Hey, it's Useli! Sorry for the wait. I had some computer issues that I had to take care of. Be sure to review, and let me know if I'm doing things right or screwing up somewhere.
- - -
The male grunted a bit as he swung down, supporting his weight entirely with his arms and slowly lowering himself as close to the balcony as possible before dropping silently. Atlas knelt and removed from a pocket within his tunic a set of lock-picks. With speed and skill born from years of practice the tumblers all into place and the lock opened with a soft 'click'.
Tucking away the useful items he quietly opened the door and swept inside the manor. It wasn't perhaps the wisest thing to be robbing the nobility of Atlantis, however they need for money outweighed the risks. Glancing over at the grand four-poster bed dominating the room he rolled his eye's.
He takes what he can from the room. A few precious necklaces, rings, and a small coin purse of gold. Hearing them stir, the Prince makes an exit through the closest door and out into the hallway of the manor. 'Damn,' curses the Prince silently. 'This is why I hate this kind of work.'
The hallway was lined with many large windows, the moonlight bathing several beautiful oil-paintings that had been well taken care of and showed no signs of fading or deterioration. He moves forward as quietly as possible, eye's scanning every painting and silently wondering just how much a fence might pay to get his hands upon one of these masterpieces. That being said, he simply wasn't about to undertake the head-ache associated with attempting to find a buyer for such a unique piece of stolen art.
As he passed a door, he heard a noise within and immediately pressed himself against the wall only moments before the door opened. Though he'd done this kind of work nearly all his life...he couldn't quell the automatic leap in his pulse as a servant stepped out of the room, closed the door quietly behind her and departed down the hall in the opposite direction as Atlas.
Deciding that he had taken enough risks he sought out the nearest exit...
- - -
Illia was up before dawn spread it's golden wings across the sky. The amazon wasn't worried about Atlas, or the fact that he seemed to have disappeared. It wasn't that she was cold, rather it was a compliment to his perceived ability to handle himself no matter the situation.
She had left Nero sleeping at the Inn and gone to finish collecting what they would be needing for the crossing to Aer. By the time the sun had risen over the horizon the streets were crowded with people. That being said...she spotted the thief immediately despite the cover of the crowd.
Atlas approached, wry grin directed at her from under his hood. "I see you're still alive," she comments. "Did you find someone to translate that paper?"
"Unfortunately not," replies the Prince, scanning the crowd. "But I believe I know where Kale is hiding. Our best bet may be to take it to him."
"He didn't seem all that willing to assist us before we parted ways. Why would he have had a change of heart?" The thief's smile only grows at her words. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Illia met his eye's under his hood, which seemed to sparkle with amusement...and it only served to irritate her more.
"As I told you last night...Kale is rather interested in the Terin people."
"You think that'll be enough to motivate him?" Atlas simply offers a shrug. "Well...did that man, Lin, offer any assistance? Something to fall back upon?"
"He said he would line one up but I wouldn't hold my breath, Miss Illia." She noticed that the normally polite 'Miss' which he had attached to her name sounded teasing rather than respectful. As they walked she noticed him pluck an apple from a cart they passed, not bothering to see if anyone was watching his movements.
There's a loud 'snap' of the crisp skin as he takes a bite. "Am I to assume he was the one who sent those men?"
"Huh?" grunts the Prince, looking over at her. "Oh, yeah. Like I said...he'd sell me for a copper coin."
"Silver." He blinks in confusion. "You said, 'He'd sell me into slavery for a silver coin'." He rolls his amber eye's, a sparkle of amusement in them.
"Well, thank you for reminding me." He produced a second apple from that she had not seen him take and holds it out to her. "Have some breakfast."
"I'd hardly call an apple breakfast, Prince." She accepts the bright red fruit from him after a few moments and stops to stare at him seriously. "Are you sure that Kale will be willing to help us decipher this?"
"If he won't, then I'll just have to convince him, won't I?"
"Perhaps I should be the one to speak to him."
"Oh, ye of little faith. Just trust me, Illia. I'm sure that he'll be willing to help us..."
- - -
The sounds of quill scratching against paper was one of the only sounds in the room. The scholar was attempting to note the strange properties of the herb he had discovered. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he failed to hear someone approaching from behind. Though, even if he had been listening it would have been hard to hear the Prince until the man slammed his palm upon the table. "Kale!!" roared the man, nearly causing the scholar to jump out of his skin. "...Did I scare you?"
"Damn it, Atlas!" cursed Kale. "How many times have I asked you not to do that?!" He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. "I believe you've scared me out of ten years of my life."
"Nearly a hundred, I believe." The Prince leans against the desk and smiles down at the scholar. "I need a favor, Kale."
"I can't." His lips twitch and then he shrugs.
"Suit yourself. If you don't want to read something written by the Terin people themselves then I'll find another scholar. It's for the best..." He approaches the window he had come through. "...you probably couldn't decipher it to begin with, Kale. Well, I'll see you around, then." Atlas had never seen Kale move so fast in the entire time he had known him, but he felt someone grasp his wrist.
"The Terin people? Ha! No one but I could ever hope to decipher anything written in their code."
"I'll take my chances. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."
"Give me the paper, Atlas." The thief smiles inwardly and produces the paper. He hands it to Kale, who handles it as gently as a new-born. He returns to his desk and places the desk. Kale's eye's scan it with a look of sheer awe upon his face. "This is amazing! These...I...these are really Terin symbols, not imitations!" Atlas approaches, leaning over his shoulder and peering down at the paper.
"That's good and it puts my mind at ease, but...what does it say, Kale? This is what I need to know."
"You'll have to give me some time. It IS written in code, Prince. This is simply amazing! I've never seen any writing so well preserved as this..." While Kale is busy fawning over the paper Atlas places his hand on the desk beside the paper to show his ring. "I see your ring bears Terin symbols."
"Could you tell me what it means?" Kale sighs in what Atlas assumes to be exasperation.
"It means...Filium nox." The Prince is silent for several long moments.
"Let's just assume that I don't speak Terin, Kale." The scholar spares another glance at the ring.
"Roughly translated it means, 'son of the night'...have I satisfied your curiosity, now?" The thief nods and then leans up. "Good. Now, be quiet and let me translate this, would you kindly?"
"Guess I'll be right back, then..."
- - -
Atlas had come and collected them from the Inn, before taking them to meet with Kale. The room was quite as the scholar worked on the paper, pausing to scrawl something down on a piece of paper. Sometimes the words were elvish, sometimes they were dwarven. Nero wandered around the room, looking through papers and flipping through books. The Prince sat on the window sill, hood down and gazing out to sea.
Nero glanced over at Illia, the amazon busy reading one of the books from the large bookcase in the room. The boy sighed and wandered around the room in circles, eventually stopping behind Kale. The young thief stands on the tips of his toes to peer over his shoulder at his work. The scrawling of his quill ceases immediately and he looks back at Nero. "Do you mind, boy?" questions Kale. "I am trying to work."
"Fine," retorts Nero, wandering over to Illia. "What'cha readin', lady?" She turns the page and looks up at the boy.
"My name is not 'lady'," she tells him plainly. "Furthermore, you shouldn't address people in such a disrespectful manner. My name is Illia." He huffs and then approaches Atlas, who was on the verge of laughing.
"Bored, huh?" he asks. "Well, I'll tell you what..." The Prince produces a small puzzle box. "...I stole this on my way to pick you two up. Why don't you try to solve it?" He tosses the box to the boy who looked it over carefully before looking back up at Atlas. "What?"
"Why would I want do something like that?"
