"Help me escape from here."
'So stupid. Incredibly stupid.'
But Ashwyn couldn't be hasty. She had to think things through before jumping to conclusions.
First, she didn't know if he was a Xandros member or a thief like her, also trapped here. But his clothes screamed "Xandros," while her own look definitely spelled "criminal."
And it wouldn't matter to the family if he was a Xandros or not when he went missing. Helping someone escape the Xandros family's clutches could be seen as stealing. As if stealing an inanimate object wasn't enough, she'd also be charged with stealing a human.
If he was a Xandros, helping him escape meant death. If he was a thief, and no family member had seen him, and he was just stuck like her, then it was fine; she'd just leave him to die or whatever. If he was a thief who'd been locked up, then...
But why would he be locked in such a buoyant room? What if her impression of the Xandros family was wrong? What if they were nice? But nice to a thief?
'Ugh. This is confusing.'
Finally, she made her decision.
"No thanks... I'll find my way out."
She expected his expression to darken, or at least for him to fall to his knees and beg, perhaps confessing he was a thief. Or maybe he'd say he was a family member who wanted to go to a ball with his Aurethian spouse.
But his expression was totally different.
He started laughing so hard he fell to the ground, rolling on the floor. Tears streamed from his eyes, a result of his insane mirth. He was laughing so hard she could hear his bones crack.
Ashwyn could have used this moment to grab something and put him to sleep, maybe even an eternal nap. It didn't really matter, as long as he was going to take a forced nap after the object landed on his head.
For some reason, she hesitated.
'Why is he laughing? Did I say something wrong?'
She hissed and waited for him to finish.
The boy then stood up, a cunning smile playing on his lips.
"I don't think you have an option here."
Before Ashwyn could speak, he continued.
"Okay, kippy. Let me explain. It's very simple, really. I'm a Xandros member. Does that explain it?"
Ashwyn wanted to argue, but then she realized what he meant.
She had already been seen by a Xandros—him. So her reply about finding her own way out was indeed laughable. It would take him nothing to alert everyone to a thief. She was also in his room. The door, was it locked or not? She hadn't known. That question was almost answered. If he wanted to escape, he could have just worn black clothes and walked out his door like a normal person. Why go through the wall?
The tunnel was still a bad idea.
Should she trust him or not? Aurethians weren't to be trusted.
'Should have knocked him out!'
Finally, she sighed.
"I help you escape, and we get away from the mansion... You leave..."
"Huh? What makes you think I'll move with a lowlife thief like you?" the boy snorted.
'Fool... The lowlife thief is helping you escape.'
She hissed and tried to look for a way out, then remembered the real reason she'd come here.
To steal something valuable!
"I'll get something in return, apart from safety..." she scowled.
"I understand... I'll give you this." He said, pulling out a gold necklace with a pendant.
The pendant's core was a perfect, glowing circle—bright golden-yellow, almost white at the center. Its edges weren't perfectly smooth. Glowing strands stretched outward in jagged, uneven spikes, like triangular points. There were a few dark spots—small, irregular circles—within the core.
This was the weirdest shape Ashwyn had ever seen. It was beautiful.
This wasn't the time to admire its shape. It looked expensive, but Ashwyn didn't care about expensive things from Aurethia. She only took them because they were beautiful and she could brag about having Aurethian technology.
Beyond that, the only other thing she stole was money. It looked like she'd only be going home with a golden necklace.
"Deal?" the boy asked, tossing it to her.
She looked at the necklace for a moment, then nodded.
"Do you have black clothing?" she asked, her expression unreadable.
"Yeahh... Why... Ooh... I get it now."
He went to his closet and brought out an all-black ensemble.
It was time to change. Ashwyn turned her back. She didn't even care if he was dressing in front of her, but it was good to be respectful sometimes.
After a while, the boy was dressed in the black clothing. He wore a frock coat of deepest black, its tailored lines emphasizing a lean silhouette. Beneath it, a waistcoat of a slightly darker hue, perhaps midnight blue, was subtly visible. His trousers, also black, were impeccably cut, falling neatly over highly polished ankle boots. A simple, dark cravat was neatly tied at his neck, completing an ensemble that was both understated and elegant, designed for stealth rather than ostentation.
Ashwyn had thought it all through. Going through the tunnel was still a smart move, but it would take a lot of time, and someone could enter the room while they were climbing, alerting people and preventing them from leaving through the window.
Using the door? Yes... That was the worst idea, but she had no choice. The smart felt wrong and the wrong felt smart.
The boy opened the door and didn't wait for her; he just walked out. She hissed and followed him, using her black cloak to cover the lower part of her face.
The passageway stretched before them, a grand corridor illuminated by a series of gas lamps affixed to the walls at regular intervals. Their soft, hissing flames cast pools of warm, flickering light that danced upon the ornate wallpaper, which featured deep, rich damask patterns. Interspersed among the gas lamps were elegant candlesticks, their polished brass bases reflecting the golden glow of the beeswax candles, adding an almost ethereal quality to the grand hall.
Further down, at strategic points, stood tall, slender floor lamps, their frosted glass shades diffusing the light more evenly, creating a gentle illumination that barely disturbed the shadows clinging to the high ceilings. The air carried a faint scent of beeswax and old wood, a testament to the mansion's age and grandeur.
Oddly, there was no one after they had walked for about five minutes. The Xandros family wasn't that numerous, after all. And their servants—Ashwyn had no idea, she hadn't seen one yet.
The boy was leading, and it was becoming questionable who was helping whom escape. If he possessed such stealth and escaping ability, similar to a thief, why hadn't he just escaped by himself?
'What a fool.'
They reached the compound, which Ashwyn had navigated with ease earlier. Ashwyn looked at the window and cursed it.
The boy stopped to take a deep breath. Weird, he's the one leading this whole time, and he's the one tired.
'Ahh... I regret not knocking him out.'
Just as the boy was about to move again, someone yelled at them.
"Hey, stop! Who are you people?"
'Curses.'
Ashwyn should have just forbidden him from resting; she had totally forgotten that the compound didn't truly embrace darkness, and they could be easily seen.
She turned and saw two guards running towards them. It was then she noticed how vast the compound was and how enormous the mansion truly stood.
She looked to her left and saw a fence. That was all she needed. The perfect fence to jump.
'If he doesn't know how to jump, tough luck for him.'
But then she was shocked. The boy ran towards the fence and somersaulted to the other side.
So that was his plan... Use her as a distraction to escape.
But then she smiled.
'He's cunning and crazy.'
She also ran towards the fence and somersaulted. The boy was already ten feet away.
This felt familiar... Yes... It always happened whenever she came here to steal... Always getting chased by officials or guards.
She smirked and lessened the gap between her and the boy. The boy glanced at her and smiled, then increased his speed as if challenging her to keep up.
She just smiled and increased her speed.
'A crazy being lives in this world?'
****
After a while, they noticed no one was chasing them at all. The boy stopped to catch his breath, collapsing onto a platform near the very hole Ashwyn had used to sneak into the building.
Ashwyn watched him, then made up her mind to re-enter the hole. She had no further business with him.
It had been fun running with him... but life moved on.
"Wait..." the boy commanded, his voice now hoarse from their sprint.
Ashwyn looked at him, confused, half-expecting him to pull out thousands of Shillings and hand them to her.
Instead, the only thing she got was another stupid sentence. It was worryingly, utterly stupid to Ashwyn. The words were:
"Ermmm... I have nowhere to stay."