A World Among Thieves: A Humble Beginning

Chapter 6

I check and see just how much gold I have. I have 390 gold pieces. I decide to spend some of it on traveler's clothes, a sheath for my sword, and a horse. I decide to wait until nightfall before I head back to the castle. I hide my horse in one of the tall hedges so she wouldn't give away my position. I pull my hood up and begin sneaking down to the dungeons. Ever since Melch was captured, there has been added security to the perimeter and the interior of the castle. I sneak around various corners until I realize that there is no way that I can get to the dungeons undetected. I remember that there are various secret passages in the castle. I used to hide out in them whenever I needed some time to myself. Being the introvert that I am, that was quite often. I look around and realize that I'm near one of them. I begin pressing on various bricks along the wall since I forgot which one opens the passage. Finally, one of the bricks that I have pressed sinks in and reveals a staircase leading downward. The opening of the passage was quite loud so guards begin racing toward me. I quickly duck inside the passage and close it off. I hear the guards loud footsteps race by me. I let out a sigh of relief and begin descending the stairs. Once I reach the bottom I begin wandering the various corridors. Symbols mark each path in an intersection. I find the one that represents the dungeons and follow it. After about fifteen minutes, I reach a door. I slowly open it and see a tapestry. I quietly pull it aside and look around. Thankfully, no guards are anywhere nearby. I realize that I am directly in front of Melch's cell. I break one of my many hairpins to use as a lockpick to unlock Melch's cell. He wakes up and looks at me with wide eyes.

"Who are you?" he asks, unable to recognize me with my hood up.

"Who else promised to get you out of here?" I whisper.

He smiles and begins looking at the various corridors in case a guard comes walking by. I eventually open his cell and he races out.

"Where do we go?" he whispers.

I walk back over to the door, open it, and walk inside. Melch quickly follows and I quietly shut the door. We begin walking back down the winding passages until we see symbols that represent the gardens. We run, following the symbols, until we reach the outside. The full moon illuminates the area and allows us to see where we're going, without walking into a bush or fall into the fountain. We hear guards talking, but they are rather far away so we don't really worry about them too much. We hop over the fence and off the wall so we can make it to the front steps. I find my horse, which is still in the hedge and hop on. Melch gets on behind me and we quickly race off, away from the castle. We manage to get a room at an inn and we sit on our own beds.

"Thank you, Allison! You didn't have to rescue me!" he exclaims.

"I made a promise, didn't I? What were you in there for, anyway?" I ask.

"There was a war between this town and my home, Ashbourne. Ashbourne is a town full of criminals, but it is a rather peaceful town. You know, considering the circumstances. I guess they wanted me to tell them everything that I know about their strategies since my father is a well-known guard there," he explains.

"There are guards there?" I ask, taking a sip of tea that we had ordered when we arrived.

"Yeah. They mainly just make sure that no fights break out, no one kills other citizens, stuff like that," he explains.

"Wow! That place sounds awesome!" I exclaim.

"Well, I do need to get back there. If you join me, you are more than welcome to live with me!" he chirps.

"I'd love to!" I exclaim.

"So, what happened with your family? Won't they miss you?" he asks.

I explain everything that happened three years ago and he sits with his eyes wide.