Jano got down to his knees, the floor was spotless and clean. So he didn’t feel too bad about spoiling his new trousers. The space behind the curtain was more than big enough to crawl through, but too small to walk through. At least for anyone as tall as Jano. He was quite shocked to see that it was nicely decorated on the inside, with a dark red paint on the walls and intricate golden spiral designs flowing along the pathway.

The pathway wasn’t long and he reached the end relatively quickly. A wonderful smell drifted along as he crawled. He could hear voices, relatively quiet at first but growing louder. Where is Darrel sending me now? He thought. He grew slightly uneasy knowing that the Mage wasn’t next to him. A Class Seven would be easy pickings to some of the other residents of the City. Most of which lived in the Northern Quarter. And he still wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing.

As he crawled he thought about Nara, the Guard he had briefly met earlier and what they would be doing. He couldn’t complain of course, he had been paid well and all he had done so far was a few minor tasks and been trained by Darrel. So it was about time he did some work.

He reached the end and stood up, dusting himself off. A clattering of voices now filled the air, invading his eardrums. Music drifted lazily to his ears and he noticed the group of musicians playing ornate wooden instruments in the centre. The room was much larger than it ought to be, considering he crawled into it. There were plenty of plush, comfy chairs with strangers lounging horizontally. There were others arranged in circles with groups of people vigorously gesticulating and debating. There were strangely dressed people wandering around with ornate metal jugs with golden handles.

In short, it was overwhelming. Jano didn’t know where to start and so he stumbled forward. Nobody paid him any attention and he smiled at the collective joy around him. He bumped into the small man who had greeted them and crawled through ahead of Jano. He guided Jano to a chair and took a step back. “Just signal to one of the staff when you want something. Your entry fee has been paid for. When you’re ready to leave, you can leave through any door you like. Just not the entrance.”

With that the man moved to leave. Jano glanced at the man’s wrist. It was half covered, but it looked like ‘V’ was dancing in a dark violet. Jano took an intake of breath, trying not to look nervous. He wondered what Class the others would be, if the proprietor was as high as Five. What was Darrel? As he was thinking, one of the strangely dressed people wandered over casually. As they got closer and it looked like he was going to ask Jano a question. Just before the strangely dressed man reached him, he realised that they worked here.

“Can I get you anything sir? Perhaps some Andrean wine? Jano had no idea what wine that was. He nodded, not wanting to appear ignorant, or stand out.

“That would be great, thankyou.” He said.

The staff were dressed in dark green finery, which looked like vines climbing their bodies. It reminded Jano of a nicer version of the badly maintained walls in the Slums. They often had thin scrambling plants climbing up, causing cracks in the wall. Their wrists were covered, so their Class could not be seen. How are they getting away with this? He thought. It was a crime to cover your arm unless you were a Mage or a particularly high Class. He looked around and noticed that the air further down the room was filled with smoke. Must be the Varian leaf. But that was banned.

The man covered in vines placed his filled cup on the table. “If there is nothing else? Just signal if you need anything more.” He said and walked to another set of chairs.

Jano took a sip of the wine and felt his tongue curl violently. That’s awful. He tried to stop his face contorting as he drank, but he couldn’t be sure how successful he was.

He looked around the room. It was decorated in the same soft red as the tunnel he crawled through, but it looked different in the massive room. He noticed that there was a stone archway further down, where some of the staff kept walking in and out of.

There were clearly many adjoining rooms. He glanced to the far end through the smoke, where he noticed some more wooden doors. They had a shine to them that he hadn’t seen on any other type of wood. I would very much like to examine those, he thought. As he thought about what could have been used to give that effect, a woman sat in one of the chairs beside him.

It was the woman he had seen leaving Darrel’s house earlier. She was wearing different clothes, and he couldn’t see her weapons. She glanced at him, looking him up and down once more. Just as she had at the door. She confidently flagged down one of the staff and he poured her a drink.

