A Proper Young Thief: Chapter 14: End of the Trip

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 14: End of the Trip

The tall, nearly bald man came towards Lissa with the bowl of slimy puss coloured liquid in his hands. She could kick, or course, and she could struggle, but chained as she was, how much could she really defend herself? She tried to come up with an idea, a way to get herself free, but all she could think about was the deceit, the trickery, of Ella's blatant lies that led her here.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Loud and long, like someone was trying to knock the door down.

“Damnit.” he hissed. He threw the bowl down onto the table, and turn. Before he left, he grabbed a rag off the table, and went back to lissa. He tried to tie the rag around her mouth, but she moved her head out fo the way. He frowned, grabbed her by the hair, and then managed to get the rag around her mouth.

“ Just be quiet.” he hissed. He tightened the rag and took off out of a sturdy wooden door on the other side of the room.

Lissa struggled against the chains once more, but couldn't escape. She was trying to squeeze her hands , to make them small enough to slip through the shackles when she heard shouting, There was a lot of banging on the other side of the door, and someone was yelling loudly. She heard a thump and hear the man say something she couldn't understand. He sounded panicked.

The door was thrown open, slamming against the shelf of bottled mixtures, causing several fo them to fall to the floor, and shatter, Ella stormed in, the man following close behind her. Her face was hardened into an angry, almost scary glare, her eyes were wide and wild, and her lips were pressed together tightly.

“Ella, I swear, I thought she was-”

“I dont' care.” She snapped. She went up to Lissa, and tore the rag from around her mouth. “Are you ok?” She said, she gently took her chin in her hands, and looked carefully into her eyes, and at her face, “Did he do anything to you? Did he give you anything!”

“N-no.” Lissa stammered.

Ella took a deep calming breath, then turned, snapping her eyes back at the man, who almost seemed to shrivel under her stare.

“Release her.” She snapped.

He took a key off the table, and ran towards Lissa, Ella snatched the key from his hands, and unlocked the shackles herself.

“Are you hurt at all?”

“No I.. I think I'm fine.”

Ella nodded, and turned back to the man again. “Lin, I swear, if you ever, ever touch her again, I'll force-feed you poison.”

“I thought.. you said you were bringing me a girl.”

“And you just assumed that she was...” She caught Lissa's curious stare, and let her sentence trail off. “From now on, we do business in person. Got it? No more deliveries. Got it?”

“Y-yes Ella.”

Ella took Lissa by the arm, and led her out of the room. The door let into a shop front, where a fire burned in the fireplace. That was the light Lissa had seen from outside. She only caught a glimpse at the rows of bottles and dried herbs on shelves before Ella pulled her out into the street again, and pulled her across the square.

“The pub is on the other side of the square.” She said softly. “I... I guess I always get a little confused when I come up out of the well.

Lissa looked across the square, and could see a building, with thin linees of light illuminating tightly closed. She hand't even noticed it before.

“You were bringing him people?”

“Ignore Lin for now.” She muttered, “He's half crazy on the best of days.”

“You... you were bringing him people.” Lissa said, his voice quiet, her eyes wide. She pulled her arm from Ella's grip. “You were bringing him people.. and he was killing them?”

“Lissa, this isn't the place to-”

She took a few steps away from her, “You were. You were just-”
Ella moved fast. Within a moment, she was behind Lissa, her thin dagger held to her neck.

“I don't want to hurt you, Lissa.” She whispered. “That's the very last thing I want right now, save for being caught by the authorities here. You keep you voice down, and come with me now.

Lissa stiffened, and didn't move until Ella pushed her gently towards the pub. After a few long moments, Ella removed the dagger from her neck.

“Don't run.” she hissed. “I could kill you in a moment if you tried.”

