Silence…

There was nothing to be heard. She felt herself in a big blanket of silence. Not even the tiniest sound made its way down the corridor she was crouching in. A torch flickered in the distance. If no one made his of her way down this corridor it would be no problem for her to sneak past that torch. After a few more moments she made up her mind. There was no one coming down this corridor anymore. She threw a quick glance of her shoulder to make sure that the body that was lying there could not be seen. The shadows enveloped her victim's body completely. Even if by change someone besides her would pass through this corridor, that person wouldn't notice him.

She smirked in a satisfied little way and sat off. Her boots made no sound on the wooden floorboards. She stuck the walls and the shadows even though the shadow grew less and less in mass as she drew nearer to the torch. She was painfully aware of the fact that she was no longer able to hide herself and was now fully visible. Her black cloak no longer added to her invisibility. If anything it made sure that she stood out completely. She quickened her pace a bit and pretty soon she'd walked by the torch and she re-entered the shadows that made her feel safe and secure.

She looked up and down the corridor. Still no one. This little job was going quite smoothly until now. Most of people she had run into had been servants and she had managed to sneak around them very efficiently. She had only knocked out three guards up till know. They had all been patrolling this very narrow corridor and she simply couldn't avoid being spotted at this point. Not when she was so close to finishing this job.

She crouched further into the shadows and pushed herself against the wall. From her pocket she drew forward the map she had been given by one of her contacts in the City. The map was very crude and barely held any detail at all but it was sufficient. She only had to know the general layout of this mansion; there was no need for her to know everything. She folded the map open and held it out in the direction of the torch so that she would be able to read it. With her finger she trailed the corridor she was currently in on the map. One more corner and then the second door on the right. That would lead her into the study of the master of this house. There she would find what she had come to steal.

She folded the map and put it back into her pocket. She rose very carefully as to make sure that her newly acquired valuable wouldn't make any noise. Once she had erected fully she set off away in the direction of the study. Again her footsteps made no sounds as she moved forward slowly. Every one of her senses was directed to the environment around her. Her eyes were scanning for movement in the distant while her ears were waiting for any kind of sounds. Her nerves were high strung though one would not have been able to tell that she was nervous. She moved along the wall and through the shadows with a fluid grace born from years and years of practise.

She quickly crossed the distance to the study. She encountered no one and there were no obstacles. Clearly the owner of the mansion didn't expect someone to break into his study. But then, she wasn't really after anything valuable. She was after a scrap of paper, something he probably wouldn't even consider as something important. It was by pure change that one of her contacts had noticed it on his visit in the study. He'd passed the information on to her, thinking that she might find it interesting. And he'd been right.

She studied to door from the shadows she was hiding it. It was locked but it didn't seem like a very good one. She would be able to pick it within a matter of seconds. Still she left nothing to change and she remained crouched in the shadows for a good few minutes, straining all of her senses to the maximum. She heard nothing nor did she notice anything unusual. Very slowly she sneaked to the wooden door and pressed her ear against it. Again she strained her senses but she could pick up no sounds from the inside either.

She drew forth one of her lockpicks and stuck it into the keyhole. Very carefully she twisted her lockpick around, looking for the lock's weak spot. Suddenly the lock snapped open with a click. She drew her lockpick out of the keyhole and stuck it back behind her belt. She left the door closed and shrank back into the shadows, listing for sounds. None reached her ears. Quick like a flash she went back to the door, opened it and disappeared into the study. She closed the door behind her and turned around to look around in the study, leaning back against the door.

The study was indeed empty. A large wooden desk stood to her left and it was littered with papers, quills and books. She grunted softly. How would she ever be able to find the paper she was looking for? Her eyes darted to the other side of the room where there stood a large bookcase and a wooden cabinet, which was probably filled with more books. She frowned slightly and turned her attention back to the desk. According to her contact it had been on the desk when he was last here so that was the place she'd start looking. He stayed that it resembled a page torn from an old book. He wasn't able to read the markings on it but it was supposed to bear an image that would interest her.

She made her way over to the desk and sat down in the chair behind it. She eyed the papers on the desk apprehensively. There was nothing for it; she'd have to search through the papers quickly and in an orderly fashion. She should be able to recognize it when she came across it. And so she started to search through the papers spread across the surface of the desk. Though the moon wasn't full the moonlight that flooded the room through the window was enough for her to read by. Paper up on paper she discarded. None of them interested her in the slightest. Most of these papers seemed to be notes of the lord of the mansion. She knew that he was supposed to be a very educated man and kept to his studies loyally. Every time she came upon a page that appeared to have been torn out of something her heart skipped a beat but she was quickly disappointed. Until, when she nearly looked upon every paper on the desk, she found want she was looking for.

She couldn't recognize the writings on it but the image on the paper made her eyes widen with shock. Yes, this was very interesting indeed. She'd have to thank her contact for tipping her off. This could prove to be very interesting indeed. She folded the paper very carefully and slid it into her bag with the rest of her new possessions. After a final glance through the study she left it quietly and left the mansion the same way she had entered it.