Alard leaned forward and looked closely at the ring that was on the frontispiece of the book of guild items and icons. Raef was sitting across from him and could see every detail of Alard's scarred and smooth head.

Everyone could see the large, wicked scar that extended from the top of his head to his eyebrow, but up close Raef could see dozens of small healed nicks and cuts. The corresponding scars practically covered Alard's whole head. The implication was unsettling to Raef. Alard had been in many fights or had been beaten badly in his past. Probably both.

He was a violent man.

Raef turned awkwardly away as Alard looked up, but he was certain Alard had caught Raef staring at him. "This is interesting." Alard's finger was pointing at the ring.

"How so?" Raef leaned down, taking a closer look, just as Alard had. He could see nothing interesting about it. It was a rather plain ring with a red stone. There was a simple design of three circles intersecting along the band on each side of the stone, but it was otherwise just a ring.

"This is the Thieves Guild seal."

"It is?" Raef took another look. "But how can it be a seal? There is no seal. It is just a plain stone."

"It is a good question. I asked Guildmaster Pietro that same one, and he replied by telling me that the seal was featureless and indistinguishable from that which is plain, just as our guild is."

"Ah. As a symbol, that makes sense to me."

"But that's not what I find interesting. The stone in our guild seal is black. This illustration shows the stone as red."

"Then this isn't the guild seal. Do you have the ring that we can use to compare?"

"I gave it to Ralan. The seal is used to identify the guildmaster." Alard reached down to turn a page. "Perhaps there is more information on other pages."

Raef grabbed Alard's hand, stopping him from touching the book. Alard paused his movement but looked at Raef. The look was one of curiosity, not anger. "It is an old book, Deputy Alard. One must be gentle with the pages."

Alard nodded as he withdrew his hand. Gently turning pages, Raef looked for the ring. There was a section on architecture unique to each guild, printed designs, armor, weapons, clothing, and more. Raef turned the pages as quickly as he could, not paying much attention to the content. He would go back and read the book closely later.

"Ah, here we are."

Alard leaned forward. "What does that say?"

It was a chapter heading with a collection of badges, pins, and rings sketched beneath. "Guildmaster icons."

Nodding, Alard said, "Yes, there are seals for each guild, but also rank badges and similar things that have been created for various ceremonies through the years."

Raef turned the page, and the first section was of various thrones that were unique to each guildmaster. He continued turning pages. "Here we go. Guild seals."

"Yes, that ring is the one Saxe wears." Saxe was the Guildmaster Knight. There were seals for guilds that no longer existed or were absorbed by other guilds—the Mining Guild, the Livestock Guild, even something called the State Guild.

"Here it is, but I'm afraid that isn't the Thieves Guild seal," Raef said, pointing to an illustration on the page with a label written in a beautiful swirling style. "This is the seal of the Magic guild."

"What foolishness is this?" Alard said, leaning back and looking up at Raef. For the first time, his face showed a tinge of anger. "I will not allow you to mock me, Raef."

"It is true!" Raef ran his fingers under the words. "I've seen a mention of the Magic Guild in some the ancient history books of the city. Perhaps the word meant something else back then and not what we think of as a fantastical wielder of magic."

"You are sure of this?"

"Yes. I haven't done enough research yet to know more, but the Magic guild—whatever it was—was eliminated centuries ago. I have a book outlining its history, but I haven't examined it yet. However, here's the interesting thing—the guild's entire existence was erased from the history of Ness." Raef pushed his seat back. "Here, let me show you. There are only snippets in all of the other books I've read. I can only assume that whoever tried to erase knowledge of the guild couldn't find every reference."

"Sit, Raef. I believe you, but this is knowledge of questionable importance right now." Alard looked around the library. "Your efforts here are valuable. I see that now, but I cannot let that get in the way of the fact that Ness is in crisis."

Raef pulled his seat forward. "Are you saying that I'm to continue my research?"

"Yes. It has little value now, but I can see it having value in the future." Alard smiled. "So I think that we should request Ralan to change your title to Guild Historian."

"I would like that!"

Pointing back at the book. "So if this is not the Thieves Guild seal, can you find it in the book? Perhaps we can compare them and see if there is a reason written for why they are so similar."

Raef nodded, and turned the pages. After a few turns the section on guild seals ended. "It's not listed here." Furrowing his brows, Raef turned the pages back. "Perhaps I missed it."

"No. I don't believe you did. Page through more sections and look for other Thieves Guild items." Raef continued, turning page after page, but while all of the other guilds had several items, including many that no longer existed, the Thieves Guild was nowhere to be seen.

"The Thieves Guild is not included in this volume," Raef stated, as he closed the book.

"Does it say it is the first of multiple volumes?"

Raef examined the cover, the spine, and the first few interior pages. "No. This is not a multi-volume series, unless they added another volume later not knowing that this one was unfinished." Alard nodded.

"Our guild has always been well-hidden," Alard said, as he pushed his chair back and rose. "Keep up your research, Raef. I'll have someone else manage tower preparations."

"Thank you, Deputy Alard. I will."

The sound of Alard's heavy boots retreating across the stone floor filled the room. The sound stopped, and Raef looked up. Alard stood at the entrance to the library. He had turned and was facing Raef.

"And, Raef, please keep your findings secret until the Guildmaster returns. We will discuss them, then."

Raef was going to reply that he would and that he could be trusted, but Alard had already turned and exited the room.