Thank you so much to all the people who have been reading and reviewing the story. Another chapter, this one is brought to you by the wonderful Tamarai.
A single light burned in an otherwise darkened building, marring the serene New Orleans night sky. Anyone out and about around the Thieves Guild's private headquarters would recognize the location of the single lit room and know that the new Patriarch of Thieves was still up and busy in his office.
Inside, Remy shuffled the papers around on his desk in between sips of bourbon. He still wasn't entirely used to sitting in his father's chair, behind his father's desk, doing his father's job.
It had come as a surprise when Jean-Luc suddenly handed him the title of 'Patriarch of the Thieves Guild'. Or at least it had seemed out of the blue, but Jean-Luc never did anything that wasn't carefully meditated and well-thought out. It may have come as a surprise to Remy to be heading the clan, but to everyone else in the family, it seemed to be expected.
Henri had taken him out to get 'absolutely smashed - Thieves-style' the night he was inaugurated. One would have expected that Henri would have been discontent or jealous having the title of Patriarch given to his younger brother instead of to him. But Henri could not have been more proud of his baby brother and had fed Remy far more drinks than was probably wise.
His poor cousin Etienne, had been given the unpleasant task of bringing Remy home after Henri had left abruptly with his wife, Mercy, stating that she had 'a headache'. Everyone knew the real reason they were going home, and it had nothing to do with not feeling good and everything to do with the two feeling a little too good.
Remy had been far from cooperative that night, and Etienne had had his work cut out for him. But if Remy could count on anyone, it was his younger cousin. The two had been through all sorts of misadventures together while growing up, and Remy loved Etienne like a younger brother.
Now, Remy was sitting at his father's desk, trying to reach a decision regarding Etienne and his upcoming Tilling. Etienne was what the Thieves referred to as a 'late starter', due to his clumsiness and skittishness.
For as long as Remy had known Etienne, he'd always been a bit of a nervous wreck and possessed a highly anxious personality. Normally, these were traits that made for a lousy, lousy Thief, but Remy had witnessed his cousin pull off some spectacular capers. That was, when Etienne actually calmed down, focused, and stopped thinking of all the things that could go wrong.
As the new Patriarch of the Thieves, it was Remy's job and sworn duty to organize a Thief's rite of passage into the Guild. Etienne's rite of passage, or Tilling, was long overdue. The moment that Remy had taken his father's chair, Etienne was in his office practically pleading with Remy to let him finally prove his worth.
"Please, Remy, at this rate Henri and Mercy's unconceived children will be official Thieves before I am!" Etienne had begged in despair.
It put Remy in a horrible position because he knew the reason why his father had put off Etienne's Tilling. Etienne wasn't ready, and rather than have him fail his Tilling and face banishment, Jean-Luc had merely put it off.
Remy, on the other hand, couldn't refuse his beloved cousin's request. It was awfully hard to say 'no' to him, especially after all the times Etienne had had his back and looked after him. Besides, Remy was fairly certain that Etienne could pull it off. He just had to pick something that wasn't blatantly easy or ridiculously hard to do.
The idea had come to him last night, and he had proceeded to make the necessary arrangements to make sure Etienne's Tilling was foolproof.
"If you are so sure about this, why are you looking into the safe houses, little brother?" Henri asked while reading over Remy's shoulder.
Remy cringed. He hadn't even heard Henri come into the office. "I'm just covering all areas, just in case—"
"Ettie screws it up," Henri finished with a sigh. "Rem, you never should have agreed to this."
"How was I supposed to refuse his request? We've been almost inseparable since I was adopted and brought into the family."
"Sentimentality is a trait unbecoming of a Thief, especially one who is the new Patriarch," Henri cautioned. "Everyone is still scrutinizing everything you do and will be for the first little while. Not to mention, comparing you to Father."
"I'm aware of that, Henri." Remy groaned irritably while running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "It's just that I know Et can do this."
Henri's expression softened and he perched himself on the edge of the desk. He reached over to the decanter of bourbon and poured himself a drink.
"Have you at least decided what he's supposed to steal?"
Remy rubbed the back of his neck, unsure whether he wanted to tell Henri or not. Henri raised a curious eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
"Marius' ceremonial chalice. You know, the one his bloodline received from Candra," Remy answered bravely.
Henri let out a low whistle. "You sure about that?"
Remy found his resolve instantly. "Of course I'm sure!" he snapped. He had been thinking long and hard about what would be appropriate to take from the Assassins Guild. "It's not like Belle's using it!"
"And it's not like you and Bella Donna are on the best of terms either," Henri added wryly.
Remy rolled his eyes. Of course Henri would bring that up.
"We're on fairly amicable terms," Remy bit back defensively.
Henri laughed a lot louder and longer than Remy would have preferred.
"Remy, she threw a glass of eighteen year old, private stock Merlot in your face the last time you had a Guild conference with her!"
"So she overreacted just a little bit, that's all," Remy muttered sourly as Henri continued to laugh.
