Hanso's Journal

by Reese S. Quill

The thief needs a story too, right? So how did Hanso become the oh-so-charming one that saved Neopia? This when he's 7 to 18, when TFR starts. Written with the permission of amethyst3232.

34. October at Age 10

Sooooo, back to Hanso's Journal. I've finally finished studying (I hope—depends on what grade I got), so I'll probably update more often. It was fun making the song-fics, though; I'll probably do another one again soon. :)

The Month of Gathering (October) Age 10

Week 1

Last week, Master Jacques said something like You two aren't spending a moment in each other's company until you work out how to be civil. That wasn't any time soon. Me and Kayley have been shooting each other glares all week, but glances from the teacher made us stay away from an outright confrontation. The only thing we could do to show just how much we hated each other was through our classes—it was always either me or her who answered the question, gave the demonstration, or just finished Master Jacques's sentences. He got really annoyed, but at least we weren't fighting.

I was really angry. She could've chosen anyone else to turn against me. My parents (they would've stuck with me anyway—they're my parents), Master Jacques (he isn't big on punishments anyway), the rest of the class (I could tolerate cold shoulders from them, though it would've still hurt), Charlie and Hazel (Hazel's too sweet to hold a grudge, and I doubt that Charlie wouldn't be as quick to doubt me as last time), and even Brynn. The last one kinda makes me want to laugh. She'd have to approach an 'evil guard' to turn her against me, and Brynn wouldn't have believed any thief. Took me long enough to earn her trust in the first place.

But not Timmy—so not him. I mean, he's just a little kid. He wouldn't understand why she'd lie; I doubted he understood what lying meant. Besides that, he relied on me. I think he didn't like forcing himself to hate me, and if he kept at it he could've been killed because of that idiot Harry. He's four years old. He can't take care of himself yet.

I was thinking this when I was staring at a map in the classroom. I wanted to see how far I'd gone. It was cool to think I'd traveled outside of Brightvale for the first time. If only it was just for fun. Anyway, I liked tracing the route in my mind from here to Krawk Island. Garin had showed me how to read the weird lines, and I memorized everything anyway. Everyone else was out of the room.

Or so I thought.

"Funny, you never seemed interested in maps before," a girl's voice said. Juliet peered at the poster behind me. "Why are you looking at them now?"

"Uh, I just wanted to check them out," I said.

"You know, Hanso, you are a terrible liar," Juliet said matter-of-factly.

I shrugged. "Unfortunately right, but I can't tell you the real reason."

"I think I can guess. You went somewhere overseas, right?" I refused to answer. She frowned. "Why aren't you telling anyone, Hanso? It'd be a lot easier. Nort and a lot of thieves tease you so badly—I sometimes even hear their taunts. 'We should've known. You couldn't have solved all that stuff if you haven't caused them in the first place.' They're not even annoying anymore, just cruel." She had a concerned expression on her face.

I winced. "I'd tell if I could, but…I just can't." I glimpsed at the Krawk Island part of the map again. That's where Hannah was. At least, I think where she was. She said she'd come soon. Why wasn't she here now? But I had to keep silent; I promised. And I definitely didn't want to doom the whole guild.

"That's okay," she said. I gaped at her, and she laughed. "You think I was going to give an interrogation?"

"No," I admitted. "But you obviously stayed for a reason. I mean, even without the candy you hate staying in one place at a time. Especially the classroom."

"Is it so bad to want to go study somewhere else sometimes?" she complained. "Okay, fine. It isn't about your disappearance a few months ago. I'm sure you'll tell when you can." I grinned. One thing great about Juliet is that she was really patient. "But Kayley."

"What about her?"

"You guys haven't been this hostile since she told that Harry jerk about Brynn's necklace. What happened?"

"She lied," I muttered. "Lied to Timmy, and that nearly got him killed by you-know-who." I told her the whole situation, and she raised her eyebrows.

"That ismean," she said. "I hate the thought of things getting hurt, especially a cute kid like him. But don't blame her for that."

"What?"

"Hanso, Kayley does stupid things when she's angry. She regrets them later, really."

"Sure doesn't act like it, though."

"Didn't we have this conversation before?" she asked. "Of course she doesn't. She hates getting proved wrong."

"But she lied to a little kid!"

"Timmy's like your little brother now, isn't he?" she suddenly said. The question caught me off-guard. It seemed totally unrelated to what we were just talking about.

"Why would you say that?" I questioned.

"Please, it's as plain as the candy in my pocket," she replied. "That kid looks up to you. He follows you around, he actually mimics you—and he was absolutely miserable when you weren't here. Really, he just sat in a corner and pouted. None of us could coax him to play until his mother came." I smiled. "At the same time, you love him like a little brother. Think about what you did with Harry last week. You could've run for help-"

"He could've been beaten to pulp by then!"

