Raef was petrified when the first Knight stopped them. What if he one-handed a few books, and those books contained the secret of the Thieves Guild? And if they were stopped a few times, and each Knight took a few books? By the time they returned to the Thieves Tower, he would have nothing left to research.

“Hold!” A Knight held up his hand as Tillson attempted to navigate down the Throughway past the Green Belt and to the Great Bridge. Raef’s heart fell.

“State your business,” the knight exclaimed as he eyed the wagon up and down.

“Guildmaster Larsen has cleared out one of the rooms in the basement of the Tower, and we are to take this junk to the Old Quarter and dump it.”

Raef was shocked at Tillson’s words. Why would he state something so easily proven false? The books were out in the open and easy to see in the back of the wagon.

The guard looked in the back of the wagon, grabbed some books, and then tossed them further into the back of the wagon. He moved some more books. Ralan’s heart fell. Was the guard looking for the most valuable books to one-hand?

“All you have is books?” The guard sounded disappointed, almost angry. Tillson nodded. “Bah. Come back when you have something valuable.” The guard waved them on, leaving all the books where they lay.

When they were out of earshot, Raef exclaimed, “He didn’t take any books!”

“Of course not. I doubt there’s a Knight in Ness that even knows how to read.”

“But certainly he knows that they have value.”

Tillson laughed. “Books have no value to anyone but you, Raef. They are more likely to be effective kindling than a way to learn.”

Raef shook his head, not quite believing Tillson’s appraisal of the value of the books. Certainly, Raef knew from his experience in the Flats that no one read books and that books pretty much didn’t exist outside the library, where they were nothing but a curiosity, but he still considered that the historical value would generate some attention, if nothing else.

Yet as they were stopped again and again, the Knights who stopped them muttered in disappointment and let them pass without one-handing a single book. By the time they reached the Great Bridge, Raef was downright angry.

“Don’t they realize how important these books are? These may contain the secret to everything.”

“They clearly don’t, and let’s be thankful for that.”

“You are right.” Raef sighed. “I will be more thankful, however, once I’m in my library and looking through these pages.”

The crowds had thinned to barely a trickle, and it was an easy ride across the bridge and through the Old Quarter. Raef watched as many people in green tunics and robes wandered around. Some were doing domestic duties, falling into the normalcy of gathering water, going off for food, and running various errands. Others were out discovering their new home, looking at every building with looks of awe or curiosity. Couples walked hand-in-hand, making the best of their sad situation.

It wasn’t until the road curved toward the Thieves Tower that those dressed in Black started to become more numerous, although there were Harvest Guild members even as they approached the Wall, far from the Great Bridge.

Raef squinted into the distance. It was astonishing how well hidden the Thief Tower was, its black rock blended so well with the mountain behind it that even this close he had to look twice to clearly see its outline.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They pulled up to the Tower, and one of the stable boys came out. As he untethered the horse, Raef walked back to look at his books. He picked one up and couldn’t believe the title—The Baros Treaty. He had read bits and pieces about the treaty in other books. It was a treaty between Gaotteland and Ness, but he didn’t know much more than that.

Paging through the book, Raef found chapters on its effect on trade, its lasting impact on the State Guild, and even at the back a complete copy of the treaty itself. Putting the book down, he grabbed another. The Guildmaster Thief, which was a book that had a chapter on every Guildmaster Thief, going back to the guild’s origin. He turned to the front, and there was the first Guildmaster Thief, a woman named Cora, who wore a long ethereal red dress, one that looks like it was made of liquid cloth.

Red? Raef was about to start reading when Tillson cleared his throat. “Sir, I have help here to take the books up to the library. Do you want to rest or get some dinner while we carry them?”

“Yes. That’s a good idea.” Raef placed the book back with the others. “Please take great care. These are extremely valuable. There is a shelf to the rear on the left side of the library. I’ve left it empty for these books.” Raef looked over the pile in the wagon. “But there are more than I anticipated. So if there are more than fit on the shelves place them on my work table.”

“As you wish, sir.”

Raef went off to the Tower kitchen. He was suddenly very hungry, and he wanted to build up as much energy as he could. He anticipated not sleeping for a long time.

As he walked into the library, it was clear that those storing the books had no understanding of organization. Large and small books were next to each other, and the topics were ignored, with no order at all. A group of books that looked more like accounting records were next to thick books on masonry.

Raef decided that the first thing he had to do was organize the books, so that his studies could be more efficient. In addition, he could get a better idea as to what treasures he had as he went through them and placed them on the shelves.

The first thing that struck him was the enormous variety of the books. He couldn’t figure out Pietro’s method for deciding which books to keep with him and which to leave back at the Thieves Tower. There were books on science—weather patterns, the stars in the sky, minerals, books on crafts and design—clothes, boats, and weapon-crafting, and even books on the flora and fauna of the hills and mountains.

Most of the books, however, were nothing more than accounting ledgers, with detailed accounts of everything the Thieves had stolen, and where they were distributed. Dozens of books going back centuries with thousands of lines with a date, what was stolen, and what it was used for.

Raef took a glance at the final book, which had entries up until Pietro’s death. It was empty from that date onward, and Raef put the book aside to give to Ralan. He knew Ralan would continue the practice, if for no other reason than to honor his dozens of predecessors.

Thinking of Ralan’s predecessors brought Raef’s attention back to a stack of books that he had put aside on his work table as important and worthy of immediate attention. There were about a dozen books, and they included books of maps, missing histories, detailed descriptions of foreign cities, and a book titled Guilds of Ness, which included an overview of important guilds that Raef had only seen mentions of, including the State Guild.

But there were three books that he was most interested in reading. One was the previously examined Guildmaster Thief—the biographical history of every Guildmaster Thief. To Raef’s shock, he saw that it was written by Pietro, himself. The second book was a book entitled A History of Norania and Surrounding Lands. The first two pages were a spread of a map of the land surrounding Ness. It extended further to the north and south than the other map he had seen. The final book was the one he planned to tackle first: It was the one book he had wanted more than any other, and here it was in his hand:

The Origins and Mission of the Thieves Guild

Raef wanted to relish opening the book. He called down for wine and a fresh candle while he finished filing the other books, many of which drew his attention. It was a wealth of information he doubted he could get through in a full year.

Finally, he sat down in his favorite reading chair, took a long drink of wine, and opened the book. The first page was a short introduction, written by some Guildmaster Thief that Raef had never heard of. The first line confirmed every unconscious suspicion Raef had about his guild, and it was still so shocking he almost dropped the book.

The Thieves Guild was born the day the Magic Guild died.