Airefalas couldn't sleep. Shortly after he and Mithadan had gone over the strategies Mithadan had in mind should events take a turn for the worse, the two of them had decided to turn in. It had been a long day and the following day could well prove to be an even longer one. They would need all the sleep they could get. Even so, Airefalas found sleep hard to come by. The air in the room was too still and close. And it was too quiet. He missed the steady lapping of water against the hull of a ship, the chime of the watch bells. For a long time, he lay in the dark, staring at the shadows on the ceiling, listening to the deep, steady breathing of Mithadan in his bed on the other end of the room. Eventually, Airefalas drifted off, too, but the sleep he found was thin and fitful, fraught with dreams. For several hours, he faded in and out of slumber. Finally, as the first rays of sunlight began to drift across the ceiling from the window, he gave it up.
Rising, he dressed quietly, so as not to wake Mithadan. He intended to go into the front chamber to organize the invoices and bills of lading they had accumulated the evening before, but, just as his fingers closed around the doorknob, he heard the quiet jingle of keys. Seconds later, the outer door opened and closed. Someone had entered their rooms. He froze and listened closely, his ear against the crack of the door. For a long time, he heard nothing, then the faintest rustle of vellum. Whoever it was had apparently decided to search through their papers. Tired and grumpy from a mostly sleepless night and having had more than his fill of stealth on the part of Falasmir and his cronies, Airefalas decided that he had had enough. Slowly, he turned the knob and pushed open the sleeping chamber door.
As the door inched open, Airefalas became aware of a young slave boy standing over Mithadan's satchel, his fingers full of invoices. Airefalas slipped through the opening in a half-crouch, his intention being to grab the young man from behind and immobilize him long enough to ask him a few questions. Odds were he was either a thief searching for valuables or a spy searching for information. Either way, Airefalas intended to bring him up short. Unfortunately, just as he was going to make his move, the boy turned. For a fleeting instant, their eyes locked. Several sheets of vellum floated from the boy's hand toward the floor.
Confound it, he's seen me... thought Airefalas, straightening. So much for the element of surprise. He nodded to the boy. "Good morning, mate," he said rather dryly, continuing to edge toward him. "What are you doing? Can I help you?"
The boy said nothing but his gold-flecked eyes dropped from Airefalas' face toward his hands. One of the boy's hands moved stealthily toward a fold in his tattered garments. Fearing a knife, Airefalas leaped forward. He caught the boy's wrist in an iron grip, and, spinning him away from him, caught the back of the boy's neck with his other hand.
<font size=1 color=339966>[ 11:48 PM February 04, 2004: Message edited by: Ealasaide ]
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