Life in a new Kingdom (Original Story)

Chapter 101

Traveling for several more hours on the same road. The sun had begun to set, leaving us with very little light left in the day. Gale raised his hand and ordered us to set up camp. With no inn or place to stay for the night, I volunteered for the first shift. Ivian was staying awake with me while the others quietly went to sleep.

With nothing to do but keep ourselves away, I asked Ivian about the lockpicking lessons if he was still inclined. With his still swollen face, he pulled out his toolkit and revealed his various tools and skeleton keys.

With a glint in his eye, he takes two picks and presents them. "These are a rogue's bread and butter. The only thing we will forever be in love with till the day we die or they break. A standard set of lockpicks can be used on anything with a locking mechanism. So, tonight, I have spare locks I tend to practice on in my bag. They will be good practice and show you how it's done."

Sparkles float across his eyes as he rambles about how wonderful the tools are. Taking a lock from his back, he demonstrated how to use the picks when messing with a lot and taught me all sorts of tips and methods on dealing with any set of locks.

"Time sometimes isn't on your side for such a delicate job. I don't expect you to do anything under pressure as fast as me, but you'll get there. Just know that rushing unnecessarily will lead to wear on the picks and might even break them, which means you are screwed. I always carry a couple of spares, but each one lost is a horrific act. So don't you dare break them in my sight!"

He hands me the tools and relocks the lock so I can work on it. I look at it intently and look for the chambers to fiddle with the picks. When I spot them, I gently push the pins with the picks, feeling out the lock; Ivian stares at me intently. 

"Be gentle!" He screams into my ear. If he was any louder, he could make me deaf.

Ignoring his constant complaints, I slip under the pins, twist the pick to the side, lifting them up, and then turn the other pick to undo the lock, slowly clicking into place as it opens. A sense of weight leaves my shoulders, and I finally take a deep breath. My fingers were aching from holding the picks for so long while trying to do everything right.

Snatching the picks from my hands, Ivian grumbles. "Not bad for a first time, but you spent quite some time trying to figure it out. Taking your time is important, but don't rush ahead when you progress; otherwise, you'll do everything I told you not to."

"You made it a lot easier than it looks." Rubbing my sore fingers as I sit up, I watch as he cleans the picks with a rag before placing them into his bag. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"It's about time we switch to the second group."

"What do you mean we only just-" I stop speaking when my mind finally catches up. The entire time I spent with Ivian figuring out how to lockpick had already been a couple of hours. Ivian talked so much that my attempt on my first lock took much longer than I thought.

"Come on, stop yapping and get Lukia awake. I'll grab Yann." He stretches before softly, shaking the big warrior awake. His snore cut short, causing him to clear his throat before he got up to his feet.

I walked around the nearby tree and spotted Lukia covered with a blanket as she lay still. "M-Mmm..." I stop at the sudden mumbling coming from her lips. "M-Mother..." Ah, that is what it was. She was dreaming about better times before they were ripped away. A sigh escapes my lips. I understand when you have these kinds of dreams. They are unpleasant, and when you wake up, you are in a mass of confusion and hysteria, feeling like trash. 

"Lukia, time to wake up. Your shift is now-" Her slender hand wraps around my forearm as she clutches it closely. A single tear falls across her nose and onto my sleeve. "Please...don't go..." Talking in her sleep, I gently press my fingers along her cheek before reaching her shoulder. With a gentle shake, I say her name to rouse her awake. "Come on, get up."