Hello all, I hope you're all enjoying my story, here is the next chapter.

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Chapter Four

Three days later both Duke and Eleanor were back at the grand house. They were dressed in dark jumpsuits, with the tools of their trade in easy reach. They sat watching for twenty minutes. It was after one in the morning and they were waiting for the security guards final lap of the gated community. The guards were supposed to patrol every half hour, but after a week's heavy surveillance they knew that they only did it every hour until one o'clock after that there would not be another patrol until four. That was just before the swing shift would come on. The night shift were generally more active until one, then they hit a slump. It was the same with most security, there was always a slump in a shift, and you would just have to wait, watch and document to find the routine, and therefore find the window of opportunity.

Once they saw the retreating back of security guard number six, who had a twisted knee and poor eyesight, they made their move. They had made a comprehensive list of all the security staff that this family employed. They knew all weaknesses in case any of them decided to make another sweep during the heist.

Now that number six was gone the two siblings put their plan into action. First Eleanor shot out, as quiet and unnoticed as death itself, and cut the power to the gate and the sensory lights. Then Duke picked the lock of the side gate. It was smaller, quieter and out of sight. They moved in the shadows up to the conservatory door. They choose this entrance as it was the door with the easiest lock, and it was also in a blind spot, so the security cameras didn't record this area. This information had come courtesy of the blonde heiress from the party, who used this slight gap in security to sneak out or sneak boyfriends in. It amazed Eleanor just how much information her brother could get out of these idiot girls who all had more money than sense. Once they had picked the lock of the outside they would have to open the other door inside which had a double lock, it would mean they were completely out of sight in the smallest amount of time.

Once Duke had both doors open Eleanor took care of the first security cameras inside of the house. She covered the lens with a regular video camera cap. They had stolen them from a few electronics stores a few days earlier once Duke had found out which model was used. She then made her way to the hallway closet to turn off the security system for the house. She hacked into the main system and recorded a small segment of film, which she then played on a loop so if any of the guards did look at the cameras they would see the same five minutes of film played continuously, so it would look just as it would always look as no one was home.

Once all that was done both Duke and Eleanor took off their masks and turned on their flashlights.

"What did I tell you Ellie, we've hit the big time now!" Eleanor had to agree. Everywhere she looked she saw riches and they were just standing in the hall!

Duke directed her towards the office while he would go to the living room to lift the finer ornaments. Since this was one of the homes of one of the richest families on Puckworld they would only take the best, as only the best would get them into the Brotherhood of the Blade.

The office was only a few doors away from the main living area, where Duke was evaluating what he wanted to take. He never let Ellie go very far from him when they were on a job, as it was his job to look after her.

Once Eleanor arrived in the office she looked around to figure out the best place to hide the downstairs safe which would hold the families lose cash and other valuables which they didn't keep in the safe upstairs. She saw where it would be. It was in a fake filing cabinet. It was always in a fake filling cabinet. Why didn't these rich people have any imagination? She sat down before it and put her fingers to it and took out a piece of chalk. She had great skill at cracking safes. Her brother can pick locks and get around most security systems, but he could not crack safes. While he had to use other methods to open them, which were usually loud, bulky and costly she was able to sit in front of the door and open it by feeling. It was what made her mother famous and she had apparently inherited this fine skill. Very few thieves could feel their way to open a safe anymore. Most used a drill system, but that could trigger the secondary locking mechanism. Her brother, once he had figured out that she had such a fine skill, had bought so many safes so that she could completely hone it. He had also taught her everything he knew, as he was good at cracking safes. But even Duke conceded that Ellie was better. She just had a natural skill and the patience needed to sit in front of a safe and figure out the combination. Their mother had been the same, she was the one who had taught Duke and had started to teach Ellie before she died.

In a few minutes Duke had filled the first bag of everything valuable downstairs and had come to sit beside his baby sister while she worked. It only took another few minutes to have the safe open. While he began to empty everything worth taking Eleanor headed upstairs to the master bedroom to find the second safe, which held the really valuable jewellery. That was the main target, everything else was just a happy extra.

She knew where the master bedroom was, top of the stairs and second door on the right. But she didn't head there first. When she got to the top of the stairs she turned to the left, to look into the children's room. She had seen them, while she was surveying the house. They were spoilt and rather boorish. They had whatever they wanted and she envied it. Not because they could have anything they wanted, if she put her mind to it she could take whatever she wanted, it was the fact that they had warm beds, in their own rooms, with two parents who would provide everything for them. And everything they got always came with a receipt.

It was the little girls' room that called to Ellie. It was large and completely pink and white. It was a magnificent four post bed that seemed to belong to a princess in a fairy-tale. Which is what that girl was, a princess. On every shelf there were dolls and toys, that all looked to have different levels of love and attention. Ella only had one doll, it was the one given to her by her mother before she died. Duke had never allowed her to have many toys, not because he was mean but because they would weigh her down. Besides, the one doll that she owned was probably the most beloved doll in the world. It was given to her by her mother when she was three years old, and was the only thing that could calm her down when she was feeling upset.

