CHAPTER TWO

Tristan

Tristan reached the hideout completely out of breath, and totally ecstatic. He had gotten away! With a whole pouch of money! He and the boys hadn't seen anything this good in...hell, they hadn't ever seen anything this good!

The thief opened the side door to the Companion's Choice Inn, and made his way to the office in the back. They had a nice arrangement with the owner; they got the Underground (as they liked to call the three rooms under the inn) and in return gave the owner, Manny, 25 of all earnings. Not bad, considering that the Underground was relatively clean and came furnished.

There was a trapdoor under the desk in the little-used office. Tristan easily undid the hidden catch and let himself down the ladder, whistling merrily the whole time. He walked into the common area to find Taz, their thief lord, standing beside Jackson and arguing mightily with Tom, Butch, and Dennis.

"It were a stupid risk!" Taz was exclaiming, "'e shouldn' 'ave e'en tried et! E's gonna bring tha 'ole guard down 'ere! E's out!"

It was not hard for Tristan to discern who they were talking about."I'm out, em I? I guess I'm not complainin', what wit' all this loot I jus' filched." Tristan emptied the bag of coins out onto the table. Even he gasped when he saw the full amount sitting there. There was a small mountain of gold. No silver. The three brothers, Tom, Butch, and Dennis, came over grinning. They each clapped Tristan on the back once they got over the initial shock of so much money.

"I tol' ye, ye stupid sonofabitch!" Dennis exclaimed, "th' boy is better'n all of us! We knowed 'e could do et!"

Taz was only able to stand there spluttering.

"I known 'e were goin ta do et. I was jus' testin' yer faith in 'im," the thief lord managed after awhile.

"O right, now thet 'e's standin' 'ere wit' all tha' money, suddn'ly 'e's the greatest, eh? Ye piece of shit," Tom spat, "Ye don' care 'bout ye're boy's. All ye care 'bout es tha money."

"I don' think ye're worth a damn," Butch declared, "ye're tha shittiest thief lord this side o' Haven. Ef et weren't fer us, ye wouldn' even be respec'able."

"Yea, wat 'ave ye ever done fer us? Ye ain't no kind of prop'r thief lord. Ne'er doin notin' fer us, espectin' us to do everythin fer ye." Dennis put in. The brothers were really working themselves up. Tristan was beginning to worry that this time they were serious. They often complained about Taz's leadership, but never did anything about it. Tristan had never really had cause to worry.

Brown haired, blue eyed Dennis was always prone to bitching and complaining, but seemed to get his fun out of the yelling, rather than actually acting on anything. Tom, brown haired, with a bushy mustache had great fun with picking on everyone, harassing them as often as possible, but never seriously. And Butch? Perhaps he was one to be reckoned with. He, too, had a mustache, though it drooped more. Brown haired and blue eyed like his brothers, he had both his brother's qualities, though he was known more for crude jokes and bragging. He was muscle where Dennis was pudgy, broad shouldered where Tom was lanky, and very happy to throw his fists around.

"Tris 'ere coulda jus' took off wit' 'is catch, but 'e didn', did 'e?" Tom said thoughtfully, "I bet ye woulda. Jus' leave us fer dead, like no prop'r thief lord."

"Yea, ye cock sucker. Tris, 'ere, 'e's a helluvalot better'n ye," Butch all but growled.

"I think ets 'bout time fer a change," Dennis said ominously.

"What?!" Taz shrieked, "what are you'se sayin'?"

"That ye're out. We's think Tris id be better'n ye," Dennis said firmly.

"I ain't steppin' down!" Taz exclaimed, "I'm the thief lord, not sum littl' street scum! 'E ain't got nothin' I ain't got!" Taz was nearly frantic to hold his title. Tristan found that he was agreeing with the brothers. Though the prospect of becoming thief lord when he was only fifteen was a little daunting, he couldn't help but be intrigued by the idea. "Ef you'se make 'im tha thief lord, I'll leave, an' you'se won' ev'r see me again!"

Butch, voice ringing with contempt, said loudly, and clearly, "then get out." He pointed to the door, glaring at the former thief lord, with his brothers standing firm behind him.

Taz's face fell into a thunderous scowl. He picked up his coat and boots and stalked to the door. "Ye'll regret this," he said dangerously, "I'll make sure o' et."

Butch took a threatening step towards him, making Taz scamper out without another word. They had all forgotten about Jackson, until he went running out the door after Taz. The kid always was a pansy.

Caleb

Caleb was sitting in his desk, standing out starkly in his blue affiliates clothing amongst all the grey of herald trainees. He was doodling absently in his notebook while he listened to Herald Keller talk about much of the same stuff. Which basically meant that the Herald was droning on about everything the Kings and Queens and Heralds have done, but not what they're doing. Probably because they're not doing anything.

Sure, the kingdom had made great progress over the last hundred years, but what good did it do when the men up top just stopped? It could no longer be said that Valdemar was progressing, because nothing new was being done. Public schools had been opened. That was a major break through, and something to be thrilled about, but that was over half a century ago. The breakfast's were great too, but those two things were hardly impressive over the long run.