They got to the pub, and Ella opened the door, and pushed Lissa inside. There were a few patrons there, but none of them really looked up, save for one skinny man sitting along in the corner, who glanced up for a moment, then looked back down at his drink. A stone fire pit sat in the centre of the pub, a low, smouldering fire burning, the smoke following the stone chimney that stood as a piller in the centre of the room. A wooden counter stood, covering one side of the pub, and behind it was a youngish man, no more than twenty, with light brown hair and light brown eyes.

“Your normal room, Ella?” He asked, letting his eyes flicker towards lissa only for a moment.

“I think so.” She said. “And a room for my friend here.”

“Any one in particular?”

“Room five would be useful.”he nodded, and from under the counter, pulled out two sets of keys. She thanked him, and pulled Lissa up towards a flight of stairs. She dragged her around a corner, and towards a door that had “5” scratched into the wood. She unlocked the door, the elaborate, long key turning the tumblers loudly, and gently pushed Lissa in.

“I am sorry about this.” Ella said softly. “In the morning, I'll explain more. But you can't run off, not just yet.” She looked at Lissa and sighed. “I'll have some food sent to you... just try to rest.”

She closed the door, and Lissa heard it lock. She took a half step to the door, then changed her mind. She looked around the room. There was a bed in the centre of the room, a single table with a tinderbox and lit candle sat next to the bed.

She collapsed down on the bed. The mattress was a least a good one, and soft enough that she sunk into it. She shut her eyes and started to drift into sleep, then she got up, pulled off the dirt-caked clothing she had been wearing since she left home, pulled back the thick blankets, and slipped in under them, snuggling the around her neck. She started to worry over everything that had just happened, but in her exhaustion, she told herself that all her problems would still be there in the morning.

Chapter 13: A Trapped Rat

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 13: A Trapped Rat

Lissa couldn't scream. Her voice was caught, stuck inside of her. The face rose up from the water. A slender hand reached up, and grasped at the edge of the well. The figure, with soaked, slicked back hair took a deep, silent breath before opening her eyes and looking right at Lissa.

It was Ella.

“Hurry it up, I can't sit around watching you all night.” The guard snapped from behind her.

“I.. I'm done.” Lissa muttered. She looked back at Ella, wondering how she could quickly ask for help without saying anything.

Thankfully, Ella already knew she needed help. She mouthed something, but in the darkness, Lissa couldn't see what she was saying. She leaned in close to listen. She missed most of what Ella whispered, but managed to make out the word Pub. She mouthed the word back. Ella nodded.

Lissa moved quickly away from the well, and took the mules, leading them by the reigns. “Sorry to be such a bother.” She said to the guard, trying again to deepen her voice. She suppressed her natural manners, which told her to curtsey, and settling for a quick nod of her head, to cover up for the twitch that might have been a curtsey, she pull the mules along, and looked around the square quickly. There was only one building that still had lights on in the window. She figured that that was the Pub, and made her way over.

The Guard watched her carefully as led the wagon across the square towards the building. She didn't know off hand where to bring the wagon, she of course couldn't just take it into the pub, but since Ella had told her that she could bring the wagon here, she assumed she would know what to do soon. She reached the door, and made to knock on the door, but realized that if it was a pub, it would probably be strange for her to knocked. She pulled on the door handle, but it was locked, so she knocked anyway. IT was very quiet inside. She knocked again and heard footsteps. A moment later, the door opened, and a frazzled looking man with hair the colour of ash threw the door open and glared at her.

“What!” HE hissed.

“I.. I brought a delive-”

“Delivery?” HE looked past her and at the wagon. “About time. Bring it down the alley and into the side door.” He slammed the door closed, and she could hear a latch slide into place.

She looked behind her quickly, and saw the guard starting to walk away. She could hear him starting to mutter, but she couldn't understand his low, echoing voice.

She turned, and led the wagon down the alley. Boxes were piled along the side, but it was wide enough for the wagon to fit, but only just. At least here, there were no rats scurrying around in the alley, though the smell of rot still lingered. She reached the door midway down the alley, but there was no handle. She reached up to knock, but the door swung open before her. The man was there again, leaning out of the doorway, staring at her. “delivery?”