Ellie allowed herself to sit on the bed and imagine that this grand room was hers. She imagined that the pictures on the wall contained herself, her brother and her parents. She imagined what her life would be like if she was the princess girl that actually owned this room.

That was where Duke found her. He could almost read her mind as she looked longingly at the pink room. He put his hand on her shoulder and let her continue to fantasise for a moment longer before sending her to finish the job, while he took care of these rooms.

The bedroom safe was just as easy, and held more jewellery than she thought anyone person could ever need. She began to empty it out, while Duke finished the rest of the master bedroom.

The whole job took less than two hours. They were out of the house and back to their acquired car just after three in the morning. After that they took a final look at the house and headed to the shady part of town, where they knew Bennie, the pawn broker would be waiting for them.

Bennie was a tall, older duck, who had once been a great thief and had actually worked with both Maria and Stefan L'Orange. Now he handled the stolen goods, got buyers and was basically the best means of communication in the world of crime. There was only a small window of opportunity to sell on some of the merchandise that was acquired from thefts, and Bennie had means of finding these avenues in time. He was the best and he had also been very trusted by Maria and Stefan, which was why he also kept an eye on both Duke and Eleanor. When they arrived a little before four he was very impressed. He knew most of what was in that house and had buyers lined up, but he had no idea how much the complete haul was worth. He informed both L'Orange children that they had done very well, that he would have their money by morning. He also told them that he would be in touch with the Brotherhood of the Blade. This was the guild of thieves that were interested in them.

After they left with a small percentage of their haul for their troubles, which was about a quarter of million dollars, they ditched the car before burning it and got on Duke's bike which he had stored just out of sight. It was now getting light, so they decided to have some breakfast. They had a change of clothes on the bike, so they went into a small café near the student area of DuCaine University which was always open early for the students who pulled all-nighters. There they were able to change so they could once again blend in with the general populace.

The café was small and always opened early and closed late, and since it was in the student area the staff was used to seeing people come and go at very random times in the day. The L'Orange children always came here when they were in this city. The food was excellent and the coffee was great, so they ordered a big breakfast of fruit and pancakes, with juice and coffee.

They had finished their breakfast quite quickly, as they were both famished after a long night of working and were back at their hotel by six in the morning, ready to go to bed. Duke hoped to get a call from the Brotherhood today to finally secure their place in the prestigious Guild. Whereas Ellie only wanted to take a shower and go to bed.

Duke didn't need to wait long, as they got a call from Bennie just after midday while Ellie was still asleep. They were to meet the current Guild Master for an early dinner, both of them. This was quite unusual, as there was a definite age limit to the Brotherhood, but they seemed interested in taking Ellie as well. Of course, Duke knew they couldn't resist taking both of them as they were both exceptional. He was ecstatic about the possibility of joining and knew Ellie would be too. He really wanted to wake her up and tell her the good news, but decided to let her sleep a little longer instead. She was quite tired after all.

"Come on Ellie, this is what we have been waiting for our entire lives! Why don't you look happy?" Duke asked in Rouenin as he was packing the hotel suite, as he knew they would be living in the Guild Seat once they were welcomed into the Brotherhood. Finally, a place to actually stay. This was, after all, one of the things that Ellie had always wanted.

"Why do we have to do it Duke, I mean we have enough money from this job, maybe we could just disappear somewhere?" Eleanor asked her brother hopefully while she fingered the piano that was in their suite. It was a beautiful instrument and she was going to miss playing it. Duke always made sure that there was an instrument for them to play. It helped relax both of them, and the advanced fingering exercises actually helped hone their skills as thieves.

"What do you mean kiddo, we just pulled off a huge job, just the two of us, and we're gonna be the most sought after thieves on Puckworld!" Duke exclaimed excitedly.

"And the most wanted," Ellie said sadly, still fingering the keys and finally switching back into Mallarish.

"What's this about Ellie?" Duke said, finally stopping what he was doing and coming to sit next to the young mallard.

"I don't want to do this anymore, I want to have a house, and go to school and have friends. I want to just be a kid, not some prodigy thief. I want to come home to same house, sit at the same piano and play on the same keys," Ellie said angrily, slamming down the piano cover. She finally let the angry tears fall, the ones that she had been holding in since that pink princess room.

"Ellie, that's what will happen. The Brotherhood will take us in and we will come home to same house and you could go to school, a real school too. Some of the older members have kids and they send them to the private school in Central City. There are girls your age who have been brought up into this life too, so they'll understand everything your feeling too. They're the kind of friends that you could have, ones that understand you. And we'll have our own apartment that we can decorate how we want to. We'll go to all the best stores and get the best furniture, and I promise we'll spend the entire day at a music store trying to find you your perfect piano. We both can finally get everything we've ever wanted," Duke said calmly as he took his sister into his arms. He stroked her hair lightly as he knew that this always calmed her down.

Ellie didn't look at him. She couldn't. She had tried to explain to him that she didn't want this world at all, let alone some twisted version of normalcy where she would still be a wanted thief. She wanted to leave it completely and never look back. She didn't want girls who would understand her, she wanted to leave that part of her life buried and never revisit it. She want to leave, and if that meant leaving Duke, then she would.

