Three rows of wide walls, mounted with archers every few yards, and populated with squads of guards in between each magically-enchanted defence line surrounded the Vangroof keep. Their family was quite traditional in many ways, as testified by the weathered paintings and mosaic floor, which most other respectable families had long replaced with tiles. 

Their ventilation system led to be desired, as many architects would have gasped in horror at the space left between the fake wooden, and actual stone ceilings. I too wasn’t happy with those arrangements, as my makeshift mask did little to nothing to prevent the dust that picked up as I crawled towards their treasury, from getting inside my lungs.

I stopped for what must have been the 100th time, covering my mouth with one hand to force myself not to cough.

Getting inside the keep had been had enough, and I could not have my efforts ruined by such a simple mistake.

“I told you to prepare properly. It’s an old, unkept attic space. Did you expect it not to be dusty?” Adrian’s voice echoed in my head. 

Well, there was no reason for him to find out about this laps of judgment of mine, I figured, as I continued crawling. Although, he always had a way of knowing when I messed up, so ultimately it wouldn’t matter.

The wooden planks below me were suddenly interrupted with a thick, and differently textured, wooden beam. I crawled a few more feet forward, and stretched out my arm to feel a second, similar beam. 

I smiled under that dust-covered mask. This was good. This meant that I was right over the West Hallway, which led straight to the treasury. 

I pulled out a yellow crystal out of my pouch. It shone with dimming light, indicating that I still had some time to spare before sundown. 

Not too happy with having to spend more time in a narrow and dusty crawlspace, I rolled on my back and sighed. 

I fidgeted with the stone, thinking back to how Adrian got it for me. He never gave me a proper answer about where he found a magic item in a country where magic was outlawed. He never told me how he learned about the Wish Stone in the Vangroof's possession either. But he did tell me what he would use the stone for. Just thinking back to the house he promised to buy us up North, on the main continent, made me smile. 

I didn’t mind Avrea as such. The Isle was perfect for a thief like myself to make some coin and gain a reputation. But it wasn’t where I wanted to spend the rest of my days, doing odd jobs for questionable individuals. And it seemed Adrian shared that vision for us. Although, I could never be fully sure with him. 

The sound of approaching footsteps and a pair of voices snapped me out of my thoughts. 

“He is one son of a bitch is all I’m saying,” I just about made out a female voice.

“He’s also your king now, have some respect.” A male voice replied. “And don’t say such things out loud, what if someone overheards you and reports you for crimes against the crown?”

“Overhears. The only one who can overhear me is that rat!” The woman smacked her lips. 

I held my breath. I knew they couldn’t be talking about me, but the choice of words did put me on edge. 

The sound of a sword hitting the ground echoed through the hallway and made me instinctively jolt up. Thankfully the dust that I disturbed did not make any noise.

“A snack, here.” The man joked.

“Gross.” The woman replied, confirming that she’d been talking about an actual rat. 

Their footsteps picked up again. 

“Do you think this is what happened to their kids?” The man spoke again, after they’d walked some distance away from my hiding spot. 

“Huh?”

“That they got dead I mean, like that rat. I’d feel bad if that happened to the little princess, she was really cute.”

“She was also a magic user.” The woman didn’t bother correcting the man’s grammar this time. “If King Meeden didn’t get to her, she would have been executed the second she’d let her magic sip out again.” 

“Ah, right, the laws here are different,” the man continued as both of them walked out of ear range. 

I laid still for a while longer, as I waited for Adrian’s magic gem to go fully dim. Then, I turned around once more, trying not to breathe in too much dust, and propped one of the wooden boards up with my knife. 

I slid out much in the same way I’d slid in, by using the torch stands as a foothold, and pulling off a dusty glove with my teeth so as to not leave any traces on the board as I pushed it back into place from below.

I cautiously made my way through the hallway I knew was empty, making double sure to listen for footsteps or voices at every turn.

I stopped before a large wooden door, reinforced with steel nails throughout. There, I knelt and began my work. I made quick do of the six locks, each of their masterfully crafted pins clicking into place under my picks. 

I did note that the lack of magical protection on the door was surprising, considering what was inside. Casting magic might have been forbidden, but there was no law against ancient doors built before most of the surrounding cities. I found it odd, but nothing more at the time.