AN: Okay, I decided to divide the first chapter into two so if you have read the first chapter earlier you can skip on to chapter 3 and enjoy the reading there :D
Second Meeting
There had been rumors about a big feast in Castle Sasune. Of course those rumors had reached the ears of a certain thief. That very thief was now eagerly planning how to best sneak into the castle, steal all the valuable things he could carry while the guests and the ones who lived there were busy with the ongoing party.
"Assuming they all will stay in the huge ballroom this entrance and that balcony should be without a guard," his thieving fingers moved over the stolen map of the castle and he scribbled a few words here and there. The entrance he was talking about was just a small backdoor, not many people knew about it and the balcony belonged to one of the workers at the castle who most definitely would be busy that night. Don't ask me why he knows that maybe he spies on Princess Sara.
"Luneth!"
Someone suddenly called him and he could already hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. Quick like a snake Luneth rolled up the map and hid it under his bed just mere seconds before the door opened.
"Yes, Arc?" with a smile, to hide his annoyance Luneth turned to his foster brother who stood in the doorway looking as calm and timid as always. Those freckles really helped to give him the cute 'good boy'-look as well as his brown hair.
"Uhm…You haven't seen my map over Castle Sasune?"
After a quick, almost unnoticeable glance towards his bed the thief curiously looked at Arc. "No. Why do you even have a map over that castle?"
"It's for my re-search," Arc smiled calmly as he began to walk out of the room to continue his search for the lost map.
"Still going to be an architect?" Luneth called after him.
"Of course!" And the door closed and only the steps and quiet humming from Arc could be heard.
The silver haired thief couldn't help but smile to himself. His brother really tried his best to achieve his dream to become an architect and that made Luneth more proud than anything. Also it had another benefit: Luneth could get his hands on all kinds of maps and drawings over different houses that he otherwise would have to go through trouble to get.
When he couldn't hear Arc's humming anymore he smirked reached for his- I mean Arc's map to continue his vicious plans. It took Luneth quite awhile to plan this into the very detail, he wouldn't risk anything to go wrong as this break-in was going to help him get that new game he so dearly wanted or the shining new sword the weapon shop just put on sale.
Finally the awaited evening came and it was time for the eager thief to give that castle an un-invited visit. Unless he left after his family was asleep they would get suspicious and wonder why he was leaving so late at night. The excuse that he had to go out and look for a thing that he had lost earlier under the day didn't work every time and he was already teased for being clumsy and irresponsible for losing things so often. Him being a thief was the only secret he kept from his family not even his best friend/brother Arc knew about it and that's why he stuffed his bed with teddies and blankets to make it look like he was in fact sleeping before sneaking out of the window.
It was a long walk to get to the big castle but it was worth it and Luneth had planned that he's be there when the party was at its climax and everyone should be busy. Music could be heard from the castle before he could even see it but it was nice to walk outside in the fresh air listening to the distant music so Luneth happily continued his quest towards the feasting fortress.
When he reached his destination and managed to sneak past the guards who complained to each other why they had to stand here guarding while the others were inside having fun Luneth went to the back to find the unguarded entrance. Quietly he laughed at his own brilliance, everything was going as planned and he could almost see that game in his hand now together with the sword. Slowly he reached for the door knob and carefully opened the door and took a peek in. No one was there. Perfect. With practiced skill he quietly tiptoed across the floor and out of the room to find the place where he believed the more valuable stuff was stored.
As he got out he was met by a long lit up corridor with enormous paintings on each side, some of them were portrait while some of them where just landscapes or fruit. Luneth still couldn't understand the beautiful in art and he had other things to worry about. For example if he were to meet someone in this corridor it would be a disaster, he had nowhere to hide and his clothing didn't really indicate him as one of the guests.
"Quick, quiet and quality,"the three important Q's in this business Luneth thought to himself and hurried through the bright passage.
The ballroom was on the first floor so without a second thought Luneth took the stairs up just like he had planned.
"The king probably keeps his important things by his room."
His memory was good but not photographic so the location of the king's room had been slightly forgotten but such a small thing wouldn't stop this thief. Moving closer to a candle he took out the detailed map over the castle and started to scan eager to find the treasure chamber.
Clank, clank, clank.
What was that? Someone was coming and coming this way. Stuffing the map back into his pocket Luneth took some quick steps away from the revealing light and hid in the shadow of a huge plant. Damn, everything in this castle was huge!
It was the armor of a guard that made the clanking noise and now it stopped while looking around just where Luneth had been seconds earlier. Did the guard suspect anything? Luneth couldn't see clearly and he did not dare to move to get a closer look either but something seemed familiar, he just couldn't place his finger on what. His heart was now beating rapidly, it was a wonder not everyone in a radius of 5 miles couldn't hear it.
"I am sure I…" It was the guard speaking to himself.
That voice?
Luneth's ears perked up. Where had he heard it? I told you his memory wasn't photographic.
"Ingus!" a girl with a very expensive looking dress came running up the stairs and towards the armored guard. "What are you doing?"
"I just thought I saw something…" the guard called Ingus replied back thoughtfully.
"Well…There's nothing here so let's go back," she pulled his arm and Luneth who was watching everything could only imagine how annoying it must be with a persistent girlfriend like that.
He took one last look around but let his eyes stare extra carefully towards the suspicious plant and Luneth felt it like he was staring straight at him. "I'm coming," and to Luneth big relief the man left down the stairs with the girl clinging to his arm.
It took the silver haired thief a good while before he dared to step out of the dark shadows and get back to the candle for a final look at the map.
"Got it!" now when he knew exactly where to find the treasures he once again put the map back into his pocket and continued up some other stairs. The king probably thought that a man of his position should sleep in a tower. Ordinary thieves thought otherwise, according to them it was only idiots who liked high places and smoke.
