Ben was exhausted. He had been leading the thugs on a mad chase around town for an hour before they had given up. There had been a couple close calls, and his arms showed a few cuts as a result. He was now hiding at a street corner, in view of Gilbet’s domain and waiting anxiously for the girls to show up. Cleo had told him to wait for their return in the sewers, it was apparently her hideout. But Ben was too worried about the two women to obey, plus he didn’t fancy waiting in the dampness and filth. Some movement a the residence’s gate attracted his attention. He almost cried out in relief when he recognized Mae going down the street.

“Where’s the lass?” He asked as he came out of the shadows, seeing the whore alone. She startled at his sudden apparition.

“I knew you wouldn’t wait where we told you, stubborn bastard.” She answered. “We don’t have much time, Chaffaud could come out any minute now.” Ben opened his mouth to ask what the heck was going on, but she cut him off. “Shut up and listen to me, lad. We need you to take this.” She handed out a leather bag to him. “Get inside, make sure you’re seen, and escape.”

“Now, why woud…” He paused as he took the pouch, it made a familiar jiggling noise. “Coin?” He frowned.

“It’s only mere copper, but it will do the job. Now go, the diversion should start soon. Just make a big commotion, you’re usually good at that.” She headed back towards the house without giving him any time to protest. “Oh, try not to kill any of Gilbet’s men, we’re gonna need those.” She said over her shoulder.

Why was she going back inside, couldn’t the damn woman just stay in bed and heal? Ben sighed, the whole thing sounded like another crazy plan. He considered the walls surrounding the nobleman’s home, when some shouting relented in the night. He ran towards the stone enclave and began scaling it.

Ben landed in the courtyard to a familiar scene. Guards running around and screaming, flames illuminating the house in the dark. Mae’s orders were to make a big mess of things, but wasn’t this enough? He saw a lot more soldiers than he would have liked though, he cursed. He approached the big white house without caring for stealth, and headed for a window on ground level. Some servants were going out from the main entrance, confused and scared. Ben glimpsed the lord, followed by the two girls, escaping in the commotion with their hands full. They were carrying a lot of stuff, he frowned before the realization hit him: the bitches had framed him for their theft!

He grabbed his bag, it was heavy with coin, and used it to smash the window. Ben heaved himself inside, and took a look around him. Squinting his eyes in the dark, he could make out the shapes of shelves and books in the small room. Cleo was probably going to be pissed if those were lost in the flames, the lass loved books after all. But he had other concerns at the moment, so he headed for the door and opened it. It led to a large corridor, with a waxed wooden floor and tapestries lining the walls. What was wrong with rich folks, he thought, carpets were obviously made to be put on the ground. He heard frightened voices from further down the hallway, and headed towards them.

Ben was now staring at a big hall, there was a double door at the other end and some large stairs to his right. The place was crowded with servants and guards running frantically in all directions. One of the later startled at his intrusion in all the chaos, and the thief took a step in his direction, having found his first victim. Ben knocked him down with the coin pouch before the man could react, the soldier landed on the ground in a loud noise, attracting everyone’s attention. A dozen pair of surprised and confused eyes were staring at him now.

“Who are you?”

“He’s a thief, grab him!”

A few armed men had the presence of mind to stand in the way of the exit, so Ben decided to sprint upstairs. More angry screams came from behind him as he reached the second floor, where the smoke was thicker. He ran to the nearest door he found and kicked it open, revealing an empty bedroom. Ben felt lucky when he saw there was a window there, which he threw open before taking a peek outside. It was quite high up and the courtyard was busy with more people. Not the best exit point, Ben thought, but the sound of footsteps drawing close forced him to take a decision. He jumped through the opening and landed on the cobbles, rolling on the ground to soften the impact. The acrobatics might not have been such a good idea, for the move sent coins flying all around in the courtyard.

“YOU!” Came a familiar voice a dozen yards behind him. “Grab him! It’s the arsonist!” Chaffaud ordered his men.

Well that made for a good show, Mae would sure be happy. The thought didn’t do much to lift his spirits though, he was in a dire situation. He looked for the nearest way out, grabbed his bounty and ran as fast as he could, a dozen guards on his heels now.

****

Ben was tired and in a foul mood. The damn guards had not given up chasing him the whole night. It was the second time they had stolen from Chaffaud before burning his house after all. It was dawn when Ben arrived at the sewers, and a strange congregation of sleepy and ragged figures welcomed him together with a foul smell. They were crouching at the tunnel’s entrance and listening attentively to someone. But the biggest surprise was that someone’s identity. The cracked Lady was talking, standing in the middle of the beggars, like a general addressing her troops.

“Ben, kind of you to finally join us.” She said, having noticed his arrival. Not a word of thanks for spending the past evening running away from soldiers, he sighed.

