The Ritual by H. Anthe Davis, Erica Dakin

distracted by a tickling feeling on the back of my hand and looked down.
    At f irst I saw nothing, but the tickling intensified to a fierce itching and dark lines appeared on my skin, curled around my wrist and crept up to my fingers where they sweated in Mior’s clasp. The lines thickened, multiplied and started to heat, and before long I was gritting my teeth against the searing pain.
    “All words said ‘till burning end, oath shall bind them in the heart,” Mior said in a singsong tone. “Tongue can’t speak what mind will send, thoughts will not pull lips apart.” He opened his eyes and nodded at his brother. “Go on.”
    “I know this hurts, so I’ll be quick,” Zashter said. “I mentioned items. Specifically, what we’re after are items of power, items that represent the four basic Elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. These items are required by our employer for a ritual he intends to perform.”
    “What kind of ritual?” Shani interrupted him through clenched teeth.
    “He hasn’t deigned to inform us of that. All he has told us is what he needs: the Heartstone Diamond, a feather from a wind sprite, a dragon’s flame and a phial of healing water from the Monastery of Balance.”
    With that, Mior spoke a few more syllables and the pain vanished, as did the dark lines entwining our hands.
    I yanked my arm back, shook it and flexed my fingers gingerly. There wasn’t even a hint of any pain left, just a vague, unpleasant tingling which dissipated quickly as I thought back over what I had just heard.
    “Wind sprite feathers? Dragon flame?” I said incredulously, then checked myself. “Hey, I thought I wasn’t supposed to be able to say that now?”
    Mior chuckled. “To us you can talk freely – I spoke the Oath and Zash was touching me while I did it. Try it to anyone else and your tongue will twist into knots.”
    I nodded, determined not to try out the sensation, and looked at Zashter again. “Too late to back out, I suppose?” I said, only half joking, but he gave me such a conspiratorial grin that I couldn’t help but grin back.
    “Surely you’re not going to disappoint me by doing that, Little Firelocks?”
    I shook my head and turned my attention to business, before that rakish smile could get to me too much. “So we’re in Naylis for the diamond, you said?”
    Zashter nodded. “It was mined here, and has remained here ever since. It is the property of the Duke of Naylis.”
    Shani chortled. “I guess there is a duchess after all then,” she said to me in an undertone, and I flashed her a grin.
    “What?” Zashter asked, but I gave him a dismissive wave.
    “Nothing, sorry. Continue.”
    “Right, as you can imagine, the Heartstone is extremely well guarded. Or maybe I should say that it’s not so much guarded as said to be unreachable.”
    “Unreachable?”
    “We’ll spend the next few days spying on the place to gain more information, but the duke’s residence is built up against the mountainside, and it is said to stretch into the mountain just as far as it juts out of it. All our sources indicate that the diamond is on display in the deepest chamber, furthest away from all exits. We expect it to be fully warded, guarded and otherwise protected to the best of the duke’s ability.”
    “Sounds near impossible,” I muttered.
    “Extremely complicated, certainly,” Zashter acknowledged, then flashed me another grin. “Remember, no defeatism.”
    I swallowed, but pushed my doubts away. “Do you have a plan yet?”
    “A few ideas, nothing more. That’s why we need to look at the place. The very first thing we need to do, however…” He paused dramatically and looked us both over, “…is go shopping.”
    “ Shopping? ” Shani and I said in unison.
    “Yes, you know, buying things with money? I know it’s a strange thought for a thief, but…”
    I ignored the sarcasm. “Such as?”
    Zashter sighed, shaking his head. “So soon they forget. Lockpicks, new shoes.