At long last, Reed was making his way up the corner of the building. The day was nearly over, but he would finally get to see what was in this stupid attic!

Getting to the window, Reed pulled the metal bit out of his pocket and slid it into the gap. After a bit of wiggling, he finally got the latch to pop and pushed the dusty window open. He glanced down at the kids below. Timmons and Avery looked up at him in anticipation. They weren't arguing, so that was good. Reed ducked in, waving his hand in front to sweep spider webs out of the way.

The attic was dim, dusty, but importantly, they'd finished it with a floor. This clearly had been meant to be a common area for people to sit and relax in. Perhaps had been at one point, since there were a few tables stacked in the middle. There would have been plenty of light if the windows weren't fogged with dust. Reed cautiously explored. To the north, the room abruptly ended in a wall that was unfinished on this side.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the room, and Reed froze.

"He volunteered for a beating?" Captain Bass asked.

"Yes, Sir... Was laughing the whole time."

"What did you choose to do with him?" Bass asked.

"Let them go," Patrick said. "He was right. Kelvin came to harass us and left faster than usual after he got an excuse to beat someone." The voices faded.

Reed suspected he knew why this room was sealed off.

The archival library had been expanded to two floors at some point, and the weird acoustics in the junction below made this a perfect place to hang out and listen in on secrets.

Going to the south wall, Reed was careful to keep his footsteps light. Now that he knew the sound carried into the hidden room, he knew they'd carry out just as easily. Probably.

This end had another wall that was only finished on one side, but they'd included a door. Holding still, Reed listened for anything outside before trying the knob. The door stuck slightly, but after he lifted, it opened smoothly enough. Peeking out, he found he was on the weird landing at the top of the western stairs.

He grinned as a thought occurred to him. Slipping out, he closed the door behind him. There was a tiny latch hidden in the paneling. It had been cleverly hidden from the other side, but it was wide enough to get the tables Reed had seen into the room. Silently sneaking down the stairs, he ran down the empty western hall. He only slowed when he got to the glass doors at the end so he didn't break them.

Once outside, he looped around the side of the building, quietly sneaking down the path toward the corner.

Avery and Timmons were looking up at the window still.

"I'm going to go up," Avery said.

"Bullshit you're not. You're scared of heights."

"I am not!"

"Bull. Shit!"

Silently, Reed stood up behind the pair. "What's goin on? Y'all lose something?"

Avery and Timmons shrieked. Timmons jumped backward, tripped, and fell into the flowerbed. The shorter boy crouched down, wheezing.

"Where the fuck did you come from?" Timmons demanded, struggling out of the bush.

"Does Sir Davis know what you three are up to?" Lily asked from behind Reed.

Reed flinched and turned to look back at her. She stood a few meters away, arms crossed. He watched as her gaze went up to the open window. "Did you do that?" she asked, pointing. When no one answered, she strode past them, braced her hand on one wall, then the other, and started inching her way up the corner.

"Hey! No fair!" Timmons shouted.

Reed turned and ran.

Timmons chased after, skidding as Reed turned the corner and jogged to the western door.

The knights stationed there gave them bored looks. "What trouble are you three into?"

"Nothing!" Timmons said hastily as he followed Reed down the hall to the junction. The two sets of thudding footsteps behind clued Reed in that Avery was with them.

They went quiet as they got to the junction and hurried up the stairs. Reed carefully pushed the hidden door open and slipped in. The door scraped the floor as Timmons shut it behind them.

"Woah," Avery said, then clamped his hands over his mouth when Reed held up a finger.

Lily stood in the middle of the room, bathed in dusty sunlight. She looked... like a scene from a movie. An actress, playing a part, in a scene that he was never meant to be part of.

Shaking the thought away, Reed quietly padded over to her and grinned. "Secret room."

She gave him a deadpan look. "I'd ask if you were twelve, but I already know you are."

"You think it's neat too, don't lie. You wouldn't have climbed up here," Reed challenged, grinning.

Shifting her shoulders, Lily finally cracked a smile. "Okay, it is neat."

Timmons and Avery split off to investigate the rest of the room. "We could play cards up here," Timmons suggested.

