by Logan Jacobs
“Is the spare catering wagon still here?” Cimarra asked as she sat down next to Azure, who was now asleep on his bed of hay in the corner.
“Yeah, I kept it hidden on the side of the stable.” Wade pointed to his left. “Marver knows we have it, too.”
“Good.” The dancer nodded.
“So, we doing this tonight?” I wondered.
“We are, but first, I want to hear from Dar,” Wade said as he turned around and faced the halfling. “What did you find out?”
Dar went on and told us in great detail how he had snuck into one of Hebal’s wagons and secretly rode along with them.
I was impressed.
Then he described how they operated and how they mainly distributed to the Dwarven Community Halls.
“We can easily do the same in the Halfling District,” Dar said with a grin. “In fact, I talked with the perfect guy to help us do that.”
“Who’s that?” Wade asked with a confused look on his face.
“An old friend who’d be willing to help … ” Dar wiggled his eyebrows and built up the suspense with his long pause.
“Whoever it is better not know--” Wade’s face flashed into anger for a brief second before Dar cut him off.
“He doesn’t know anything,” the halfling promised and gestured for Wade to calm down. “I only asked if he’s interested in working with us. I didn’t mention anything about whiskey.”
“Who the hell is it then?” I asked.
“Selius … ” Dar paused again to see our reaction. He was always a little overdramatic.
“The intern from the guild?” I laughed. “He’s still alive?”
“He is,” Dar confirmed with a nod. “He’s been all alone in the guild since the night Hagan died.”
“How’d you know he was still alive?” Cimarra wondered.
“I didn’t.” Dar shrugged. “I assumed he was since I didn’t see him the night we killed Hagan, but I wasn’t sure until yesterday.”
“Shit … ” I muttered and looked to Wade, who was deep in thought.
“Can he be trusted?” Cimarra asked with the same look on her face as Wade.
“That’s for us to decide.” Dar shrugged. “He was sure glad to see me, though.”
“I bet,” Wade breathed. “What’s your plan for him?”
“We hire him as a driver to distribute in the Halfling District once we gather some customers,” the halfling said as another grin formed on his lips.
“Hmm … ” Wade hummed as he seemed to be on the edge of a decision. “How’d he seem?”
“Scared.” Dar wiped sweat from his face with the back of his arm. “You know how he is.”
“A yellowbelly, for sure,” Wade chuckled.
“A what?” I asked.
Wade didn’t show his country roots often, but when he did, he really did. Maybe living in the stables pulled more of that out of him.
“It means he’s a little soft,” Wade said without looking at me, “and raw.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” I replied with a smirk.
Selius was both of those things for sure. I remembered the kid had a long way to go as a thief and didn’t seem to ever accomplish what was required of him at the guild. He was sweet and all, but we weren’t looking for that.
Especially now.
But something in the way Wade looked at Dar told me he was thinking differently than me.
The kid looked up to Wade, and Wade ate that shit up.
“Was he interested in hearing more?” Wade asked as he slowly walked closer to Dar.
“He was.” Dar nodded. “What do you think?”
“Let’s meet with him,” Wade said as he clapped Dar on the shoulder. “Is he living alone at the guild?”
“I think so, yeah.” Dar furrowed his brow. “The Guild Master hasn’t gotten around to appointing a new guild manager, yet.”
“After the heist, we’ll pay the intern a visit.” Wade nodded in agreement with his own thought. “He may not be the strongest, but he’s loyal.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I asked. “He’s new, which is worse than being an idiot.”
“Naw,” Wade sighed as he waved his hand. “The kid is alright. Trust me.”
“Fine,” I sighed, since I’d already trusted my heart to Wade. Even if I didn’t want to tell him.
“Is it even safe for you to return to the hall?” Cimarra asked as she eyed Wade. “Does the Guild Master know you killed Hagan?”
“She doesn’t know shit,” I said.
“Ehhhh,” both Dar and Wade sighed in unison.
“Wha?” I asked. “How she know we killed that fucker in the mansion? Look, I know she’s supposed to have eyes everywhere, but if she knew, then all of us would be dead by now. Fuck, the Assassin’s Guild doesn’t even know, or they would be crawling up our assholes right now.”
“Penny’s right,” Wade sighed. “One issue at a time, The Guild Master probably doesn’t know, and tonight there is a painting with our name on it.”
“I wish I could come with you guys,” Cimarra said as she walked out of the stables with us and shut the door behind her, “but I’m no thief anyway.”
“Make us proud in your show.” Dar waved to the dancer.
“I’ll try,” Cimarra said with a smile. “Do you have everything you need?”
“We’ll need to swing by the cottage and pick up a few pots, pans, and trays to make it seem like we are headed to an event,” Wade said as he tossed a few black cloaks inside the back of the wagon.
“Good idea,” Cimarra replied as she leaned in for a kiss from Wade. “I’ll see you guys when you get back.”
The icicle appeared in my gut again.
Dar and I both waved to Cimarra and boarded the cart.
“Ready?” Wade asked as he climbed up the wagon and took the reins next to me. Then his eyes softened as they locked with mine.