"What was it you said to upset her again?" Henri asked, "It was about her new suitor, wasn't it?"
Remy scowled. Henri knew exactly what had happened the last time Remy had met with the rival Guild's new Matriarch. Henri just enjoyed the fact that while Remy was named the new Patriarch of the Thieves Guild, Remy's controversial ex-lover, Bella Donna, was named the new Matriarch of the Assassins Guild.
"I simply told her that I thought her new beau was the poor man's version of me," Remy answered reasonably.
Henri was now snorting with laughter and practically rolling on the floor.
"But it's true!" Remy argued indignantly. "He's a dime store thief, wears a trench coat and his code name ends with an 'it'. I mean, come on. Bandit? Gambit? They even sound similar."
"You are unbelievably vain, Gambit." Henri observed.
"Anyways," Remy continued, trying to change the topic, "Belle won't even realize the chalice is missing. It's been locked up with the family heirlooms since Belle went into power. You know how she loves all things modern."
Henri settled back into business mode and nodded in agreement.
"That's clever, little brother, real clever. Anything from Candra is of value, so it's appropriate for Ettie to steal. Since Bella Donna couldn't care less about it, it'll be easy to steal. It'd be different if Marius was still in charge."
"But he isn't," Remy reminded with a sly grin. "Et should be able to accomplish his Tilling and bring back something highly valuable."
Remy had been quite pleased with his plan. The older Thieves would appreciate Etienne acquiring something the Assassins had received as a gift from Candra, the original founder of the Guilds herself.
Back in the day, well before Remy's time and even Jean-Luc's father's, Candra had been a woman that the leaders of two clans had loved. A single woman had sparked a blood feud between two families. Two Guilds were born, the Thieves Guild and the Assassins Guild. And they'd been warring with each other ever since.
During the rein of Jean-Luc LeBeau and Marius Boudreaux, a plan had been concocted to unite the Guilds and end the blood feud through marriage...and that was how Remy had ended up with an Assassin for an ex-girlfriend.
Remy and Bella Donna Boudreaux had been very young when they had first met and had become fast friends, despite their family ties. They grew up together, and most of Remy's experimenting with things of a grown-up nature occurred with Bella Donna. They were young and having fun. At least that's what Remy had always believed, until he found out what their fathers had in mind. Both he and Belle had been barely eighteen when the marriage plans were brought to Remy's attention. As much as Remy liked Bella Donna, he had not wanted to marry her at all.
Marius had made the grievous or, depending on who's view, glorious mistake of asking Remy what his true intentions were with Bella Donna. Remy had answered Marius truthfully and perhaps a little too candidly about what he intended. To make a long story short, it had not been the correct answer or what Belle and her father had wanted to hear.
Remy had been chased off the Assassins' property with death threats, a screeching Bella Donna, and at least fifty armed Assassins. Needless to say, their impromptu breakup had started the blood feud all over again.
After that, it had taken Jean-Luc years to rebuild the shaky foundation of peace between the Guilds. Time proved to be the best healer of wounds, and although Remy and Belle would never unite the Guilds the way their fathers had envisioned, they could lead the separate Guilds now on rather benevolent terms.
It wasn't that Remy and Bella Donna didn't get along; it was just that with so much history between them, they were much happier disagreeing with each other. It made Belle happy to hate Remy, so he obliged. The Guilds had never gotten along as well as they did with Remy and Belle in power. In fact, their childish bickering back and forth actually kept the two Guilds at a somewhat peaceful consensus.
Since each had taken over the lead role of their respective Guild, there had been no feud-related deaths. For the first time in over a hundred years, the Guilds sort of got along or, at the very least, tolerated the other's existence without any serious antagonizing.
Henri read over Remy's proposal and was actually involved enough to spell-check it, mumbling that as Patriarch, Remy should bother to pick up a book once in awhile.
"It looks good," Henri commented when he finished reading. "The only thing I don't like is the safe house you've chosen."
"What's wrong with it?" Remy asked. "I've had that property since I was fifteen."
"Exactly," Henri replied. "If something goes wrong, Bella Donna's gonna track you first, and believe me, I'm sure she'll investigate your personal properties."
Remy bit his lip thoughtfully. He hadn't really thought of that. Being Patriarch was a lot harder than he had anticipated. Thankfully, Henri was around to casually point out possible errors in Remy's calculations. Henri was extremely practical and often quite shrewd, but lacked the certain diabolical and crafty behavioral traits that Remy had. Not to mention, serious good looks… Maybe Remy was a smidgen vain.
"Well?" Remy asked when Henri didn't shout out any ideas right away. "What property would you suggest as a safe house?"
It was obvious to Remy that his brother had no idea and was thinking on the spot, off the top of his head. Remy waited patiently. Sometimes Henri came up with the best ideas this way.
"How about the old Adler place up in the Garden District?" Henri suggested after a few minutes.
Remy's face fell in disappointment.
