I waited until the following night before I began my search for a dagger. After all the boys were asleep, I crept back down into their hallway. I was wearing my old cloak because it blended into the shadows, and if I were seen, it would be less recognizable. There were multiple boys with red cloaks, but not enough to make me anonymous. 

It was dark in the hallway, but I was used to working at night. Daylight raids to the upper city were fun, but I didn't do it often enough to sustain myself. Sneaking around at night was a safer way to get food or supplies. 

I paused at the first room and stood silently in front of it for a moment. Inside, I could hear the boy tossing and turning on his bed. It could mean that he was still awake, and I decided to move on. At the second room I heard nothing. I put my hand on the knob and slowly turned it.

The door creaked a little and I froze, listening for any noise indicating the boy had woken up. The room was almost perfectly silent. I held the door as I slipped through, and cautiously closed it behind me. Moonlight was shining in through the window, so I had enough light to work. The room looked nearly identical to the one where I'd stolen my cloak. The only difference was the boy lying asleep in his bed, and the slightly darker colour of the cloaks hanging in the wardrobe.

I crept around the boy's bed to look through his desk. The first drawer I opened held normal things, some pieces of parchment and paper, two quills, and bottles of ink. The second drawer held what I was looking for. The boy had many different daggers and small knives, and I forced myself to ignore the fancier ones. Not only would their absence be noticed, but I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself.

Instead, I picked out one that looked quite plain. It was slightly heavier than Tannix's, though it looked to be about the same size. The handle and sheath were made of black leather, decorated with dark, beaten gold. I slipped the dagger from the sheath to see that the dark metal also made up the knife's guard and blade. The knife wasn't nearly as rich looking as Tannix's was, but I knew it would serve my purposes just fine. I slid the dagger back into the sheath, and hooked it onto my belt. I quietly closed the drawer, and then, instead of taking the door, I left through the window.

I met Tannix the next morning by the door to his bedroom. I had my new dagger with me, but I didn't flaunt it like I wanted to; I let it stay under my cloak where it was meant to be. It was comforting to feel the weight of the weapon on my hip, even though I wasn't used to carrying one around.

When I knocked, Tannix opened the door and glanced over me sleepily. "Why do you look so proud of yourself?" He had opened the door before he was finished getting ready for the day, so he walked back into his room and I followed him. I leaned against the wall near his door and crossed my arms.

"Good dreams," I replied vaguely.

"About a girl?" Tannix pulled on his cloak.

"Maybe."

"A servant back at your villa?"

I shrugged. "Maybe." He picked up his dagger from his desk and was fitting it to his belt. I couldn't help but stare at it until it was hidden from sight by his cloak.

"Does she have a name?" Tannix asked.

"Of course, everyone has a name." I said. "It's Zila." The first name that I could think of was my mother's, but Tannix didn't need to know that. "And who do you dream about, Lord Tandrix?"

"I don't think I want to tell you."

"You can't—" I started to protest, but Tannix held up his hand to silence me.

"Yes, I can," he taunted playfully, "because I outrank you, Lord Finagale." He walked by me to leave his room, and nudged me on his way past. "Come on, most of the others have left."

My annoyance quickly disappeared. Once again, he had called me Lord Finagale, and I was starting to realize that loved it when he said my name like that. It almost sounded real. As if I was actually a lord and my life on the streets was the lie. With my new dagger, I even felt more like a noble.

"Finn, come on," Tannix repeated. I realized that a moment had passed while I basked in the idea of being a lord.

"Sorry," I muttered, and followed him from the room. We joined the rest of the boys in the dining room, and I was dismayed when a couple of them shuffled closer to speak to Tannix. They talked about training and ignored me, so I quickly lost interest and concentrated on my food.

After breakfast, we went out to the courtyard again. We stood in our lines and Malte told us all what we'd be doing for the morning. It was sword fighting again, and I groaned inwardly. Tannix nudged me with his elbow.

"Hey, you are getting better."

"That doesn't mean I want to do it again," I grumbled. "Can't we climb walls instead? I like doing that."

"We don't get to decide what we practice, unfortunately." Tannix led the way over to the sword rack. "Although, I will let you try with your left hand today."

"Thank Zianesa," I muttered, too quietly for him to hear. I took the wooden sword he was offering with my left hand. "This is better."