“From Ella?” she said. “Ella told me to-”

“I see.” He said. “Come in.”
“What about the wagon?”

“I'll take care of that.” He said, pulling her in. She was in a small storage room, with boxes piled up along the walls. He pushed Lissa into the darkness of the storage room,and quickly closed and locked the door behind her.

“Ella will be here soon?”

“Probably not.” he said. “Ella doesn't come here after packages are delivered.” He grabber her by the wrist, and pulled her through the storage room, “Come quickly now.” HE said. He opened another door, and pulled her in. This new room was brightly lit. Tables were filled with cages, each with a single rat inside. Some were sleeping, some were thrashing wildly against the cages. Others were twitching and frothing. One light brown rat was sitting, it's eyes bloody and red, staring out at the room. A bot bubbled over a large fire , and in the center of the room, one large table stood, filled with glass vials, shining metal instruments, and finely ground powders.

She backed up, and turned to open the door, but the man grabber her by her wrists, and pulled her over to the wall. Chains were attached to the brick wall, with old, but well kept shackles on the ends. She thrashed against him, but he acted as though he didn't even notice, and soon had her hands locked into the shackles.

“Don't worry sweets.” He muttered, “It's nothing personal, really. I need subjects for my experiments, and I can only go so far with rats.”

“Experiments? But Ella said-”

“I pay Ella very well to bring me unwanted runaways, little urchins. It's easy for her. You were a little harder though, I think. I needed someone in relatively good health, not the half-starved wretches that she's been bringing me as of late.”

“But she said... Auntie Ella said-”

“She's a thief. She lies. What do you expect?”

She pulled against the shackles, but they were strong, and of course she couldn't get out. “What are you going to do with me.” She whispered.

“Well, I happen to have been working on a little something to protect people from poison. A neat little trick that counters most poisons in the system.

“And...?”

“Well, first you drink that. Then I feed you poison. See if it works. If you're still alive after the poison should have worked, I give you another dose of my potion, and another poison. We continue until a poison kills you.” He shrugged as he brought a small metal cup, filled with a pus-coloured liquid over to her.

The last one Ella brought me lasted for two days of testing. You might get at least three.”

Attention!

Due to a change in my employment, Each chapter will now be posted on SUNDAY EVENING, rather then SATURDAY MORNING.

Likely between 8-9pm eastern time.

Sorry for the change. There will, however, be no skips in chapters.

Regards!

-M.K.Barry

A Proper Young Thief: Chapter 12: The Well in the Slums

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 12: The Well in the Slums

Lissa slowly led the mules towards the gates. There were two guards, both leaning against the wall. Talking to each other loudly about a woman that one of the guards seemed to have slept with. Lissa replayed her story in her head. She was bring goods to her uncle. Why was she so late? She had slept in, and had tried to get through the forest before dark. Once she had, she didn't want to sleep out in the open when the city seemed so close. That seemed good enough. Her name was Luc, and she was male, and bringing some cloth to her uncle.

That would do, wouldn't it?

As she approach the guards, and caught sight of their spears, leaning casually against the city walls, she a twinge or resentment towards Ella. At the moment, she would far prefer going through whatever they were going through to get into the city. However, it was too late to turn back. The Guards had already caught sight of her.

She took a deep breath, and walked towards them, trying not to feel like a criminal, trying not to feel like the Guards could, or should, catch her and throw her into a dungeon somewhere.

“Halt.” One the guards said lazily as Lissa approached. Lissa stopped the mules, and stood still, waiting for the guard to say something. The other guard stood up straight, but didn't move towards her and said nothing.

“Bit late for travelling.” The guard said.

“I- my uncle...”

“what?”

“I'm bring cloth to my uncle.”

The Guard nodded, and wandered towards the back to the wagon. He pulled the tarp up, peeked inside, then let the tarp drop.

“Why so late?”

