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The lighthouse door was locked, so I looked around and pulled the Skeleton Key out of my pocket and opened the door noiselessly. I peered into the darkness and my trained eyes couldn't see anything other than the crates and chests that normally occupied the structure. I slipped inside, keeping close to the ground. Nothing happened, so I closed the door and made my way over to the nearest chest. I checked each of the three chests, only one was locked. The other two were filled with clothes and food, so I only picked up a small bag of grapes and ignored the rest.
The last chest I opened fairly quickly, not exactly record time though. Inside was mostly cheap jewelry, but a flawed diamond caught my eye and I quickly picked it out. This was probably my best find in months! It would feed me for a week and I'd still have enough to buy a nice shirt. Or a decent shirt and I'd pick up a new one for Puny Ancus too.
With this little treasure packed carefully away in my cloak, I shifted through a few crates and picked out a few pieces of blank parchment and a book that looked interesting. One of Quill-Weave's works, worth more to read than to sell, titled Red Crater which seemed appealing.
That's all I bothered with there, but immediately after dropping off the items (and burying the diamond underneath my fireplace) I headed for the Arcane University. There was one more job that needed to be done.
While the Skeleton Key is a remarkable tool for opening doors, I can't always use it to get places. The teleportation pads in the University leading to some of those places. I don't need much from Traven, but you never know when you might need some extra gold or enchanted items. Hopefully, no one will know I was there.
None of the mages were up, which was almost surprising given the recent turmoil in the guild. Especially considering the battlemages weren't using Night-Eye. Traven outlawed necromancy and that ruffled a few feathers. Not that it mattered; I was already inside the tower and slipping the Skeleton Key into a display case. Inside was an empty soul gem, though I don't know how much power it could hold. My family would be ashamed of a Breton who knew so little about magic. That doesn't really matter either, though.
My haul from the night would last a while; at most two weeks under good conditions like getting to a fence soon and make a stop at an inn where all the guards are drunk. So, any inn would do.
Looking back, I should've been more careful then. I rarely took more than I needed, or anything that could last me more than three days. Things worth enough to keep you full, not kind of hungry, full for more than three days are usually missed.
Before I had even arrived at the docks I'd decided not to go see Armand, and instead would go straight home for what little night remained. That plan failed the moment I realized I couldn't see a torch in the garden. I quietly moved around the small fire burning near Puny Ancus, careful to stay in the shadows. Armand wasn't there; instead Carwen sat on the fence, leaning against the nearby rock.
"I guess you must be wondering where our Doyen is. Aren't I good enough?" She sighed.
She thinks I'm someone else. "He's not my Doyen and no, you aren't nearly good enough." The elf snapped up immediately, almost losing her balance. I moved into the light so she could see my face.
"I'm sorry! I thought-"
"I know, and don't be so loud." I said, stepping back into the shadows. "I am looking for Armand, though. Where is he?"
Carwen sighed, and jumped down. I winced as her feet thudded against the ground. As fast as she may be, she's not very quiet. "I don't know. A few of us noticed he wasn't here tonight, so I came in his place."
"Why'd they choose you? You're low rank, or so I hear." I said.
"Hey!" I motioned for her to keep it down and she lowered her voice slightly, "I'm working my way up! I volunteered to do this until Armand gets back!"
My voice took a slightly grave tone, "How do you know he's coming back?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Of course he's coming back! Methredel is looking for him right now! She'll be back any minute, I'm sure of it."
As sure as someone can go from a thief to being famous, I would think. Methredel knew what she was doing though, and I trusted that she would return with news by noon the next day. As good news and fame find law-abiding citizens, bad news and infamy find thieves. It's a sad fact, one that I don't ponder for long at a time.
I left without a word, thankful that Carwen didn't call after me, if she didn't it was too quiet to hear. I didn't have a reason to worry or wait about things with Armand, as I'm not a major part of the Guild, so sleep found me without trouble.
I don't know what time the banging started, but I know what I did about it. Ignoring the noise and yelling, which I identified as an Imperial, I mashed some old grapes into a pulp in a bowl. Balancing the bowl of mush in one hand, I quickly opened the door, but stopped myself before I could toss it at the source of the offending noise.
"Citizen; we are currently in the process of an investigation in your neighbor's home. If you have any information, let us know immediately." What the…? I pushed those thoughts back to think about my raids, trying to analyze everything I saw. No one saw me, I locked the doors after I left, I didn't break anything, so it must be something else. I'm not a prominent thief around here; I doubt anyone knows about me other than some Guild members, fences, and Shady Sam. I was too proud if I ever thought otherwise. It had nothing to do with me.
I hurried around behind my house, looking back to see if the guard followed. I spotted a shadow that didn't seem to belong behind a large rock, and sprinted to it. With my back pressed against it, I slid around to see Methredel and Carwen speaking in hushed tones. I made myself known, startling the girls a bit.
"What's going on?" I asked, my tone matching theirs.
