“Hear what?” the other guard asked, speaking softly but with wariness in his tone.
“Footsteps.”
“With this much wind and rain?”
“It was faint. Might’ve misheard…”
“Leda going to the bathroom, maybe?” the guard at the window suggested, “want to go check downstairs?”
Oh fuck… If he cos this way…
“Ugh. Don’t bother, Dan, was probably just sothing outside, fucking storm.”
Sofia breathed a silent sigh of relief.
“Right… Weather’s really been going to shit ever since that day, huh.”
I should try to go while they’re busy talking.
“Not just the weather, people are starting to go crazy. Hell, so girl even jumped off from one of the bell towers the other day.”
“Grueso way to go…”
“For sure. Probably one of the farr girls for the south side, I hear the last storm destroyed the fields, we might have a grain shortage next season…”
Sofia quickly peeked at the chatting guard a few tis, they were still in the sa positions as they conversed, one staring at the ceiling and the other one at the storm outside. When she felt confident, she grabbed the ragged hem of her robe and gathered it together so that it wouldn’t hinder her, and sneaked up to the door as discreetly and silently as she could. The carpet in the hallway helped to soften her footsteps, and the light from the guards’ candles barely reached her, but it was still tense as she had nowhere to hide.
Thankfully neither of the guards turned to look in her direction, and she managed to enter the room Pestle had opened for her without being noticed, softly closing the door behind her.
Safe.
Pestle climbed up Sofia’s clothes, sitting on her shoulder and whispering in her ear.
“Other sleep. Chest here.”
Other sleep? Soone’s sleeping here?
Sofia couldn’t see much at all in this room. It was not in complete darkness like the lower floors, so very faint light ca from a window with open curtains, and a minuscule amount was the candlelight coming from under the door. She stood still until her eyes adjusted enough for her to see the vague shape of things in the room.
A single bed, and this thing in the corner must be a wardrobe. I really can’t make any sense of the other shapes…
Sofia walked up to the wardrobe and opened it carefully. Thankfully the door hinges were well oiled and made no sound. Sofia blindly felt the wardrobe’s contents.
Good quality fabric… That feels like a robe. So short… Kids clothes. Unlucky. But that ans it’s not a single man living here, I’ll need to find the mother’s clothes.
“Guide to the chest,” Sofia whispered to Pestle, who then guided her through the room. There were two chests, the first one was full of toys, while the second contained so jewelry, but Sofia had no way to tell what the few necklaces and bracelets were actually made of. It would be hard to sell them anyway, better leave that here…
Either way, Sofia did not feel great about stealing a kid’s things, so she just closed the jewelery box and had Pestle guide her to the room’s other door.
Bathroom. Sofia understood as she felt the things present in the dark room.
“Another door?”
“No,” Pestle answered.
Crap… It’s too risky to go any further into the main corridor unless I can lure the guards away…
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Do you think you can make a hole in this wall without making too much noise?” Sofia asked the fairy, pointing at a wall that should lead to the next room of the hallway.
“Make hole!” Pestle enthusiastically whispered back, jumping off from Sofia’s shoulder.
Sofia could then only wait in the dark, listening to the strange noises of Pestle’s claws smoothly tearing through the wooden wall. After about a minute, Pestle climbed back onto Sofia’s shoulder.
“Hole!” she proudly announced.
“It’s done? What did you do with the part of the wall you cut out, is it still in there?”
“Leg!” Pestle answered.
“Leg? … Did you eat it?!”
“Leg.”
Alright…
Sofia creeped forward, her hands feeling the wall in front of her searching for the hole, it was a round-ish hollow in the wall, which was made of two wooden panels with so empty space in the middle. Sofia went through, and ended up in a similar bathroom on the other side. Opening the door there led her to what she thought was another bedroom, but again, she could see very little.
The guarded room should be the next one over. Do I go straight for it?
… No. I’m already here, let’s see what this room has to offer.
“Pestle. What do you see?”
“Other no. Chest here.”
No one? That makes things easier.
“Do you see a candle anywhere?”
Pestle jumped off of Sofia’s shoulder without answering. Afterwards, Sofia heard the bathroom door she had just closed open behind her, and not long after, Pestle ca back, pushing things against Sofia’s leg.
Sofia blindly grabbed what Pestle had brought.
Candle… And a tinderbox. Haven’t used one of those in a while…
Sofia hid in the bathroom to use the tinderbox, as striking a flint and steel wasn’t exactly the most silent of things, and the more walls between her and the guards the better. It took her an excruciatingly long ti to get a proper spark without making too much noise, but after what felt like half an hour, she finally had so light.
So it’s an entire wardrobe room!
Sofia quickly looked around, there were both n and won’s clothes in roughly equal number, but a single glance was enough to tell her that the woman’s things were not going to fit. Before she tried anything on, she grabbed a few shirts and placed them at the bottom of the room’s doors, plugging the holes. It would hide the light of her candle from the other rooms, and soften the noise she makes a bit. She then took so ti to assemble an outfit from the things in the room. She grabbed riding boots from the man, and a pair of the woman’s breeches, which were large enough but much too short for her long legs. The high boots helped hide the issue, which was preferable to putting on n’s pants. Sadly, the woman’s upper wear did not fit at all. And even the man’s tops were hardly a good fit, but Sofia still managed to find one grey chemise that she managed to button up almost all the way, and on top of that, she put on the only other thing that fit her sowhat: a large brown fur mantle. That being done, she grabbed a pair of gloves and a few gold jewels from one of the rooms’s lockboxes that Pestle unlocked in a claw swipe, and was just about ready to leave.
Before that, Sofia checked herself in the room’s mirror with her new outfit on.
I look ridiculous.
Better than the wet rag I ca in with, though. The rain is still going, I think I saw a black cape near the door…
Sofia put down the candle on a nearby stool and grabbed the black hooded cape,
Pestle can also hide under there, perfect.
As she put on the cape, Sofia had a second of inattention. The cape knocked over the candle, the base of which produced a loud clunk as it hit the floor.
Shit!
“You heard that?!” Sofia heard one of the guards outside say to the other.
“Wardrobe,” the other answered.
Sofia panicked, she could hear the guards co this way. There was no way she could hide now, the guard would undoubtedly notice the shirt she’s put at the bottom of the door, and it was only a matter of ti before they noticed the other things that were wrong. Sofia pulled the hood over her head, ran for the closest window.
A guard opened the door, he had Sofia in his direct line of sight, who’s back was facing him as she looked down the window, she crouched slightly to appear shorter.
Three floors…
“Lord Istlen?” the guard asked, recognizing the cloak, “Are you going out at this hour?”
I can’t answer…
“Dan, the candle!” the other one yelped, as he noticed the floor starting to catch fire.
“Oh fuck!”
Sofia heard the people in the room to her right waking up, footsteps running toward the wardrobe room while one of the guards was busy stomping out the candle. She used these precious seconds to weigh her options. She could jump out, run for the bathroom and try to escape through the kid’s room, surrender, or send Pestle to neutralize everyone.
Soone else entered the room, a booming male voice asking what was going on. Without a doubt the lord of the house.
My cover is blown.
The guards yelled sothing. But Sofia did not quite catch it, she threw open the window and jumped.
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