"But it was an easier way out for you. Think about the first time you saw him. He was a job, a problem caused because you worded your New Years' Resolution wrong. He and you came a lot through together after that, and when Kanrik came back you requested for us to keep the little kids. You wouldn't have done the same thing you had a week ago in the beginning."

"I probably wouldn't," I agreed. "Now what's this got to do with Kayley again?"

"Like I said, he copies you. And he's tougher than you might think. We thought that the little kids would be traumatized by going to jail after the fire. You were unconscious, and when you woke up they were already hyper and considering it like a field trip. The truth is, when we first arrived, they were scared. Terrified, even. And none of us could comfort them 'cause they were in different cells. Then Timmy began joking around, just like you do, and somehow he got the little kids laughing by telling them a funny story about a Mortog and a pauper."

"Oh, yeah. I told him that."

"Uh-huh. The point is, you're doing the whole over-protective sibling thing. At first it's sweet, but it could turn seriously annoying. Trust me." She made an aggravated face. "Timmy can handle himself, even if he's just four. Any kid of yours would need pretty thick skin and quick-thinking to keep up with you."

"That's true," I said. "But why'd Kayley pick him and not somebody else to get to hate me?"

"You do know that your relationship with your kid is the best in the group, right? Robby is my pipsqueak, if you remember. He's a blue Nimmo. We get along okay, but I honestly doubt he'd mind if I disappear for awhile. The same thing goes for everybody else's. Except Kayley," she added as an afterthought. "Hm, that could be the answer. Lilia and her are great. She must've known how much Timmy's opinion matters to you because of Lilia."

I stared at her. "How'd you understand all of those things? I was like thinking about it for a week, and you just figured everything out in five minutes."

"Common sense," she replied. "That's one thing I'm good at, I guess. Everyone has it, but not much uses it. Or I just like observing stuff—not like you and Kayley, you guys are naturally smart." She shrugged modestly. "Anyway, could you please fix things with Kayley? Timmy's not going to be affected."

I scowled. "That doesn't excuse that she did it."

"Why is she mad in the first place?" Juliet questioned. "Even though everyone's angry, no one has blown up like that yet."

"She knows more than I'd like," I answered. "And she hates keeping silent—so she's making me pay because of it."

She looked confused, but I walked pass her back to the lunchroom. Talks with Juliet always makes me feel like she could read my mind, and I have too many secrets too keep. I guess that's the worst thing, when you can't tell something: You can't trust anyone.

Week 2

There was another Thieves' riot, but not from our side. Masila's group, or the Assassins as I heard the rest of my class call them, made an attack on the marketplace. This kind of means grabbing all the merchandise you can find. That doesn't sound very bad, does it? After all, that's what the Thieves' Guild does everyday. But it turns out that the Guild depends on whatever they recover daily; and like I mentioned once before, they give the excess stuff to the neediest people. Master Jacques explained that if they kept this up, the whole Guild would starve.

"For once, we're going to have to work with the Guards to take them down; the plan is to take as many enemies as we can to get information out of them." He looked at me quickly, and then turned to the rest of us again. "As you know, usually this case is usually when you take care of your little friends. But, er, Kanrik asked me stay put to add a few security measures." He glanced at me again, and I got the message. The Guild Leader didn't trust us to be alone because one of us A.K.A me could be the spy and sneak off to warn the enemy.

"But you have to go!" I exclaimed. "You'd be a lot more use to the Guild out there than in here."

"That's my opinion, too. So, children…" he flinched visibly, "I'm going to go out and help anyway." We stared at him. It isn't everyday when a teacher admits he's going to break the rules. "And I implore you to stay here and not follow my example. Please."

"We promise," Kayley said, and the rest of us nodded.

"Okay, then," he said, going out the door. "And Julius and Juliet, please don't break anything while I'm not here."

The Wocky twins looked hurt. "We don't do that anymore," Julius muttered, but the teacher had already left.

For awhile we all just sat there in silence. There was a sense of panic in the room, and I was sure that most of us were thinking about Jacques or their parents. Mom was awesome with knives, and Dad could sneak on anybody, but would that be good enough? I hated to think about it.

"They'll be fine," Kayley said, as if reading our minds. We stared at her. Kayley's not one to give reassurance to anybody. "What? Kanrik wouldn't send people out unless they can handle it, and Jacques wasn't included only because of his suspicions of a particular annoying person." She glared at me, and I glared back, but we were all weirdly comforted.

"That's good," Razor sighed. "I hate thinking that my mom's in danger, even if she's good with a whip. But at least the thieves will protect her, right? And the guards?"

