Chapter 1) The Noble Thief
House Hanover… is a very old noble family. Founded by the Lady Hildegard, the Dread Fighter, friend of the Eight Heroes, the land is famous for two things. One, their horses. Their prized horses are beloved by the continent, strong and powerful, bred for different attributes depending on where they would be used.
The second? The second is… more of a local thing. Something that everyone in Etruria knows, though not a soul outside would guess. It is how pragmatic, how brutal, those of the house can be if you make the mistake of riling their tempers. And the fools who make the mistake of trying that reputation… well, they are not even given enough time to pray.
Okay, I was not being paid enough for this. Assassinate this person of this description for this amount of coin. Should have been simple. Except the 'person'? The person was Lord Uther, heir to Ostia. I was not being paid enough for this.
My lungs burned as I ran, trying to escape the little lord's guards. They were a tenacious bunch, but I suppose it was fair. I mean; they were dogs getting paid to enforce the lord's laws, and I just cut up the little lord's pretty face. I wondered if the people got a kick out of seeing his blood was as red as theirs.
"Stop!" Why did people shout that? It was not as if I was going to magically 'stop' because they said so. "Stop, in the name of the law." Especially when they used that excuse. Pff, law? Those laws never protected people who mattered. Just the people with money.
Someone slid in front of me and I stumbled to a stop, daggers out as I tried to get a read on whoever it was. Purple hair was the first thing I noticed, with the beginnings of a beard on his face. The orange armor marked him as a Pheran knight. Not too much of a surprise. Everyone knew of the strong friendship between Uther and Elbert, heir of Pherae. And Uther had a redhead companion when I had attempted to kill Uther. Would make a hell of a lot of sense for that person to be Elbert.
"Surrender, assassin," the man growled. Despite the words, his hands shook slightly, making the tip of his lance waver. Was he a new knight? No, he seemed a little old for that. Traumatized, then. Still trying to be the good knight despite it. Aw, how adorable. "If you come peacefully-"
"What about me makes you think I am going to come in peacefully?" I deadpanned. Okay, I was in an alley at this point, so… "Stupid little knight." I lunged, aiming a kick as his knee to get his guard to falter. He dodged it and spun his lance to ward me off. I scooped up some dirt to throw in his face, and when he flinched, slammed my heel right into his balls. The way he dropped told me he had been stupid enough to not wear a cup.
Laughing, and nudging him to make sure he was not going to get up so quickly, I used his back as a platform to jump just a bit higher and climb onto the roof of the building. From there, I ran, carefully placing my feet to not make any noise as I darted above everyone's heads. At the first sign of someone noticing me, I dropped down into a tree, timing it so that the rustling could be blamed on the wind. There, I waited, watching. Kept absolutely still. It was not a hard thing to do, when your life had depended on it so much.
"Uther, can you go get your injuries tended to?!" Oh, look, this tree gave me front row seats to Elbert and Uther's little chat. I wondered if the knights had torn the city apart yet. Ah, if only they worked so hard to find the person behind the recent abductions and murders. But no, of course not. Because the victims were all whores and orphans. Why care about them, right? "You're bleeding all over-"
"It's just a head injury, so it looks worse than it is," Uther growled. I eyed him closely, mostly curious at what sort of injury I had managed to score in the split second between 'and so dies the target' and 'shit, this is Uther and I am not paid enough for this'. I noticed two long slices on his face, one going from cheek to cheek, over the bridge of his nose, and the other going from the top-middle of his forehead to the middle of his left eyebrow. Not too bad, I guess. The one of the forehead had meant to be the killing blow, while the one across the face had been to distract him and let me escape when I realized what the hell was going on.
"I don't care. If nothing else, think of poor little Hector when you come back with a face full of blood." The Little Lord, as Ostia adored calling him, was barely a few months old. I doubted he would know anything about blood, much less to be afraid of it. "And if not for Hector's sake, than think of my Eliwood." Pherae's precious prince was even younger than Hector. And he saw 'red' every day thanks to his dad's brilliant hair color. He would probably think some of Elbert's hair had fallen on Uther's face.
"I want that girl found." Haha, I am right above you, and if I was being paid enough, I would totally jump down and finish the job. But I was not, so no killing today. At least, not of heirs. My employer who withheld information, on the other hand… "She might have information that I need, Elbert." Information? Seriously? What did this guy think assassins did? Chat with their employers over tea and crumpets?
"Look, if she's evading all the knights, then I highly doubt you're going to catch her, especially while bleeding buckets from your face."
"But-!"
