Ch 3 A Token of my Affection

While Reven was waiting for his contact he pulled out the parts of his kit. Individually there was no way anyone could have seen anything amiss with any of the parts, which was the point of it. There were times in the past that he had been searched, but those searching never found what they were looking for.

The clothing was scattered throughout his other clothing, all blacks and shades of grey, when worn together broke up his outline to a watcher in the dark. A hat to cover his distinctive white gold hair. The dark face makeup and cleaner hidden within other objects, with a twist he freed it from the bottom of a heavy travel mug. The cleanser was found within a bottle marked as wine, while it had an alcohol base anyone trying to drink from that bottle would have had a shock.

Then he pulled his lock picks from the seam pocket of a leather jacket. He found his bag of grease and the bag of oil and tossed them on the bed with the rest. He pulled out his special belt and the various attachments, all that had other uses when not being used in his craft. He eased out the thin blades he always took with him on a job, while his preference had always been in and out before being seen, that wasn't always possible.

The thin leather gloves he didn't have to hide, many with money wore the same type of thing, though the leather of his was much tougher than the norm. He pulled out various cords and other odd items he had found useful in the past. It took very little time to put everything in the various pouches they belonged in. Now that everything was set up he would have a harder time explaining it away. Finally he pulled out his shoes, With thin but tough soles, it was designed to grip, which made climbing much easier.

He smiled remembering the days when he first had started his craft, such items didn't exist and in fact there were perhaps only a dozen that had access to such things. He had designed more than a few of the things in his kit. Some of it had been designed in the Empire and he was lucky that the Empire was mostly ignored here in Valdemar.

A knock at his door banished his musings he came alert, gliding silently towards the door one of his thin blades up his sleeve as he opened the door slightly. "Finald sent me" the little man said.

"And you came here" Reven asked, surprised he would take such a risk.

"I come here often to do errands for the guests here" he said. "That's one of the reason's you was set up ere".

"Watch your language, it's slipping" Reven said absently as he walked over to his kit and sat down next to it.

"Thanks" the other man said, taking the only chair in the room. He pulled out a small roll of papers from his shirt and handed it to Reven.

Reven unrolled it on the bed and the other man leaned forward to watch as Reven traced the outlines of the diagram, he looked up irritated as he saw the man watching "Do you mind" he asked.

"You'll be needing me to fill in information about Gherin's place, I've been there before to run errands for him" he said in response.

Unbelievable, Reven thought to himself he would never give an outsider free run of his holdings, to do so was a major breach of security. He shook his head and returned to the papers before him. When he had memorized it he began to question his contact carefully to get every bit of information he could use.

That evening he walked out into the night, unfortunately he couldn't use his cloak to cover his clothing as he had originally planned. The weather had taken a turn and a heat wave was moving in. While he was used to such heat having been born to the south, these northerners couldn't seem to take it. Instead of his cloak he wore a loose colored shirt over his dark clothing, it covered the belt and anything else that might be of interest.

His cap was in the small bag he carried over his shoulder. Once well out of sight of the Inn he slipped into an alley and soon found a corner to shimmy up. Once on the roof he looked to find his bearings and he took off the shirt and stuffed it in the bag. His cap in place he started to make his way to his target.

It took about half a candlemark to get there, he never went in a straight line to his target. Being used to working in cities that had more of his kind, he was cautious, being careful to watch for a rival and to not advertise his target.

He hung over the edge of the roof, looking for the window he had been told about. It was one that was often left unlocked, but that didn't really matter to Reven. What interested him was that being located above a sheer wall, it wasn't barred as most of the windows were.

Ah, he thought to himself there it is. He backed onto the roof and pulled out another of his toys. The hooked spike looked wicked, but it wasn't a weapon. He used it to anchor the thin rope he was going to use to get to the window. Once in place he tied a special knot into the harness built into his belt and went over the edge into midair, swinging gently he grabbed the side of the window and pulled himself even with it. Another spike anchored his line to the window and he could work with both hands. He grinned, much easier than the beginning he thought to himself.

It was a easy matter to getting the window unlocked. Swinging it open he paused, listening for the slightest sound, before pulling himself inside. Once in he pulled the knot free from his harness and closed the window as much as he could leaving the rope where it was. This was an attic room, so he didn't think there would be a problem leaving his line here.

He carefully made his way to the attic stairs. It wouldn't do to alert his host to his presence with a creaky board, not that he had made such a dumb mistake in years.

He glided down the stair and continued down the hall counting doors as he went. Here we are he thought. Testing the door he found it locked. He shook his head what was the point of hiding your safe in the spare room if you advertise it by keeping the door locked.

Cheap lock anyway he thought with disgust. Inside the room he made his way carefully to the bed and froze at the snore that came from it. He heard the man mutter and turn over before slipping deeper into sleep. Reven shook his head and wondered what else was going to be wrong with his information. He slid under the bed and felt carefully for the thin crack of the safe door. Ah there it is, he used his thin blade to pry up the piece of wood covering the safe, setting it aside he felt the front of the safe.

Dark didn't matter to him, he had been trained to do everything he needed to by feel. He sighed as he began to pull bag after bag out of the safe, his patron was adamant, only the one piece of jewelry was to be taken, pity he thought to himself as he sorted through the heavy gold pieces looking for his quarry.

It wasn't long before he was back on the roof making his way back to his patrons home, as before he didn't go in a straight line and he kept his eyes open looking for the competition. Occasionally he would see another man roofwalking but he could tell they were amateurs, they never saw him.

He entered Lord Jerrin's room quietly, Jerrin woke with a start as the bag containing the necklace landed on his chest.

"What" he gasped, not fully awake.

"This what you wanted" he asked.

Jerrin sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he looked up at Reven his eyes opening wide in fright.

Reven laughed, he knew he was unnerving in his full kit. He pulled his cap off and said "It's me, the thief you hired".

"Oh" Jerrin said recognizing the hair of the other man, he looked down at the bag now on his lap and said with glee in his voice "You've got it, already I thought it would take longer". He poured it out onto his hand and looked at it carefully a smile on his face "That's it" he said.

"Good, then that concludes our business" Reven told him and turned to leave.