13

Viaan was roaming in the huge hallway

like a ghost. It was nearing midnight

and Viaan thought it was the most

appropriate time for gathering clues.

The household was sound asleep and

the atmosphere was clean with more

oxygen. He had waited forever for

Vidyut to fall asleep. He was a light

sleeper sometimes and Viaan had to

memorise the soundless route from his

bed to the door. He had made it and

he was on his way to the main office.

Viaan had purposefully chosen this

particular head of the departments. The

apprentices were the most under rated

people in the palace who did actual

work and the superiors got credited

for that. The head of the apprentice

assignment department had information

about everyone working in the palace.

Viaan was sure to find something about

the assistants Nairiti had eavesdropped

on. But he was only going to scope out

the perimeter of the room that night.

He wouldn't break in without knowing

the secret anti theft alarm procedures

which were in place. He finally reached

up to the main office. Viaan had learned

lockpicking skills from his sister who

was notorious for breaking out of any

room. She was often found playing

when she was supposed to be punished

by reading. It was coming handy at this

moment. He winced at the reminder

and shook himself. He quietly entered

the room and glanced around languidly.

The room lacked maintenance which

was ironic for a maintenance official.

The official was supposed to look out for

employees and palace materials. And

this room was totally opposite to that.

Papers were piled in haphazard manner

and files were stacked in a corner.

Viaan stifled a smile and got to work. He

could see what was written clearly in

the moonlight. It was unusually bright

and the room was only enhancing it. He

moved towards the locked cabinets and

peered at them. They did not appear to

have any complex arrangements. It was

a simple alarm and Viaan was sure it

would work if he removed the biometric

authentication. With that realization,

Viaan started to back away when he

heard some footsteps. He debated the

credibility of sleepwalking as an excuse.

He quickly dashed behind a cabinet on

the right. The room had two cabinets

on its left side and one small one on

the right. The front of it had a large

window with open curtains but closed

transparent windows. The fit was tight

but Viaan managed. He couldn't see

the person but he could hear him. The

person neared his cabinet and waited

for a second during which Viaan waited

with bated breath and released it once

the person moved away. Then the person

moved towards the desk in the centre

of the room and then walked away

after locking the door. Viaan didn't get

out from his hiding place till he was

certain that the person wouldn't return.

It was the first lesson he had learned

while playing with his siblings. He

came out after a solid five minutes and

was assaulted by a strong perfume. He

concluded that the person must be the

official because no thief would want to

leave something behind to be traced

back. The official was no doubt working

late from his rooms on some matter.

But it wasn't an audit season or time for

any maintenance checks. This late night

working rung bells in his head. Viaan

walked fast and reached his room in a

matter of seconds. He found Vidyut still

sleeping soundly so he quietly sat on the

bed and contemplated things. The next

time he woke, it was Vidyut trying to

open a snack jar with hilarious results.

The jar wouldn't budge and Vidyut's

face expressions were something that

belonged in a comic roll. Vidyut glared

at Viaan for his silent laughter and

dropped his unsuccessful endeavour.

He came and sat beside Viaan. "You

were out, weren't you?" Viaan sighed.

It was impossible to keep anything

from Vidyut. So he told him everything.

Vidyut listened patiently without any

interruptions. Viaan's findings only

proved Nairiti's intel. And even she

admitted that in their lair. The quiet and

the only clean corner for their meetings

in the shed was where they were talking.

She was munching on a apple and

nodded fervently. She was always right

so Viaan did not add much. "We should

go today and see what they are working

on." She said chucking the remains of

the apple away in the basket. "Yes, we

should." Vidyut replied. It was a plan

when both of them agreed to something.

They had different personalities but they

did agree on many aspects. Viaan found

himself nodding and listening to their

late night out planning. They were far

too excited for it and they were on the

edge all day. They met in the hallway

and Viaan found that they all had

dressed similar. In black outfits. Before

he could burst in laughter, Nairiti glared

at him. They tiptoed towards the office

and began their stake out. Once they

were convinced that no one was awake,

Vidyut and Nairiti went inside and

Viaan waited for them outside. He was

confident in their abilities as spies. They

had more experience in those matters

and Viaan knew what he had to know

anyway. After ten minutes they were

back in his and Vidyut's room. Their

floor had a collection of papers. The bills

for new kinds of jobs which sounded

fake to Viaan and names of people which

were more like codenames. Viaan knew

for sure that someone was orchestrating

to strike in a moment's notice. And Viaan

was never this scared in his life.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***