On his table, Sheer had papers strewn all over. With a quill in his hand, he was writing one of his letters. He knew that he had to get alliances who did not even know they were alliances, people that he would screw over the first chance he got, because, well, Sheer was going to be a force on his own, a force that did not need the approval of anyone to be. The crystal sword was all that mattered.

Sitting directly in front of him was the thief that he had met at the prison cell. The man looked impatient and would fidget from time to time just from watching how calm the advisor was. It was almost as if the thief was not in the room with Sheer.

There was a sword just behind Sheer, one that the thief could reach for and slice him through with it. But Sheer's calmness prevented the criminal from doing anything rash. He pulled back his thought. There was no way the king's advisor would be sitting there unprotected. Perhaps, he had a gun under the table since there was no guard in the room.

"Where is the…" the thief started.

Sheer held up his left hand for silence while he continued writing with his right. The man swallowed ad kept quiet Sheer's face was as smooth and innocent as can be. The only thing that looked evil on his body was his goatee. He let it grow long and had cowries intertwined in it. The signet ring on his finger seemed two sizes too big for his lean body, yet the way he moved spoke of too much power.

After about two minutes had passed, he looked up at the thief, his gaze unwavering, his eyes piercing. The thief stared back but got unnerved after a while.

"Well, are you going to say something?" the thief asked.

"What are you called?"

"Gannicus."

"Gannicus, you have failed the first test. You have no patience. You would be easily killed before you can find the crystal sword."

"Tell me where to find it. There is no time, and I would love to return to my freedom."

"I know you would. I would love to stop seeing your ugly, scarred face as well, but I want this to be done as perfectly as possible. Many have failed. What makes you think you can succeed?"

"Well, I penetrated Donne, didn't I?"

"A remarkable feat, but you did not succeed. You exposed yourself in the end and got caught."

"Because I chose to…"

"Because you have no disciple!" Sheer suddenly screamed, getting up and banging his fists on the table.

Gannicus was taken aback. The advisor was mad. One minute, he was gentle and even quiet, the next he was an erupting volcano. Sheer's wild eyes were on Gannicus, burning. He looked like he was a second away from murdering Gannicus. Then someone knocked at the door.

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"Who is it?" Sheer asked, settling back into his seat.

The boy that walked in through the door was a peasant boy with tattered clothes. He had the bright eyes of a hawk and would not stop staring around the room as he came in. Gannicus immediately disliked the boy. He knew their type. They were trained from a young age to be betrayers, people that would give up their flesh and blood for the wicked ruling elite. Gannicus felt a boy like this was the one who spied on him and brought the Donne soldiers in him.

"What do you have for me?" Sheer asked the little boy.

The boy's eyes darted to Gannicus as the boy expressed his discomfort at the presence of the man in the room.

"Don't worry about him," Sheer said. "He won't tell on us."

The boy nodded, looking away from Gannicus back to his master's face. Gannicus felt the need to get up from where he was sitting and leave the room. See no evil, hear no evil, tell no evil. That was the only way one could be free from getting entangled in the plots and machinations of the evil advisor. But he made no efforts to get up from his seat. He knew the advisor would not be pleased.

"I followed the boy knight, the one you asked me to follow."

"Okay?"

"The police chief wanted to see him."

"Really?"

Even Gannicus was interested even though he knew that listening to this might spell his death. He felt he was already dead anyway if he did not do anything about it. He would run away once he steals the crystal sword and sell it to the highest bidder. If he could find out how the sword worked, he could even keep it for himself.

If the sword had half the importance that the advisor had attached to it, then it would be worth something. The Donne was not a house that the crown would like to offend, but they had. They had pulled out one of the Donne's prisoners, a man who made the Donne look like they were stupid, and they were working with that man.

"At first I could not hear what they were saying because they were far away," the boy said. "Then I moved closer and heard them clearly. The knight is not a knight. He is the son of thieves. The two greatest thieves the land has ever known."

"The Mendes," Sheer whispered. He had ordered for their execution himself with the support of the king. They had not been executed in the way he would have loved. They had died on their own terms.

"The chief asked him to leave the palace."

"Will he?" Sheer asked.

"He does not want to."

"He is brave. I give him that. But he is also dull. The birds are flying about the palace and the kingdom, bringing messages to me, and he wants to hide right under our very noses."

Gannicus wondered what this meant for him. Children of great thieves were believed to have inherited their parents' abilities, so much that they were killed the same way their parents were killed. The former king believed he was ridding the land of future criminals in this way.

"Come, go meet the cook and have your fair share of food," Sheer said. "Tell him I sent you."

The boy walked away. Sheer turned back to Gannicus, a smile on his face.

"It seems you will have a competition for the sword," he said.

"This was not part of our agreement," Gannicus objected. He felt like finding the little boy and strangling him. Was there no honor among the peasants?

"There was no agreement. There is only my command and your obedience if you want to live!"

"Is this what you do? Kidnap peasant children and set them against their own?"

"All is fair in love and war."

"The peasants are not even fighting you."

"They will, soon, but they will discover it is of no use."

"This is senseless."

"Mind the way you talk, thief. Thieves are still killed in this part of the city, and the Donnes would love for you to be burnt at stake."

"Screw you!"