Yet, she knew she couldn't let him down and she couldn't leave him. So, instead of trying to explain this to her brother she got changed into the simple black dress her brother had set out for her. He had also put out a simple cardigan and black ballet pumps. It was conservative and demure, the image that she would have to portray. She put on the final pieces that would complete the image, a simple pearl necklace that had once belonged to her mother and strapped her sabre to her ankle as was customary. She put on the costume she was expected to wear for their meeting with the Guild Master at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city.

Once she finished getting dressed she re-entered the main room of the suite to see all of their belongings piled into one corner. It didn't amount to much; four suitcases and two shoulder bags, plus her guitar case. Her doll wasn't packed though, she still sat on the piano next to her sheet music. Ellie was the only one who ever packed those.

Duke was also sitting in the main room dressed for the night. He wore his best suit, which was a designer suit he had picked up for his twentieth birthday. Ellie had given him the blue tie that he wore with it for that birthday as well. He looked every bit the professional, while she felt like out of place in her designer dress and expensive pearls.

He, on the other hand, thought his sister looked beautiful in the classic black shift dress. He had begun to notice that his sister had lost all her baby fat and had started to develop a slightly feminine figure. He knew that in a few years he would be beating off the drakes with a stick, or running them through with his sabre. But that was something to worry about at another time, far into the future. For now, she was still his baby sister who still looked like a kid.

"Ready to go, Kiddo?" Duke said with a smile while offering her his arm like the gentleman he was.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ellie said with a sigh as she took the proffered arm.

Duke led Ellie out of the room, holding the door open for her of course, and out to the elevator. The floor they were on was very exclusive, as well as very expensive. They were joined in the elevator by a young, rich couple, who had money dripping from them.

"New money," Duke said softly to his sister, eyeing the overdressed couple. New money always wore too much, whereas older money tended to dress better. They didn't feel the need to flaunt their wealth for anyone to see.

"Probably off to make fools of themselves flaunting their new fortune. How do you think they got the money? Mommy and daddy strike rich recently?" Ellie commented to her brother with a smile. The siblings often communicated in their first language in front of other people, as many ducks in the Mallarin district couldn't speak that language at all. They thought that the entirety of Puckworld speaks Mallarish so they didn't need to bother with any of the other fourteen common languages on Puckworld. Though, they really didn't need to talk to communicate. They had perfected ways of communicating without words, it was one of the abilities that made them such a good team.

"Probably some business thing, computers or something," Duke answered.

"Oh, aren't you two cute!" Said the female, eyeing the subtly well-dressed siblings. "Where are you two off to tonight?"

"The opera," Ellie answered simply with a smile. She was sure that these two wouldn't know that there were no opera's tonight in the city. The female got a strange look on her face, as if surprised that anyone would actually enjoy an opera. The L'Orange siblings actually really enjoyed the opera, as well as some of the other finer things that the upper classes enjoyed. It helped to have a good understanding and appreciation for anything that potential targets enjoyed. It often helped them to infiltrate the places where they could do research and gather intelligence.

"Was that Pomeranian you were speaking?" The drake asked.

"No, Rouenin, we're from that district. I'm Serpin, this is my sister Ariana," Duke said giving the fake identities that the siblings were using during their stay at this hotel. They had many identities that they could all upon, with beautifully counterfeited paperwork that was so authentic looking that it was almost as good as the real thing. Duke then shook the drakes hand and lifted his expensive watch without missing a beat or alerting the other drake to what was happening. While Ellie shook the ducks hand and took her diamond tennis bracelet. Duke and Ellie didn't need to steal from those two, but they enjoyed putting new money back in their place when they tried to flaunt their wealth too much. Both Duke and Ellie were extremely well off, due to years of their own active work, and what their family had left them when they died. It allowed them to have a very comfortable, upper class lifestyle so that they did actually enjoy the fine arts.

They said goodbye to the couple in the lobby, and then informed the desk that they would be checking out tomorrow morning. The staff seemed quite upset to see the siblings go, as they were renting the biggest suite the hotel had and had been renting it for the past two months. That was a lot of money from one room.

Bennie had informed Duke that a car would take them to the restaurant, and would be waiting outside their hotel at five thirty sharp. If they weren't there at five thirty, then the car wouldn't wait for them. And at five twenty-five both siblings were outside waiting for the car to pull up, both looking slightly nervous about this dinner. It was a little cold outside so Duke had given his sister his overcoat, as the thin cardigan that she wore would not help much.

At five thirty the black town car showed up and the two siblings got in silently. There was a chilled bottle of wine and two glasses in the back of the car, obviously for them to enjoy. The legal age to drink on Puckworld was sixteen, but you could drink at a younger age with parental discretion, and Duke decided that Ellie could use a nice, albeit small, glass of the wine.

"Here's to our future, kiddo," Duke said clinking his glass to his sisters.

"Whatever it may hold," Ellie answered before taking a sip.


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