Kayley snorted. "The thieves, maybe, but I seriously doubt that most of the guards would be any help."

"Because we're thieves and they wouldn't rescue us?" I challenged.

"That's one reason," she said. "Another is because they probably can't handle grown-up assassins."

"Huh? But they're trained to do that!"

"Not yet," she said sleekly. When she saw my confused face, she rolled her eyes. "Think, Hanso. What week of the month is it?"

"Week two…." My eyes widened when I realized what she meant. "Sweet Fyora, Brynn's out there!"

"Finally! A breakthrough!" she said sarcastically. "Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes won't be able to assist thieves when she can't even take care of herself yet. It took all our power to protect her in the last riot. Now that we're not there…" She sighed, feigning sadness. "Such a pity."

I glowered at her. "I have to get out there and help!"

"Now that's just stupid," she commented.

"You can't!" Juliet cried. "Hanso, we promised!"

"Well, technically only Kayley promised," Razor said. Juliet scowled at him, and he rapidly added, "But it would be very foolish to get out there, where there are a manner of pointy objects that could be aimed at you."

"I have to," I insisted. "She's my-"

"Friend?" Kayley said, smirking. "I thought that was just pretend."

"I can't pretend when she's dead," I countered, and suddenly I wish I didn't use the word 'dead.' "Look, I'll be back soon. I just have to make sure she has a way of getting back to the Guard's base."

"Hanso-" Razor began, but I was already heading out.

It really was a nightmare. People were getting robbed and mugged, and most people I saw doing it weren't on our side. I did see some regular thieves, but they weren't very successful. An assassin would take the loot, and a thief would follow, only to be ambushed or taken prisoner. It was really a nifty strategy, but a horrible one. No one else noticed, since they couldn't spare the time to watch. I was about to jump in when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Hanso!" Kanrik growled. Busted. "Where's Jacques?"

"He, er-"

"Disobeyed my orders, it seems," he said. "Probably went out to help, and you snuck off. What are you doing out here? Never mind," he interrupted himself. He looked at the Assassins and back at me. "I think the answer's fairly obvious."

I scowled at him. "I'm not warning them! I just wanted to make sure Brynn's okay."

"Which is still against my orders," he said. "And even if it wasn't, that's a likely story."

"Kanrik?" asked a lady's voice. It had a note of disbelief in it. "Are you accusing that child of being a spy?" She stepped into view, and I realized it was Marie wearing a hood. Her jaw dropped when she saw who I was. "Your own apprentice?"

"He's not really my apprentice," he snapped. That stung, but I tried not to show it.

"I'm not going to warn them," I said desperately.

"Kanrik, put him down," Marie said. He reluctantly did so. She kneeled to the ground so she was level with me, so we were face to face. "What makes him think you're a spy?"

"He-" Kanrik began, but she shushed him.

"I prefer to here his version, Kanrik. Children's stories show their side." Wow. She really was a mom. "So? What happened?"

"I disappeared for two months," I said. "And I wouldn't tell him where I went."

"Why not?"

"I can't. I promised I wouldn't."

"Promised who?" she asked kindly.

"Sorry. I can't tell you."

"See? He's working for-" Marie shushed him again.

"Hanso, answer me. Are you Masila's spy?" She looked straight in my eyes.

"No," I promised. "I wouldn't go near that lady for a gazillion neopoints! Erm, no offense," I added when I remembered that she was her sister.

"None taken at all," she replied. "You're telling the truth."

"What?" Kanrik cried. "He could be lying!"

"Kanrik, he can't lie. He's a truth-speaker and they're all terrible liars, whether he's a thief or not." Well, that explains it, I thought. "Whenever he says something false, it will sound awkward and you'll know right away."

Kanrik didn't look convinced. He stared at me suspiciously, with his arms crossed. "Then why hasn't he said the truth?"

"You can't pretend you've withheld information for the Guild's own good," Marie said, standing up. "That was what made most mistrust you. At the beginning, you didn't alert anyone of Masila's appearance until weeks afterward, which caused doubt and panic." He winced. "Anyway, maybe it's good that he's here. I may have a job for him."

"What?" Kanrik gaped at her. "If you need something done, ask one of the adults."

"This job requires someone small and sneaky," she said. "He's perfect for it. He'll need to break into the Guards' base."

"What?" he repeated.

"I need to talk to Sam. I have to." She looked at me. "Could you do that?" I nodded. As an afterthought, I told them about the Assassins' strategy. "You've been paying attention," she said approvingly. "We'll keep that in mind. Oh, and if Sam happens to be currently busy give him these." She handed me a small package. I thought she'd have some sort of stink bomb or something to distract everyone. Instead, I found-

"Cookies?" I said indecorously. They were the white chocolate kind, with a pale, floury wrapping around the dark chocolate. They looked absolutely delicious, but I didn't see how they could help.