As tricky as this heist was going to be, the way Wade looked at me made me feel ready.
“I’m always more ready than you are, ass.” I smirked but quickly lowered my eyes away from his and adjusted the shoulder strap on my satchel.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?” Wade snickered as he gently nudged me with his elbow.
“Pay attention tonight, Country Boy, and you might learn something about thieving,” I jested back as I flicked his ear.
“This feels right, doesn’t it?” Dar grinned as he stuffed his pipe between his lips. “Fuck, let’s do this.”
Once we were on the main road, we drove mostly in silence for the entire thirty-minute ride to Adi’s cottage.
“You think Marver is still there?” Wade asked as he turned the wagon down the final stretch of road before we arrived at the cottage.
“Shouldn’t be,” Dar said as he puffed away at his pipe. “Closing time was an hour or so ago. And we don’t pay overtime.”
“Doesn’t look like he is,” I noted as the cottage came into view. “I don’t see another wagon.”
“Same.” Wade nodded. “Trying to explain we are doing a gig without him would’ve been hard.”
“I agree.” Dar squirmed in his seat as we turned into Adi’s dirt driveway. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Good,” Wade said as he stopped the wagon near the front door. “Let’s grab a few pans and shit to look the part.”
“Got it,” Dar replied as he hopped off the wagon, hurried over to the door, and opened it with his key. “Should we grab the uniforms, too?”
“Ah, fuck,” I sighed. I hated the drab gray dress. I preferred to wear brighter colors. Especially blues, reds, yellows, and grass-greens. I found that sticking out at times was the best way to blend in when stealing shit.
Tonight’s heist would be different, though. We needed to be invisible.
“We probably should,” Wade said as he followed Dar inside. “Sorry, Penny.”
“Gotta do what we gotta do,” I muttered as I climbed down from the wagon and walke
d inside the cottage.
“We’ll change out of them in the woods by the elf’s house,” Wade said as he tossed me the gray dress.
“Gee, thanks,” I grunted.
“Get changed, and we’ll load up the wagon with a few things,” Wade said as he grabbed a long metallic tray.
“Sounds good,” I replied as I walked into the back room to put on the long gray dress. The room was turned into Marver’s office and featured a small desk with two stacks of papers, a slim bookshelf, and a small leather couch.
Nothing special, but meticulously clean.
I slipped out of my black tights and green cloak and put on the dress. Without a mirror, I couldn’t really tell how I looked, but it didn’t matter anyway. I’d be ripping this thing off as soon as we got to the elf’s house. Then I bundled up my other clothes and walked back out into the kitchen to see Dar waiting for me at the door.
“The dress really ain’t that bad,” he said with his head leaned back against the door frame.
“I still think we need new uniforms.” I smirked as I walked past him.
“All set?” Wade asked from the driver's seat.
“I think so,” I said as I threw my clothes in the back of the wagon with the added pots and pans.
Then we were off to the Capital District, again.
The plan was to get near the noble’s house, scope it out for an entry point from the trees until nightfall, and make our plan of attack from there. Thankfully, we were already familiar with the lay of the land.
Once we got on the trail headed for the Capital, we had about an hour or so left of the ride, so I moved myself to the back of the covered wagon and sat among the pots and pans.
Dar and Wade talked about some old guy they chose not to rob in the Entertainment District back in the day, and their voices blended into background noise.
The sights and sounds of the other districts faded and were replaced with the rolling green hills. In another life, I’d want to live on top of one of those hills.
Maybe I still could in this life.
Wade once said he grew up nearby to where we were. Like me, he didn’t live too far from the elves. He never really talked about his home life much, but he had to have thought about it often.
How could he not?
I thought of my father nearly every day. For some reason, the sky made me feel closer to my dad, like he was looking down at me. So, I scooted to the rear door of the wagon and saw the sky had turned a deep shade of pink and red as the sun dipped into the horizon.
Would he be proud of me? Would he have left the guild like me? I had no way of ever knowing the answers to those questions.
“Penny?” Wade’s voice cut through my thoughts as the sun cut through the clouds.
“Yeah?” I turned my head to face the front where I could see the elven walls grow bigger the closer we rode to them.
“Can you hand me the papers?” Wade asked as he reached his hand back but kept his eyes on the road.
I pulled the falsified documents from my satchel and gave them to him. Those were either our ticket into the district or to our own execution.
“I didn’t think we’d be back here so soon.” Dar cleared his throat as he eyed the documents in Wade’s hand.
“It’s gonna work,” Wade reassured him and me even if he didn’t realize it.
“It’s gotta.” I moved back to the front of the wagon and squeezed between the two of them again as Wade slowed the wagon to a stop just before the entrance.
The walls sparkled like white sand against the setting sun. How could something so beautiful protect an entire race of murderers?
I daydreamed of seeing an opposing army appear on one of the hills in the distance. The catapults would launch boulders covered in flames and swoosh through the air like meteors until they crashed into the walls.
I wanted to see these walls burn.
I noticed the sun again as it clung onto the edge of the sky like a desperate climber. The day worshippers were trying hard to keep it above the horizon for as long as they could.