“Where’s Mae?”

“Your friend is resting, she was exhausted after last night’s adventures.” She pointed somewhere behind the group and Ben went over to investigate. The whore had been laid down on an improvised straw bed, and some old woman was caring for her. He knelt beside them and rubbed Mae’s hair fondly.

“Stop patting me like that. I’m not a friggin' cat.” She scolded him, somewhat drowsily.

“Aye, aye. Back to sleep now.” He smiled.

He let out a sigh of relief, seeing the woman safe and sound, before he noticed a familiar figure. Brownie was lying unconscious close by, tied up and gagged. He seemed to have been through a bad night, his face was bloodied and bruised. The bastard was barely recognizable, if not for the signature coat.

“What’s he doin’ here?” He frowned, turning to Cleo.

“This man was found in Gilbet’s home in that state. We could not leave him to burn alive, and he might prove himself valuable.” She explained.

Ben wondered if the real reason was that she wanted to have her revenge against the long coat. The lady had an ominous look on her face, and she had used the exact same words Brownie had when ordering the thief to capture her.

“Could you hand over your bag to this gentleman here?” The Lady said, indicating a pox marked old man, he looked to be a hundred years old.

Ben frowned, despite losing some in last nitght’s chase, he was still holding enough coin to eat for weeks and he had damn well deserved those. Then, seeing the irritated look on the lady’s face, he complied reluctantly. He gave the pouch to the elder, and the man’s eyes widened when he discovered what was inside. He began distributing its contents to the rest of his pals.

“I am glad that you haven’t lost it, they wouldn’t accept silver nor gold.” Cleo spoke as she stepped away from them to join Ben.

“Makes sense, poor bastard woud get in trouble if folks knew they have silver.” He nodded, as they gleefully shared the copper coins.

He had rarely seen folks look so happy, he observed. The old man, their chief Ben assumed, thanked Cleo profusely. She seemed quite content as well, smiling proudly as she observed the scene. Ben thought it was an impressive change in her attitude, from half-crazed prisoner to beggar in chief, he smiled. He yawned and settled down next to Mae for a well-deserved rest, happy with the day’s work.

“Do you believe now is the time for sleep?” He heard Cleo’s voice behind him.

“Come on, I’ve been runnin’ around all night.” He grunted.

“There is so much work to be done, I don’t even know where to begin. Get up and follow me.”

Cleo and Ben went on walking towards the harbor, the girl filling him in on all that had happened the previous night. He felt proud of Mae’s ideas, and the lady’s scheming impressed him as well. On the other hand, he didn’t like what they were about to do, it sounded insane.

“Gravelroy’s port, granary of the city.” She mused out loud, staring at the bay. Ben followed her stare, thoughtful. He had never considered the place in such a way, it had always been the busiest and stinkiest part of the city to him. “Apart from providing a good landing point to the Empire, they must take it or a siege would prove itself costly. Fishermen and merchants could smuggle food forever, forcing the attackers to waste troops and ships for a blockade.”

“I guess yer right. But what can we do about it?” Ben frowned.

“It’s quite simple, really. There’s only one way in, and the stone dam makes it rather narrow. The port’s entrance has defenses on each side, and the main tower should be our point of focus.”

“Ya don’t need to tell me, I got eyes.” He said, looking at the fifty feet stone spire. “How many men we got though?”

“Well… Lord Gilbet is trying to hire mercenaries discreetly.” She said hesitantly.

“So jus’ his soldiers for now? He got what, maybe thirty or so?” He looked wide-eyed at the girl and she nodded, not looking very confident. “Damn, and they can barely hold a spear proper.” Ben sighed, the whole enterprise sounded crazier by the minute.

“We cannot risk alerting Chaffaud by going to the city council for help, nor can we recruit men openly. There is no telling who is on his side.” She explained.

“Were do ya think they will land?”

“The location should be over there.” She said pointing at a wooden pier further down the docks. “I have read Chaffaud’s ledgers, and among the emplacements he owns for his boats, it is the most likely. It is the closest from the port’s defenses and one of the docking spots remains currently empty, it has been so for a week according to our investigation.”

Ben considered the place, wondering how to mount up an ambush. Sailors, traders and fishmongers, were moving barrels and wooden boxes along the planks. Not much for cover, he concluded.

“There ain’t any walls around, but we can probably move some crates over there and hide behind for an ambush.” He said, poiting at his chosen locations.

“I’m opened to any suggestions really, but there’s somewhere else we need to go before we make any preparations.”

The two of them walked on to inspect the main tower, and found the door unlocked. They looked at each other in surprise, before Ben shrugged and opened it. The inside was empty, Ben frowned before going up a ladder, only to find the dusty floor void of soldiers as well.

