The light from the hall blinded Alard, and he had to cover his eyes with the back of his hand. As he glanced out he saw a small shadow rush him, but before he could even raise his hands in defense, the figure was on him. Hugging him?

"Oh, Alard, are you okay?"

"Maela, my dear, I am so happy to see you. Why are you leading this escape? You are supposed to be helping Ralan flee." Alard's heart fell. Oh no. Ralan.

"He's fine," Maela said, letting go of Alard and grabbing his hand. "At least I think he's fine. We came to rescue you." Alard stumbled forward. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. An arrow wound in my shoulder and some bruises, but I've felt worse after Founders Day festivities." Alard laughed, but his deep voice quickly returned to a serious tone. "What do you mean you came to rescue me? Why didn't you flee?" A slight tinge of anger colored Alard's usually kind voice.

"The Guildmaster said that we should make it look like he and his friends freed his friend Raef and you. He wanted to conceal the strength of the guild." Maela tugged on Alard's arm. "It is a good plan, Alard. He's right. This buys us time."

Alard shook his head. "A foolish plan. This was too risky."

"Our new Guildmaster seems to have an affinity for risk." Maela looked over her shoulder. "We need to go Alard. I don't know how much time Ralan has bought us. We can argue over the plan when we are all safe in the Tower."

They marched out of the cell, and although he held his tongue, Alard was alarmed at how things had gone. If Ralan were captured and killed, the Council would certainly name a friend of Larsen's as Guildmaster Thief, and that would create chaos in the Old Quarter. The risk was unacceptable. Better Alard die than make this silly escape attempt while hiding the Guild's involvement.

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"Hold," Alard said. Maela stopped and looked back as Alard removed the sword and white cloak of the guard. "No hood. Let's hope that most of the young knights have forgotten me and my past in this accursed guild." Alard suddenly noticed that there was no blood on the robe. "You didn't kill him?"

"I was following Ralan's plan. The smart thing would be to kill him. So I made it appear we didn't know what we were doing." Alard nodded. Ralan is resourceful and not afraid of risks, a good combination for a thief.

There was no cleaning up Raef. He was bruised and dirty and looked like a prisoner. Maela whispered the plan as the three of them walked up the catacombs staircase. Alard had to struggle not to scream over its idiocy. We are to run out, jump on horses, and just ride to the Tower?

But a crazy thing confronted him as they exited the catacombs. The entire Knight Tower appeared in disarray. Knights were everywhere, but they were all running toward the front of the Tower. Alard looked at Maela, who appeared stunned.

The three of them walked right out the front door of the Tower without anyone giving them a second glance. The only problem was that the wagon with their escape horses was surrounded by knights.

As they approached, the wagon master was waving his hands, clearly distraught. "He stole my horse! The thief stole my horse!" He caught Alard's eye and quickly shook his head. Alard took a hard left, and he, Maela, and Raef crossed the Circle and entered the Flats.

"Did you see that there were only three horses?" Maela whispered. Alard nodded. Ralan escaped. Against all odds, he did it. He couldn't hold back his smile as he said, "We need to find a safe house."

[https://i.imgur.com/Xqgb2MS.jpeg]