"They're not just for satisfying his sweet tooth," she said with a wink. "Let's just say it makes whoever eats them more…agreeable."

"And come straight back," Kanrik said.

I nodded and tucked the cookies inside my coat. The Guards' base wasn't far, but I was blocked by loads of people stealing and then fighting for what they stole. I only got through by following my instincts and avoiding getting daggered. In fact, I can't even remember what I did to avoid it. It was all a blur.

I stood outside the base, near the bush where I spied on Sharon. Sam wasn't there, which meant I really had to go inside. Helpfully, there was a Visitor's Bulletin on the wall, and one glance at it told me he was having sword practice in the barracks. It was easy enough to sneak in—I mean, the guards expect thieves to break out of prison, now into it.

Their sword-fighting classes were awesome and scary at the same time. It was really cool how they ducked and jabbed and all that. But I thought about it being done to a thief - even worse, being done to me- I shuddered and continued to search for Sam.

There was the Tonu teacher, and she was barking out orders at everyone to get a move on. "Move it, people!" She screamed. "Come on, you can do better than that, McEvans! Fann, you call that a swing? Put some muscle to it! Ritch-" She paused, having nothing bad to say. I remembered that 'Ritch' was Sam's last name and looked up. And inwardly groaned. He was fighting with Harry. Wanting to avoid the jerk, I decided to wait until I got a chance to talk to Sam alone.

"Sad that your little girls aren't here to save you now, eh, Sammy?" Harry growled, sending him a look of pure hate.

"You calling me Sammy is creepy," Sam commented cheerfully. "Isn't that right, Harry-kins? Your mum loved that nickname last time she visited." I smirked. Now that would be something to tell my friends.

"You little-" He slashed fiercely, but Sam blocked.

"Uh-uh-uh. Basic rule of sword-fighting: Don't let your emotions get control of you. Channel them."

"Very good, Ritch," said the Tonu teacher appreciatively. Harry muttered something about her playing favorites. She frowned and said, "All right, switch partners! This time I'll pick people with the same level of skill. Harold, go to Nark, please." She assigned him with the skinniest, most ill-looking kid in the entire Guard. It looked like he could barely hold up a sword. Harry's eyes gleamed evilly, suddenly satisfied. "Ritch, pair up with Woods. You two have the same level of talent, I believe."

Sam, who'd been looking concerned about Nark, suddenly grinned. I wondered why until I saw who he was paired up with. "Theresa," he said.

"Sam," she replied, smiling back. She was a pretty green Eyrie with a sort of regality about her, like she should be a princess or something. Her long, blond hair kind of added with the whole royalty image, but her pink and purple highlights made her seem more normal. All in all, I can see why Sam was beaming to have her as his partner. She was gorgeous.

But she was also a problem. I needed to talk to Sam, and it didn't look that a convenient time was coming soon as he had all his attention on her. I was going to have to make one. Somehow, I had to signal to Sam. I needed to make sure he knew I was a thief, or else he'd probably go ask permission to see me. Three things that thieves had: a coat (which I was so not taking off), a necklace with a tiny green jewel that let us enter in the Thieves' Guild (I would be doomed if I lost it), and a dagger.

I chose the last one and took careful aim. I slid it on to the floor, right to Sam's foot. I think I might have hit it a bit too hard, because he flinched. He didn't cry out, though, which was good. He pried his eyes away from Theresa for a moment and found the dagger. He ducked down and pocketed it before anyone could see.

"Are you okay?" Theresa asked, seeing him double-up. "Do you need to go to the nurse or something?"

"Er, no," he said. Then he looked pass her. I was right behind her near a few shrubs, and I waved for just a moment before hiding again. He grimaced, glancing at me and Theresa.

"The taco at lunch?" she asked sympathetically. "I was nearly sick, too. You really should go."

"I think...I'll just throw up in the bushes a little. It isn't that bad," he said. She looked confused, probably wondering what 'a little' meant. He left and strode over to me quickly. "I haven't seen you in awhile," he said, grinning. "Hi again, Master Hanso."

I opened my mouth and closed it. "Master Hanso?"

"That's what they call Master Thieves still, right?" he said, tussling my hair.

"But…I'm not a Master Thief."

"Well, you're a lot more sensible than most," he replied. I grinned. "So, what brings you here in this top-security place crawling with enemies? I take it this isn't a casual visit?" I nodded. "It's probably not about the Rebellion either, since you would have probably asked me on my patrol or said something to Dylan over there. So?"

"Marie wants to see you," I said.

