Secrets in the Snow

Chapter 6

The light of the street lamps did not reach the front door of Stephis Wysawraek's home. The small structure faded away into the background of the cozy cottages and apartments that proceeded the Half-Elf's house. The sun had been gone for hours now, but Shaemus wanted to be absolutely sure that everyone in the den was asleep before venturing off into the night. Gryffell was already suspicious as it was with Shaemus's wandering about. He didn't need to formulate another lie to feed him to keep him off his trail. In all honesty, Shaemus was still having second thoughts about this party even as he stood just outside the chipping wooden door. Every instinct he had told him to abandon this rubbish cause and go back to the life he had been raised to live. Thievery was an art, much like painting or singing, and Shaemus had perfected his craft to compete with the very best. Straying from anything he was good at was unlike Shaemus. However, he had always been a curious lad. His constant hunger for bigger and better things was the constant driving force for why he continued to allow himself to be involved with the likes of Winnie and Stephis.

Despite the alluring factor of the Half-Elf's wild tales about what Shaemus was, the fair-haired boy was still unsure of their insane plan to break into the castle. Had he been in his early teenage youth, Shaemus would have been all for pulling off such an impossible task. He would have taken great joy in stealing the most precious jewels from inside the castle's walls, not for glory or honor, but for the simple satisfaction of being the most feared thief in all of the land. Now that he was beyond his pubescent years, he knew better than to be pridefully naive about the dangers that would follow such a daunting task. Being one of the oldest members in the gang meant Shaemus was a leader. The gang counted on him to devise plans that would bring in great money, and Shaemus always delivered. If a royal guard got the privilege to put a bullet in his brain, what would that mean for the gang? Gryffell was the same age as Shaemus, but both of their knowledge went into running, maintaining, and providing for the gang. If Shaemus was removed from the picture, could Gryffell control the gang by himself, or would the band separate and fall into ruin? That was a question that Shaemus did not want to be answered.

The scurrying of a rodent running past Shaemus's feet made him aware of his surroundings once more. After a slight jump at the startling furry creature, he straightened back up and gave the door in front of him three knocks. The third knock had barely had time to ring out before the door swung open, revealing a smiling young blonde on the other side.

"You're here! Oh, I was worried you wouldn't show," Winnie exclaimed as she pulled Shaemus in for a tight hug, kicking the door shut behind them.

Shaemus stood there awkwardly, patting Winnie's back until she finally let him go, "Don't get too excited. I distinctively remember your letter mentioning drinks, and I am here to try them out."

"Of course, my boy! I made it a point to restock my supplies yesterday. I even remembered your ale," Stephis called out gleefully as he made his way into the sitting room with a bottle in each hand.

The only thing separating the kitchen from the sitting room was a stone bar top with two ancient looking stools placed alongside it. The house was basically one room, besides the upstairs where a pull-down ladder fell down from the ceiling at the pull of a string, leading to where Shaemus assumed was Stephis's bedroom. The sitting room consisted of a small green couch accompanied by a pair of matching chairs on either side of it. A dark coffee table stood adjacent from the couch, leaving just enough space for a person to squeeze between it and the bar top. The larger, but still relatively small, kitchen table was a lighter color wood with four chairs around it, two on each side. The walls were a brownish yellow and without a single picture hung on them. The candlelight made it hard to determine the true color of the bare walls, but it was clear that this Half-Elf didn't care much for elaborate decorating.