They looked at each other for a moment, and then Methredel began the explanation. "Well, someone gave away valuable information about us. Someone being a Guild member, and Lex being Lex, Armand was going to be arrested for questioning." She paused to look around, "He's stuck at his house…"
"He's safe though! Don't worry." Carwen interrupted.
"Yes, we managed to pull a few strings and postpone his arrest, but Lex has him trapped. We have a plan though, and all we have to do is find someone who can look trustworthy and take a hit."
"We know someone, the same person stealing for us, but they've been in the prison before and we weren't going to ask right away…" Both of them trailed off.
"Thank you for telling me. Who is the informant?" I asked.
"Myvryna Arano." Methredel answered.
"We're going to frame her for the theft of-"
"Shhh! She probably doesn't want to know too much anyway!" The quieter elf said.
I thought about it for a moment before I made my decision. "I'll help you."
They nodded, and told me the rest of their plan.
Have I ever mentioned that I can't actually fight? I'm a thief, not a fighter. That's not how the saying goes though, is it? Oh well. It's not like I had to challenge the lady to a duel or anything, at least not right away.
At first, my job was getting the information to Lex. I needed to let him know without walking into a crime scene, so I devised a not-so foolproof plan to talk to him.
"May I talk to Captain Lex? I may have information for him." I asked a passing guard after a few minutes of sitting in my house.
"It may be a while, he's busy." I nodded and the guard continued toward Armand's house.
Contrary to the guard, Lex appeared at my door a few minutes later. I gestured for him to come inside and he complied.
"So what do you know?" He asked, straight to the point.
"Someone stole the bust of Llathasa, and I think I know who did it." His eyes widened slightly.
"But, how did you know about that? Word only reached the guard yesterday…"
I didn't respond for a moment, "I have friends in the Black Horse Courier." Once again, I didn't lie.
"I see. So who did it?" He asked.
"Myvryna Arano." I said, waiting for his reaction.
He stuttered, "I- I can't believe it, but I guess I have no reason not to trust you… You'll have to prove it though." He straightened up, his voice stronger. "How do you know it was her?"
"She put it in the cupboard, go see for yourself." I explained, and he didn't ask any more questions. I can't think of a solid, concrete reason why he would. I don't know why a Guard, and a Captain no less, would trust someone like me. Maybe he wanted a reason to persecute Armand, but he had to explore every other possibility before he could.
"Alright, but you're coming with me." He led me out my door and to Myvryna's house, and knocked on the door. I noticed that it wasn't nearly as loud as the guard who knocked on my door. "It's me, Lex, open the door."
The dark elf opened the door and smiled politely. "Did you complete your investigation?"
"No, not quite. I need to ask you a few questions." He said, and even I felt the possible awkwardness of the conversation.
Her smile didn't fade, but it was more nervous than polite when she spoke again. "Oh, okay. Come one in." She wouldn't be fazed by this; she had nothing to hide. We stepped inside.
"It seems you've been accused of the theft of the bust of Llathasa from her tomb." He said, but continued before she could speak. "I am going to have to search your house and see if this is true."
"O-okay; it's not like you'll find anything…" She trailed off as he opened her cupboard, and there sat the bust of Llathasa. He turned to her, betrayal clear on his face. I felt bad for him, but only for a second because next thing I knew, Myrvyna was in my face.
"Don't you see! She's one of them! She must be! I didn't do it, really!" I flinched and stepped back, but she pushed me into a corner. The back of my knees hit the bed, and I was trapped.
"I-I…" She didn't let me finish, and cut me off with a punch. I flinched again and my shoulder took the brunt of the blow. I don't have enough muscle or fat to shield anything, so I was sure I heard a crack when it connected.
Of course it didn't really, but the bruise showed up pretty fast. Lex pulled her off me just as a punch connected with my jaw. That one was worse because of the angle it nearly dislocated it and left me with a slightly crooked face. It healed on its own after a while, but if you looked close enough you could still see where the injury had once been.
"So… It was you." He said, looking at the now-still Myrvyna. "I guess it makes sense, and you," He turned to me, "I guess I owe you something." I was still clutching my wounded face, so responding was out of the question.
"Captain, what happened?" A guard said, looking in the door.
"Take this one to the prison; she stole the bust Llathasa." He said, pushing the elf over to the slightly startled imperial.
"Sir! I thought…"
"I'll be there in a little while with all the evidence." Lex gently grabbed my arm. "First, I'm going to take this one to the temple for healing." I tried to stammer out an objection, but I couldn't manage to say anything as he led me through the docks and into the city.
A/N: Before you review! Alright, things are moving fast. I don't have much of a choice right now, due to how the story has to go. I honestly don't have time or any character developement in the near future. Let me know if somethin seems too weird. Also, Margot's speech switchs from formal to slang every once and a while. This is also supposed to happen, as she was raised formally but llives on the docks. Sorry for spellin in this long note, the docter pricked my finger because I'm sick, and there is a bandage on it. And I'm really tired... Thank you for reading!
Sorry for long note. Please review! (Wow... I must sound mean after that schpeel...)