His eyebrows flew up. "Mum? Why would she-? Never mind, she wouldn't ask if its not important. Auntie Masila, probably." I didn't know what was weirder, how he could figure out stuff so quickly or him calling Masila 'auntie.' "But I'm a bit busy at the moment." He glanced back through the leaves at Theresa ruefully. She was leaning against the wall, partner-less. Harry had just finished tackling Nark and was winking at her in a disgusting way. Sam gritted his teeth. "Any solutions on that?"

"Um…well, your mom did send cookies," I said, giving them to him.

His eyes lit up. "Perfect!"

"They look really yummy," I said wistfully. "And there's a whole bunch. You can't possible eat them all." I knew I wasn't hinting too subtly, but hey, I was hungry.

He chuckled. "They're not for eating." He went back over to the barracks and called out to everyone, "Hey, look what I have!" They all turned to stare at the cookies.

Theresa's jaw dropped. "But you were in the bushes."

"Mum sent them through Petri Package." If anyone else said that it would've sounded ridiculous, but Sam made it sound convincing. "I think everyone should have one."

"I don't know, Ritch," said the Tonu teacher.

"But Mum's cookies are so good. Everyone should have at least a taste. And I'm not counting you out, professor," Sam said, holding the cookie under the Tonu's nose.

She sniffed and sighed. "Oh, fine, just one."

Everyone took a biscuit and ate it appreciatively. There were loads. Harry tried to take more than his share, but Sam just smiled. I wondered what he was up to. Pretty soon, they were all munching and commenting how delicious it was. Then Sam said, "Professor, it'd be fine if I would just go out for a little while, right?"

"Of course, Sam," she said happily. "These cookies are great." I gawped at her. Even if I hadn't met her really, I had guessed that she was really tough. Maybe she was. I blinked, realizing that the cookies probably had something to do with it. Sam grinned.

"It wouldn't be marked in the class record, now, would it?"

"Nope. Oh, and such a chocolately flavor! You really should get more."

"Uh-huh. Dylan, would you mind forgetting all this? It'd just be so inconvenient for you to tell the girls, even if you think it might be important."

"Already forgetting, Sam," he said, nodding obediently. "I have no idea what just happened here."

"In fact," Sam said. "Could you please all forget what happened?" There was a murmur of agreement and compliments to the cookies. "It's okay, Hanso," he said, calling to me. "They'll forget the whole thing after we're gone. You can come out."

"Wow," I said, glancing at Harry. He wasn't attacking, just smiling stupidly at the crumbs in his hands. "What were those?"

"Mum's happy cookies. Makes everyone who eats them agreeable to whatever the person says. Sometimes persuading using my awesome leadership skills just isn't enough. I try not to use it too often though; it's very complicated to make, and I hate taking advantage of people. You wouldn't believe how many chores Mum got me to promise to do when I ate one once…"

"So, they'll do whatever we say?" I asked.

He nodded, but said, "We really should go-"

"Wait! This is way too sweet to waste." I went to Harry and said, "Start clucking like an idiot."

"Buck-buck-buck-cock! Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he said obediently. For good measure, he started pecking at the ground. Sam and I glanced at each other and burst out laughing. We just stood there guffawing until tears ran down our faces.

"Why didn't I think of that?" said Sam admirably. "Ah well, we have to go. But that was priceless!"

We made pretty quick progress—the streets were luckily a little clearer now. But there were enough thieves and assassins around that made Sam raise his eyebrows. "What happened here?" he asked.

"Masila," I replied. I scanned the crowd. "You think Brynn will be all right? And, er, that Viola girl?"

"Believe me, Hanso, Captain Brynn is really resourceful. She'll survive," he assured me.

"Captain Brynn?"

"She's good enough to end up Captain, I think," he said. "Smart, skillful, quick…she's got the makings of someone really great. You, too. I can see why you're friends with her."

"What? Who said anything about being friends?" I said nervously.

"You know that truth-speakers don't lie very well, right?"

"Darn," I grumbled.

"Hey, better than getting away with lying all the time. Then you'll always be really careful what you say," he said.

"You wouldn't lie," I said absent-mindedly.

He smiled, a little sadly. "Nice to know that your opinion of me is high. But you've seen me at my worst, remember? And you know, a long time ago I did lie a lot. To my mom, my dad…" He winced.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"'Let's just say a grown-up taught me very wrong things, and I followed her 'cause I thought her way is easier. Back then, I didn't know that the easy way isn't always the best," he said. I had an inkling on who the 'bad grown-up' was, but I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. For awhile we walked in silence. Then I thought of something that made me stop walking. Sam looked at me quizzically. "Anything wrong?"

"Well…" I hesitated. "Masila's your aunt, right? And Marie's sister?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Uh, I like your mom and stuff, but there's supposedly this spy in the Thieves' Guild. A lot of people think it's me-"

"You?" he asked indecorously. "You're ten!"