"You're joking, right? 'Cause I'm not sending Et off to some crazy, old lady's house. She smells like lilacs and moth balls and says the weirdest, creepiest things." Remy continued, lost on a tangent, "Dieu, do you remember that time she caught us on the street and she told us—"
"Old Ms. Adler's been dead for awhile now, Remy," Henri interrupted impatiently. "The place has been empty, but it's stayed off the market."
Remy smirked wickedly. "Why? Is the old bat haunting it?"
Henri gave him a reproachful glare.
"Mind your manners and respect the dead," Henri clipped sharply before continuing. "The house still belongs in the Adler family. Some niece inherited it, but never claimed the inheritance."
Remy bit his tongue and refrained from making any more cracks about crazy, old Irene Adler, although if he'd inherited the place, he'd avoid claiming it too.
Instead, he maturely asked, "How come the niece hasn't claimed it?"
"I don't know. I heard father talking about it with Tante Mattie, and apparently the niece is some runaway who took off from home about four or five years ago. The family's lawyers have been trying to track down her whereabouts," Henri answered. "The point is, the house is abandoned and it's highly unlikely—hell, I'd say damn near impossible—that anyone will find this Adler niece any time soon."
"So, we could use the house if need be and no one would be any the wiser," Remy added, catching on. "It has no connection to the Thieves and thus no one checking up on it to see if anyone's squatting there."
"Exactly." Henri beamed. "Now retype that written proposal, and for crying out loud, use the spell-check this time."
By early morning, and a half bottle of bourbon later, Remy had worked out Etienne's Tilling. Both he and Henri had checked it over to make sure that they were prepared for all possible outcomes—the good and the bad.
Remy stood at the head of the Thieves' main meeting hall dressed in his customary ceremonial robes. He didn't think he'd ever get used to wearing the Patriarch's traditional emerald green over his old magenta. Henri and their father stood on either side of him wearing the magenta robes, while a sea of violet robes flanked him. All the Thieves had come out to participate in Etienne's Tilling.
Etienne stood awkwardly, fidgeting with the silver brocade on his pale blue novice robe, facing Remy. Remy had to remain stoic and regal, but spoke to Etienne in his normal, encouraging tone of voice to give his cousin an added boost. Remy had never seen Etienne looking so nervous or out of sorts, and with good reason. Today was the day that would mark his fate for the rest of his life.
"Etienne Marceaux," Remy began formally, "today marks the day of your Tilling and like your father and mother before you, and the countless Thieves before them, today is your rite of passage and chance to earn the title of 'Thief'. Each man and woman standing within this room with you today has passed their Tilling and brings with them their love and encouragement for you to do the same on this day."
Etienne was now beaming excitedly and looking a lot less nervous. Remy had a good feeling about this. Etienne was ready, despite what everyone else may have thought. Remy knew in his heart that Etienne was ready.
Remy continued with the ceremony, "Let it be understood that should you fail in your Tilling that you will face banishment from the Thieves Guild and the title of 'Thief' will be refused to you."
"I understand, Rem—Patriarch," Etienne answered nervously, catching his slipup in how he addressed Remy.
"Because you are my cousin, and as such, in close relation to the Patriarch, you will always be considered family to our clan—regardless of your Tilling's outcome. In the event that you fail, you will be rendered merely common to us. However, you may still have contact with your family, but no longer have any ties to the Guild and its proceedings. Do you understand?"
"Oui, Patriarch," Etienne answered, squaring his shoulders.
"Are you reading to except your Tilling, Etienne Marceaux?"
"Oui, Patriarch."
The surrounding violet-clad Thieves broke out into raucous, loud cheers, and Remy smiled down at his cousin.
"Very well, Etienne of the Marceaux clan. I hereby announce your challenge." Remy spoke the words loudly and clearly as the room settled back down to its eerie silence. "You are presented with the task of stealing the ceremonial chalice of the former Assassins Guild's Patriarch, Marius Boudreaux. The object I seek is the very same chalice that has been handed down in the Assassins' clan for centuries and originally from the bewitching beauty, Candra, herself."
The room remained quiet with the sense of awe resounding in the air, and Remy knew he'd chosen an admirable task. Etienne paled slightly at his challenge and Remy caught him gulp nervously.
"I will bring you Marius Boudreaux's ceremonial chalice, Patriarch," Etienne answered with his voice just a little shaky.
Remy continued to smile warmly and encouragingly at his cousin as he handed Etienne the necessary written instructions outlining the task. Etienne's hands were shaking as he took the documents from Remy.
Remy leaned in quickly and whispered in his ear, "I have faith in you, Et. I never would have chosen anything that you could not do, or do well."
Etienne looked greatly relieved and flashed Remy a ghost of his usual smile.
"I will delay you no further from your task, Etienne," Remy finished, giving a slight bow.
Remy stepped back as the rest of the Thieves approached Etienne to wish him luck and give him hugs and other sentiments. Remy took the moment to glance over at his own father, Jean-Luc, and found his own relief when he caught his father smiling proudly at him. There was no doubt that Remy had done the right thing in finally allowing Etienne's Tilling.