Kingdom of thieves

THE KINGDOM OF THIEVES

Dawn was coming.

Narla could see the faint orange glow rising over the sand dunes to the east, chasing away the stars.

Quickening her pace, she pulled her hood lower over her face, the dirty black material of her cloak would keep her hidden at night, but the day was another matter.

She cursed under her breath as a stone came loose from one of the roof slabs she ran across and clattered to the street, five stories below. She crouched down becide a chimney, listening. After several moments she continued on, a silent black figure, seeming to fly over the rooftops she was so quiet. She clutched tightly to the precious bundle in her hand. Reaching the end of the rooftops she leap onto a lantern post,which flickered dangerously  she regained her balance, from there, placing one foot carefully in front of the other she walked along a plank of wood the connected two houses together from other ends of the street, her balance perfect. Just as she reached the opposite roof, a doorway opened below her, light spilling out in to the street, voices carried up to her, some wealthy merchants wife saying goodbye to her secret lover.

The women in this district were all unfaithful, most of their husbands were away for long periods of time, and they got lonely.

Although how you could get lonely when you had a whole horde of children and money to spare was a mystery to Narla.The door closed and the man began walking in the direction of the upper districts, Narla paused, if he was from one of the wealthier districts it would stand to reason that he would carry money on his person, People from there never usually ventured below, this was a perfect opportunity to score a little extra gold, Kris would reward her handsomely for returning with more than just what she was sent to retrieve but... looking to the east Narla winced, pink and orange streaked the sky, it would be better to get back to the den before full light hit. Her eyes drifted back to the lone man, completely oblivious that she, Narla, the best snatcher in the lower districts was a few feet away from him. It took her a few seconds to make up her mind. Stowing her bundle in a secure gutter, she slowly dropped over the edge of the roof, using the bricks and window ledges, she landed silently, and slipped up behind her unsuspecting victim, when she was so close to him hat she could smell the perume he wore, she palmed her knife in her left hand and brought it to his throat, at the same time clamping her right hand over his mouth and yanking his body against hers so she could whisper in is ear, "Donna you eve think aba movin." she said, careful to keep her voice low, so he would mistake her for a boy. The man froze in shock, his brain slow to realise what was happening. "gimme yer purse." she growled The man immediately began fumbling for his purse, when a sack fell to the ground with a clink that said it was full of gold,

Narla relaxed her hold on the man, slipping the point of her knife away from his throat, she felt him begin to relax as well, then she flipped the knife in her hand so she was holding the blade and knocked him in the temple its the hilt. She dragged the mans unconscious body into a doorway, scooped his purse up from the ground and with one last look at the lightening sky, climed swiftly up the side of the building and ran.