Donner and Thalia: A Thief in the Night (Episode 2)

Chapter 5

5.

With her Uncle hopefully gone and her left alone again, Thalia changed out of her dress and back into her regular clothes before joining her mom. She was hard at work stitching an order of work clothes for some of the town's farmhands.

"Oh, dear, how does the dress fit," she smiled, "It's going to look amazing on you, oh, you and Donner are going to have so much fun at court. You must be so excited, getting an invitation to the castle. I always knew that nice Donner boy would bring you more fun than you would know what do with," She said, putting her tools down.

"Yes, mother, I love it. It really is nice," she took a seat across from her mom. "Mother, I need to know about Uncle Emerson," she bit her lip, knowing that her mother's brother was a sensitive subject for her.

"I know how much you know about his employer," Alice said, taking a deep breath, knowing it may be time to finally have this conversation with her daughter.

"The Guild," Thalia said, "Yes, mother, I know," she nodded.

Alice put her work down, she closed her eyes for a second and mentally prepared herself, "Things were hard for us growing up, Emerson was all I had. I know on the surface he shows this arrogant and boastful confidence, I see how it's off-putting. But I promise you, underneath that, there is a caring man, or at least there used to be. We had to survive alone on the streets growing up, when we lived in the slums around Castle Whitehaven, the capital city in the north. He was always a master at the Illusion school. It started innocently enough, running grifts, three-card monte, scams on tourists, it was actually kind of fun watching him work," she smiled, then looked away, her face showing she was about to remember hard times, "Then a bad winter came. He came back to our hovel one night with a great goose, one of the biggest I've ever seen. It had to have been the best meal I could say I've ever eaten. He didn't tell me where he got it, and I didn't have to ask. He stole it. I didn't ask any questions about the food and goods he started to bring us. I was so cold and so hungry. Eventually, he was caught, not by a shopkeeper or a constable, but by a member."

"Of the Guild?" Thalia asked.

"Yes, he didn't have to steal, at least not for us anymore. All he told me was that he had gotten a job. I didn't ask many questions. I knew enough, despite not wanting to know."

"Why has he been teaching me these skills? All those games of illusion growing up, I thought they were just fun games. I was so stupid," Thalia asked, looking at her hand.

"Because he sees potential in you, you're special. You deserve a life better than a humble single seamstress could offer you. It's his way of trying to help you, giving you a way to find a career if you ever needed gold. The Thieves Guild really isn't as bad as the stories make them sound. Those stories are part of how they operate. They like that it's believed that the kingdom has in their employ a group of silent assassins that can dispatch an enemy at a moment's notice."

"But they steal, they kill," Thalia said.

"Only for the greater good," she said. "At least that's what they fought for years ago."

"You said they're employees of the kingdom, I thought they were independent, taking contracts from anyone who will pay, and Emerson told me they don't even pay taxes for their work," Thalia said.

"Things have changed with the Guild, they started as the espionage branch of the Kinleath military, all the way back in the last days of the Elven War. Though as time went on, and their power grew, they became somewhat more independent, working on contract rather than duty. They officially became an independent organization after the war with Diritan. They now work on contract with the government of Kinleath," Thalia's mother said before going back to her work.

"And every other government or anyone who will pay them," Thalia said, "Not exactly Knights, are they?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Their work can seem unscrupulous, but most of it is necessary in its own way." Thalia's mother put her needle down and reached over to take her daughter's hand. "Just don't go thinking I'd be over the moon if your uncle actually convinced you to join, despite whatever talent he thinks you have for it," she smiled.

"Yeah," she shook her head, "I don't want to be in the Thieves Guild, why would anyone want to be," she took a deep breath and sighed. "So, what are we having for dinner?"

"Well, we're a little short on meat, so I guess cabbage stew again won't be so bad, I got some seasonings from the market, should be good."

Cabbage stew, again. Thalia's mouth pursed. No meat, again. It seemed the only time she had meat in her meal was when Donner bought the gang a round of Rabbit Stew at the Dapper Space, that stew was so good, Thalia felt a little bad for always taking a bit more than her own share, but the boys never called her out on it. She took a deep breath, "That should be fine. I'll be sure to bring you something nice from the Court when I get back tomorrow," Thalia said, putting a smile back on. "I'm going to go make sure my dress is hanging right, don't want to go to court covered in wrinkles," she said, getting up.

"Sounds good, oh my little girl is going to court, you're going to have such a great time," Thalia's mom smiled, putting her hand to her heart.

"Yeah, I think I will, mother," she nodded and went back to her room. Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She considered if she was really going to do this. She reached for parchment and quill and wrote out a message to be sent by Pigeon. As her Uncle told her, the pigeon network was under constant inspection by the guild. And if she sent a message, the word would surely get to the guild.

She wrote out asingle sentence, one that would let her Uncle know everything he needed toknow, "The Little Fox is going to the Hen House."

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