Madame Alodia smiled faintly as she lowered her glasses, experiencing only the faintest of dizziness as her perception readjusted back to her natural vision. The glasses were a simple affair, more similar to goggles than anything. Their lack of fashion flare was offset by their sheer usefulness. They had allowed her to watch young Wulfram’s progress through the city, and even witness the rather brutal punch he suffered through the upper window of Mrs. Haversaun’s shop. She smiled, resting the glasses against her lips as she imagined the conversation. Had little Daniella done something naughty with the prince while they were down in those tunnels?

The scandal would be delightful to watch unfold! But oh if only he knew who she really was.... Alodia let out a girlish laugh, and tucked her glasses away. She would have to find out for certain, that kind of secret could grant her a good bit of power, which would be good for business.

This whole affair had the potential to be good for business, unfortunately, it also had the potential to be very bad for business. So much hinged on two young, hormonal children.

Alodia turned away from Mrs. Haversaun’s, stepping down through the hatch that led to her office. It drifted close behind her, locking with a sharp click as it closed. She had played a game of secrets and half-truths for so long now that she had gone from a simple thief and spy, to head of the thieves guild. Balancing what she shared with what she kept. Why, she even had secrets that were hidden from their owners! The royal family, Reshi, Daniella, they all had secrets they knew nothing about.

Delicate fingers opened the ornate music box on her desk, and she inserted the key, winding it lovingly. A gift from her late husband, who had held the position before her. She smiled and tapped the pair of dancers lightly. He had never thought that she would take over his position.

Really, he shouldn’t have tried to learn her own secrets.

As the pair of dancers started their waltz, the sound of music was joined by the clack of mechanisms beneath the floor. A hatch slid open behind her desk, and she picked up the ornate glowstone from her desk, channeling just a small amount of magic into it to light it up. Unlike the crude rocks Dani had used, Alodia’s glowstone was a work of art: a crystal carved into the shape of a graceful swan, its beak holding a bronze ring gilded with gemstones in the shape of flowers. She held it by the ring, heading down the steps into the hatch, which closed behind her as the music box wound down.

She made her way through tunnels that years of smugglers and pirates hard carved out beneath the city as they sought treasure or ways to move illegal goods without the attention of the guards. She was one of those few people who knew them well, at least the upper levels. She had to wonder if the gutsy little thief knew them better. It wasn’t a thought Alodia cared for, knowledge of the tunnels was one of the ways she kept power in the thieves’ guild. It was one reason she didn’t want Dani and the prince getting close, he would want the secrets of the tunnels.

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Alodia followed the path to the thieves guild flawlessly, her feet tracing each curve of the tunnels, each split in the path as if she were following steps in a well-known dance. Eventually, they led her to the great hull of a ship that had been mostly buried before it had ever had a chance to sail, back when the cliff had come down on the city. A grin crossed Alodia’s face as the sound of laughter and music met her ears, and she allowed herself to pick up the pace. The tunnel ended in a wooden door, which she opened, stepping out onto the long balcony that ran around the inside of the ship.

She took a moment to marvel at the builders who had made the ship, either dead or too old to care about their artistry. The hull had stood up to the falling dirt and rocks better than most buildings, creating a perfect place for the thieves of the city to gather and trade tales of daring jobs, or spend their ill-gotten money. They were her people, those that Lord Roderick and Lady Orlaith looked down upon so vehemently. The ones that scraped a living out any way they could, even if it meant stealing, fighting, or whoring.

Alodia moved along the balcony to stand beside an older man that was already leaning against the railing, his large hooked nose slightly crooked from a fight long ago. “What word, old Crow?”

The man looked at her, the right side of his face heavily scarred, the eye long gone and replaced with a polished stone that seemed to drink in the light. “Many words, some useful. Others nonsense.”

Alodia laughed and accepted a bottle from a passing man. “Tell me the useful ones. You can keep your nonsense.”

The man let out a snort, but smiled his twisted smile and took a swig from his own bottle. “Reshi came by last night.”

“Oh did he now?” She said mildly, and cut the wax seal on her own bottle. She worked the cork loose. “Odd. I do believe he’s retired, something about a curse I believe.” It was an open secret, not like who placed the curse on him, which was her secret to keep or share as she saw fit. The tale was a cautionary one, not nearly so old or bloody as some.

“Aye, but he took in a girl. Trained her to steal.”

Oh Crow, how clever he was. Far too clever perhaps, but he was also so useful to keep around. “So he did. And I don’t believe she ever joined the guild, a pity that. Reshi was one of the greats.”

She smiled fondly as she thought of Reshi in his younger, wilder days. He had done a little bit of everything, had even sailed the seas with the Sharks. “Aye. An’ the girl seems to be makin’ the same mistakes he did. Trying and failing to steal what she shouldn’t.”

Far too clever indeed. Alodia narrowed her eyes slightly. Crow smirked at her, his single eye gleaming.

“Well, she’s young, young people do foolish things.” She relaxed her face into a smile and took a sip from her bottle as if she were drinking from the finest crystal wine glass. “Still, I do believe we’ll need to give her a talking-to, don’t you agree?”

“Aye, that I do. Will ye be confronting her yerself? Or should I have one of the others bring her in?”

Alodia made a show of thinking, tapping the bottle to her lips lightly. Then she smiled. “Have Fawn bring her in for a chat. I see no reason to be rough with her. Not yet anyways.”

Crow nodded and made his way down the stairs and through the throng of people below. None in the crowd hindered his progress to the exit, quite a few quickly stepping out of his way. Alodia watched him go with a small frown.

He could be trouble.