Yo! I know it's been a while since I updated but I've been real busy. Anyhoo this is the next chapter and this is where it all starts to get complicated so I suggest you read this while sober and at a respectable time of night lol. BTW I'm still keeping Vetinari hostage as I'm not quite convinced you deserve to get him back yet mwhahahah! Enjoy!
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Henriette looked down at the body at her feet.
"Is he dead?" she asked.
"Good gracious no," replied the Patrician as though shocked at the very idea. "He will be perfectly alright when he wakes up."
"And when will that be?" asked Susan suspiciously.
"Some time next week. Shall we?"
He was indicating the parapet.
"You expect us to climb down there!" squeaked Henriette. The man must be mad.
"At least you're dressed for it," muttered Susan.
"I can't climb down a sheer wall!"
"I didn't say you would have to," said Vetinari smoothly. "However, should you wish to remain here with our friend for the arrival of Lord Snapcase and the other guards, who are sure to notice that their captain is missing, I am sure we can spare you from our little party."
He smiled. Henriette thought it was like being smiled at by a shark. She had just realised how very white his lordship's teeth were when he put out a hand towards her.
"Miss Nonsense?"
"Fine," she growled.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
He was right; it was not in fact a sheer wall but an inclining section of the roof which sloped down to another roof on a lower level. From there it was a simple matter navigating your way among the chimneys to the stable and down through the roof hatch and then down the ladder from the hay loft. Henriette went first with his lordship behind her, softly giving her directions.
It had been agreed that Leonard should remain with the BOOT where it was least likely that he could do himself or anyone else damage. He had been told not to leave the attic under any circumstances. Nodding meekly the genius had simply produced a piece of chalk and began to scribble incredibly complex calculations on the wall. As she clambered among the chimney pots Henriette rather wondered why she had not stayed with him.
Susan took up the rear of the group. Her long dark skirt and cloak were perhaps not the best of attire for lurking on rooftops but complaining aloud was not an option. It hadn't taken too long for her to realise that she and her companions were in fact entering the domain of insane Lord Snapcase and that what should have been the simple correction of a minor clerical error could cost all of their lives if they were caught.
They had reached the trapdoor down into the hayloft. Vetinari opened it cautiously and peered inside. Susan had been mightily impressed by the way he had floored the guard, although she would never admit it.
"Everything appears to be clear."
He opened the door fully and stood back to let Henriette slip down onto the hay loft. His lordship followed and then turned to look back up at Susan.
"We're waiting your ladyship," he said sweetly and Susan muttered something unpleasant under her breath.
It was quite a jump down into the loft and while Henriette wore boots and Vetinari his black slippers Susan was still wearing the heeled boots she had had on at school. She didn't fancy having to continue this little adventure with a broken heel but her other option was getting covered in hay so she jumped and prayed that Ankh-Morpok cobbling was all it was cracked up to be.
Unfortunately for Susan, Fate had decided that she was not on her side this evening so as she jumped the tail of her cloak caught on the edge of the trapdoor. Susan jerked in the air, losing her flight path as the trapdoor crashed down above her head. She tensed and closed her eyes, expecting to meet the floor in a very sudden and painful way. However her sudden stop was far from painful and she opened her eyes to find herself tightly gripped in the arms of the Patrician who was giving her a look of extreme displeasure.
"Not quite the stealthy approach we were hoping for," he said quietly.
"Sorry," she muttered despondently as he set her down.
"This way. Quickly."
When the guards who had heard the crash finally made their way into the barn they found nothing except disturbed hay and a rather disgruntled Councillor Thunderclap. The great grey bay went back to his oats, shaking his head at their stupidity.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
There was silence in the corridors of the Assassins School. The few lamps in the passageways cast only flickering and thin light upon the floor in evenly spaced pools. Creeping noiselessly through the shadows around the edges of these pools was a deeper shadow.
Aneurin Downey did not sleep much but lately he had slept even less. It was that damn Dog Botherer. Downey had always been top of the class, always the leader of the pack, always the one with the power, the respect and the friends. But blasted Vetinari seemed to be taking over somehow.