"Wait."

I jumped, startled. Malte had come up behind me without warning and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Put the swords back. You two are coming with me today," he said. "We're going on a training trip to the lower city." He walked away without another word, expecting us to follow.

"Excellent." Tannix did not sound pleased at all, which led me to wondering what a trip to the lower city actually involved. He took the sword back from me and hung them both up before we started to follow Malte. "It seems like you'll be climbing walls after all. Why do you look so scared?" he asked.

"I don't like it when people come up behind me," I said a little shakily. For a moment I had thought Malte had caught on and was going to arrest me, but of course, there was no way to tell Tannix that. "I was startled, is all."

He nodded. "He is a little intimidating, I agree."

"A little," I muttered under my breath. Tannix clearly heard me, since he reached out to punch my shoulder lightly, but he said nothing about it.

Malte led us into the building. He walked past all the doors and staircases I had become familiar with, and instead took us to a small, insignificant looking door near the end of the atrium. He stood in front of it, arms crossed over his huge chest, and nodded at the door. We were clearly meant to go in by ourselves.

Tannix stepped forward, but Malte dropped a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Make sure you leave your crest ring behind, Lord Tandrix. It will draw thieves to us, and we do not want to be attracting any attention."

Tannix nodded and shrugged off Malte's hand. He pushed the door open and I hurried to follow him, afraid that Malte might grab me as I passed. The room was fairly small, just a dressing room lined with shelving and hooks. The longest wall was covered in cloaks. What surprised me most was the variety of colours. Most of them were dull colours, browns and greys meant to make a person invisible. At the far end of the wall, the cloaks changed—red, blue, green—every colour I could imagine. It was a shame I hadn't known about the room before stealing my red cloak.

Tannix took off his blue cloak and folded it neatly to tuck it into one of the shelves. He tugged off his crest ring and placed it beside the cloak. I followed his example, folding up my red cloak as nicely as I could. Then I followed him to the wall of cloaks.

He chose a grey one, and as he draped it over his shoulders, he glanced at me. "I know most people dislike the grey ones, but they seem more stone coloured to me," he offered, as if I'd asked him about his colour choice.

I grabbed a sandy one for myself. "Maybe in West Draulin, but this matches the buildings in the lower city better," I pointed out. The cloaks seemed to all have hoods, unlike the expensive kind Tannix and the other boys wore. They were actually very similar to my own cloak. Mine was more worn, of course, and dirtier. I still preferred mine; it had more pockets. Tannix looked at me quizzically, so I paused nervously just as I was tying the cloak in place. "What?"

"You actually remembered your dagger for once," Tannix said.

"Oh, yes." I had forgotten the knife was there, hanging at my side.

"Well, if you're done, let's go see Malte."

"Wait," I said suddenly. "If we want to blend in down there, we need to do this." I pulled the ribbon from my hair and let it fall free. Tying my hair back still felt strange and uncomfortable, but it helped me blend in. I shook my head, much like a dog would, to let my hair fall more naturally.. "Natives don't tie back their hair."

"You know a lot about Natives."

"I told you, my mother's a Native," I replied. "And their hair never looks like that." I gestured at Tannix's head. His hair looked perfect, as it always did, and even though it wasn't long enough to tie back, it was still cut in a distinctly Teltish style. Without warning, I reached up and ruffled it. "Much better." I grinned at his displeased expression and led the way from the change room.

I should have expected we would not be climbing over the dividing wall for our descent into the lower city, but taking the main pass down had not even crossed my mind. It had always seemed so high class, surrounded by guards and almost only used by the rich to get from the upper city to the port. To my left, the Cliffs of Loth towered into the sky. To my right was a wall patrolled by guards. I felt small and insignificant. I had been on the walkway only a few times when I was very young, while I accompanied my mother on trips to the upper city. 

We were near the end of the walkway when Malte stopped in front of a large gate. It was the only gate that led to the lower city. He spoke briefly to the guards standing by the gate, and I noticed him display the ring on his thumb. It seemed odd that we had not been told to take them off. Tannix's crest ring would have drawn attention, but so would three gold rings.

The gate was opened and Malte led us through it. Suddenly I was home. I knew that this would be my best chance at escaping, because there was no way either of them would be able to keep up with me. I was almost tempted, but then I remembered the delicious food I had eaten that morning. 

