Chapter 2

I woke to the morning traffic and got up. I refilled my pouch with silver before looking around. I emptied the shelves on one side of the room and used them to climb to the ceiling. I pushed open a trapdoor and climbed up into the archer’s perch. I turned and pulled the heaviest chest up before sliding it into a corner. I did the same for the smaller chest and then the merchant’s chest. I closed the trapdoor as I climbed down and put everything back onto the shelves.

I grabbed a few small spice pouches and slipped out to make my way towards the marketplace. Like the morning before, I gathered the homeless lingering around the marketplace and fed them. The city was alive with guards, and everyone was talking about another robbery, this time in the retreat. At noon, I bought a huge cauldron and a sack of vegetables before heading towards the city commons.

It almost seemed like they were waiting for me. A few of the older boys held the cleaned and skinned bodies of snakes. I got a young girl to start bringing water to fill the cauldron while setting it down and dumping the vegetables. Two women got a fire going for me while a couple of men made a tripod to hang it. One at a time, I cut the snakes up and tossed them into the water.

The women gathered and started cutting the vegetables while I brought out the pouches of spice and set them out. It was not long before the aroma of the cooking filled the commons. I handed a young man a few silvers, “Take a couple of boys with you and buy a sack of rolls and another sack of vegetables.”

He hesitated and then nodded before slipping away with two younger versions of himself. The few guards that came through looked but ignored us. As the day wore on, even more people appeared to be fed. An older woman and her husband stayed nearby. I spoke with them and found out they were turned out because they could not pay the king’s taxes.

That was the theme as I talked to others. When the cauldron emptied, we refilled it, and several young men were always hunting snakes as they lay out sunning. As evening slowly approached, the large crowd slowly began to slip away. I had one young man hide the cauldron before leaving. I slipped into the gatehouse silently and lay back on my bed to relax.

I woke at the tolling of the midnight bell. I slipped out the catwalk and quietly crossed the bridge. The guards seemed more awake tonight as I slipped out the door and moved down the shadowy wall. I was back fifteen minutes later with the heavy, waterlogged chest. After closing and locking the door, I moved up the stairs and out the catwalk door. I carried the chest down to the first floor and set it on its side to drain.

I slipped out the door and used the small, dark lantern to move away from the river. I stayed in the shadows and used alleys to move across the city. The large manor I was heading for stood against the outer wall. I entered using the side entrance and crossed the yard and tried the side door; it was locked. I moved to the trestle covered with ivy and slowly climbed up.

I climbed onto a second-floor balcony and moved to the door. It opened smoothly, and I crossed the room as the occupant continued to sleep. I moved through the house quietly until I came to the large door into the attached warehouse. I pulled a thin, bladed knife and went to work on the ancient lock. A moment later, it was unlocked, and I opened it and slipped in.

I stood still and listened for a long time before turning and heading towards the back. The office had a large oak drop bar with locks on both ends securing the door. The merchant had a bad habit of using old, ancient locks. I pulled the small steel cheater bar I had taken from a fighter right after I had returned to the city. I slipped it inside the locking bar and twisted.

I dropped the lock and moved to the other one. A moment later, I lifted the bar and carefully set it aside. I entered the large office and crossed to the other door. Inside the inner office, I found the heavy money chest with its lock open. I set the lock on the desk before lifting the lid on the chest. I closed it and picked it up. I went back through the warehouse but left out the side door that had been locked.

I moved back across the city using the alleys. Inside the gatehouse, I climbed up and moved everything off the shelves and lifted the chest up to the archers’ perch. I pushed the chest into a corner and went to bed. I woke early and climbed out of bed, stretching. Today was laundry day, and I stuffed my dirty clothes into a sack.

Downstairs, I righted the chest of copper and brass coins before filling a large purse with them. I fed a small crowd at the sausage stand again and then headed to the cleaning lady that did my wash. After I dropped the dirty clothes off, I went back to the marketplace.

I bought tubers and other green vegetables as well as a large sack of bread. When I arrived at the commons, they already had the cauldron over a small fire. During the day, I listened to gossip that said the king was sending his militia into the street to patrol at night. The two merchants were practically begging their patrons for funds to continue their business. I heard about Baron Gregory offering to finance both merchants for sixty percent of their businesses.

It was a relaxed, jovial commons with women and children moving around and men talking in small groups. I spoke with a few of the men about a carting business now that Merchant Harris was out of business. I gestured around at everyone, “We would have plenty of people willing to work.”

They looked at each other and finally nodded. I looked around, “Does anyone know of a large, empty warehouse?”

A short, grey-bearded man grinned, “Yes.”

I smiled as I stood, “We need to find some carts and wagons.”

They nodded and turned to other men while I headed out of the commons. I used the back alleys and was careful when I slipped around by the river and into the gatehouse. I used a large pouch and filled it with a few gold pieces and a lot of silver. When I met the other men in the commons, it seemed as if the air was alive with hope.