It had been a slow process. At first the boy's marks had begun to improve until there was only a handful of points between them. Then the teachers who had always looked on Downey as a true upholder of the Assassins way had started to ignore him. He had seen the masters in deep conversation with his rival in the dinning hall or in the corner of the library or the grounds. Although Downey's friends would never really desert him, out of fear more than true loyalty, Vetinari's name was on their lips more than Downey would like and not in a derogatory fashion. Then there was the boy's aunt.
Downey did not know Madame Meserole very well but he knew she was trouble. There was nothing she would not do to see her nephew succeed. Aneurin had his eye on the Master Assassins chair and was afraid that Madame intended for Vetinari to have it.
And so he had taken to wandering the halls at night; thinking. There had to be a way to get rid of him, with his icy smiles and ever so polite tone and his bloody perfect white teeth! Git!
Downey paused in a pool of deep shadow. He was in one of the dormitory corridors and he was sure he had just heard voices moving in his direction. He listened carefully, straining his ears to pick up the slightest whisper. And there it was, a woman's voice coming towards him.
"Are you sure it's this way?" she hissed.
Someone shushed her and there was only the soft sound of footsteps. Two sets if Downey wasn't very much mistaken which he in fact was. There were not two but three people tiptoeing down that darkened corridor towards the young assassin but one of them moved so quietly that the whisper of his feet was lost in the faint hiss of the lamps.
As the feet turned a corner and began to move away from Downey he decided to follow them. He was intrigued. He slipped down the corridor they had turned down and realised that it was here that his nemesis had his room. Spurred on by the hope that the intruders were visiting the other boy for some illicit purposes he quickened his pace, a smile of grim determination touching his mouth.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Vetinari was quite amazed at how easily he had remembered the way to his old room. It was as though the route, once learned was never forgotten and he was sure he could still navigate his way here from any point in the great warren of the school.
Henriette had expressed some wonderment at the ease with which they had entered the building but he had pointed out that, like a dungeon or a cell, getting into the school was easy; the problems would arise when they wished to leave. However there would only be a problem if they were discovered and he had no intention of that happening.
When he reached the bedroom door he paused.
"Is this it?" whispered Susan and he nodded wordlessly.
"Can't we just go in and tell him to watch his step?" asked Henriette.
"No," replied Susan tiredly. "If we did that he'd remember it." She glanced at Vetinari in the gloom. "You don't remember something like that do you?"
He shook his head again although he was only half listening. He was trying to remember how it was he had managed to fall off that damn rooftop in the first place. He was quite sure he had not tripped, not him. In actual fact he couldn't remember the fall itself at all. Had he been unconscious? His lordship blended seamlessly with the shadows as he thought until even his companions found him hard to see.
So deep in his contemplation was he that he did not notice the form of the young assassin who had insinuated himself into the shade on the other side of the corridor.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Downey could see the two women clearly although he was still unaware that there was a third member of the party. They had paused outside the door of his hated rival and even as he watched the door swung open and a dark haired young man dressed in dark green and grey left the room.
However, much to Downey's annoyance he did not acknowledge the women waiting for him and even stranger, they made no move to hail him. No sooner had the door of the room swung shut than the other youth was swallowed up by the darkness and only a whisper of air told Downey that his fellow student had passed by him.
"Bloody hell," he heard one of the women mutter.
Downey smiled to himself. He was about to step into the light of the nearest lamp and introduce himself in a suitably gentlemanly and of course thoroughly menacing way when he heard a voice. It was a man's voice and not only that but it was a voice he recognised. The impossibility of it could not disguise the cool clipped tone that Downey knew and loathed so well.
"I suggest we follow him," said the voice and so saying the man stepped forward and as he passed the lamp Downey saw him.
Age could not change that long pale face and even the beard made little difference. Although the man was only visible for a moment Downey knew he had recognised his nemesis, Havelock Vetinari. But how?
Determined to find out exactly was going on Downey slipped back down the corridor after the party. Fate, which had lately been so unfair to Susan looked down on the young assassin and smiled wickedly. She was going to have fun tonight.