Malte walked straight down the street, and the crowds almost parted before him. Tannix looked around nervously, as if he expected to be attacked, but he still followed our huge companion. I paused, taking in the sight of the thin, crowded streets, and sandy buildings that were so familiar. I pulled my hood up over my head, letting it hang down just enough for it to obscure my face. Once I was satisfied that I was disguised as best as I could be, I hurried after the other two.

I caught up with them just as Malte stopped and stepped into a little side alley. After exchanging a confused glance, Tannix and I followed him. He looked us both over for a moment. "Boys, this is a training exercise and an assessment of your skills. You will each have a chance to lead us through the lower city by means of climbing walls and traveling the rooftops. Your goal is to get us from here to the dividing wall without having to step on the streets. Then, whoever has not led will bring us back. Understood?"

Tannix and I nodded. He looked nervous, but I was delighted. It was so simple I could do it with my eyes closed.

"Lord Tandrix, you will begin," Malte said.

Tannix sighed and walked towards the wall beside us. He paused for a moment, probably to build up his resolve, and then reached up to grab a protruding brick. He started climbing well, going quickly by his standards. When he was high enough that he was out of the way, Malte began to follow him. I grew impatient, I couldn't help it, so I made my way swiftly up the wall opposite the one they were climbing. Once getting to the top, I easily jumped the gap between my building and theirs, landing just as Malte was pulling himself onto the roof.

He got to his feet, and while brushing his hands off on his pants, looked at me. "You said you used to climb a building to watch the sunset, I recall? Where was that?"

I struggled to hide my growing worry. "At home. A small farm villa, sir. Near Kitsi."

Malte nodded slowly. "What is your name, again?"

"Finagale, sir."

"Malte," Tannix interrupted. "Am I supposed to take us directly to the dividing wall, or would you like a longer route?"

Malte turned his attention away from me. "As direct as you can make it, without taking to the streets."

Tannix nodded. "Good, thank you." He walked over to the edge of the roof to look down into the street we had been on earlier. "And, sir, are we supposed to be subtle?"

"Yes," Malte replied. "The less the Natives notice, the better."

They had already noticed us, but I didn't dare speak up. As soon as Malte's attention had gone to Tannix, I decided to keep my head down and stop showing off. I didn't want to seem too familiar with the lower city.

Tannix nodded again and crossed to the other side of the roof. The building we were standing on was long and ran alongside a smaller side street. Tannix hopped from our roof onto the slightly lower one beside it and began leading the way to the dividing wall. Malte hurried to catch up, and I realized that he was trying to stay close to Tannix to protect him from thieves. Tannix was important enough to merit that, but it would hardly matter if I got hurt. I trailed after them.

I didn't really notice how far behind I had fallen until I heard a startled shout ahead of me. Tannix was lying on his back, struggling against a boy who, despite being smaller than Tannix, clearly had the upper hand. Malte rushed forward instantly, only to be thrown off balance when a girl jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. A second girl darted around him, ducking and jumping away from his arms. I wasn't particularly fond of Malte, but I knew he would hurt those girls to get to Tannix. I started to run across the slanted roof, not entirely sure how I was going to help, but determined to do something.

By the time I caught up, Malte had dislodged the girl on his back and Tannix had managed to roll over and pin down the boy fighting him. I still didn't know what to do. Yelling at the thieves to leave wouldn't do much good, and I couldn't convince Malte and Tannix to let them go. Not without giving myself away.

As I watched, Malte lashed out at the girls and the boy somehow slipped out of Tannix's grasp. I realized suddenly that I knew exactly who he was. Which meant that I also knew one of the girls.

I felt a hand on my ankle the moment before I was pulled over the edge of the roof onto a slightly lower one. I landed in an awkward crouch, but at least avoided injury. Baisan was there, grinning at me.

"Thought we would give you a hand, Finn." He offered me his hand and I used it to get to my feet. "The big one looked a little difficult. You get first pick of the winnings, of course. Where have you been, anyway? I thought you had been arrested."

He looked proud of himself, and I almost felt bad as I leaned closer to him and hissed, "They're both mine, do you understand? Call Castin and the girls off." I counted upon my higher status among the thieves to make him listen to me.

