Thieves

The Three Thieves

Rowan walked down the street analyzing everyone around her carefully. She had her eye set on a rich looking man, who was wearing a clean suit with a money bag hanging conveniently at his side. She thought about how she should approach and settled on bumping into him.

She walked over to him and stumbled. As she bumped into him she grabbed the items in his pocket, as well as his enticing money bag.

"I am so sorry, sir," she apologized. "My most sincere apologies."

The man grunted, and she hurried away. She slipped into an alleyway and evaluated her spoils. Along with a few coins, there was a small cylinder in the bag. She studied the cylinder and wondered what it was. She looked at the items from his pocket and found identification for a night guard for an inn downtown.

Hurriedly, Rowan stuffed the items into a small pouch that she wore around her neck. Magically enchanted, the bag could hold anything of any size. It was one of her most prized possessions.

Rowan fingered the small silver ring around her index finger. It had been hers since she was a young girl at the orphanage. She remembered the one time she had taken it off, the day she had been kicked out of the school and almost destroyed it.

Rowan thought about how the ring had always seemed just the right size for any occasion. Also, it was an invisible ring to nearly everyone-- everyone except for her.

Rowan was pulled back into reality by the pounding of hoof beats. It was not the sound of Pegasus, but of normal horses. The only people who used normal horses were the king's men. They were here to collect taxes again.

Rowan inwardly groaned, and reached into her bag. She pulled out an old, worn cloak. Pulling the cloak over her shoulders made her look like an old widowed woman. To complete the transformation pulled out a rough wooden cane and hobbled out of the alleyway.

The king's men were patrolling the streets, forcing people to put money in their accursed bag. One of them spotted her and trotted over.

"Taxes for the king," he said gruffly.

Reluctantly, she reached her hand into the small pouch around her neck and pulled out a small handful of a few big copper coins, which were called tris, and a few small copper coins, which were called uns.

The guard held out a money bag, which she reluctantly poured them into.

"Got any more money on you?" he asked.

Rowan slowly nodded.

"Cough it up," the guard barked.

She untied the bag from around her neck and held it over the bag. A few miscellaneous coins fell out.

The guard looked satisfied and walked away to terrorize another person. Rowan inwardly smiled. The bag only dropped out exactly what she wanted it too.

Hastily, Rowan hobbled to her hideout in the Noctis Forest, the forest of the night, so named for all the ferocious creatures that awoke at night.

Rowan had never found these creatures to be harmful though. They respected her and left her and her land alone.

She didn't see this as weird, but if you asked anyone else, they would say that the creatures in the forest were ruthless killers.

Rowan carefully slipped into her small cottage, which was simple, but well suited to her needs. It had belonged to her parents and when they died she inherited the small, one room, sparsely furnished cottage. She reached into the bag around her neck and pulled out a few golden coins, which were called dias. She hid them then walked back out of the cottage.

She hurried back into the town and into an abandoned basement of a big building. Another person was in the room.

"That you Jewel?" Rowan asked. Jewel wasn't the girl's real name, it was a nickname they had come up with as kids. Her real name was Clarice.

"Yeah," Clarice answered as she turned around. She was tall for her youthful age, and was very beautiful. Her golden hair fell to her shoulders, accented by her blue-green eyes.

Rowan studied the area around them, then walked over to a table in the middle of the room.

Another person entered the room, covered by a dark cloak.

"Ace, Jewel, you here?" the newcomer asked. Ace was Rowan's nickname.

"Come on in, Shadow," Rowan invited. Shadow, whose real name was Jen, removed her hood, showing her tanned face and deep blue eyes that turned purple at night. Her small face was framed by her wavy black hair.

The three were soon at the table, pouring over the treasure they had each collected. When the attacks had begun the three girls were orphans and nearly died many times because no one wanted more children to care for. Ever since then, the three had been stealing money from rich people who lived further in the city, where the wolves and other animals did not attack. The stolen money was used to support many people who had taken in orphans or people that needed help.

Rowan made sure not to put the cylinder on the table. She thought of herself as the leader of the group and wanted to learn more about it before she told them about it.

Soon they sorted the money into nine groups, one big, five small, and three even smaller, one for each girl. They each scooped up their spoils and two of the other piles. Rowan grabbed the biggest one.

The three said their goodbyes and rushed off.