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Chapter 6 - Chapter 6) The Thief-Taker And Theodora

The builders of the palace were worried that if the toilets dropped their contents straight down to the moat, it would stain the palace walls so they came up with a unique solution when constructing them.

Every indoor latrine was built on the outer wall of the palace and beneath each was a resevior. The purpose of it was to collect the waste so that it could be released out away from the palace. The builders accomplished this feat by constructing a gradual slope starting just below the latrine seats and moving out six feet off of walls. At the end of the slope was a sizeable reservior. Each reservoir had a sluice gate at the bottom that would be opened when it wasn't too windy, dropping a few days worth of waste into the moat.

Gravity, a simple acidic mixture from the chemist and a few people with poo-pushing-poles ensured that once a week the tank was more or less cleared of it's foul payload. Unfortunately for the low servant on staff, from time to time the gates became stuck and needed to be opened from within the repository, leading to the need of a manual release on the gate.

Arrin's plan required that the reservoir would provide safe passage equally for fugitive princesses that it did for feces and urine. If he guessed correctly he a few days worth of waste had built up and dropping out with the waste0 would be less conspicuous than two people leaping from a window. The added bonus was that this latrine was closest to the lone bridge that spanned the moat and the only thing connecting the palace with the rest of the city.

Arrin was shocked when she dove right in. Probably not as shocked as her when she realized that she had jumped in facing the least optimal direction. Her toes connected with the angled wall and they were followed quickly by her knees, then forearms then face.

The loyal thief-taker cringed hearing her smack into the wall and splash awkwardly as she tried to keep some kind of control on the slide down. He had fully intended to inform her of the safer direction to descend but she jumped before he thought she would. Nothing to do about it now, he had to get down there to keep her from spending more time than necessary standing in her servant's bodily fluids. The dark humors in the filth might seep in through the cuts on her hand and poison her, he needed to get her out of the cesspool as soon as possible.

Following her example, but facing the correct way Arrin, called out, "Move to one side!" waited a beat and hopped into the latrine. Curling forward with his arms pulled into his chest as he slid down he avoided getting his hair and his neck and really everything but his back coated with the built up waste.

Sliding to the bottom and feeling the cold gross wetness with lumps of solids was traumatizing and the smell brought him close to vomiting.

The bottom it was deeper than he had hoped. It was up to his crotch. Factoring in her height, the princess was in over her waist. There was no light down here but he could hear her moving.

"Hold tight, there's an internal release lever around here somewhere," He informed her as he felt around for their escape hatch.

Finding the gate he ran his hand along the top where he remember the release was. In a very short amount of time, he found the handle.

"Your Majesty, come to the sound of my voice," he called out to her, the sound of sloshing indicated that she was making her way to him, the reservoir wasn't very big and soon she had ahold of his arm.

"I will pull this handle and it will open the gate. When I do we will be falling about thirty feet into ice-cold water. When you hit th-" she interrupted him.

"We don't have time for this pandering, I will hold my breath and follow you. Pull the handle." Her voice carried an authority that was hard for him to resist. That she hadn't learned patience from her leap into the toilet almost surprised him. Almost.

Mentioning that her brashness had already earned her what would likely be bruises on her arms and legs and what he did not doubt was a face full of fecal matter seemed a bad idea but he had to take charge. If he allowed her to keep making decisions that put their lives in danger he would be dead before the day was done.

"Your Maj-" This time she cut him off using her actions, not her words. With her right hand gripping his shoulder, she felt her way across his chest and up his arm with her left hand. She followed his arm to where it ended on the sluice gates handle and with no hesitation wrapped her fingers around it and pulled.

The waste reservoir operated exactly as intended. The door opened outward and the slope of the reservoir allowed the sewage to carry itself out and with it, it pulled the thief-taker and Theodora.

Arrin knew that it would be less than two seconds before they hit the water. Even so, it felt as if they were falling in slow motion. The sun had risen and the world was no longer dark instead growing brighter by the second. The water reflected the sun up at them and the cold morning air bit into him. He resisted the urge to change shape, being a small bug right now was much preferable to falling thirty feet into freezing cold water. However, he could not leave the princess.

Looking at her as they dropped it was hard to tell who she was. She had taken quite the plunge into the sewage and was absolutely caked. The princess's identity might fall into question based on her appearance alone but her strength of character was on full display as her bearing was steel.

