I ride as hard as I can using the pathway through the woods, one Brycen wouldn't be able to bring his carriage through. I make it in half the time it would take him to get there. The Torre manor peaks out into view in a beautiful semicircle, encompassing the gardens.
I head for the back way where the servants usually pass and stop far enough for no one to spot me or Weylan's horse. Once I'm sure she's secured and wont runaway. I pull out the small tin of coffee powder from my bag. Opening slowly, I smear the finely crushed powder onto my skin and face. The slaves at Brycen's manor were of Tas and were mostly dark skinned and brown eyed. My eyes were dark enough to not be obvious and I kept a face below a hood so that up close, my false skin colour wouldn't be obvious.
I watch the servants gate from afar. Usually they would all need to go up soon to serve dinner, leaving the kitchen maid and the cook downstairs.
I had to figure out how to sneak into Brycen's rooms before his carriage reached. If he was smart, he would have the package tucked into his rooms immediately and hopefully not some forgotten wine cellar.
I hear the dinner bell go, and make my way through the gate, sticking to the shadows. Thankfully it was already getting dark. Once I'm sure everyone has gone up, I tentatively push the door to the house slowly to check if it's locked or if it creaks. My heart nearly jumps out of my chest when at that very moment someone yanks the door open and stomps out. I practically paste myself onto the wall taking a step back.
Mercifully, the man seems to be in too bad of a mood to notice anything or care as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it hurriedly taking a deep breath as if he'd been trying his best not too punch someone. From the way he's dressed and his idleness at this hour, I'd assume he was a valet. Silently thanking God, I slide in the back and use the servants stairs to the upper rooms. Gods, I should've asked Weylan about where exactly his rooms were.
I make my way to where I assume is the men's segregation of the manor. Thankfully everybody was probably downstairs for dinner so I find a place to hide and wait for Brycen's valet to come up hoping he would. If Brycen's family was anything like mine, he would change before dinner. I just prayed he would only think to open Weylan's package after dinner seeing as how he was already late.
A few moment pass when I finally see two men trudging the crate up the stairs, Brycen in toe, towards what I assume is Brycen's suite.
I hold my breath as I stay crouched behind the shallow wall opposite from the hallway to his suite, where the staircase divides into the men and women's segregation. I wait a few more moments after I see Brycen and his valet leave at last, door clicking behind him.
I make my way into him rooms silently, starting with his bedchamber where I assume he would keep something private.
There was something strangely intimate about being in his bedchamber. Seeing where he slept, where he dressed, seeing his things. He hadn't changed much in the years I'd last seen him. He was always an academically inclined boy, loved reading and learning. There were pages and parchments strewn all over his desk and possibly a hundred books roughly chucked into the large bookcases between his bed and desk. In fact it was strange that it wasn't tidied by his servants. His bed looked untouched but the rest of the room was in complete disarray compared to the other rooms attached to his suite.
I begin combing through every nook and cranny of the room, careful to leave each item exactly as I found it. Finally, I pull open his closet and I find the package neatly tucked behind some clothes, a rather hasty hiding place.
The crate consists of a smaller fully iron box locked by a complicated looking lock puzzle mechanism. It seemed to have three tiny circular dials on either side which moved one side up and the other side down to open. I turn the dials according to the code Weylan gave me cursing at him. Even knowing the combination, the lock required so much force to slide into the open position. I keep at it until I hear footsteps outside. Gods no! Not yet! I pull violently at the lock and it finally clicks open.
I don't even manage to properly register the contents of the box in the dim lighting as I quickly snatch up the letter and shut the damn box, putting the lock back on and hurry out the door.
The footsteps seemed to belong to a servant who still waits for Brycen outside. As I leave his rooms, I hear Brycen speak to his valet from the main door to his suites so I pull the ridiculously thick and heavy drapes by his window and hide.