The darkness made the smell even worse. By the time his feet touched solid ground, Ralan had to use all his willpower not to vomit. He felt Maela lightly land next to him. Before he could say anything there was a the sound of scratching and then light illuminated the room. Maela breathed out. "You never know if the gas will explode when you light a torch down here."

Ralan looked around. He was on a small landing that looked like it was part of some kind of maintenance trail. All around him was disgusting water filled with coagulating brown fluid and iridescent fluids that were a mixture of piss and something even more vile. Maela looked around, found a sconce with a large candle, and lit it with the burning wad of material in her hands.

"Hrm. Should be torches on the wall, not candles. Damn Merchants always looking at appearances." Maela looked around, running her hand over her short hair.

They were on a small stone landing that was surrounded by filthy water and was fed by large pipes that emerged from the ceiling. Patches of crusty brown were on the walls and at the edge of the landing. The water flowed slowly, glowing with an iridescence in the light.

"What is this place?" Ralan asked, doing his best to breathe as little as possible.

"The waste sewers. They connect outside the Wall in a huge open underground river of shit and piss. It flows into the Great River from there."

Not having any idea that Ness was built on such an architectural wonder, he nodded his head and muttered, "That's amazing. Very smart."

"Not so good for the Outlanders." Maela took a few steps down the trail and then turned. "Maybe there’ll be a torch further down. I'll just have to keep lighting sconces until we find one."

Ralan nodded. "What about the Outlanders? They're across the plains and aren't anywhere close to Ness."

Maela turned and shook her head. "You really are clueless, aren't you? The Outlanders get closer to the Wall every year. Why do you think the Rangers Guild keeps conscripting people from the Knights? The Rangers are constantly facing attacks across the plains."

"I thought the Outlanders weren't a real threat." They tiptoed along the stone path, a river of filth flowing to their left.

"They don't like us, which is threat enough. And this—" Maela pointed to the sewage. "—doesn't help. Can you imagine having to drink water mixed with this?" She stopped. "Ah, a torch!" She lit it with another flick of her flint and burning cloth.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"The sewers also act as an overflow when the rains get too strong. So at some point we'll hit fresh water flowing into the sewer. We'll follow that to the North Fork or the Great River. At that point, we swim." Torch in hand, the two made better time.

"I don't know how to swim."

Maela jerked around and stared at Ralan. "Great. Then we'll find a skiff or something. We just need to get you to safety."

Maela had turned and resumed walking when Ralan blurted out, "Thank you."

Without turning, Maela muttered, "No problem."

Ralan jogged forward and grabbed her shoulder. She whirled around and looked at Ralan, her brows furrowed. "No, really. Thank you. I would probably be dead if you hadn't helped me." Maela nodded and turned back. "Well, you're kind of a jerk, but I still appreciate the help." She didn't reply.

It wasn't much longer before a smaller tunnel with clear water flowing from it joined the flow of sewage they were following. It was a few feet higher than the sewage water, and a small trickle of clean water dripped into the sewage. "No walkway, so we'll need to walk through the water."

Ralan nodded. While the tunnel was small, they could still walk through it crouched down. Heck, Ralan thought, Maela doesn't even need to crouch. He smiled. The trouble was that they had to get across the filthy water to their left, which was about five feet across. A standing jump across was impossible.

To Ralan's shock, Maela dropped herself right into the sewage. Her pants were a light brown cotton, and the water came up to her thighs. As she sloshed through it heading to the small tunnel, the light brown of her pants darkened as it got wet and stained with things Ralan didn't even want to think about.

Maela pulled herself up to the tunnel and looked back at Ralan. "Hurry up."

Clenching his teeth, Ralan dropped into the sewage. It was cold and he could feel its current sweeping the disgusting water against his legs. The good news was that the water barely reached his knees. He walked toward Maela, and each step made him want to vomit—the floor of the sewer was soft and squishy. He could feel the collected build up of shit and worse sucking at his soft leather shoes as he picked up his feet.

He climbed up next to Maela. "The Night Guild maintains the sewers?" She nodded. "They deserve a healthy salary."