Lissa quickly pull the excuse her had planned into her mouth, “I was travelling, and it started to get dark, and I wanted to get out of the forest before it got too late, and then I thought I could make it to the city, and I wouldn't have to worry about-”
“Ok, ok.” the Guard muttered, “You're name?”

“Luc?”

“And who are you going to see?”

“MY uncle.”

The guard sighed “Yes, I gathered, what's your uncle's name?”

Lissa's froze. Had Ella mentioned who the uncle was? “Mintas” she said.

“Mintas? As in Lord Mintas?”

“No. Mintas is my uncle's first name.”

“ The guard looked back at the other guard. “You know any other Mintas'” He asked. The other guard shrugged.

“He's a tailor.” Lissa said. “A new one.. he's not very good.”
“Clearly.” the Guard said, “At any rate unless you're on official business, I can't let you-”

“Oh shut it, Marc.” the other guard said. He turned around, and started to unlock the gate.

“But we're not supposed to let people in unless their on official-”
“Look, he's bring goods to a crafter in the city. What, you're going to let him hang around with us all night?”

The Guard muttered, and moved out of Lissa's way.

The Gate opened, and the other guard moved out of Lissa's way. “ Be quick, sir. There's thieves, even in the city.”

“Thank you.” Lissa said. She quickly led the mules, and the wagon into the gates. As the gates were closing, she heard on guard say to Marc, “Really, I know you're used to palace guard, but you've got to relax. There's lots of merchant deliveries that come through late at night.

The gates slammed shut behind her. The voices of the bickering guards grew silent, and Lissa was left alone. The cobblestone street was wide, though the run-down building that loomed up over her still managed to make the whole place feel cramped. Windows were boarded up, and no light flittered from them. Down one ally, Lissa could see a flickering, dull light coming from a window, covered partially by worn, moth-eaten curtains. Some rats were scurrying about near a pile of old, mouldy rags off a corner which led down another ally. Lanterns hung from tall polls, but most of them had already been stolen.

Lissa took a deep breath, and looked down the street. Her instructions were simple and clear. All she had to do was go straight down the road. Eventually, she would find a well. Ella and the others would meet up with her there.

Lissa tugged gently on the reigns, and the mules fell into step behind her as she led them down the street. The rats on the pile of rags scurried away into the darkness as she passed. She heard someone chattering off down an alley, but she didn't know if it was someone chattering to themselves, in the dark, narrow alley, or if it was someone talking inside, next to an open window. She shivered, pulled her cloak tightly around her, and walked quickly. The houses all looked the same for a while. The stench of rotting wood, and the smell that arises from close living hung heavy and wet in the air. A while passed, and another road, smaller than the one she was on, but clearly a road, and not a alley. From there, the houses seemed a little nicer. The wood was nicer, and the house windows were shuttered. The road expanded before her, showing a small square among the houses, with a round, stone well sticking up like a tree stump from the ground.

She let a small sigh of relief escape her from mouth, and slowed down a little. The well was within sight. Ella and the others would find her soon, and take the wagon, and Lissa could get her payment and find a place to stay.

She came close to the well, and stopped, let go of the reigns, and leaned against the wagon. The lanterns here lined the square, and none of them seemed to be missing, though one seemed to have gone out. A flickering orange light filled the square with a comforting light. She shut her eyes and tried to imagine it during the day, filled with busy people. She had thought, for some reason, that even at night there would be people running about in the city. She didn't expect it to be so empty, so quiet that she could hear the footfalls of one single person approaching her.

That's likely , she thought. She stretched against the wagon, and then walked around to greet her.

A guard, dressed in a light chain mail shirt was walking towards her. “You got any business here?” The Guard snapped.

“I.. No, I”

“Then get moving on.” he said, “can't have you cluttering up the place.”

Lissa moved away from the guard, back towards her wagon, and took the reins. “I.. I was just getting some water.” she said.

“Well, hurry it up.”

