Benj walked into the thief's dinner hall, hand in hand with Lucia, earning odd looks from Pots and Jafa. The table was set with roasted lamb, potatoes, and two golden brown loaves of bread. Benj went to sit down, but Lucia pulled him back with a slight shake of her head. Looking around, he noticed no one was sitting.

Lucia put her hand to Benj's ear and whispered, "Technically, we have to wait for the head of the table to sit first; right now, that's Draiden and Priest."

"What are you two love birds whispering about?" Jafa asked from across the table.

"I was just telling him how much I love him," Lucia said, pulling Benj's arm closer to her. "I didn't think you guys wanted to hear all that stuff."

"Oh, we love hearing that stuff," Jafa said, elbowing Pots. "In fact, I have a secret too," leaning to pots ear, whispering, "pst pst pst pst" and then giggling. The two shared fake whispers to each other and giggled for what seemed an eternity before Priest and Draiden walked in.

"Please, don't wait for us," Priest said, gesturing for everyone to sit down.

After everyone was seated, Draiden spoke, "We have some news."

"I got some news too, but it's a secret," Jafa said, once again making whisper noises in Pots' ear and then laughing with him.

"We have a job tonight," Priest said, looking troubled.

"A little short notice, huh?" Jafa asked. "I could have been two sheets to the wind already. Luckily, I'm only one sheet in the wind. Pots here is a sheet and a pillowcase."

Pots agreed. He didn't speak often, but whenever he did, it was never remarkable.

"Darius called us in tonight," Priest said solemnly. "He said some noble was caught trying to sneak into the queen's chambers." He paused for the reaction.

Draiden jumped in, "If anyone was wondering, it didn't go well for him, and now his place is up for grabs. Who's in?"

"I'm up for a little fun," Jafa said and asked, "Who is he anyway? That sounds like something Pots would do."

"His name is Thomas Fralvais or something like that," Draiden answered.

Pots whispered noises into Jafa's ear.

"Sugar balls says he's in," Jafa announced, wiping his ear off.

Lucia looked at Benj and said, "I'll go where you go, my love."

"We're in," Benj said, flushing.

The table sat in silence as they watched Benj try to stop Lucia from serving him. Finally, Benj took the serving utensils away from her and began serving her.

"Is that enough for you, my heart?" Benj whispered.

"Yes, dearest," she said and then spoke in a lower voice. "Nice one. Have you been thinking about that all day?"

"You know me too well," he cooed back at her.

Priest cleared his throat, "I uh," he started to say but decided not to bother with it. "Oh, never mind."

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The sun was almost behind the mountains as Captain Castor made his way through the city streets carrying a black leather bag. He dodged through an alleyway, scaring off a few ragged-looking youths playing dice. Taking a quick glance to ensure no one was watching, he reached into his bag and pulled out a black hooded robe. Quickly as he could, he donned a robe, fastened it in place, and lifted the hood over his head to conceal his identity.

He picked up the bag and continued walking, making his way through dark alleys and darkening streets until stopping in front of an unlabeled door between a butcher's shop and an apothecary. He opened the door inward to find an empty hallway that reached for a red door beneath shadows of stone walls and a dark blue sky. He passed through the red door to find similar hoods sitting around a long table; only half of the members had arrived. Without a word, he sat down at the table and waited.

Chairs slowly filled up as more silent, hooded people entered, including a man who did not match the others. Instead of dark robes, he wore a dirty apron, and instead of a hood, he wore a brown wash towel over his head. No one spoke. Only eleven people were accounted for, and one chair remained empty.

The people sat patiently for as long as they could before Wash Towel said, "Shall we just begin then?"

There was a general agreement from around the table.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Is anyone here for the first time?" The leader asked. When no one responded, he removed his hood. After a moment, the hoods all came off, reveling faces lit by the soft yellow light of candles. "Terrence, where is your robe?"

"Some of us work for a living, your historyship," Terrence said bitterly, taking the cloth off his head. "I nearly had to kick everyone out of my shop to get here on time, and that's without me having to walk all the way back to my house for a robe. We weren't supposed to meet for another three days anyway."

"Very well," the man at the head of the table said. He was the leader of the overseers. He was also the king's cousin, official historian, and fourth in succession for the throne. The fact that he was the leader of a Crownsmith sect remained a conflict of interest that fascinated Castor to no end. If the man truly wanted to be king, he had all the necessary tools at his fingertips to ensure his position. It was a known fact that Marcus Tal'el did not want any part of the physical throne. He believed he could make more of an impact from a more subtle advantage.