"Right. Keep thinking that. There's a reason the guild members live in the Old Quarter, and it's not the smell. But don't worry, we take care of them." They started walking, and Ralan took a deep breath. The smell got better with each step.

"We?"

"The Thieves Guild. Seriously, do you know nothing?"

Ralan said nothing, but continued walking. There was so much he didn't know that he was afraid to reveal it to Maela. The Thieves Guild was somehow real and had some kind of influence in the Old Quarter. The Old Quarter itself—which he had always known as the Wretched Quarter—seemed to be like a mini city within Ness that no one really knew about. There was danger from the Outlanders. The Guilds themselves were fighting political games over influence. There was probably a ton more he didn't know about.

I have so much to learn, Ralan thought. He wanted to ask Maela, but he was sure she'd shake her head, consider him not worth the time to save, and probably turn him in to Larsen. Alard would be a better Guildmaster than the "idiot" Ralan.

"Ah, here we go." A round light appeared ahead. "Wait here. I'm going to find out where we are and get an update on where things stand. Hopefully, things are still kind of chaotic, and I can find a skiff nearby."

Ralan grabbed Maela's arm before she could jog away. "Hey, be safe."

Maela looked at Ralan. "Oh, I'll be fine. You're the one that half of Ness wants dead." She grinned and then took off up the tunnel.

A flicker of shadow a few hours later made Ralan jump. After thirty minutes he had considered running out to follow her, and pretty much every fifteen minutes since that point he would take a few steps to do just that, but he would always stop. He was a wanted man. No one had attached Maela to him, so he would just cause more problems than help. So he sat tight.

So it was with a great sense of relief that he saw the shadow approaching down the tunnel. He closed the distance walking toward her. "You're back!" Ralan said, as he saw Maela slow and stop a few feet away. She was dressed in clean clothes, this time wearing the Green of the Harvest Guild.

"You know, you could have cleaned up a bit. The water isn't that low." Ralan looked down at the bottom of his pants, which were now dry but encrusted with brown flecks of waste.

"I didn't know how much time I'd have," he replied defensively, not sure if she was teasing him or if he had done something wrong.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I got us a skiff. This tunnel ends at the North Fork, not too near the docks. I have a tarp for you to hide under, so we should be able to get you to safety soon."

"That's the best news I've heard in days." Ralan took a few steps but then paused. "Did you find out anything? Is Alard okay?"

"Alard is in the Knight Protector's prison."

"What?!?" Ralan stopped and stared at Maela. "I can't leave with him in prison. We have to do something. They may kill him!"

To his shock, Maela put her hand on Ralan's shoulder and spoke with an atypical kindness in her voice. "I appreciate your concern, but Alard wants you safe. That's the biggest priority. Plus, the Thieves have way more power than anyone in Ness expects. Hell, Guildmaster Pietro has the populace believing that the guild doesn't even exist. So it will be fairly easy for us to break Alard out."

Ralan paused, thinking over what Maela had said. Something wasn't right about the plan. "Won't breaking Alard out reveal the power of the guild?" he replied.

Maela nodded. "It had to happen eventually. The timing is not good, but Alard is too important. We can't afford to lose him."

"Listen, let's break him out. Even if others help him, I'll make sure they see me, and people will think that I broke him out, not anyone else. Me and some friends. Also, I'm sure Raef is in the prison, too. He's my friend, and no one knows he's a Thief guild member. Everyone will think that I just went to help my friend, and we freed Alard while doing it." Maela didn't say anything but rather just stared at Ralan. "Look, I know I can't do this myself, but I can distract everyone from the help you and the other thieves give me."

At that Maela nodded. "It's a good plan, but very risky. There are reasons for having the Guildmaster Thief not be a vacant position."

"And by that, you mean there are reasons to not having me die."

"If you prefer to think of it that way."

Ralan had to suppress a smile. Maela drove him crazy, but she was consistent about it. He could almost predict when she would drop an insult or satirical comment on him. "Look, I'm not asking. I'm telling you. I'm the Guildmaster Thief. We are going to rescue Alard."

"Yes, Guildmaster." There was only a trace of sarcasm in her voice as she said the words.