Lissa had no bucket. She went over to the well, and leaned forward, hoping that it was believable enough that she had just stopped for a drink for herself. She reached down, scooped up a handful of the icy water. Fat drops fell from her fingers and hit the clear, black water. She took a sip, staring at her blurry reflection in the water. The water was at least good, and gave her a reason to procrastinate under the glare the guard. She reached down for another sip. That was when she realized that her reflection looked strangely contorted, even though the water. Though she saw a face, it didn't look at all like hers. Another face was breaking though her own reflection, coming closer towards her.

-M.K.Barry

Chapter 11: A Faint Outline in the Horizon.

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 11: A Faint Outline in the Horizon

There was a safety in numbers that Lissa couldn't deny, even though she didn't want to travel with this people. Hunger, exhaustion, and the opportunity to sleep next to a warm fire night after until convinced her to stay with them. However, Ella hadn't really helped her. She was thankful, yes, that Ella told her what happened to her father, and she had a few pleasant memories about Ella, true, but Ella had also bound her and kept her captive. Ella had held a knife to her neck. Ella hadn't come back for Lissa and her mother, hand't looked for them, to tell them if anything had happened to her father. She hadn't come back to help them.

There were reasons of course. They were hunted down, they thought her father had come and taken them back. Easy stories to tell.

However, for the moment they were a safe ride to Rawlins. A wagon, pulled by an old mule. No more walking at least. No more starving, no more freezing. Lissa felt safe, at least for the moment.

As the day grew longer, the trees began to thin. The sky grew overhead, bright and blue above them. The cracks that the bare branches seemed to create int he sky receded, allowing the sky to become full and whole again as the sun began to dive down into the horizon. The trees grew smaller, and soon the forest fell away entirely, leaving a colour streaked sky above them, and the red inferno that was the setting sun hung in the distance. Int he fading light, Lissa could see the sharp, black outline of a city in the distance, with buildings creating a man-made hill, the peaks the sharp towers of the castle, reaching up, fruitlessly, into the sky.

From here, it looked so small. But Lissa had heard stories about Rawlins, a dense, massive city, where at best houses are separated by narrow alleys, and tower over the narrow streets. Breathing room is granted only to the rich. All she could think about was how big the city was going to get. How it would swallow her. In part, that was what she wanted.

“We're going to keep traveling tonight.” Ella said. She had been leading the group, but had fallen back to talk to Lissa. “ If we keep going, we should get there before it's too late. AT least, before dawn.

“Isn't it dangerous to travel at night?” Lissa asked.

“Of course it is.” Ella said as she gave a sudden, wide grin, “There's all kinds of thieves and bandits out on these roads at night.”

Lissa forced a smile. She didn't feel comforted by Ella's jest. Weren't' there still people on the roads, looking for thieves and bandits?

“It's easier this way.” Ella said, seeming to catch onto Lissa's concern. “We can't just walk into the main gates. We're thieves, we'd be killed... or, they would try to kill us. The gates would probably only have a few guards... but then again.. well, anyway.” Ella shrugged. “That's not important. What is important is that we have an alternate way into the city.”

“Ok.”
“Now.. here's what I need you to do.. You won't be recognized by the guards. So, you can bring the wagon and the mule... and our stuff, into the city.”

Lissa stared at Ella for a long moment, waiting for her to say something else. When she didn't, Lissa finally said, “You mean... into the main gates?”

“Yes.”

“But.. wouldn't the alternative-”

“ The alternative entrance involves a lot of swimming. It's cold, it's dangerous, and not something we can pull off with a wagon load of stuff. We normally choose someone to disguise themselves to bring the wagon in, but today, you can do it.”

To Lissa, it suddenly seemed to make sense. Maybe Ella just wanted to use her. Perhaps Ella just wanted Lissa to do this, bring the wagon into the city, get caught, and get thrown into prison to rot.

“OF course,” Ella said, just a moment before Lissa was about to refuse, “We'll compensate you for helping us?”

“You... You will?”