After all, the hoods had come off, revealing the faces of the more secretive faction of the Crownsmith. Marcus cleared his throat. "I called everyone together this evening because Tannus has brought to my attention something alarming. It's something that I've feared would happen for a long time. I was going to have him share more details about it tonight, but it appears he could not join us. I wanted to have this meeting several days ago, but the chancellor's schedule wouldn't permit."

"Maybe he didn't get the invitation?" Mika said with a soft feminine voice.

"I put the black letter in his hands personally," a man said from across the table by the name of Ingot Bracerman. "If he had previous engagements, he would have told me."

"What is the news?" Terrence asked, eager to get back to his shop.

"Our request to clean up Canal Street was poorly received," Marcus announced. "Furthermore, it seems that Darius has abandoned all sense of protocol and has taken his own matters into his own hands. Captain Castor has informed me of the deaths and robberies of several of our city's residences and described his suspicion of Darius. The news from Tannus confirms it. I'm afraid this has all gotten out of hand." "What does this mean for us?" Terrence asked.

"Darius will have to stand in front of the council and answer for what he did. This will most likely result in expulsion from the organization," Marcus said gravely. "He knows this. Historically, those with power do not give it back willingly. So, we have all found ourselves at a crossroads where we will have to turn our heads away or fight him, and he knows that we are not going to turn our heads."

"And yet, the one he would attack first failed to show up this evening," Castor said, realizing the immensity of the situation. "What exactly did Reginald say when you spoke to him?"

Marcus recounted the private conversation with Tannus Reginald.

"I'll set a guard," Castor said before stopping to consider something. "That is if they haven't gotten him already. Sergeant, go find Corporal Key and tell him to assemble the company. Grab as many extras as you can and meet me at the office of investigations, swords at the ready."

"Yes, sir," Sergeant Allister said.

"By your leave, Tal'el," Castor said, waiting briefly at the door before receiving the word to go.

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"How do you feel about children?" Lucia asked passively, brushing the lint off her black garments.

"How do I feel about children?" Benj asked incredulously. "I feel like I'm a flip of a coin away from getting my throat cut out by someone who thinks it's just another day on the job. I'm scared, Lucia. Somehow, I haven't yet come to terms with my own inevitable death. My fate is sealed in a coin that is already in the air."

Lucia walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're all scared, and we all have a decision to make. Are we going to lay there and accept it, or are we going to fight until our very last? When I was scared, I didn't accept anything; I kicked the first man I saw in the balls as hard as I could. Now it's your turn. I hope that helps."

Benj straightened his black tunic and looked in the mirror at himself, "In a strange way, it does kind of help."

"Good," she said. "Now, back to my question."

A knock at the door came, and Lucia jumped into Benj's arms for effect. The door opened, and Draiden addressed them both. "It's time," he said, and without another word, he left.

"I kind of expected some kind of remark from him," Benj said, still in her arms.

"Yeah, I think I prefer serious Draiden," she said, pulling away slightly.

"We should go before…" Benj trailed off.

"Before you decide you want children?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Lucia, what would you do if I told you I started actually liking you?" Benj asked.

"I would be overjoyed by the idea because it would mean your acting skills would improve. In which case, we might actually pull this thing off," she said. "Wait, why? Did you start liking me?"

He smiled and said, "Of course, I like you," tapping the side of his nose with a wink.

"I'm being serious," Lucia said.

Benj walked to the door and opened it with Lucia in tow, calling after him.

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Key had just come up from the bathhouse when a sergeant he had never seen before ran into his room and gave him the message. He was to gather the company and meet at the office as fast as possible he mentioned having to go gather extra support and left.

He quickly dressed in everything but his plate, which he carried down the stairs and set on top of the common room table. He knocked on Trudy's door first, several times in quick succession. The door opened, and a groggy-faced Trudy came to the door.

"Suit up and meet me out here as fast as possible," Key told her. "The captain is mustering us. I think there's some kind of emergency."

Her eyes perked open, and she acknowledged him before slamming the door in his face. He then repeated the process, without knocking, to the other barracks rooms where everyone else slept. He had stood the barracks watch enough times to know where most of them slept.

Some were already awake, others were sleeping. Givens growled at him and then turned over to go back to sleep. Key shook him and then explained the emergency. "There's a good chance you'll get to stab someone," he told him. Givens shot up and started getting ready.

By the time Key had reached the common room, people were starting to arrive, buckling their armor or strapping on their swords. His armor was fully fastened by the time everyone arrived.

Key counted the five others and said, "That's all of us."

"Where's Foiler and Roger?" Givens asked, looking around. "There's someone else missing. Where is everyone?"

"It's a long story," Key said. "But they're not coming. We have to hurry."