Thieves also had to be in good shape so the stairs was not a big problem. In just a few minutes he had reached the end of them and the treasures were near. Another smile was brought upon his lips as he moved towards the door with the treasure chamber on its other side.
It was locked of course but with some skill and help from a hair pin or two a thief could unlock anything and Luneth was not an exception. The lock gave of a clicking sound and the door swung open revealing an open room filled with chests. Treasure chests.
Sparkling violet eyes looked from one chest to another until finally deciding on open one. Remembering the Q, quick, he aimed for the closest one and even these were locked.
With a tiny growl Luneth worked his magic with the hair pin "Are they afraid of thieves here or what?" he questioned himself as the lid to the chest opened.
Now his eyes were sparkling even more, the jewelries inside the chest glimmered so much it almost made his violet hues seem like precious stones too. With shaking hands he picked up a few of them and examined them closer. If this was the privilege Luneth wanted to be a king too. Too bad it was probably an impossible dream, a dream he didn't have time for now either. Taking down a vase that so timely was placed in that room, most likely to cheer the room up with flowers but it was now empty and Luneth was in more need of it.
When he had filled the vase with as many jewelries and shiny things it could fit in it he put a few more into his pockets. To save for emergencies he assured himself while closing the chest and lock it up again to prevent the king from noticing it earlier than needed, also the door to the chamber was locked again before Luneth snuck down the stairs. If someone were to discover him now a prison cell and disappointed parents would be the only thing waiting him when morning came.
Unfortunately a buff looking guard was blocking the way for the thief and his escape passage through the back door, this leaving him no choice but to go back and take the route out of the balcony. He didn't have to go back to far but it annoyed him that he had to change his plans because of a stupid thing like a guard! Luckily the fresh air on the balcony helped him calm down. Maybe this way wasn't so bad after all.
Clank, clank.
"You?"
Out of reaction Luneth turned around to see who called and to make sure he wasn't discovered. He shouldn't have done that, with determined steps a guard came towards him through the open balcony door. Luneth just stared until he finally saw the face of the man.
"You?" he couldn't believe his eyes. It was the knight from earlier, the one he had tried to rob and the very same man who almost discovered him hiding by the plant. Ingus.
"So it was you! You hid behind the plant earlier and…" his crystal clear blue eyes moved to the vase Luneth held in his hands.
The thief just took a step back. What could he do? He was discovered and would wake up in a prison cell and never even see the package of that game he wanted.
It seemed Ingus could understand his thoughts. "Oh," he chuckled a little. "I will not let the king know about your…" another glance towards the case. "…bargain."
Luneth just continued to stare. "You won't?"
"I won't."
"Why?" Luneth gave him the most distrustful look he could.
"Oh, I don't know," the knight took a few steps forward and calmly leaned against the balcony rail. "Maybe because the king already has a chamber full of it," he made a gesture with his arm to the direction of the tower. "And I am sure you are in more need of money than he is."
"Damn right I am!"was what he wanted to say but instead he stood quiet and just looked at him. Here he was, an intruder on top of all and the guard just stood there like it was the most common thing in the world, just stared out into the peaceful darkness with its few shining stars. The thief on the other hand was still shaky after being discovered and the present awkward silence did not help at all.
"You know," the knight began talking again and his blue eyes looked straight into the thief's violet, slightly grey ones. "The party is boring me out and I just had to get out of there."
"Okay?" he didn't know what else to reply.
"It is always about being formal and polite. Never about relaxing and just enjoy yourself."
"I see…" it was still hard to keep a normal conversation in this unusual situation.
"Yes, I mean, you seem to enjoy yourself pretty well, running into alleys, sneaking into castles and finding treasures!" a small envy could be noticed which got Luneth interested.
"So castle life isn't fun after all?" he decided that apart from the fortune being a king was not so tempting after all.
"Trust me when I say this: it is not."
This made Luneth laugh a little. "You're being pretty formal now too you know, at least with your speech."
"I am?" those blue eyes got a little wider and if you looked closely he almost looked embarrassed. "I am sorry, I suppose it becomes a habit."
"No worries man!" the chat was more relaxed now and it was easier to talk despite the odd circumstances and that relaxed atmosphere helped a certain thief to remember something. "You!" his arm shot out in an accusing point towards the blonde man.
"Yes?" now his eyes were even wider than earlier and you could clearly see the shock in his face.
"You-You ruined my day and I had to eat homemade grossness!"
"E-Excuse me?" Ingus couldn't for all in the world understand what the silver haired stranger was blabbering about.
"Yes! You caught me in that alley and made me make a fool of myself!"
He tried his best but failed hardly to hide a snicker. "Oh yeah, good memories."
"You're laughing?" Luneth didn't know what to do or he knew one thing. "You're going to pay for this you know! I'm leaving!" with an escape rope already in his hand he tied it steady and carefully to the railing of the balcony and threw the rest over so he could climb down on it.
"No, wait!" he looked shocked at this sudden turn of events and with a few quick steps he stopped right in front of Luneth.
"No can do, besides I don't think you have time to wait," his eyes had accidentally spotted the young woman from earlier in a window a floor down. "Your girlfriend is looking for you," with a quick salute he slid down the rope with the vase under his arm but unfortunately for Ingus he missed it as his gaze laid on the searching woman.
"She's not my-" he sighed, it was too late, he could see a small figure run across the castle yard and vanishing into the black night but if he had yelled after him he would get discovered by the guards. Being the loyal person Ingus was he released the rope and brought it with him as he returned into the castle. It had to be hidden somewhere or the king might found out about the incident. Once again that boy with hair like the purest silver had escaped him.