“Shouldn’t there be at least a guard or two here?” Ben asked, as he looked at the arrow slits in the room. They covered most of the bay, he noted.

“I believe there should be more, even.” She agreed, glancing around her. “I would assume Chaffaud to have bribed the citywatch, asking them to leave the premises today.”

“Why not just put his own men here then?”

“It does sound simpler, indeed. Perhaps the Lord does not want to take the risk, asking his own men to stand watch here would look suspicious. There hasn’t been an attack on the city for a few centuries, after all”

“Right, and Mae said the guy was bein’ paranoid. Reckon a few watchmen forgetting their duties won’t raise any alarm.” Ben said before heading upstairs.

They reached the top of the tower and considered the scene in front of them. The place provided with a nice view of the harbor and its walls, bowmen standing here could do a lot of damage. The place was a good twenty feet above all the other turrets, holding it would negate most of the port’s defenses, Ben concluded.

“You have more experience in warfare than I do, could you improve these fortifications?” She said as they headed back downstairs.

“Aye, I would need to do some shoppin’ though.”

“We have retrieved some of Chaffaud’s coffers, so it should not be a problem. I must admit that I like the idea of using the Lord’s funds to oppose his own plans.” She smirked.

“Them turrets sure are important, but what if the bastard decide to just sail pas them full speed? We don’t got enough archers to worry them.” He pointed out.

“We would need a way to block the channel. We can’t stop them if they decide to commit all their forces. But if we can make it costly enough…We could force oncoming ships to spend a lot of time clearing their way. Time we could use to make them pay dearly for a forced entry.”

“That would work. Only other option is to pull their boats along the dam and climb up, hard to do when arrows are raining down on you.” Ben nodded approvingly.

“How deep do you think it is?” She asked once the left the tower, looking at the waters. Ben sighed, before starting to take his clothes off.

“What are you…”

****

Ben was standing inside a smith’s shop, workers and apprentices were working the hearths, sweating profusely in the overwhelming heat. The thief was making a show of drying himself off near a fire, it felt good. A wrinkled greybeard approached him and frowned at his attitude.

“I need a short sword. Knives, lots of them. One large but light shield, about 4 feet high.” He shouted at the blacksmith over the ambient noise of hammers banging against anvils. The old man’s face twisted in a scowl at the request.

He gave Ben a good look-over before snorting in disdain. Well, there was no blaming the guy, the thief was all kinds of dirty and wet, and he didn’t look wealthy to begin with. He made his purse jiggle with the sound of coin under the fellow’s noise. That made for an impressive change of attitude, Ben grinned, the guy was fussing all over him now.

“Do you know what kind of armor they wear? Full plate, iron armor or chainmail?” Ben whispered, turning behind him to Cleo.

“I am not sure about the details, but I would assume the enemy to send their better-equipped men for such an important mission.”

“Steel plate it is.” He winced. “Two heavy crossbows then, and a crank. Throw in a shortbow too, and as many bolts and arrows as ya can.” The shop’s answered the request with glee, and began foraging behind the counter for the requested goods.

“Are you really going to need all this? You could outfit a whole army using all your purchases.” Cleo commented after a while, looking at the impressive array of weapons.

“Do ya know where to buy an army? I reckon’ ya don’t.” Ben shot back. “Now, I wantlight chainmail, steel greaves and vambraces.” He addressed the smithy.

“Maybe a helmet while you’re at it?” The man offered, eyes glimmering with greed, as he showed a plated sallet.

“Aye, but not the stupid ones where you can’t see. I want one that has just a nose piece, and nape protection.” He said, pointing at one he liked more. “Half a dozen spears too, 6 foot ones.”

“Why so many?” The young woman rolled her eyes.

“Did ya come here jus’ to bother me? I can shop alone, thanks.”

“You know very well why, I couldn’t possibly let you leave with so much coin, when considering your profession.” She said dryly.

“Are we talking about trust again? Reckon yer not the best lass to speak of such thing.” He scowled. Behind them the smith made a show of cleaning his wares innocently.

“And I recall that you did not hesitate much to sell me out to a criminal later.” She spoke acidly. Ben wanted to point out that she had been the one to do it first, but gave up the idea, seeing the look on her face.

“Guess that makes us even.” He grunted.

“No it does not. But we don’t have the time to argue further, back to the task at hand.” She pointed at the bunch of spears.

“The damn thing breaks sometimes, or folks grab the shaft when you stick them. Dead folks sure grip hard.” He explained. “I think that’s it then.” He said considering the pile of deadly contraptions arrayed in front of him.

“Good, we have other matters to attend.”

“Wait, we need to buy oil, and see a stone mason, and a carpenter…”

“Do you plan on building your own fortress?” She sighed in frustration.