"Wait, how'd you know that?" I questioned.

"I figured that you'd be a bit older than Brynn, and her birthday is next week," he said. "Okay, go on."

"Yeah, well, not accusing Marie of anything, but is there any chance that she…well, that she's the spy? She is her sister."

He blinked at me and shook his head. "Mum would never betray the Guild. The only thing that made her quit last time was Dad, and now that he's gone…well, she sort of regards them as her family. Slightly evil and greedy family, yes, but family. Her hospitality to Masila only extends to listening to what evil plan she currently has, begging her not to do it, and letting her stay in our house from time to time without telling Kanrik. Besides, he and her worked out a plan," he added.

"What's that?" I queried.

"Kanrik knows that Mum doesn't want to betray either her or him, so what he did is to temporarily disband her from the Guild. She's still officially in, she's just not allowed to stay in the headquarters or go to any guild meetings until the whole thing blows over."

"Oh." So that ruled Marie out. Now I had to think about the next three hundred thieves in the Guild who could be the spy.

"There you are!" cried Kanrik, appearing out of nowhere. "I thought you'd have-"

"Run away?" I finished.

"It wouldn't be the first time," he shot back.

Sam stared openmouthed at Kanrik and me. Before he could ask what was wrong, Marie came and gave him a huge hug. "Hi, Mum," he said, hugging her back. "You needed to tell me something-?"

"In private," she said, and took him in an old alleyway. She looked at me and Kanrik meaningfully, asking us not to enter. We nodded.

"See?" I said when they were both out of earshot. "I could do a job without betraying you."

He rolled his eyes. "That proves nothing. It was a simple task."

"Which was important," I reminded him. He said nothing, just leaned back and frowned. "You're getting mad at me for no reason," I said irritably. "Do you want me to be the spy?"

He glared at me. "No. If there was any other person, any other possibility, I'd gladly remove you from suspicion. Unfortunately, that's not the case."

I shut up, thinking about what he said. It was like there was some meaning to it besides I have to suspect you. Like, you'd be the last person I want to be a spy. Because he liked me? 'Cause I nearly was his apprentice? Deep, deep down, though I hated to admit it, I hoped so.

I looked at the crowd, just thinking. Then I saw it. A flash of color—electric blue. I stood up on a nearby barrel. It was Brynn and Violet; with a familiar friend of ours. "Sweet Fyora!"

"What?" said Kanrik.

"Vlade!" I cried. "He's back and trying to get to Brynn. I have to go." I was about to run to her and help, when Kanrik pulled me back by the scruff of my coat.

"Don't, Hanso," he said sternly. "You're not allowed, and I fully doubt if you can manage to defeat a Master Thief."

"But-"

"That's final!"

"What's final?" Sam asked, stepping out of the alley.

"Brynn's in trouble!" I cried, and pointed to the direction.

Sam's expression changed from confused to determined. "I don't have my sword, but I'll put up a fight," he said confidently. "I'll bring them home." With that, he charged in to the crowd. I watched anxiously, but all I could see were people's feet.

"Here, Hanso," Marie said, and gave me a boost to the barrel again. I smiled at her gratefully. By the time I found them, I saw Sam had finished with Vlade already and were taking the girls to the base. I sighed with relief.

"Hanso? What are you doing here?" said a voice. I turned to find Mom staring at me, her knives unsheathed. I spotted Dad a little ways behind her, tying up an assassin. I was double-relieved then.

"He's fine, Liz," Marie promised, hoisting me down. "Just tried to make sure his friend was all right."

"Marie?" said Mom. She smiled. "It's been a long time." Turning to Kanrik, she said, "I've taken down around twenty five assassins, sir, and my husband is finishing off his twenty sixth."

"Twenty five?" Marie asked, amazed. "You've gotten good."

She looked at her and grinned. "I learned from the best."

"Come on, then," said Kanrik wearily. "Let's get back to the base. I'd rather not have any more surprises today."

Week 3

Jacques was furious at me not following his orders. He barely talked to me all week. I visited Marie again, just a quick peep, and she gave me one of her happy cookies. The next day, Jacques said that disobeying orders was perfectly fine as long as I'd give him more of those delicious biscuits.

The twins were shocked, not used to having any magical food besides their candy. Razor wanted to get the recipe. Kayley glared.

I probably won't use the happy cookies any time soon again.

Week 4

I've got more problems than I thought.

We had the little kids again, and of course Timmy and I went off to see Hazel and Charlie. I wanted to check that they were both still okay, though I really doubted it. Hazel had said something about her dad coming soon, and the way she said it made her seem even more scared of him than Ebony. To be honest, I was a little scared, too. I mean, he's a grown-up. I have enough evil grown-ups to handle.

