Without a King (Greatest Thief 1, mxm)

Part One - The Order - Chapter One

The sun was slipping behind the Cliffs of Loth, casting darkness upon the city of Zianna and making it seem much later in the day than it actually was. Locals called this time the Lothian Dusk, the hours before real dusk settled across the winding streets of the ancient city. It affected the lower city more than the upper, due to narrower streets and the darker stones used to construct the buildings. Foreigners to the city never expected the shadows to arrive so early. They weren't wary of the darkness, as the locals were. 

They never saw me coming.

I pressed myself into a thin crevice between two buildings. Holding my breath, I hoped the shadows were dark enough to conceal me as a couple of guards jogged past. I had just slipped a hefty pouch of coins from a foreign trader. I wanted to pull out the pouch and count my treasure, but I knew better. The guards would be searching the upper city for me, and distracting myself was a poor strategy. Instead, I waited until the guards' footsteps faded away before I made my move.

The upper city was a risky place for me, but the appeal of richer targets always lured me over the high wall that separated it from the lower city. I was one of the few thieves in the city who dared venture its wide streets and smooth walls. The buildings were made of pristine white stone as opposed to the rough, sandy coloured stones I was used to. The walls were smooth and hard to climb. My crevice was no exception, so I had to take the risk and slip out into the street.

Normally, I couldn't even blend in with the people of the upper city. If my clothing didn't give me away, my physical appearance would. I had dark brown hair and eyes, and my skin was the same light brown as the stone walls I often climbed over. Like most of the poorer citizens of Zianna, I was a Native Zian. We were darker than the fair-skinned people from Teltar, who made up most of the upper class. The Telts had taken over Zianna generations before I was born; the fair upper class was all I had ever known. Being used to them didn't stop me from hating them.

I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head, hoping that it would give me a little protection against the suspicious eyes of the people on the streets. My cloak wasn't quite high class, but I'd stolen it from a middle class trader so it looked somewhat respectable. I had to make my way to the wall. Once I crossed over it, the guards would have no chance of finding me. The lower city was my domain; I knew every alley, street, and rooftop.

The shadows grew as I made my way through the cobbled streets. Even the streets in the upper city were made of white stone, designed to remain as light as possible in the Lothian Dusk. It wasn't long before I could see the dividing wall looming over the buildings in front of me. All I had to do was slip through the space between two buildings and climb over the top. I was close to freedom when someone caught my eye. I froze, half of me wanting to continue my escape, the other half needing to go after the man.

He acted like a local, but his clothing made me think he was a foreigner, or maybe from one of the islands. He was wearing a dark green cloak with sliver embroidery, and leading a light grey horse instead of riding it. What really caught my eye was the thick gold ring on his right hand. Jewellery was one of my favourite things to steal. It was usually easy to take—and easy to sell. Merchants all over the lower city would pay good money for it.

I glanced quickly up and down the street. No guards were in sight, so I started trailing behind the strange man and his horse. My moment arrived when he paused in the middle of the street to speak to another man, who had been walking in the opposite direction. I slipped up beside them, using the man's horse to hide me from their view.

"It is good to see you back in Zianna, my friend," the second man was saying.

"It's been a long time," the first man agreed with a friendly nod.