She had let go of both Arrin and the door handle, crossed her arms over her chest, and plugged her nose with one of her hands. Her legs were as straight and as stiff as a plank with her toes pointing perfectly down at the water. She was trouble by the cart load but also endlessly impressive.

His instincts guided him and while his form was not the reflection of perfection like hers, it was good enough. He hit the water just before she did and they both shot down into the cold water. The hastily tied sword belt and scabbard tried to escape over his head as he plunged into the water but was stopped by his ribs. Painfully so. There would be bruises.

He wished that he had consumed a fish instead of a flying bug. Rarely had he reason to take the shape of a fish but it was enjoyable and right now would be very useful. The princess probably wouldn't take orders too well from a pike though.

The waste splattered against the surface right after them, slowly mixing with some bits floating and some sinking.

His feet made contact with the bottom and instead of launching himself up towards the surface, he looked around trying to locate Theodora. With a spin of 180 degrees he found himself face to face with her. She stared at him her eyes hard her arms paddling up toward the surface. The princess fought against the buoyancy her lungs provided.

They needed to get away from the splash they'd created and they weren't going to be able to swim across the width of the moat underwater. The air in his lungs hadn't started burning yet, Arrin didn't know how long he or she could hold their breath, he hoped it was long enough to get a safe distance from the waste reservoir.

With a hand wave, he beckoned her to follow. The sword made the swimming awkward, it fell into settled into place the scabbard centered with his belly button and the sword dangled straight down, rubbing on the floor of the moat. Despite the awkward position, the weight made staying underwater easier. As she was swimming along behind him she was slowly floating upwards. A competent person, no doubt, just not one with much experience moving about underwater.

As a shapechanger, he ran hot and the cold water made him uncomfortable but he was a long way from the danger of freezing to death. The princess did not have that luxury, they would need to be safe but he couldn't allow them to go too slowly or she would most likely cramp up and drown.

When he felt they'd made it a safe distance he put his hand on the wall with the intent to follow it to the surface. He looked back at Theodora and she had her body pressed to the wall and was more than halfway to the planned destination.

They swam up until they were both no longer entirely submerged, their heads and shoulders bobbed out of the water. He shifted the sword to it's proper place on his hip.

The bridge was no more than sixty feet in front of them. They would get beneath the bridge where they would be hidden from sight. Swimming under the bridge would get them across the moat and there under the bridge was an old sewage gate. It had been decommissioned when the palace was built, the only shit the royal court wanted in the moat was their shit. From there he would gain access to the city sewer.

Arrin scanned the far bank and looked to the bridge. There was no one on the far bank and while he could hear movement on the bridge it was very little, there was no one that he could see from his vantage point. There were just two guards on the far side of the bridge. Normally there would have been a full squad and a few patrolling the bank. He would have seen them, the chaos in the hours before dawn had thrown everything out of wack. Most likely some were still out with the Prince and the rest in the Palace, searching to kill or capture anyone that wasn't on their side. How anyone knew what side anyone was on remained a mystery to Arrin. Madness.

He half pulled himself half swam along the Palace wall being careful to make no splashing sounds. The Princess followed his example moving silently behind him. They made it to the final piece of the wall before they would be completely exposed to anyone on the bridge. They would have to swim to the supports underwater.

Arrin turned to check on Theodora. The water had stripped away most of the waste, there was still a bit here and there but once again she was too beautiful for words. Well, she was too beautiful for any words that he could put together. Someone somewhere at someplace in time might have a chance at describing her beauty, a chance.

Deep brown hair, iris's just a shade lighter than the pupil, strong eyebrows manicured to perfection. Her bright red lips straddling the line between thin and plump, where they fell would depend on the person you asked. For Arrin it was just the right side of plump, they did not pout when her face was relaxed but they did not disappear when she an expression drew them tight. She had a strong nose, one that would have been over large and ugly on a woman without the high cheekbones that it went so well with.

Inside the walls of the Palace, she had seemed tan. Outside in the light of the cold morning and the even colder water of the moat, she was pale though she didn't shiver nor did her teeth chatter.

Her eyebrows inched up and she mouthed the word, "What?"

Damnation, how long had he been staring at her. They were less than a foot apart, the urge to compliment her assaulted him but his good sense played solid defense and knocked it away.

Using his hands he mimed diving under the water pushing off the Palace wall and swimming like a fish to the support beams for the bridge.

Her reply was a single nod and she looked to the bridge.

Arrin submerged himself, planted his feet on the outside Palace wall, and propelled himself forward making for the pillars that held the bridge up.