Hazel was in her garden, pruning the bushes. She smiled when she saw me. "Hi Timmy, Hanso!"

"Hey," I said. "What are you weeding the garden for? Did your dad or Ebony make you?"

She made a face. "I like working in the garden. I don't sit around all day, you know." I grinned sheepishly. "Daddy's ship got delayed." She leaned in close and whispered, "They said that someone pirated it!"

"Piwated?" Timmy questioned, his eyes wide.

"What? Who?" I asked.

"The ship's name is The Black Pawkeet, I think." I nearly laughed. Thank you, Garin! "His trip is going to be delayed for awhile, so I'm okay for a bit. There's still Ebony…he might lock me in a shed again. But that's okay, I can stand it."

"He won't do that!" I said furiously. "I'll pick the lock-"

"You can't pick it," she replied sorrowfully. "They've got an alarm on it, and it'll get the entire guard here again." Darn. She saw the look on my face and said, "Don't worry, I'm okay."

"You don't want anyone to be concerned for you, so you don't tell anyone how much it hurts," I said without thinking.

She blinked. "How'd you know that?"

"Oh, er, and ability of mine." I didn't want to explain the whole truth-speaking thing, so I just left it at that.

"Poor pwincess," Timmy cooed, giving her a hug. You know, that kid's timing is always astounding.

"Hullo Hanso!" Charlie said, coming round the corner. "Timmy! Pleasure to meet you again, little chap." Timmy gave him a toothy smile. "How are things?" he asked me. "Honest answer."

"Not good," I admitted. "I'm getting mocked a lot for being a spy. I seriously hate it. Oh, and there's no sign of any help coming along-" My mind's I flashed to Hannah, but I ignored it- "and I don't even know how strong the enemy is."

Hazel frowned, still removing the weeds. "Why don't you look at its roots? Their hideout?" she asked, yanking the spoiled plants out. "Then you can have an idea on how they are."

"That'd be a great idea. Only, I don't know where their hideout is, and a few people, meaning Kayley, have neglected to show me."

"What?" Timmy asked, not getting what we were saying.

"Hanso's looking for the evil witch's lair," Charlie explained. "The wretched lady has got an army, and he needs to see how big they are. But he doesn't know where they're hiding."

"The bwad guys?" We nodded. "Oh, thwat's easy! Theyw're near the palace, round the bwig bwack oak, and then down the swippery hill…what?" He blinked at our shocked faces.

"Timmy, are you making this up?" I asked.

He pouted. "'Course not! Lilia dwared me to go fwollow her bwig kid, so I followed Kawyely snweaking in the bwad pwace. I wan away, but Lilia gave me candy 'cause I did it."

I stood up. "I gotta go check this out," I said apologetically to Charlie and Hazel.

"Naturally, we're coming too," said Charlie.

"Guys," I said, exasperated. "It's bad enough that I have to get Timmy in danger. You're just-"

"Rich kids? Little kids?" Charlie asked. "Come on, we're seven years old! And even rich kids want a bit of adventure. Right, Hazel?"

"Uh…" She looked unsure, but nodded. "Right."

"And we'll follow you if you don't let us come," Charlie continued. I winced. They'd be caught in less than two seconds.

"Okay, people, but stick close. Lead the way, Timmy," I told him, and he quickly ran off.

The kid had a really good memory. He didn't hesitate once, just led us in the right direction and to some bushes where he could hide. At first, Hazel tried to go to the big pines, but I pointed out the leaves were too bare to be much cover. Sheepishly, she said, "Sorry. Usuls are prone to trees, usually if they don't want to be seen." Finally, I got them sorted and taught Charlie and Hazel how to crawl properly. I peeked through the brambles.

I gasped.

The whole place was swarming with assassins. Kayley was right: We were outnumbered ten to one. There'd be no chance of winning a war with them unless some go to our side. And judging from their faces – faces that could kill – none of them would. At least I didn't see Masila, which was a relief.

"Oh, my," Charlie said in a quiet voice. "This is what you put up with everyday?"

"Yup. Gotta dodge them all on our way to school."

"Sweet Fyora!" he said. I shushed him. "You thieves are really tough."

"At least they don't have the Tradition," Hazel said silently.

I frowned. "The Tradition?" Both Hazel and Charlie shuddered.

"It's this sick, twisted practice that rich kids have been forced to do through the ages. A lot of people tried to fight against it, but unfortunately none have succeeded. It's very medieval, too."

"But what is it? What happens?" I asked.

"Rather difficult to explain all the knobs and levers, but basically it's an arranged betrothal at a certain age," Charlie told me.

My jaw dropped. "It isn't that surprising, Hanso," said Hazel softly. "How do you think my mum ended up with my dad? She didn't marry him by choice, that's for sure."