Ella nodded. “Look. I won't lie. You might get caught. It's not likely, but if the guards are in a foul mood, and want to poke through the wagon... Honestly, we've been doing this for years. And if you just relax, and... I suppose really feel as though you have every right to be riding through that gate, the guards will believe that you do, and leave you alone.” She eyes Lissa carefully, “And the other way... well, unless you can swim well, you'll drown.”

“And... you'll pay me to do this?”

Ella laughed, “Of course! Look, if you're working for me, you get paid. It won't be all that much, but you'll be able to afford food, and a room if you wanted, for a few days in the city.” She grinned, “OF course, you can save a lot by forgoing the room and just staying with us.”

Lissa gave a weak smile. She didn't trust any of the thieves, and certainty didn't want to live with them for any amount of time. How long could she hide the face that she was Lissa, not Luc, that she was a female, not a male.

“Ok.” Lissa said

“Now... We've covered our goods with fabric, so if anyone asks, you're selling... well, you're selling fabric. That way, if they look, they'll see fabric.”
Lissa nodded. Ella smiled at her. She ran to catch up to Adex, who was now standing before all the other thieves. Lissa yawned, and wrapped an edge of the canvas that was covered the fabric, which covered Ella's stolen goods, over her. She though of a nice bed in the city, next to a nice fireplace, with warm drinks and food nearby. As they rode on, she wondered how she could ever had wished for more than just that. Just some basic comforts, the guarantee of food and shelter. She thought about Luc, and for a moment, felt bad for having forgotten about him.

I was hungry. She thought, and I had nothing...no food, no shelter. I almost froze to death. Isn't that reason enough to forget, even for a little about Luc?

Her stomach turned, and she wrapped the canvas tighter around her, and quietly dozed off before she could realize that she felt bad about forgetting about Luc, not about losing him.

Chapter 10: It's Betting Time!

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 10: It's Betting Time

Lissa slept soundly next to the dying fire. Ella's cloak was draped over her, and a small wooden bowl held the remains of Lissa's second helping of stew. She lay on her side, and held one hand, half-closed over her nose and mouth, her ragged, dirty hair covered half her face.

Ella say nearby. She was tired, of course she was. The sky was starting to lighten, and the stars were slowly disappearing. Ella wanted to sleep. She didn't need to watch over Lissa, she had told her men that “Luk” was a friend of a friend, and would be travelling with them for a little while. No one would mess with Lissa. No, Lissa was safe from everyone here.

Everyone but Ella.

Ella reached out and moved Lissa's hair out of her way. She could see the tarnished chain of the necklace. The pendent was hidden under Lissa's shirt.

That damned pendent. Ella thought to herself. It hadn't been her idea to steal it. There were some things you didn't go after if you wanted to continue being a thief. It had taken her years to start over, to be able to show her face in pubs again. She had joined another band of thieves, and had for years sat on the bottom rungs, had been the one stealing food or booze for the men. She thankfully hadn't been their whore. No, their previous leader had taken her for himself. She had been very lucky, and they had held their little mockery of a relationship for many years. He had even taken to (jokingly, and in private) calling the band of thieves his family, and the others their kids. Over the course of eight years, he had told her about his childhood, his hopes, his fears. He had trusted her.

Ella still felt a pang of guilt when she thought about how she killed him. He had been neurotic about having someone test his food for him before he ate it. His worse fear was a slow death by poison. After five years, he failed to do this while having a private dinner with Ella. After six years, he had stopped altogether when he was eating with Ella. Halfway through the winter of their sixth year, she had poured poison into his wine. It only took a few minutes for him to die, but they were minutes of pain, Ella was sure.

She drew herself out of memories, and looked back at Lissa, sleeping in the fading firelight, pendent around her neck. She silently slipped her blade from her sleeve, and gently lifted the chain up from Lissa's neck.

She heard something behind her. She quickly withdrew her dagger and turned. Adex was walking slowly up behind her. She sat back on the ground, and waited until Adex was sitting next to her. He held out the rough model of a wooden hand, which was attached to his left arm, and took a small knife out in his right. He eyed the hand for a moment, then slowly started to carve at it, trying to smooth unnatural bumps.

