"Hello there". a deep voice sounded beside Soren. Standing in front of him was a barrel-chested man with a trimmed brown beard. He wore a black clock that covered the rest of his features. His leather gloved hands, grabbed the shaft of a sheathed sword with an iron grip.
"Who are you?" Soren asked.
"Who I am is none of your concern boy. Answer me, would you like to earn some coin?" The man retorted as if he didn't want to waste any more time with him.
"Yes sir, I would be grateful for some work."
The man inclined his head so that he would be inches from Soren's face. " What if I told you to steal something?"
Gulping, Soren gathered courage to stare back at the man," Then am sorry sir, but I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of the city guards."
"Pity." the man said as he backed away, " I though a hundred gold would do the work."
"A hundred what?" Soren blurted out. He just couldn't handle the shock. From the work he normally did, the most he would earn were three copper coins thrown at his face. With a hundred gold, he and Lyra could live a happy life away from the pits.
"Wait!" Soren called out to the man who was already leaving.
"I'll do it."
***
Soren quickly ducked into a side street and cautiously approached the open courtyard surrounding the manor walls. He looked up to the sky and the full moon lifted her skirts, those below with her grace and beauty. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky lightning the path ahead with it's glow.
'Risha is going to kill me for being late." He thought as he hid in the shadows. "at least when this is over, we will escape never to return."
Carefully he made his way to the end of the alley and crouched in the shadows as he watched a group of patrolling guards pass. As soon as they were out of sight, he made a wild dash to the wall.
"tap, ta, tap" the sound of metal boots hitting the ground signaled the arrival of other guards. Soren begun panicking because he was about to be caught. The clump of bushes he running to was still a good ten feet away. He chanced a quick peek over his shoulder and saw the tops of spears coming around the wall. Heart thumping, he made a wild dive and just made it to the bushes as the guards were coming around the corner.
"Did you hear that Dailer?" one of the guards asked his colleague as he moved closer to the bushes where Soren hid.
"Hera what?" the guard named Dailer asked.
"I thought a heard a rustling in the bushes." the first guard replied as he poked the bushes with his spear, which came a few millimeters from Soren's face.
"Come on Saidel, that's probably the wind. no one is crazy enough to rob the city lord unless they are begging to be beheaded. Besides, with magic enhancing the security of this place, i bet they won't even make it past the gate." Dailer retorted.
"Hmmm, I guess you are right. Sounds like we have the easiest job in the city." Saidel answered as he removed his spear from the bushes and they continued on their way.
Soren held his breath, afraid that the loudness of his beating heart would give him away. He let out an explosive breath once the guards were out of sight. He reached his hand into his pocket and took out two things his mysterious employer had given him.
One was an enchanted necklace that he was told it would protect him from any magical traps and the other was a crumpled piece of paper.
on one side of the paper, was the map of the entire manor, with hidden passages included. How his employer knew every detail about the manor surprised Soren but he kept his thought to himself. As long as he got his money, he wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. A box marked X was visible in red on the center of the map. Turning the map to the other side, was a picture of a small box with strange carvings. This was his target.
Putting the paper back into his pocket, Soren hung the necklace around his neck and turned to the wall. He begun trying to loosen one of the stone blocks there , pausing every time a guard patrol passed by. After several minutes, the block came free and he quickly slipped through the hole, moving the block back into it's place as he did so.
He ducked into the shadows and surveyed the area. Seeing the guard patrols were less frequent here, he ran towards a small cluster of trees at the far side of the wall. Taking a second to breath, he looked at the manor searching for a particular balcony; his way in.
It wasn't hard to find. Wide and broad, it probably a sitting balcony. It was quiet at the moment, however, save for one guard. Soren crouched silently in the shadows and made his way to the building. The protruding blocks in the wall made it easy for his climb. Soon he had flipped himself over the stone railing and landed quietly on the balcony ledge.
The guard stood not three paces away. Removing a small pebble from one of the blocks, he threw it at the far side of the balcony. The startled guard turned and slowly made his way to the sound. At that moment, Soren dashed into the darkened room beyond unseen.