The Thief King

1 | A Stupid Plan

Chase flicked Kole with the back of his hand and ran off, keeping his body low. Kole followed. They ran along the roof until they reached its edge and flung themselves across the street. Kole's hands found a grip on the Quivering Lips' roof outcrop. His feet swung forward, found the old stone wall and pushed off to make it easier to pull himself onto the roof. Chase had done the same and now peered over at the small attic window below.

"You think there's a lock on it?"

Chase scratched his chin. "It's Shogan."

"Good point," Kole said, pulling the sash at his neck over the lower part of his face and tugging on his hood. They surveyed the building, finding a few of Shogan's men chatting outside with ales in hand.

Chase sneered. "Can't risk it until they go in." He mimicked Kole, covering his unusually, golden hair with his hood and masking his face with the sash at his neck.

"I still think you would look good with dark hair," Kole whispered.

"Drop it, Kole. I'm not dying my hair."

"Why not? Scarlet dyes hair all the time, she'd do a great job. What are you so scared of ?"

Chase opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when the men below fell silent. He only spoke again once conversation had resumed. "If fear is the word we are using, then in context, I fear the repercussions."

"You're scared of looking like me? Tall, dark and handsome? The ladies love it."

He could see Chase frowning. "Sera would slap you, if she could hear you."

"She loves it. Ask her." Kole's black hair was something of a trait. Part of his street name came from his hair being darker than the thickest shadow, but it had been his childhood nickname too, him always having coal smudges on his face from sketching.

"I don't need to," Chase growled. "I believe it's my hair that gets us information that places us in situations like the one we're in right now. If I recall, it was to the wench's approval that my hair was fair." The lass he was referring to was a serving wench who worked at the Quivering Lips, the brothel and gambling house they now surveyed. It had only taken an hour for her to loosen both tongue and skirts in Chase's presence, something Chase was renowned for. "Besides, it is one of many reasons that I find life so...pleasurable."

Kole contained a laugh and looked over the lip of the roof once more. "Balls, you'd think the weather would hurry them up."

Finally, the men finished their drinks and ambled inside, laughing at a joke boisterously. The door closed with a definite bang and a semblance of silence echoed down the streets of Lethilian's centre.

The Quivering Lips was situated on the cusp of the Lowies and the Golden Peak, the nobles' sector. Somewhere at the hill's peak, the palace and its surrounding grounds towered over them. Because the Noble's sector bordered the palace, The Quivering Lips was seen as a civilized establishment, having patrons of considerable wealth. The brothel itself was plain and easily missed as a house of sin, but that was likely the point. In the thieving community, it was well-known as Shogan's headquarters-trouble was getting in. Shogan, a man as paranoid as a mother with a sick child, hoarded and guarded his empire with all the coin he could afford, all the while pretending his station was above 'corrupt owner of multiple establishments of vice'.

Kole swung down, reaching with his toes towards the attic window's small sill. Once he was confident he had a reasonable amount of grip, he released one hand and sought out a dagger.

The window had wooden shutters with no hint of a keyhole. Lock picks would prove useless. The most Kole could hope for was a hinge on the other side that could be lifted. He slid his dagger between the shutters and came to a stop halfway up. The hinge caught, creaked a little, then gave way. The shutters swung outward. His left foot slipped. Before his arms inherited his full weight, he grabbed onto the ledge and thrust himself inside. The wooden floors acknowledged the weight of his landing with a gentle groan of protest. He waited, surveying the dark room. The only source of light came from the open window.