lock free of tangles.
Jubilee gasped. “Oh, sorry!”
Saeldian reflexively stepped backward to close the door, but Briona said, “Come in.”
She didn’t stop tending to her hireling’s hair. She massaged a few drops of perfumed oil between her palms, and the scent of costly wood saps and green moss filled the room.
“We…can come back?”
Kell stepped in where Saeldian’s voice faltered. “If it’s not a good time, we could meet at breakfast.”
Briona sighed and flourished dramatically at her own carefully braided crown. “Ever tried braiding it up like this by yourself?” She cocked her head, and the silver charms dangling from her hoop earrings caught the light.
“I have, actually,” Saeldian said. “You’re right, it’s easier to find a partner and do each other’s.”
“So, have a seat. I can listen and braid at the same time. I gather you were successful?”
“We have it. But it was nearly a disaster—nasty spell-trap on that thing. Kell, show her.”
Lorzok rubbed against their ankles as he wound past the clump of thieves next to the door. He hopped onto a chair—the nicest—and shifted back to himself. “The final trap was quite dangerous. I neutralized it, however.”
Kell dug into his pocket. “It’s here.”
Mariel turned her head just enough to see the gray bag swinging from Kell’s fingers. She hmphed agreeably and relaxed.
“I trust you have the Kiss of Enduring Love in there, and not some rock you found on the beach. Very good. Your keys are over there. Congratulations.”