The Herald's were wonderful, but they are mainly on circuit outside of big cities. Haven, especially. When you're a Herald, and in Haven, you're pretty much off duty. Haven was left to the guards. And what good were they? They're nothing but a group of petty men, full of themselves and their authority, susceptible to bribes and flattery. The crown city was not in particularly good hands.

Caleb was really getting tired of listening to this. "Excuse me, Herald Keller?"

The balding Herald looked up, surprised at the interruption. "Yes, Caleb?"

"Well, I've been wondering, when are we going to talk about the recent developments of crown and kingdom?" He said it ever-so-politely.

The Herald looked taken aback. "Young man, we have been talking about that all term." The herald trainees snickered, the two bardic trainees perked up in the hope of something interesting about to happen, and, unbeknownst to Caleb, the other three affiliates watched him in rapt attention.

Caleb frowned, pursing his lips as he pretended to think. "When did you say that the public schools were opened?"

"The year 1376, after the founding, during the reign of Queen Selenay, of course." Herald Keller crossed his arms, waiting for Caleb's response.

"On, of course," he said, as if he hadn't known all along, "and that was at least sixty-five years ago, correct?"

Caleb's teacher shifted a bit uncomfortably as he began to realize what his pupil was getting at. "Well, yes, I suppose it was."

"And the breakfasts, for the students in those schools, were incorporated at about the same time? Sixty-five years ago?" Caleb folded his hands on top of his desk politely, as he waited for the answer.

Herald Keller rubbed the back of his neck a bit bashfully. The students stopped snickering. "Yes, that's right."

Caleb cocked his head to the side. "And that is what we've been talking about all term, isn't it?"

"Yes, you know it is." The middle-aged Herald began to scowl. No one liked being put in their place by a mere boy. "And just what are you getting at, young man?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just making sure I had all the facts down. So, that's two things that the kingdom of Valdemar has done in the last century. Anything else?"

"Well, of course. We made peace with Karse, made contact with Iftel, brought down that bastard in Hardorn..."

"Yes, and those things were all very good for the country, of course. They greatly 'benefitted' the common folk," Caleb said absently, as he went back to doodling.

"We Herald's do our best!" Herald Keller exclaimed, more than a little ruffled by his student's questioning.

"I'm not saying that you don't. I could never do most of the things you do. You risk your lives every day for the people of this country," Herald and trainees alike smiled with pride at this. "I'm just saying that you do it outside of Haven," and then promptly fell back into indignant scowls. The bell rang for the end of classes just then, saving Caleb from any defensive and outraged statements that may have been forthcoming.

He was almost out of the school when he was approached by a group of affiliates. "Hey, Caleb," Lee began, "we told some of the other Blue's about how you made a stand back there in class."

"Did you?" Caleb asked, a bit surprised. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Maybe not to you," Jesse began, "but to us? It was. None of us would ever have the guts to talk to a Herald like that." Caleb was a bit surprised that Jesse was even talking to him. She was the shyest girl in the Collegium. Jesse was one of those rare finds, not a noble, but rather a common girl who showed an extreme amount of intelligence and was recommended by the priest teaching her to the Collegium.

"You're really good at that, you know? Getting your thoughts and beliefs out there, I mean," Peter said. He was nobly born, though a bit slow. That didn't stop him from having a big heart, though. Caleb had come to greatly appreciate his friendship.

"Really, guys," Caleb began, as he felt himself blush, "I'm really flattered, but that's just how I am. No big deal..."

"Exactly!" Lee exclaimed, "that's just how you are! You're a natural!"

"Natural what?" Caleb asked. He was beginning to suspect that they were up to something.

"Listen, Caleb, I'm just going to get right to the point," Morgan started saying. He'd always liked Morgan, she had an efficient, no-nonsense attitude. Very effective to work with. "You've got a certain charisma about you. Like a natural leader. You're great at speaking, and defending what you believe in. Basically, we all believe in the same things you do. We would like you to be the president of a society we're starting up. The National Advancement for Commonfolk, or NAC."

Caleb, besides feeling like he'd just been kicked by a horse, was rather intrigued. "It sounds promising. But, what would I have to do? What would this society do?"

"Well," the ever-enthusiastic Lee began, "we would begin with simply recruiting members, we're not very impressive with just the five of us. Then we would begin coming up with ideas and making plans for the advancement of commonfolk. We would also need to find sponsors for the group, to help out with the financial bits. We would basically spread awareness of the poverty of commonfolk, publish stories on some of the unfortunates, things like that."

"And I would just decide what we should and shouldn't do?" Caleb asked. It all seemed too simple, any of them could have done that.

"Well, no. You'd petition the King and Queen with our ideas," Lee said as he eyed Caleb expectantly.

"Ah. And that is why you were making such a fuss over how well I speak. I see."

"We've been considering you for a long time, Caleb. What you said in class today confirmed that you were the one," Morgan said firmly.

"You'll probably have to make speeches at functions and things, too," Jesse said thoughtfully.

Caleb was thrilled. He knew that this wasn't something that you should just throw yourself into, but it was something he'd been waiting for. Something he'd wanted for a very long time. People that actually wanted to do something. "Alright, I will," he said quietly, and then, with more confidence, "yeah! I'll lead NAC."

Caleb couldn't believe that of all the people that could have done something, it was a group of fifteen-year-old affiliates. He snorted, and people thought that Herald's were the only one's that ever did anything.