The rest of the evening had turned out to be a bit of a bore. Once the fancy toffs had finished up with their auction, the excitement of the event largely seemed to peter out. A few of them were still congrugating in the ballroom, smoking and drinking and showing off. At least Jormir hadn’t made him wait on them. With that, Zach thought his time as a bloody dogsbody had come to an end.

But, worse yet, it turned out the wait staff were then expected to play ‘maid’ to the nobles who were staying the night at the mansion.

Which was how Zacharias found himself dredging along, half-buried in silk sheets. Only the best for the rich tossers, he sneered to himself. Still, it was in the back of his mind to perhaps rob one for himself. The diminutive lover could imagine how the soft, silky feel would appeal to the women he liked to bring back to his place on an evening.

More importantly though, was that Zach was currently bringing this load of overly indulgent cloth straight to Count Kalisz’s guest bedroom. He hadn’t seen head nor tail of Winifred for too long now, and frankly, he was concerned she’d somehow fucked this all up. She was supposed to alert him if something had gone tits up but…what if she couldn’t? The Purene Ruby was going to be the biggest score of his life. He wasn’t about to let some drug-addled pit fighter fuck it up.

Ignoring all the fancy decorations adorning the hallways of the mansion, Zach quickly found himself standing before Kalisz’s door. One deep breath later, and the nimble fingered thief was ready to spin a web of woe if needed, to make sure Winnie got out alright. And perhaps more relevantly, that the Purene Ruby got safely into his pockets.

As he reached up for the knocker, Zacharias stifled a curse as he realized it was positioned too high for any self-respecting Halfling. Shrugging, he kicked the door twice, and waited patiently.

It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps approaching, so he was ready with a smile when the door swung open to reveal the older nobleman.

“Room service!” Zach said glibly, stepping through the doorway without waiting for a response. A quick look around revealed everything in order, which was promising for the undercover pit-fighter's health.

Less promising was the fact Winifred was nowhere in sight, though perhaps she was in the midst of doing the hand-off now, and she hadn’t had the time to let him know?

Stepping up to the bed, Zach held the sheets to his chest for a moment as he thought things through. Dropping them in a bit of a clump, the Halfling admitted to himself that he hadn’t the faintest idea of how to prep a room, much less to a nobleman’s standard. Was he supposed to actually make the bed? Because fucked if he knew how to do that. When he was at home, Zach pretty much chucked his blankets in whatever way they felt comfortable and pounded them into submission until they felt right.

But Winifred clearly wasn’t around so he figured he didn’t need to worry about it. Jormir could go fuck himself if he had anything to say about it. Or, Zach thought with relish, he could just smack him straight in his smug face. The dickhead had certainly earned it.

The Halfling grinned to himself at the though of Jormir’s nose becoming an impressive scarlet fountain and turned to head to the door, only to find the Count standing directly behind him with a curious look on his face.

“I saw you on the ballroom, did I not?” The older man questioned, looking down at Zach intently. “You certainly have a memorable visage, after all.” He added. The older man's eyes roved up and down Zach’s body. There was something about his expression that instantly made Zach suspicious.

Nodding swiftly, Zach stepped around the Human quickly before responding. “Yes, I’ve been working for most of the evening, so I’m not surprised you remember me.” He replied. “I’m actually about to clock off for the night so…”

As Zach went to pass him by, the Count stepped behind the Halfling and placed his hands on Zacharias’ shoulders.

“How…opportune,” The Count crooned. “My, you must have had quite the tiring evening. Perhaps you’d like to spend the rest of the night relaxing with me... I’m sure your supervisor would understand. I have plenty of brandy and some of the finest cigars Dray’Mel has to offer. We can unwind, really relax together...”

Grimacing slightly, Zach was quick on the uptake. Honestly, the implication wasn’t something he minded, though he hardly thought spending the night with the Count would look great once he realized the artifact he’d purchased had gone missing. But then, there was always a more permanent solution to that problem…

No. He had to make sure that none of his cronies had fucked up. The thief wouldn’t feel satisfied until he'd caught sight of the ruby and was able to reach out and touch it.

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Turning to decline the offer, Zach was cut short as the Count let out an appreciative noise, obviously sensing his unwillingness. “You’ll be compensated more than fairly for your time. After all, I’ve never been with someone so… unique looking.”

He tried to swallow the surge of rage that suddenly rose up in his stomach. Zach absentmindedly touched his scars as he continued to face away from the Count. “To be clear, you’re hitting on me for my looks,” Zach replied in a deceptively calm voice.

In his mind’s eye he could hear her voice. She wasn’t one of the Denmother’s. Oh no. That would’ve been shitting on your own doorstep. She was some random woman he’d picked up at the docks… new to the game… she’d barely charged him anything.