Charlie continued, "Each family has an age limit on how long you could go on un-betrothed. Mine is twenty one years old, which is a relief since it's such a long way off. What's yours, Hazel?"

Her sweet face darkened for a moment. "Fifteen."

We gasped. "Shhh!" Timmy whisper-shouted. A passing assassin paused, but then continued on.

"You mean you have to know who you're going to spend the rest of your life with by the time you're fifteen years old?" I asked. She nodded sadly.

"That's awful!" Charlie exclaimed. "Even my family isn't as twisted as that. What about Ebony-"

"Boys have a longer age limit," she said. "His is eighteen. Anyway, I don't think he's gonna have any problems with his wife disobeying him." Seeing that we wanted to talk about it more, she said quickly, "Continue explaining, Charlie. That's not even the half of it."

"Right," he said, though now his face looked troubled. "So, um, it's mostly the parents who arrange the whole thing, mostly. The boy will have more say in it, since he'll come call on the girl at least once. If he finds her pleasing, he approves and the betrothal is sealed. Once it's done, it can't be undone again. He can only refuse three times, and just so you know I plan on saying no until I can't anymore. This system is horrible, I can tell you that. The girl may be able to pretend to be lovely until they're married, and then she might turn out a spoiled brat-"

"-And the boy would be able to have any girl he wants, no matter what her choice," Hazel finished.

"What if you don't get betrothed?" I asked. "Just pass the age limit. Then what happens?"

"You get sent away to be properly trained," said Charlie. "Again, this depends on which family. In mine, if I don't get betrothed soon enough, I get sent to my grandmother." He shuddered. "Daft old codger she is, she'll probably 'straighten me up' in a jiffy and get me very, very respectable."

"I get sent to finishing school," Hazel said. "I have to learn to straighten up, Latin, be a good wife, be patient, basically be a servant to my husband's every need. When I get back when I'll twenty, it'll guarantee me a husband."

I winced. Maybe being a thief is better than a rich kid.

Hazel looked at me and said, "We shouldn't be telling you this. You've help me a lot already. Sasha's not here to boss me around anymore, Violet's writing loads more letters, and I'm having fun when I can."

"Isn't there a way out?" I asked desperately.

She paused for a moment, and said, "Well…yes. In fact, Violet and I found this loophole a long time ago. If you don't want to get married, you have to join the guards. That way you could still be doing your duty to the kingdom and be respectable. It was actually meant for boys, but Violet and I checked dozens of times and there wasn't anything that said it couldn't be for girls either. The people who made these rules up probably thought that girls would be so weak they'd rather get married than be a guard. But Violet proved them wrong," she said proudly.

"So that's why she was so keen in joining them," Charlie muttered. "Never thought guarding with be Miss Firecracker's aspiration."

She frowned at Charlie, and he grinned at he apologetically. "Anyway, even that's a little shaky. Violet might think that she might have escaped, but you never know if Daddy would try to get her out of the guards. Then she'd have no escape. But we both agreed it was worth a shot."

"Then you guys should be guards," I said. "I might not usually say that would be good, but if it's your only chance at getting out of an arranged betrothal, I'll let myself get caught by you any day."

Charlie shook his head. "Hazel, maybe, but not me."

"Why not?" I asked.

He hesitated, and then said, "It would seem that the fire a year ago did some…permanent damage. I can't exert myself, or…well, I might choke."

Hazel's eyes widened. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I didn't want you to worry," he said. "I'm okay most of the time."

But Hazel burst into tears. Timmy kept saying "Shh" and "It's okway, pwincess" quickly.

"It was my brother who did that to you," she sniffled, looking tearfully at Charlie.

"It's not your fault. And I was delicate anyway, I probably couldn't have been a guard even if he didn't," he assured her.

"Hanswo…" Timmy warned, glancing at a nearing assassin.

"Come on, guys. We better go home." I prodded them, and soon we were back at the rich apartments again.

Hazel was still sobbing when she entered her house. I flinched when I heard from the inside, "What are you crying for, dummy? You think that shot two months ago still hurt? Want another punch?"

I barely controlled myself from going in. Charlie looked sorely tempted too, but stayed put. "I guess she'll go to the guards next term in January," he said, almost whispering. "It's her way out, and I'm not taking it from her, sick or not. Violet will be there to look after her, and…well, who cares if I'm alone again?" he said furiously to himself. "At least she'd get through it-"

"Charlie," I said. "You won't be alone. That's a promise."

"The knwight nweeds wescuing too, sometwimes," said Timmy knowledgeably. He gave Charlie a big hug. "It'll bwe okway."

Wow….the last week ended more depressing than I thought. Oh well, that was a loooong chapter.