“Speak your business!” The Elven Guard’s stoic voice yelled from the top of the arched gate.
“We have an event to get to,” Wade said as he held the papers up for the elf to see.
Like last time, the elf motioned to someone beneath him as the gate began to rise.
“We will need to see those,” the elf commanded. “Do not move your wagon or you will be treated as an enemy of the Empire.”
“We won’t.” Wade waved to the guard and grimaced.
“Smell the magic, again?” I whispered.
“Yeah, it’s brutal.” Wade cringed.
“Show me the entry papers.” The Elven Guard stepped smoothly over to our wagon and snagged the documents out of Wade’s hand.
I held my breath as I watched the elf’s golden eyes scroll across the document.
“Thuridian?” The elf’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, Lord Thuridian is hosting his annual Moonlight Ceremony tonight,” Wade said as he pointed to the back of the wagon. “We’re providing the food.”
There was no way the guard knew all of the nobles by heart.
Could he?
“Never heard of it,” the elf sniffed as if he could smell our lie.
“Neither did we until we got the job.” Wade squeezed the reins tighter in his hands, and his knuckles turned white.
Then a bell rang out from somewhere inside the walls.
“So … ” the guard glanced toward the noise and quickly handed the papers back to Wade, “handle your responsibility to the Empire and be on your way.”
The guard twirled around and marched back through the gates.
Then we all exhaled in relief as Wade prodded the horse to move forward.
“Easy enough,” Wade said as we drove through the entryway and followed the same route we took to Eleran’s last time.
The bell marked a shift change of the Elven Guard near the entrance. It was the night elves’ turn to take over the responsibilities.
As we moved, the sun was still being held up by a thread and seemed to be a little higher, but night would arrive soon enough.
“We’re going to park this thing on the hill that’s just before the house,” Wade said as he stretched his neck to the side. “We’ll have enough cover, and we can put on our black cloaks there as we plan our entry.”
Dar and I both nodded.
We were kind of in new territory. It was one thing to rob the elves, like we did with the wine, but to rob an elven home was a completely different challenge. This was about as high risk of a job we’ve ever done.
High-risk, high reward jobs were worth it, but a low-risk medium reward would’ve been a top priority for us at the guild.
Hagan didn’t teach us much, but he always said an unprepared thief was a dead one. I felt like we were on the cusp of that idea with this heist, but I was confident in our abilities.
We turned into the forested area where the house was and stopped on the hill just as Wade said. Then I hopped down from the wagon, walked around to the rear, grabbed my black cloak out from the back, and changed quickly behind a tree.
The sun had finally lost its battle with the night and darkness overcame the area. The crickets awakened and began to sing their nightly songs, and a few lightning bugs floated over our heads like tiny lanterns.
“Let’s split up and scope the mansion for any weaknesses,” Wade whispered once we were all dressed in black. “We have to improvise on this a bit, but I didn’t see much security when we were here last.”
“Yeah, no need for security. Why would a thief be out here?” Dar scoffed.
“Not everyone is as smart as us.” I grinned and began to feel my adrenaline kick in. I missed the feeling right before a heist.
“See if you can get in a tree for a better view,” Wade instructed as he nodded my direction. “I’ll signal when we should meet back here and share our intel.”
“How’re
you going to signal us if we can’t see you in the dark?” Dar asked with a frown.
“Remember these?” Wade held up a small device as big as my pinky.
“Shit, I have no idea where mine went,” I gasped and stared at the small item that brought on a sense of nostalgia.
“Where’d you find that?” Dar asked as he took the device from Wade and looked it over.
One of the first tools we were given when I joined the guild was a clicker. It was a device that created a unique cricket-seeming sound. We used it to communicate with each other during heists. I wasn’t sure if other Thief Guilds did the same thing or not, but the little device came in handy.
“In one of my old cloaks,” Wade snickered, took the device back from Dar, and squeezed it to create the bug-chirping sound. “That’s the signal.”
“Got it,” I said and, without hesitation, darted down the hill. My feet moved with the wind and barely made a noise. I ran in between the pines and shrubs and saw a tree near the creek. If I climbed it, I’d have a good look at the back of the house.
I followed my own personal rule. Always check the back door first. If there wasn’t a door, then check the back window. I was always surprised by how many people would forget to lock the back door of their home or business. I never complained, though. That made for easy pickings.
Damn, I hadn’t realized how much I missed this.
The creek hummed peacefully as I snuck along the edge of the house, and the water smelled fresh and delightful. I ignored my desire to take a sip and moved closer to the tree I spotted as I kept my eye on the house for any movement.
There wouldn’t be any though. A day elf would already be sound asleep.
The tree I wanted to climb was shaped like a “T” with two long branches. One branch extended over the house and the other over the creek. I wanted to perch myself up on the one over the house.
So, I checked the house one last time for any sign of life.
Nothing.
After a minute or so, I sprinted toward the tree, used my momentum to run up the trunk, and leaped out to grab the long branch. My fingers secured my grip onto the branch and I flipped my legs up easily so I came up on top of it. The branch swayed like a gentle breeze had nudged it awake, but no one would notice.