Lukas felt light and giddy as he waved farewell to Beau. He was very unaccustomed to receiving that kind of attention; he’d never even had a childhood crush. The local parents hadn’t been keen to let their precious sons and daughters play with the son of a thief. Though, for a time, Lukas had also been a thief himself; up until he had grown too big to be pushed through windows or be squeezed down a pipe and then his father had abandoned him here.

His euphoria was cut short when the clock tower chimed thirteen bells.

Oh shit, He mental chided himself before flipping the lock and hobbling up stairs to change. Hopefully the money from that sale would make Master Allwood less mad about being late with the delivery.

Within ten minutes Lukas was in a fresh change of clothes and striding down the cobblestone road of the high street. The ache in his knees was starting to fade and as long as he kept moving his joints didn’t stiffen, which was fortunate as he was delivering to Arckvile, the grand manor house atop the hill at the edge of town.

By time Lukas had reached the top of the hill his lungs hurt far worse than his knees had all morning. “Whoa, if only there was a potion or herb to improve my fitness.” he lamented between heaving breaths. Lukas may spend a lot of time outdoors but the forest was mostly flat and slowly walking and collecting herbs meant he didn’t often break a sweat.

 - - -

The chime of the doorbell echo away beyond the door and then there was silence. Lukas shifted his weight from foot to foot trying to disperse his nervous energy. He tucked in the front of his shirt and tried to smooth down his hair. After a long moment everything was still silent and Lukas worried that no was home.

He leaned his weight over the ornate planter box that lined the edges of the patio and tried to peer through the large front windows. A sheer lace curtain obscured a clear view of the room, but if Lukas squinted and turned his head just so he could make out the dimensions of the room. From what he could make out it looked to be a stylish, well furnished room but it was completely absent of people. Lukas bit down and worried the side of his lip, unsure of what to do next. If he was unable to complete the delivery because he was too late, Allwood would have his hide.

“Can I help you?” A cool, dry voice called from behind him. Lukas shot up straight and spun back on his heels. While he had been looking through the window the front door had whispered open and a young woman with sleek blonde hair stared impassively with ice blue eyes.

“I wasn’t-” Lukas stammered. “I, um, rang- but then no one- so I tried to-” Lukas could feeling the heat rising up his neck and cheeks and the harder he tried to make sense, the more he babbled. “But I wasn’t peeping!”

The woman didn’t flinch, but her eyes ever so slightly narrowed in annoyance. “What business do you have here?” She spoke clear and slow like one would if speaking to a child or a simpleton.

Lukas suddenly felt very small. “I’m Lukas Quince-”

“Yes I know who you are.” She snapped, her face drawing tight frustration. “This town has a population of exactly one hundred and seventy eight people so it does not take much effort to know who they all are. You are Lukas Quince the unfortunate ward of Master Apothecary Anderson Allwood; father a thief, mother unknown; age, 19; traits, nothing remarkable. Now that that’s out of the way; what is your business here?” She listed off information about Lukas that seemed unusually detailed for someone he had never met before, but by time she had finished speaking her cool mask had slipped back over her features and only one quirked eyebrow remained and twitched ever so slightly.

“I’m here to deliver a package,’ Lukas mumbled.

“Well it’s about time. Anderson always arrives first thing to make his delivery. Why are you so late?”

“I apologise for that, there was a misunderstanding about the delivery. It was my fault,” Lukas lied taking all the blame.

“You really should try to be less of a burden. Anderson is getting on and years and he should reap some kind of benefit for all the effort he put into you.” The woman chastised before stepping to the side and motioning for Lukas to follow her inside.

If the purpose of the foyer was to be grand and imposing then it did a perfect job. White marble walls ribboned with gold stretched from the floor to the domed ceiling on the second floor.

Lukas hoped some polite conversation would help to smooth over his earlier mistakes. “You have an amazing home.”