“Oooh I ain’t never ‘ad anyone who looked like you,” She giggled, flipping back her blonde hair and smirking at him. She pocketed the coins he’d handed over. “I bet you can’t get it without paying for it…”

New to the game. And now she was dead….

Zach felt hands land on his shoulders and squeeze the tightly knotted muscles. Count Kalisz let out a hearty chuckle. “Well, it’s not everyday someone would appreciate your handsome features, that’s for sure. Perhaps you can tell me the story of how you got the scars, and we can do a little… roleplay.”

Pausing for a long moment, the Halfling momentarily relived more memories. This time of Sykes’ lair…the cold stone of the dungeon floor. The stench of blood and stale urine hanging in the air causing a cloying, almost suffocating feeling. He could feel his throat begin to close up, his stomach undulating as hot bile shot into his mouth. The pain. The fear. He’d been helpless.

He felt the hot knife drag across his skin, he was on fire. Every inch of his body. He wanted to scream out. He felt his face split open, warm blood running down his cheeks and staining his lips. The taste was in his mouth once more. The disgusting taste of his own failure.

He was frozen in time for a moment, feeling the anger bubbling up inside of him and threatening to come out the way it had with the slapper from the docks.

He tried to picture the artifact, the big score. A coin purse brimming over. He focused on these images until they became clearer in his mind’s eye.

He was a professional, and he knew any outburst would only make him a target of suspicion when the Purene Ruby was found to be missing. He would simply agree to the foolish noble’s request, but look for a chance to slip away cleanly. For once he would take the path of least resistance. Plus, if he was able to grab some coins or one of the signet rings on the fool’s fat fingers, all the better for him.

“Of course I'd be honoured to accompany you for the night, Count Kalisz. Shall I retrieve us some wine first, compliments of Lord Casey?” Zach replied, his best supercilious smile on his face.

Strangely, he was met with silence. The hands on his shoulder’s gripped tighter, before releasing him.

Turning to face the Count, Zach was blindsided by a sudden heavy blow across the face, leaving him sprawling backwards. Blinking away spots from his eyes, Zach narrowed his eyes at the Count who loomed above him with a wild grin across his face.

“Oh, Lord Casey has already given me his compliments. I do so love his Auctions, not for the Artifacts or the Ball, but for these lovely nights.” Reaching down beneath the ornate bed, Count Kalisz pulled out a length of rope. “Feel free to scream for a Guard, I’m afraid the room has plenty of wards to keep the sounds… contained.”

Both men stood staring at each other for a long moment, the Count clearly relishing the feeling of power he was experiencing… until Zach tilted his head back and began laughing uproariously. A look of confusion crossed the older Human’s face, before he snarled in unbridled rage.

“What in the Hells are you laughing at, you little shit.”

Still struggling to hold back his snorts, Zacharias gestures broadly around the room. “I just can’t believe how bad your luck is mate. Trust me, you couldn’t have picked a worse target for this little stunt of yours.”

“How about this”, the Halfling chortled. “You back the fuck off, and I let you go about your disgusting way with your bollocks still attached?”

Eyeing each other up and down, The Count was nearly busting a blood vessel as he stared at his ugly target. “Don’t be so confident, Halfman. I’ve picked up quite a few Artifacts from my visit here, and they're more than enough to handle the likes of you.”

A twist of the Count’s mana, and an infusion of power to a ring on his finger resulted in electricity sparking along the man’s left arm. For a brief moment, Zach thought the fool had attacked himself, but the swirling energy quickly settled into an oddly beautiful cascade of lightning running down the length of the noble fops forearm. Stepping forward, Kalisz smirked triumphantly before mocking Zach as he licked his lips.

“Has no one taught you to respect your betters, boy? We’ll see if your spine lets you last longer than the last wench I tasted.” The Count crowed, raising his hand high in the air, before swiping downwards as lightning sparked wildly.

Staring up at the Count’s arm, all emotion drained off the Halfling’s face as he coldly stepped aside, Kalisz’ attack being painfully slow to the seasoned fighter's eyes. A quick twist of his wrist deposited the sole knife Zach had brought with him into his palm, and he casually lashed out as a few of the Count’s fingers went flying.

Zach watched the blood splatter across the room with a detached, almost bored expression. For a moment, he’d actually expected something a bit more, but with the ring finger detached, the artifact was quick to peter out and the lightning dispersed harmlessly into the air.

As the noble let out a blood curdling scream, Zacharias shook his head from side to side. Idly prying the magical ring from Count Kalisz’ finger and lifting it up to light, Zach let a feral grin cross his face. “Oh, don’t worry Milord, I’ll give you a night to remember."