"You promised to curtail your recklessness so that Hector could grow up with his older brother."
"Bah, use my baby brother against me."
"Yes, just as you use Eleanora and Eliwood against me." His family… seriously, their names all started with 'e'? Was that on purpose? "Now come on. Things are going to scar at this rate."
"Meh, my face was looking too soft anyway. A scar makes me look tough."
"And you'll really look tough with half your face rotting off thanks to infection." Lovely mental image. "Move it!"
"Yes, yes, Elbert." I watched them leave, curious despite myself.
Information he 'needed'? What could he possibly want to learn about?
"You failed." The voice were dripping with disdain. They matched the lord's sneer as I walked into the hovel he was using as the meeting point. "A pity," he scoffed. I rolled my eyes at how high and mighty he was being. He was the one hiring someone else to do his dirty work, after all. "I had hoped someone of your skills, Huntress…"
"Someone of my skills does not do things for cheap," I retorted. I was tempted to spit in his eye, but decided against it. Was not worth the effort. "Nor does someone of my skills continue a job when the employer withheld information. You are not paying me enough to go after the heir to a Lycian province."
He rolled his eyes. "I am paying you exactly what you deserve."
"That is not how this works. You breached the contract by not informing me of the true identity of the target." I crossed my arms and glared. "You told me he was a 'minor lord'."
"Bah, he might as well be, the scoundrel."
"Does not matter. You broke the contract. Either renegotiate or find another assassin to take up the job." Not that I could think of anyone who would be stupid or desperate enough to take up that job for a measly 3000 gold.
"Tch… damned bitch-daughter of a wench." Oh, how creative. "I will put you in your place!" And the look in his eyes clearly defined what he considered 'my place'. Below a man.
"I am an assassin, a thief of lives, a hunter of the most dangerous prey, as my nickname suggests." I slid a knife out from my sleeve. "And a-hunting I will go~" I loved that nursery rhyme. Nicky and I had sung it often when hunting on the lands.
"What?" I did not know why he was so confused. I clearly stated what I was going to do. But, whatever. Few things were easier than eviscerating a shocked target. "Gah…" And he collapsed, twitching and writhing.
"Oh, poor thing!" I made my tone mocking as I crouched down and smiled into his dying face. "What a mess you made, getting your guts all over the floor!" Casually, I hunted through his pockets, taking anything that looked of value and not an heirloom. "See, this is why you have to be careful. An assassin is only loyal to an employer so long as the contract is in place." I pocketed the things I found and nudged him in the ribs until he was lying on his back. He groaned and gasped. "Have fun bleeding out." I did not care enough to give him a mercy kill. "And enjoy the afterlife."
I stretched as I walked out, wiping off the blood on my dagger before sliding it back to its sheathe. Honestly, what an idiot. Let us see what I grabbed though…
I climbed onto the room, mostly to make sure a child did not walk in on the scene, and emptied my pockets to sort through everything. Gold, gems, some jewelry, a fancy pocketwatch… oh, and a piece of paper? Curious, I unfolded it, noticing the scribbles. 'Need five' and 'deliver to the usual address' and 'He commands it within the next two days'. Strange. Shrugging, I stuck it in my pocket, and poked through the rest of it, organizing it from most to least expensive. That would effect where I sold the things too. I could easily make a good 15000 gold from this. Perfect.
"Miss Mandy?" Confused, I leaned over the edge of the roof and smiled when I saw little Alyssa peering up at me. "Miss Mandy, what are you doing up there?" she called. "The guards are all mad about something, and they're bringing in anyone suspicious."
"I suppose I look very suspicious, huh?" I laughed. Keeping everything organized, I returned everything to my pockets and swung down next to her. "Have you been a good girl?"
"Of course!" She pouted, as if she could be anything else. Then again, she was a sweetheart. Surprisingly so, considering she had been thrown out on the streets when she was a child, and had known no other life than the harsh one of the streets. "Why?"
"Well, I need to sell some pretty things." I took her hand and guided her away from the hovel. "Do you want to come with me, so you can bring the money to your group?"
"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Miss Mandy, you're the best!" No, I was not. I just could not stand little kids hurting for things not their fault. I killed people for the money to help them. "That'll be perfect! I can't sell flowers with the soldiers all in an uproar."
"I am sorry, Alyssa." She laughed at my words and pressed into my side affectionately. "Come. If there is extra, I will buy you something sweet."
"Yay~!" She laughed again. "I love you!"
"I love you too, Alyssa."