"Can't do anything loud," Avery whispered back. "Sound might carry downstairs."

A gust of wind rattled the windows, blasting dust into the air. Timmons immediately sneezed explosively, then slapped his hand over his mouth and nose.

Avery's eyes watered, his face turning red as he tried to hold it in.

Nearly blind, Reed went to the window and closed it, setting the latch again. That didn't help the dust that was already stirred up. After an agonizing moment to make sure the coast was clear, the four snuck to the door and slipped out to the landing.

Timmons sneezed explosively four more times and farted on the third.

"Blessed Sun!" Avery complained and ran down the stairs. "What did you eat?" he demanded. "No wonder Reed sneaks out every night!"

Reed and Lily fled the stench as well.

Timmons scowled down at them from the landing. "Same thing as you!" he retorted and chased them down.

Wanting to wipe the dust from his eyes, Reed looked at his filthy hands.

"What in the Stars have you four been doing?" Davis asked from above. "And what is that stench?"

Avery immediately pointed at Timmons.

"Maybe we should stop serving pickled eggs?" Lily asked.

Patrick quickly joined them in the junction to get away from the lingering fumes. "And why are you all covered in cobwebs?" He asked, looking them over. "What did you get into?"

Reed kept his mouth shut. Avery and Timmons glanced at Lily.

Lily pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her eyes. "Nothing illegal," she said.

Sighing, Patrick stared hard at Reed. "See that it stays that way. Now, go somewhere else? Before a lord comes by and gets upset."

Saluting with enough force to knock some of the dust off, Reed smirked and led his gaggle of miscreants down the western hall.

***

Slapping dust off his clothes once they were away from the doors to the hall, Reed went to the fish pond at the edge of the patio to rinse his hands and wipe the dust out of his eyes. The others followed his example. The fish in the pond swarmed their fingers, thinking it was time for food.

"Well. We got in there," Avery said. "Mission complete. What now?"

"I am tired of being sober," Reed said honestly. "Had enough of it for the day."

Lily snapped her head around to give him a shocked look.

He grinned at her and tapped his left shoulder. "I know you saw it. Why you think that fish has bottles?" He winked.

Standing, Reed dusted off a bit more and started walking toward the fence.

The three followed.

"Wait, you're coming?" Timmons asked.

"I have nothing better to do," Lily said.

"You're just going to tell us to stop drinking," Timmons objected.

"Lily can come if she wants," Avery said.

"Wait--she?" Timmons' voice dropped back.

Reed looked back, then stopped walking when he realized they'd all stopped. Putting his hands on his hips, he shook his head.

"But women can't be knights!" Timmons said.

Sighing, Reed looked up at the sky. Lily shifted, looking down at the ground.

"What do you mean by that?" Avery demanded, coming to stand chest to chest with the taller boy. "Lily's a better fighter than you."

"Bull. Shit," Timmons challenged and pushed Avery's shoulders.

Lily stared at the ground, fidgeting with her hands.

"I'd suggest that she prove it, but you've got an unfair advantage right now," Reed said.

Timmons smirked.

"You'd let one rip and kill us all," Reed finished.

Smirk falling, Timmons scowled at Reed as Avery's irritation melted into laughter.

"Let's just go get drunk for now," Reed said and nudged Lily's side with his elbow.

"I'll--" Lily started to say.

Reed tossed an arm over her shoulders. "Whose gonna make sure lil-ol-me gets home alright?" he teased. She blushed and stopped resisting as he turned her around to continue toward Lockton. The bottom line, though, was that the more Durs he was with, the less likely he was to get kicked out or overcharged for his drinks. The others would keep the bartender honest. He'd managed to get in with some of the ex-Guild that worked for the city guard, mostly for the price of telling them stories. They'd almost heard all of his fights out in Molton, though, so Reed needed to widen his circle of drinking buddies if he wanted to continue.

"Where are we going?" Timmons asked grumpily.

"How about the Stumble?" Avery suggested.

"Never heard of it," Timmons said.

"The Stumble Inn," Avery explained. "It's on the western side of town. They get a lot of Hannish there, so M'boyo will treat you well enough."