A Rogue's Restraints

Chapter Four: Hatpin Through the Eye

I suffered another beating today. They can't stand to see the will in my eyes. My Lifefire is strong, but I would never go as far to harness it. Even I know such things are evil, almost beyond mention.

We sat in that booth until the Innkeeper kicked us out of the taproom for the night. But by then we had my plan down concrete, with several details ironed out with Theo and Willa's help. Here was the plan in all its brilliance: Governor Bellamy was having one of his opulent parties in two days' time. We were going to sneak in under the guise of nobleman's children. (Which wouldn't be hard. We had done it before.) I was going to get the house plan of the governor's mansion so we would know exactly where our fancy safe would be. All three of us would also take turns watching the mansion, observing security. 

Theon wanted to wait and observe for one of the parties and then go to the next party in a weeks' time, but I was antsy. We didn't need that long to prepare, and besides, if we went to the parties two times in a row, there was a higher chance of us getting recognized. We would get in, follow the crowd, then slip away when no one was paying attention. Find the safe (it was probably in a study or one of the master bedrooms), unlock it then sneak out (through the servant hallways would probably end up most convenient). It was so simple; it was almost boring. Simple as a hatpin through the eyeball, that is. We all knew by then that we always come up with a plan, and it would eventually go haywire. But hey, that was life for us.

But you're probably wondering, in a core city like this, weren't we on someone else's turf?

The answer is yes and no.

The main part of Bellamy was Kandon the Kruel's territory. (No, nobody had told him cruel isn't spelled with a 'k'. Would you? Just because a man can't spell doesn't mean he can't break all the little bones in your fingers.) However, only an idiot would claim the noble estates as their territory.

Yup, that's us. The idiots. At least, temporarily. Though Theo would argue that the idiocy was a quite severe and permanent condition inflicted by me.

Noble neighborhoods (which were only in the Viscera) were considered "neutral" by the codes. It really was every man for himself. There were very few places considered neutral. The largest area being the city state of Acantha. Acantha was basically the capital of the world, at this point in time. It was supposed to be a safe place for all kinds of people. What an error they made in that ideal. It basically meant the rich were mostly safe while the underground ran amuck.

Point was I did extensive research over our two valuable preparation days and had made double sure that we were not going to run into any surprises, or inadvertently break any of the codes during our planned exploits.

***

Two days later, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror (mirror was a loose term. It was just a polished slab of steel.) adjusting my disgusting outfit for the night.

It was the perfect outfit for a gentleman, with a few modifications, of course. We had sold the urn and gotten quite a bit of money for it. The late governor now rested in some random flowerbed we found on the way to the pawnshop.

We had enough to buy all three of us appropriate outfits for the party according to Bellamy fashion, which is grotesque and unaccommodating, by the way. How did people stomach being seen in this clothing? I looked at my reflection. I wore a wine-colored silk shirt. The entire front was all lace and frills. I didn't know much about fashion, but even I could tell that the color clashed terribly with my blond hair and blue eyes. The high neck of the shirt made me feel like I was being choked. My tight, high-waisted, black pants made me feel exposed and more than uncomfortable. The only tolerable part of the outfit was the leather boots. And even those were going to give me blisters because they hadn't been broken in. I sighed in resignation. At least the loose sleeves hid my arm sheath for my dagger.