Selling everything took longer than I thought it would, thanks to having to avoid the guards, and I still had to pass out money and food to the street kids I knew, so I ended up getting 'home' way later than I thought. A small little apartment in the 'red-light district'. There was nothing 'official' about the place, and the knights came in about once a month to 'purge' it of the 'undesirables', but since they were so regular, most of us knew how to escape before things got too bloody.
Sighing, I flopped onto the pile of blankets I called a bed, not even bothering to remove all my daggers. They pressed awkwardly into my hips and legs, but I did not really give a damn at the moment. I just wanted to relax, for a moment.
"Damn it…" I growled, throwing my arms over my face. One of the kids in Alyssa's group, Melanie, was deathly ill. She needed medicine, fast, and I doubted I would be able to get the money to buy it in time. If only I had checked in on them prior to spending everything on food and passing out the rest. "Guess I am going to dip back into basic thieving for a bit." I doubted I could steal the medicine itself, but there were valuables I could swipe and sell. She probably only had a couple of days, so I would have to move fast. "Well, break is over." I swung myself up and stretched. Melanie needed that medicine. So, I needed to get it for her. No one else was caring for them, and Alyssa's flower money was not going to be enough. The rest were too young to get any safe work. So…
Footsteps caught my ear, and I frowned when I realized they were getting closer. Not two seconds later, my door burst open, and someone cloaked swung inside, closing the door behind them. They leaned against it, breathing heavily. I kicked my little table, to make it move, and catch their attention.
"Oh, shit, this place has an owner," they gasped. Their head was still down. "My deepest apologies. I am running from some people, and picked this door at random." They lifted their head to smile at me and I froze. "I will be gone momen… tari…" I was staring right at Uther, heir to Ostia. What in all the bloody hells was he doing here?! "You?" He glanced around. "This is your home?"
"Not anymore, since you know about it," I growled. Well, this was just great. It would take me a while to find a good replacement. "What are you doing here?"
"Right now, I'm debating laughing because I did find you, when all the knights didn't." By accident. Because he had decided to open this door of all the doors in this rotting building. "Though, I did tell you why. I am running from some people."
"Like who?"
"Like my knights because I gave them the slip." He grinned, and it brought attention to his new scars. Someone got the fully healed. "So, let me hide?"
"Someone just tried to have you freaking assassinated, you damn idiot."
"Well, yes, but I was tracking down a lead." He sighed heavily. "Our spy network is ridiculous and inept." I knew that. That was how an assassin or ten could operate in the city easily. "I have to do the work myself if I want to get anything done."
"And that is not my problem." I sighed. "Move out of the way. You can hide here all you like, but I have to work."
"Another assassination?"
"I need money for medicine for a sick child, and the prices are sky high thanks to your father's economic policy, so it is either that or thieving." He looked startled by the words. "What? You did not know? Thanks to it, prices have doubled." And in order to even attempt to make a profit, shopkeepers could only buy back things for half their worth at most.
"…" He dug through his pockets instead, and produced a beautiful white gem. I wondered what kind it actually was. "Will… this give enough to buy it?" Hmm? "The medicine. Will this sell for enough?"
"…Yeah, likely." He smiled softly at my confirmation and tossed it to me. "The hell are you doing?"
"With it? Oh, I carry some in case I get stuck outside the castle and need to pay for an inn." Someone… had clearly snuck out a lot. "And, well… sick child. If I can help, just a little…"
"I am tempted to call you a naïve fool." He simply smiled wryly at the rebuke. "But, I will thank you. She needs it desperately, and if I hurry, the apothecary will still be open."
"Right…" Now he moved out of the way, and let me pass without hesitation. "…Your name." Hmm? "What is your name?"
"You really are a fool if you think I am going to just give it to you." I glanced at him over my shoulder. "They call me 'The Huntress'. That is all you are going to get from me."
I left him behind, racing as fast as I could down the stairs and through the streets. I just had to exchange it for some money, and then I would have the medicine needed. With a bit of luck, I could get it to Melanie tonight even! That… that would be good. Really, really good.
I breathed a sigh of relief, gently stroking Melanie's hair as she slept peacefully. I had gotten to the apothecary just in time and had given her the medicine. Her fever was already going down. Alyssa had insisted that I just spend the night, and I went along with it, since my home was compromised.
I glanced around the little shack, noticing the badly boarded up walls and ceiling. Once a storehouse, it was now 'home' for a group of ten street children, who banded together in order to increase their chances of surviving. Alyssa 'led' the group, by virtue of being the oldest at twelve years old. The church in town was supposed to serve as an orphanage, but it was overflowing already, so they had to turn their heads at the ones they could not 'save'.