The woman abruptly stopped, turned on her heels and glared at Lukas. “This is not my house. I am the personal assistance to Mr Alton Horth, this is his house. Don’t you know anything?”

Lukas could kick himself, of course he knew that Horth owned this house; he owned half the town. This day was going from bad to worse and probably any moment it would completely implode.

“You don’t even know my name, do you?” She accused; hands on her hips; her cool expression melting into anger.

Lukas racked his brain, he may have seen her in passing on the street over the years but he couldn’t remember ever meeting her or learning her name. He didn’t dare to admit it; but the blank stare in his wide eyes spoke the truth.

“Danneel Spears,” she practically growled before she turned away with a huff and stormed into the next room. Lukas doggedly trailed after her hoping this would be over soon but when he stepped into the next room an audible gasp escaped his lips. The foyer may have been designed to be imposing, but this room was build to impress. The walls of the circular room were lined with dark wooden shelves that were filled with books. There were small books roughly bound by hand, large tomes bound in leather and edged with precious metals and every kind of book between. Artfully placed all around the room were soft chairs, lounges and settees ready for an afternoon of reading. Lukas slowly spun in a circle, marvelling at the collection of books, while Danneel crossed the room to an ornate writing desk. Above the bookshelves skirted a balcony filled with more shelves lined up in rows like the spokes of a wheel from the centre of the room. From behind Lukas could hear Danneel mumbling something about deducting a late penalty but he wasn’t really listening; he was too busy trying to count all the books. He couldn’t fathom the amount of books that would be needed to fill all these shelves.

Since he was a child Lukas had always been drawn to books. The first thing he had ever stolen had been a book while on a job with his father. The book had been worthless in his father’s opinion and more than disappointment, his father took it as a personal insult. And despite his father’s ire Lukas had carried that book with him for several years until one night when his father and the crew got drunk and thought it would be fun to throw it in the fire. Lukas had cried angry, frustrated tears while they all laughed.

That fascination of books never left him though. Three years ago he had started helping Master Allwood compile his book of herbs and remedies that he had working on himself for over ten years. Lukas had been excited at first for the chance to contribute to the creation of a book and had eagerly pointed out all the out-dated and incorrect information. Allwood had not appreciated Lukas’ feedback and his irritation at being corrected quickly turned aggressive; at which point Lukas had just taken over completely. Master Allwood had never seemed to notice and currently he doubted a single sentence in that book belonged to Allwood anymore, and even after years of work the book was still far from finished.

How many years of work and knowledge were held in this room?

As his mind boggled at this forest of knowledge a slip of movement on the balcony caught his attention. A dark shape bobbed and weaved between the shelves with the grace of a cat and for a horrible moment Lukas thought a storm leopard had gotten inside and he was about to be mauled to death. But the head didn’t have large furry ears, just regular human ones, and what he thought was sleek black fur, was actually black hair. It was a man sneaking around between the bookcases, scanning the spine of each book. But if he was just looking for a book why would he be sneaking around? Was he afraid of being seen by Danneel? That was a reaction Lukas could identify with.

He watched on with curiosity as the top of his head poke in and out and between the bookshelves until finally Lukas caught a glimpse of his face. There was no mistake this time; those eyes flashed through Lukas’ soul like lightning. The world around him seemed to slow and as if he could feel the weight of Lukas’ gaze, the man on the balcony turned and their eyes met.

An array of emotion shot across his face; surprise, shock, fear and finally recognition and in that moment time stood still. The man Lukas had been dreaming of, who had filled his sleeping and wakeful mind, the figment of his imagination, was here in this room, only metres away. His pulse quickened, cheeks flushed and a million questions bubbled in his throat but he was stuck frozen, trapped in the gaze of those mesmerising amber eyes.

“What are you looking at?” A woman’s voice filtered through, but it seemed faint and distant. “I may have to add simple minded and easily distracted in my fil-,” there was a quick gasp before she screamed.