The girl said, “I don’t get one thing. Why are you taking on this job? You’re the son of the Duke of Krondor! You’re never going to be as rich on the dodgy path as you could be on the straight. If we get caught, we do time in prison, or the work gang. If you get caught, you get hung for treason. Why are you doing this?”
Dash said, “A promise.” Jenny seemed about to ask another question, but Dash cut her off. “You have a lot of work to do and so do I. You need to get someone into the palace and close to Talwin. You need to get him followed, and that won’t be easy. We have to find his contacts and identify his agents. He’s going to be the worst threat to the Mockers we’ll face.”
“I have just the girl,” said Jenny. “Young, innocent looking, can wash and sew, and will cut your heart out for a copper piece.”
“I’ve got a man I can get into the kitchen,” said Reese. “I’ll get them inside,” said Dash. “Now, go.”
They left and Dash ducked out the back way. He waited, and when he was satisfied no one had seen him depart the thieves’ headquarters, he knew that his life would never be truly his own.
He knew he’d earn riches as a merchant, and marry some well-thought-of young woman, one whom he would probably love, and father children. It would be, to outward appearances, a good life. Publicly he would be a man of importance, one worthy of envy. But he also knew he would live in two worlds, and that most of his life would not be his own.
More than his duty to the crown, given to him at birth without his consent by his father and grandfather, this duty to a ragged bunch of thieves and thugs was far more binding upon him, for it was a duty he elected, one chosen as a matter of honor, and he knew he would never fail in that duty short of death.
Dash set out through the sewers that would be a second home to him for the rest of his life.
Epilogue
Pug stood.
The students who joined him, Miranda, Nakor, and Gathis looked around the cave curiously. Two torches burned, cutting the gloom.
Pug said, “We come together tonight to ratify a vow each of you has already given to me in private. Others will come to join us over the years, and a few of you will leave, but this group will endure.
“We meet in a conclave, for no one outside this group may know we exist. We must linger in the shadows, hidden from the sight of those who live in the world of light.”
Pug looked from face to face, and said, “Each of you will act on behalf of people who will never know you exist, who might even fear you or oppose you if they knew of you, out of ignorance or because they are misled.
“Death will be the reward for many who choose this path.”
Pug pointed to the mouth of the cave. “Out there are men who have taken a path that leads into the darkness. Some are allies, others are ignorant of one another; some are unaware of who they truly serve, and others willingly embrace the evil we face. They will all seek to destroy us.
“Some of you will leave us, seeking to find our enemies. Others will be looking for new students to send here for training. Others will remain here, to teach and organize.
“The school at Villa Beata will continue as it was, and those who find us, without us seeking them, as many of you have done, will be welcomed here as before. Again I repeat, no one outside of this group may know we exist.
“We will deal in dreams and nightmares, in a war few out there can imagine. We are brothers and sisters in this calling, and we must be obedient to the needs of this conclave. No one of us can be above that need. If our lives are the price, so be it.”
No one in the room spoke.
Pug said, “We are the Conclave of the Shadows and we oppose the madness of the Nameless One and his agents.
“We have endured the Riftwar and we have survived the Serpentwar. We now prepare for the next struggle, one that few will know of, one that will be fought where few can see. It will be a war in the shadows.”
Pug put out his hand and Miranda took it. He nodded to Nakor and Gathis, and led his followers out of the cave, down the path to their home.