“An old friend, eh?” He whispered. It was very quiet, and Ella was so used to his voice that she could have heard him easily if he whispered in a crowded tavern.

“It's Lissa, Adex.” Ella said.

Adex stopped smoothing out the wood, and after a moment, started to dig away at an uneven piece of wood around the thumb. “Tiller's girl?”

Ella snorted gently, “No, Lissa the friggin' whore in the back ally of King's Cross. Of course it's Tiller's girl. How many Lissa's have you ever known?”

“I thought she was gone.”

“So did I.” Ella reached out and held Lissa's hair out of the way of the chain, “I had hoped she had taken that with her.”

“The pendant?”

Ella rolled her eyes, “Yes. The pendant.” She sat back and let Lissa's hair fall back, “I wish Tiller had told us what the damn thing was for.”

Adex set the knife down and sat back. “Let's see...” he murmured, “It's been a awhile since I've seen it... I don't' think it was valuable though.” He shut his eyes, “Low quality bronze. Roughly the size and shape of a large coin. A hole in the center was filled in with a smoothed piece of red quartz, an oddity, but not particularly valuable. The pendent itself was engraved with vines, with words around the edge. I can't remember the words, though.”

Ella looked blankly at Adex for a long moment. “That you can remember all that in such detail amazes and terrifies me.” she said, a little louder than she had been speaking, but Lissa was fast asleep. Adex just winked and grinned.

“You're not surprised though, I hope.”

“Oh no.” She sighed and turned back to Lissa. “Big fuss over a useless piece of junk. Castle guards were after us.. then the Royal Guard... Adams.”

“Obviously it's not valuable.” He said, “And obviously, Adams was stupid enough that he didn't go back and check to see if Lissa or her mother had the damned thing.”

“...Do you think it's magic?”

Adex snorted, “No. I'm no expert, but I think if it was something magical, we would know by now.”

“Well, I didn't' really ask too much about the pendent right off,” Ella snapped, “And I doubt she goes around telling everyone if the pendent... I don't know, made something explode or something.”

“She'll ask soon.” Adex whispered. “I bet she will. She'll have questions about her father. What happened, why the men were there. If she was too tired tonight... I'll bet a bottle of my best wine that she asks tomorrow.”

“Done.” Ella said, grinning. “But what am I supposed to tell her?” She leaned back. “What, am I supposed to say, “Yeah, your father risked all our lives over that worthless little trinket by having us all break into the castle and steal it from a display in a locked library. Then, after running day and night for I forget how many days, he just tossed it to you after leading all the guards to your house.' that's nice. I'm sure she'll feel great about that.”

“Tell her the truth.” Adex said, “Tell her that you don't know why he gave it to her. We picked it up during a job.” he shrugged. “Right now, there's no need to worry her, and everything else is just speculation. If it does come up, just tell her to keep it hidden. “

“And if she asks why?”

“She's travelling with a group of thieves that she doesn't know. Shouldn't' that be reason enough?”

“I suppose.”

Adex watched the fire for a moment longer before struggling to his feet, “Go to sleep.” He said, “I'll be a long day tomorrow. I don't think we'll catch that wagon, but we can make a good effort at it.”

“Yeah. The wagon.” Ella sighed. There was still that to deal with. She didn't really want to deal with a cargo heist. Finding Lissa seemed like a greater achievement at the moment. However, she was the head of this little band of thieves now, and if she wanted to keep her boys happy, they had to make the odd heist. She lay back and looked into the lightening sky, listening to Adex as he started to walk away.

“Hey.” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Three days.”

“Till what?”

“Until she asks about the pendent. If she didn't ask right away, there's a reason aside from being tired.” she tilted her head back, almost hurting her neck to look at Adex, “Three days. I'll bet ten silver pieces on it.”

“Done.” Adex said, grinning. “Three days.”