The Wiscith family rose to fame during the plague of 231. After the early demise of King James the second, who had sired no heirs, Veren Wiscith took over the throne and immediately wiped out both the foreign threat from the Antralis and internal threat of the plague. The family stayed on the throne for 400 years from then, until 617, when Glenn Wiscith refused the crown and instead became the earl of the now named Wiscith hills and the surrounding area. The Wiscith name was still a highly esteemed name, held with the same regard as the new ruling family, the Erisctyes. In 893, Grazer Wiscith and his children and wife perished in a fire that consumed half the castle of Redstone, putting an end to the once royal bloodline.

It was about 9 when the bell tower rang. Once, then twice.

I grinded my teeth as I waited for it to ring a third time. It didn’t. Thrice indicated a curfew to be enforced immediately, while twice meant a fire. And I hated fires, even though I wasn’t involved in this one.

The weary silence it caused was soon replaced by drunk banter and chatter downstairs in the inn. The usual customers always went crazy on nights like these. My room was across the stairs on the first floor, and the noise was easy to make out. Almost harmonious.

The door to my room was bolted shut, and I had a cupboard leaning on it to help it stay that way. My window on the other hand was open; my room still needed a way out. I fastened the dagger in my sheath again, ran my fingers through my hair and put on the hood off my cloak, tucked my timepiece under my shirt after glancing at it one last time.

I put my hands on the windowsill, shoving myself through it. My feet made a few thuds as I slid and hopped slowly on the slanting roof; my hands tightly grasped the edge before I lowered myself into the stack of hay I had Charles put there for me. It was hardly as soft as I thought it would be.

I sneaked past a few alleys, my hand trailing coarse brick as I turned the corner. Sam stood leaning on the wall, his fingers in his pant pockets. He was wearing a cloak similar to the black one I had, and his hood was up as well. Sam was my companion on these escapades; I liked him because he was quick with his hands and bright with his head. We were very similar in some ways; an utter lack of regard for the law and our common age of 17 founding the basis for our relationship.

He raised his head as he saw me, and we walked towards each other. I nodded at him.

“I didn’t think the bell would actually ring,” he said, bumping into me as he finished. I felt his hand sneak into my cloak and feel my shirt, but he was already halfway across the street when I swung around to reply.

It was our sort of a greeting; he would try to steal my purse, and I would let him. Practise for him, experience for me. He hadn’t succeeded even once yet, but that was mostly because I didn’t keep my money in a purse.

“Let’s go. I don’t know where the fire is, but it probably got some of the guards away.” I expected him to ask questions i didn’t want to answer just yet; like how I had known the bell would ring today, or why I had called him here today. He raised his eyebrow, but just gestured for me to lead the way. I was glad he trusted me enough to follow without asking questions.

We tried to walk cautiously, clinging to the walls and looking over our shoulders. I don’t know if we did well, but we managed to move without coming across any trouble.

The castle, where we were headed now, was right in the centre of the city. Most of guards were probably distracted with the bell tower that had rung every minute the past half hour, but we were still on guard as we approached our destination. Soon we got close enough to catch a glimpse of some guards patrolling the perimeter of the castle. I nudged Sam towards a low hanging balcony of a small squarish house; we helped each other up and then climbed again, to reach the house’s roof. We sat down, Sam hugging his knees and me with my legs sprawled out.

The castle looked like a castle. Majestic; old, but still strong and study; surrounded by gardens and then a wall. There were guards positioned at both gates leading inside, along with guards inside the garden and other patrolling. The fire hadn’t dwindled their numbers as much as I thought it had, and I wondered if that oversight was going to get me killed.

“Planning on dying in the dungeons, are we?” Sam said, his voice as nonchalant as it could be.

I didn’t reply. The wind was fairly strong tonight, and I like the way it felt on my hand.

“I don’t think I’ll join you on your trip down there,” he added.

“I’m not even trying to get into there. I’m aiming for the kitchen, over there. You gotta trust me, Sam.” The kitchen was outside the castle, and while still only a stone’s throw from the front gate, I had always wondered why they had placed it outside. It just felt like a goldmine of security loopholes any common thug could exploit.

Sam laughed.

“Tell me why we’re here and I’ll do my best to try.” He stared at my face, his eyes squinting, searching for anything I might give away.

“Selicia...” I could already see the disappointment in his face as I bought it up. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. “I just want to catch her attention,” I said, “trust me, Sam. We can just act like we were trying to steal food if we get caught, and they might even give us a bun or two if you cry enough.” We did look like poor starved orphans.

Sam was usually very polite around money, despite his profession, but I knew he hadn’t caught any purses recently.

“Not the princess again…” He started. I ignored him, and took off my shoe; I slid my hand inside, and took out a gold coin. The coin glinted in the moonlight, and so did his eyes.

He grinned.

Hungry people are always easy to deal with.