Baisan looked confused. "I know you like to work alone, but I thought you'd appreciate some help."

"Call them off."

Baisan met my gaze defiantly for a moment, and then whistled loudly. I could hear the thieves scampering away from Tannix and Malte. One of them, a girl about Baisan's age, landed on the small roof beside us.

"Baisan, the big one hurt Ninavi. Castin had to carry her away."

"How badly?" I asked. I rarely interacted with Baisan's little group, but I knew Ninavi well. We'd grown up together. She was young and quite pretty.

The girl looked at me. "He pulled out his knife and cut her leg. She fell over when she tried to run away."

Baisan shot me a final glance. "Good luck. Stria, let's go."

We exchanged a nod. He and the girl swung over the side of the roof to climb down the wall. I turned to pull myself back up onto the higher roof. Malte was on his feet, holding his short dagger and looking furious. Tannix had his dagger out as well. His face lit up when he saw me get back up.

"Finn, you're all right!"

I nodded. "One of them pulled me over the side, but yes, I'm all right."

Malte grumbled something under his breath. "Well, Tandrix, carry on. From now on, however, we will stay closer together, in case those children decide to attack us again."

It was hardly an attack. Baisan's group had simply been keeping the two of them from getting away until they had been given the signal to actually steal from them. I wondered if Malte would be grateful if he knew that I had been the reason the thieves had left, but I doubted it.

The rest of the way to the dividing wall passed without incident. I got the feeling that Baisan's group had spread the word that I had claimed these two for myself, because we certainly weren't blending in with the locals. We were attracting the attention of every thief and beggar who saw us. Tannix and Malte, despite their disguised cloaks, were still clearly Telts. Some poor Telts did live in the lower city, and there were always visiting sailors, but poor Telts and sailors didn't tend to climb around on roofs.

My mind lingered on Ninavi and I hoped Malte hadn't hurt her too badly. I was glad she was with Baisan, though. He was ambitious, and often got into trouble trying to do things he wasn't capable of, but he did take good care of his little group of street children.

When we reached the dividing wall, we turned around. It was my turn to lead. True to my earlier promise to myself, I did not try to show off. I took a simple route back to the building where we had started. Malte congratulated us both and led us through the thin streets back to the gate. A couple of words were exchanged with the guards and the gate was opened. We were on our way back to the Order.

That evening, after eating dinner, we had free time. Some boys went to the library to study, some decided to practice more before going to bed. I had a different idea, and convinced Tannix to come with me. I led him into the courtyard before explaining what I wanted to do.

We were once again dressed in our fancy cloaks. Tannix's crest ring was safely back on his finger, and my hair was tied back again. I took him up to the building we had climbed together days before.

"Finn," Tannix groaned, as he understood what I was going to make him do. "I'm sore from climbing around the lower city and being attacked by children."

"They were just children." I sighed. "And they didn't hurt you." I started up the wall, taking the same route I had last time. "Tannix, please come with me."

"You'll have to help me again," he said.

"I know what I'm doing, trust me."

He didn't enjoy it, but he followed me up the wall. When we were both safely on the roof, I lay down and put my hands under my head. Tannix, after a moment, lay down next to me.

"What are we doing?"

"Watching the sunset," I replied. "The Cliffs are in the way of the best of it, of course, but if you just stare at the sky it still turns pink and orange. It's easier to see from the roofs."

"Is this what you do at home?"

"Yes," I replied, and for once, I was telling him something about my life that wasn't a lie. "Today, when you interrupted Malte in the lower city... thank you."

"If I asked why you hate his attention so much, would you tell me?"

"No," I said truthfully.

"So there is something going on, then?"

"There always is, isn't there?" I said quietly. "You didn't hurt any of the children, did you? I feel sorry for them."

"No." Tannix allowed the change of subject. "Malte did, though. One of the girls. She seemed to have trouble walking, but I don't think she was hurt badly."

"Oh, good. They must have been desperate to attack someone like Malte."

"Must have been," Tannix agreed. We fell into a companionable silence as we watched the sky. The blue gradually turned into the beautiful oranges and reds that I loved so much. I wished, not for the first time, that I could move the Cliffs of Loth and see the sun setting properly. It was only when darkness was starting to creep in the corners of the sky that Tannix broke the silence.

"It's beautiful," he said.