Chapter 15: Secret Alliance!
The approaching footsteps weren’t random patrol sounds or drunken villagers stumbling home late.
They were measured, deliberate, and heading straight for the shop’s back entrance!
Kael’s hands moved with practiced efficiency, replacing the documents exactly as he’d found them and triggering the hidden compartment closed with barely a whisper of sound.
"Behind the silk display," he breathed to Helga, pointing to a corner where expensive fabrics hung in elaborate drapes. "Stay low, stay quiet."
They melted into the shadows just as a key turned in the back door lock. Kael’s pulse quickened, but his mind remained razor-sharp, cataloging every detail as Borin entered his own shop at this suspicious hour.
The merchant looked nothing like the sweaty, nervous wreck from earlier. His movements were fluid, confident, almost predatory.
Gone was the bumbling shopkeeper act. This was someone who knew exactly where he was going and what he needed to do.
Borin didn’t bother lighting a lamp. Instead, he moved through the cluttered shop with the sure-footed grace of someone who’d navigated this space in darkness countless times.
He went straight to a section Kael hadn’t explored; a narrow closet behind the main counter that appeared to hold nothing but cleaning supplies and extra inventory.
But appearances, Kael was learning, meant nothing in this village.
Borin’s hands found something among the brooms and cloth bundles. A soft grinding sound, stone against stone, echoed through the quiet shop.