“So, you must be Jano” she said. “Well you don’t stick out too badly. For a Slummer.” She had a serious voice, he wasn’t sure whether she was trying to offend, or whether she was just stating it as a fact. She took a long drink from the wine. “I hope you haven’t had too many of those.”

He shook his head. “If I’m honest, I thought it tasted pretty awful.”

She looked at him. She smiled and chuckled. “You know there are many people here who would be quite offended at that remark.” She surveyed the room, her green eyes watching the other patrons. “Tastes like distilled horse piss.” She added as she continued to check out the others present in the room.

“So has our mutual friend told you anything or has he left me that honour?” Her face softened a little, she looked genuinely interested in what he had to say. Which was quite rare for someone who knew he came from the Slums.

“Unfortunately not. He said specifically that you would let me know what we were doing. I only know I’m to be some sort of thief. I just had to bring this.” He pulled at his shirt and revealed the outline of a dagger.

“Put that down! Hide it!” She whispered. “You’re not allowed those in here. Specifically no weapons. You could get us kicked out. The last thing we need is any unwanted attention.” She said. “They make you leave them by the entrances, it’s a strict amnesty policy. No questions asked, as long as they’re not brought in.”

He rushed to smooth everything out, hiding the dagger. “Can I just ask? Where exactly are we?” He asked.

She laughed and looked him up and down. “This is the House of Trin. It’s a safe house of sorts.”

“Safe house?”

“They offer sanctuary to people of all backgrounds. They have them in the Slums too. Didn’t you ever hear of one?” She took another sip of her drink and relaxed a little.

“They’re not well advertised, for obvious reasons. Some of the Guard know they’re here, but they’re paid well for their tolerance. As long as they don’t cause any major problems, they’re allowed to operate. Understand?”

“These people don’t exactly look like they’re in a safe house.” Jano said, observing the room once more.

Nara laughed and sat forward. “There’s more than one reason to hide away. Even if it’s only for a few hours.”

Jano nodded. He thought back to the place he collected the package for Darrel. He remembered the couple disappearing. Perhaps that was one of these safe houses.

“Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but we’re going to have to break into the University.” She didn’t lower her voice or change tone in any way. Her matter of fact tone made Jano feel a mix of slightly more confident and scared of her.

“Our mutual friend told me that you were proving yourself useful and that you’d be perfect for the job. Are you?” She looked directly at him. He shifted. Not sure how to answer the question.

“I’m good at using essence to manipulate stone…. If that helps?” He said.

She smiled. “Yes. That helps.”

Jano felt his palms become sweaty and he moved to stop his foot, which at some point had begun tapping furiously. The University was hallowed ground. Only the most talented were allowed to step foot there. It was as though she had proposed breaking into the Palace itself. Even entering the grounds was a crime, unless you were a student or there to work.

“What are we looking for?” He asked tentatively. His mind was swimming with the potential danger ahead. He was suddenly a lot less excited.

“That’s for me to know. You’re just getting me in there and back-up if anything goes wrong. So I hope you aren’t entirely useless with that dagger.” She finished her drink and stood up. “Come on.” She walked towards the doors at the south of the room.

Jano was about to reply, explaining that he was in fact, useless with the dagger. She walked quickly and Jano had to rush to gather himself. He did so and stumbled after her.

Strangers glanced their way, presumably as they were the only ones making any sort of hurry, but they paid little attention. Jano passed through the smoke, coughing lightly as he did so and conversation buzzed around them. Words blending into one another in an enjoyable hum.

He saw Nara turn left and walk down a corridor. “Aren’t we going through one of those doors?” He asked.

“Not one of those ones.” She replied, as they turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor Jano saw more chairs and tables.

There were more people talking and drinking. Enjoying themselves. The smoke seemed a little thicker in here. There were doors on every wall in this room. What is this place? How many tunnels and doors are down here? He was too scared to ask these questions quite yet.

He followed Nara, who was already confidently striding through the masses. He wanted to stay here, take in his surroundings and maybe enjoy a better glass of wine. They had to have one. Apparently Nara didn’t share those plans. Now he had to break into the University. Just as he was starting to enjoy himself.