2 of 15 - Castle Mutter

Castle Mutter

At just past one in the morning, an alarm was sounded in the western wing of Castle Mutter. The thief who had caused the alarm heard the familiar bell sound and a guard shout after him. The night’s target had seemed easy enough, just a few precious jewels in a semi-forgotten room in the far end of the castle, but the number of guards had doubled since he had scouted the place, only a few days ago. Perhaps he had not been cautious enough in his questions, perhaps some sibyl had seen a vision. For that matter, perhaps the king himself had become some kind of sibyl. Each was about as likely as the next. Although he had not started out to become a thief, Schen had trained hard, and proved to be quite good at it. He prided himself on being stealthy in both the night and the day, able to make a completely forgettable impression while still managing to get all the information he desired out of you. This night, it seemed, he was not quite at the top of his game.

He raced down the hallway and around a corner, where he leapt through a window without hesitation, leaving a small grappling hook inside the sill. He hit the ground with only the barest of noises and continued along the castle walls towards the nearby lake. There he could hide among the reeds and tall grass and elude detection as long as necessary.

In his hand, he clutched some of the jewels he had been after: a few rubies, a diamond or two. His real prize still lay against its velvet pillow, safe and sound in the castle tower where it had laid since its discovery nearly fifteen years ago.

The Kearran Opal was a stone the size of a small bird. The previous queen had nearly tripped over it while out on a constitutional one afternoon with her young son. She recognized it at once, being something of an amateur geologist, and brought it back to the castle for polish and examine. The mages there refined the rock into the largest known pure opal, and named it after her. She took an instant liking to it, and expressed her desire for all of her subjects to gaze upon its beauty. Not long after it first went on display, Kearra and her husband were overthrown in a military coup, and the jewel was believed to have been lost in the chaotic years that followed. Nearly a decade passed before someone discovered the jewel, lying in that tower room along with some other stones. The new king tried to keep their existence hidden, but soon enough, every thief on the continent knew his secret, and each one of them wanted to try their hand at stealing the precious items. Only a few had ever made it past the moat, and so far as he knew, Schen was the only one to make it inside the castle itself.

Schen paused for a moment behind a tall bush, waited for a guard pass, and then darted out across the small clearing between the castle wall and the moat. He slipped silently into the water, slid along under the surface, and slipped silently out the other side. He crossed another small clearing, and was in front of what seemed to be a stout wall formed of wooden pylons. But Schen knew this castle better than most anyone alive, and he knew that there was a door in this wall. He just had to find it again before he was spotted.

He started down the wall towards the main gate, his fingers brushing lightly against the wood. There should be a series of small notches right about shoulder level... There! Three light cuts followed by three slightly deeper ones and then three light again. The pattern repeated itself twice more, light deep light, light deep light, and then stopped. Schen pushed against the wood just at this spot, and sure enough, it gave. A little. He pushed harder. The door gave only a little more. It hadn’t been used in over a decade, it was not going to give without a fight. Schen pushed as hard as he could without making any noise, and at last the door did give, but it did so with the most horrendous screeching noise, as if some particularly mean-spirited bird were overhead with a big sign reading, “Here Thief.” The sounds of guards’ voices came around the corner, and one of them shouted out in recognition. Without stopping to turn, Schen leapt through the door, slammed it shut behind him, and took off at top speed. The lake was only a few moment’s run from the gate, if he could make it there sufficiently before the guards, he could lay low and avoid them.

He pressed on, willing himself to go faster, faster, faster. He could hear the guards fanning out behind him. They weren’t bothering to conceal their clamor. They knew the only place he could go was the lake, and they felt confident they could catch him there. Schen reached the shore only moments ahead of his pursuers, and searched in vain for a hiding spot. So many of the plants had disappeared in ten years! The guards’ clinking sounded ever closer. In desperation, Schen dove into the water. At least there, he could avoid immediate detection. It was dark, and his dark clothing would keep him hidden enough. He stayed underwater for as long as he dared, and surfaced in a patch of tall grass.

The guards had spread out along the lakeshore with torches, and some of them were venturing into the water, leaning the torches down as low as the could and peering into the darkness. One in particular was leaning uncomfortably close to Schen’s hiding place. He ducked under the water and came up again a few feet back. Unfortunately, he was out of the grass at that point, and ripples distorted the surface all the way back to the shore line. Everyone froze for a moment, hunters and prey alike. Then one of the hunters, the captain of the guard, stepped forward into the water. “Schen,” he said, his voice unexpectedly calm and understanding. “My prince. I know you came for your mother’s opal again this evening. I know you didn’t get it. Give yourself up, and I will do all in my power to see you released.”

But Schen stayed put. The captain had once served his parents, had taken an oath to protect them with until the last. He was not to be trusted. More than likely, he would bring Schen back as a prize to his new lord. No, Schen would just stay put until he had his chance to escape. Then he would regroup and return for yet another attempt on Castle Mutter.