Chapter 34

When night fell over Marome village, a quietness accompanied it that showed just how small the village was. The residents had long retired to their homes for the night, and unlike other towns that had at least some form of nightlife, Marome slept. There was no tavern or inn where people would gather after a day's work, nor were there any restaurants or shops to visit. The only sounds were the occasional rustle of leaves on nearby trees or the sound of animals in their pens.

Jemza lifted her body and slid it through the open window of their room gracefully landing lightly outside. She adjusted the Thieves Guild mask covering her nose and mouth before looking back towards the window and waving a hand. Jayce crept out onto the sill and stepped down until he was crouched next to her. They shifted along the wall of the home until they came to the corner. Jayce looked back at her and motioned for her to follow before he quickly slipped across the street to the next house.

"Butcher's house is three more down. Then we cross to the house and find a way in." Jayce whispered everything leaning close towards Jemza's ear once she made it across the street as well. She nodded once letting him know she understood and was ready. Back in their usual outfits they both felt comfortable and safer. She followed his cloak as he quickly dashed around the building and began crossing past the houses lining this side of the street.

Just as they reached the third building Jayce spun grabbing her and shoved her around the corner of the building. He pressed himself against her keeping his face towards the back of the building where they had been. A door opened and a dog bounded outside with a woman slowly following behind. She yawned while watching the dog sniff around through the grass. Jayce's heart pounded in his chest fearing that the dog would sniff them out and come running. He wasn't afraid of injury, but that they would be caught and forced to explain themselves. It could ruin everything this early into the mission.

"It's ok." Jemza pressed her palm against his breastplate where his heart was. He didn't dare take his eyes off the animal still sniffing around, but he nodded quickly to show Jemza he had heard her. After the longest two minutes he could remember the dog scampered back towards the woman happily and they both disappeared into the house.

"Sorry for shoving you." He whispered stepping out from around the corner looking ahead to where they needed to go.

"No, you saved us. Good catch." She tapped his shoulder from behind so he knew she was ready and they both proceeded forward across the rear of the house. After they reached the third house Jayce pointed towards the next one and made a chopping motion with his hand. That had to be the butcher's house. That meant across the street with Kurt's. Jayce slid along the wall listening intently on everything around him in case he needed to react. Once he reached the front of the building he gave Jemza one last look before sprinting across the street.

The house didn't look much different than any of the others in town. A single story house with a door set into the wall closest to the road. A few closed windows were cut into the walls around the home with very few other discernible features. Jemza joined him as he stepped quietly around the side of the house. He peered around the corner at the back of the house seeing two more closed windows. Jayce pointed to one of the windows and Jemza pulled her dagger from her waist.

"We don't know if he's in there. Your weapon is better for tight areas like this so you'll have to go first. I'll be right behind you, but if he's in there you'll have to make the first move." Jayce shifted a few vials on his belt around and adjusted his hood. Jemza grabbed one of the picks from her kit holding it in her left hand. She pressed the blade of her dagger against one of the vials on Jayce's belt until it broke spilling the contents onto her dagger. He reached over sliding three vials of purple liquid onto her belt.

"See you in there." Jemza whispered and crawled away until she was under the window. She pushed herself up into a low crouch and reached her left arm up until she could slip the lock pick into the space between the wall and the window. She placed the handle of the dagger in her mouth so she could use her right hand to complete the lockpicking interface and after a second or two a quiet click let her know it was open. She placed the picks on her belt and dropped the dagger into her hand. As slowly as she could the window slid upwards and open revealing a darkened room inside.

Jayce watched as she lifted herself up onto the frame of the window and slinked in nimbly. The moment she disappeared into the house he moved up drawing his sword from the sheath. He looked around one last time to make sure no one was around and then pulled himself up and into the home behind her. He slid forward onto a countertop in what looked like the kitchen. Jemza was already crouched next to an archway that led into another room ahead. He carefully set his feet on the floor and came up behind her.

Once she felt Jayce behind her, Jemza slipped into the next room letting her eyes scan what had to be the front living area. A door up ahead most likely led out to the street, but a doorway off to the left led to a third darkened room. A couch and table were set against one of the walls nearby as well as a few paintings and tapestries. She kept to the wall until reaching the next doorway, looking back until Jayce caught up. He touched the small of her back once he got to her position and she stood slipping the dagger back into the sheath.

"We're clear." She had could already see that the bedroom was empty and no further doorways existed. Jayce stood as well taking a good look at the home.

"Not a lot here. I'll check this and the kitchen. Can you see what's in there?" Jayce pointed at the bedroom and Jemza nodded heading into the room. A few scattered papers on the table in the living room didn't yield anything useful. The home was sparse and devoid of almost anything useful. The kitchen area also seemed to only hold the bare essentials necessary for cooking.

"Jayce, come here." He passed back through the living room hearing Jemza call out and joined here in the bedroom. Besides the bed, a small trunk and desk sat side by side along one of the walls. Jemza was seated in the chair at the desk flipping through a folder and looked up at him as he entered.

"What do you have?"

"Here, look at this and tell me what you think." She handed a few pieces of paper over to him and he began to scan over the contents.

"The Blackhoods? That's written in a lot of places on these. A few of these are just correspondences to them, but this one has a name on it." Jayce looked down at Jemza who nodded.

"Yeah, and that name is familiar right?" Jayce looked back down at the paper and took a deep breath.

"Demeter Wright, yeah that's the place we broke into. This is a requisition form from Kurt on behalf of the Blackhoods. What I don't like is that the request is for three heads. Rose said Demeter was in the slaving business right? That must be what they call them…heads. These Blackhoods were looking to purchase slaves from Demeter." Jayce handed the paper back to Jemza who looked it over.

"There's this one too. The name it's addressed to is just a letter. It's also got a location written in it. It's for V in a town called Rovia." Jemza held the paper to Jayce.

"Rovia? That's nowhere I've heard of. Don't think it's on the first floor either. Not sure what any of it…"

"Jayce!" Jemza cut him off as she flipped through what looked to be a journal.

"What is it?" He moved behind her so he could read over her shoulder. She had the journal opened to one page with scrawled handwriting covering the pages.

"I'm close to finding the location. Not much longer and I will silence the last voice necessary for our rise. Somewhere in Urbus is where I will find her, and when I do I will make her scream. This time there will be no one who can save her from me. It's only a matter of time." Jemza voiced the words that they both were reading. They both shivered as she finished reading the entry.

"That's Rose. That has to be who he's referring to." Jemza turned the page silently agreeing with his opinion.

"You weren't kidding. This is dark stuff in here. We gotta find him before he does anything to her." Jemza shut the journal looking up over the shoulder at Jayce.

"Looks like he doesn't know where she is yet so we have time. We'll stay in town tonight and wait for him to come back. Then we can discuss this with him in person." Jemza looked back down at the journal she had set on the desk and glared.

"And then we kill him." Her hand reflexively squeezed into a fist.

"Yeah, then we kill him. Come on let's get out of…" Jayce was about to help her out of the chair as a clicking sound came from the living room, the front door opening slowly.