Little murmurs caught my ear and I looked down to Alyssa, curled up in my lap as she slept. "Mama…" she whimpered, reaching out to a ghost. Alyssa's mother had died when she was just three years old. Her father tossed her out. "Mama…" I took her hand, and she clutched it with all the strength a dreaming child could produce. "Mama…"
"Dream of something happier, Alyssa," I whispered. I hummed a lullaby, hoping it would soothe all of them. As I did so, I clutched at my necklace with my free hand. A 'good luck charm', a square pendant with some pattern no one knew anymore. It was old, ancient even, and had been in the family since before it was founded. Nicky really should have been the one wearing it, but when I was disowned, he hooked it around my neck. He would keep the bracelet, and I would wear the necklace. Split the luck. Nicky was always too kind, and cared too little for himself. I was not even sure it worked. Then again, I was alive, despite going from a life of extreme privilege to a life of… well… a life like this. Not many former noblewomen could survive five years of the streets when they did not know much of anything about how the real world worked.
Sighing, this time in a bit of frustration, I tilted my head back, looking up at the stars through a hole in the ceiling. They sparkled in the distance, and I reached up, at if to catch them and bring some of their light a little closer. But of course, my hand closed on nothing. Wishing, hoping, dreaming… what pointless nonsense. Nothing cared about it. No one cared about us, actually.
The people in the streets… we suffer in silence. Everyone in power preferred it that way, and took steps to ensure we could never speak. Though, that did make me all the more curious about Uther. Uther, who had not been afraid when he found himself face to face with the person who tried to kill him just a few hours prior. Uther, who had given a gem, basically money, because he heard a child was sick, without even a name. Gave it to the person who tried to kill him. That… was curious. It made me curious.
Not that it mattered. I highly doubted I would ever see him again. If I did, it would be because I had been caught, or someone had paid me enough to kill him. That… was all there was to it.
Alyssa whimpered again, and I squeezed her hand tightly. I counted the number of children, just to be certain. Ten sleeping bodies. No one in this group had been stolen yet. But the numbers were climbing. People on the street going missing, and then later turning up dead. There was no pattern to the deaths either. Some had their throats cut. Some were decapitated. Some were stabbed. Some were dismembered. The only thing they all had in common was that they had disappeared, and turned up dead a week later.
Honestly, it was not anything new, except for the sheer numbers. If I had heard of all of them, then there were thirty corpses a month.
I shook my head, ridding myself of the thoughts, and squeezed my pendant tightly. Good luck. It was supposed to be good luck. I still did not know if it was luck at all. But it was comforting, and it reminded me that, even when everything was falling apart, I had one person who had still loved me, had still done everything he could for me.
I wished I could write him a letter. He was the lord of the place now, if the rumors were right. Ha… Nicky as a lord… so weird. My last 'real' memory of him was playing with baby Maria while Mark pouted over having to share attention. I wondered how he and Cristina were…
I would just have to listen to rumors. Hanover was not so far from Ostia, after all.
Notes about… me?
Not sure why I am wasting paper like this. Maybe I just… want to record my thoughts. Just in case. Anyway, my name is Amanda. I was once of… well, it does not matter. I was disowned at fourteen because I refused to go along with an arranged marriage. I somehow survived the streets, climbing from killing and stealing for food to simply killing and stealing for a living. I am known as 'The Huntress' to those seeking an assassin, but the street kids love calling me 'Miss Mandy'. Blonde hair, amber eyes, 19 years old.
Author's notes: Welcome to A Thief's Testimony, a story inspired by Fire Emblem 7x (which is fantastic and fun, and I highly recommend playing what's out so far). So, this story focuses on the 'adults' of the FE7 universe, such as Uther, Elbert, Marcus, Madelyn, Hassar, and others. Since this serves as a 'prequel' to Tactician's Testimony, it is through the POV of an OC featured there, Amanda. Just as I do for a Thief's Legacy, I will be keeping a running log of bios for characters, since half of the main cast are OCs and the other half are technically canon, but they are much, much younger here. I hope you enjoy it.
If you are curious about why Ostia is portrayed as a 'bad' place to live, it is mostly because a) this is 16 years prior to the very start of FE7 (that is, Hector and Eliwood were just born, and Lyn doesn't exist yet) and b) in Oujay's supports with Lilina in FE6, it is shown that in order to avoid starving, his parents had to abandon his little sister, which is almost forty years after this story.
Next Chapter – The Sneaky Lord
