The Grandmaster dismissed himself, leaving Herbert to his own devices. He began walking back to camp, holding his hands up to his mouth and breathing on them, the vapor billowing past his lips like steam. Rubbing his hands together, he shoved them into the pockets of his woolen robe. Part of him missed the milder winters of Aesernia, though he wasn't exactly unused to such temperatures.

To his immediate left, the shrubbery began to shift, rattling clearly in the crisp morning air.  Lucian turned swiftly, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword and preparing to receive whatever was rustling in the foliage.  Instead of a wild animal, he saw a redheaded woman stumbling out of the trees.  Her clothes were wet with melting snow, but she looked cheerful enough.  “Lucy!  Finally, there you are.”  The thief paused.  “Do you mind if I call you Lucy?”

Lucian rolled his eyes, shaking his head slowly with a tired sigh. "Some folks call me Luca. Your land specifically would call me Luke. Luke would do nicely," he replied. "What is it you require, lass?"

“I’d like to ask to go ahead to Viarosa, alone.”  Ceara smiled uncomfortably, brushing snow from her rough spun cloak.  “You were the one to hire me, so asking your permission seems like a good idea.”

"Very well," Lucian replied, eyeing the thief carefully. "Although, I suppose you won't mind that I retain Nima with us? I can't imagine such a well armored warrior is conducive to a task requiring stealth."

Ceara’s smile fell from her face.  “What?”  The thief folded her arms, frowning.  “No, I want to take Nima with me.  He’s fairly…  I don’t know, he doesn’t work well with others.  Most others.”

"And were I to let the two of you leave the party to move ahead to Viarosa, how am I to be sure that you will not exploit the opportunity to flee or alert our target against us?" asked Lucian, folding his arms. "I cannot yet say that you have earned our trust."

Ceara looked disgruntled, but the Grandmaster’s logic didn’t seem to be lost on her.  “Fine.  You’ll be holding the [i]Sindisi[/i] as ransom to make certain I come back, see how rightly that works out for you.”  She thought for a moment.  “Still, you can’t expect me to steal from such a big fish by myself, can you?  I suppose you don’t understand the intricacies of these things, since I’m assuming you’ve never, um, [i]acquired[/i] anything of great value, but it’s going to take more than one person.  If I don’t have Nima, I can’t do this.”

Without missing a beat, Lucian shrugged and said, "Simple. Take Mostafa with you. Noble pomps enjoy entertainment by music, do they not? You won't have to rob the bard stark naked, he performs for pay while you seize Bjorn's items without being suspected. Do not allow yourself to be spotted at any point during the heist by our target and Mostafa will handle distraction." He spoke as though it required little thought. "Practical strategy. Apostle Sidon had developed a similar operation to recapture some goods he had lost to Savarian raiders during the Crusade for Iurusolym."

The thief cocked her head.  “I’m sorry, who is the thief here?  Certainly not you, or your friend Sidon!”  She changed her voice to mock his own.  “[i]Practical strategy.[/i]  To a plan like that to work smoothly, I would have to have someone that doesn’t hate my guts.  If you haven’t noticed, our friend Mostafa has really taken that little incident to heart.”

"And can Nima steal half as well as you, or play the lute?" Lucian asked. "When bridges are burned, it is not meet to leave two sides of a river divided, rather you should build anew. If necessary, I will pay Mostafa. If he will not listen to reason he will listen to coin. Your task is not to salt the wounds you cut. If you can avoid this, you may yet find a friend in him."

Ceara mumbled something about unlikely odds, but eventually sighed her defeat.  “Fine, the bard it is.  However, if my newest friend decides to turn me in while I’m working out of sheer spite, I’ll be haunting you rather than him.  Got it?” 

"I doubt the man is so petty as to jeopardize this quest out of spite," the Grandmaster replied, chuckling dismissively. "I will bring this to his attention momentarily. For now, you have my blessing to proceed onwards to Viarosa."

"Oh, and I thank you for your holy blessing, oh mister grandmaster knight, and I'll be sure to tell the sinful heathens in Viarosa of your favour when they're about to gut me like an incredibly clever and beautiful fish." Ceara bowed awkwardly, extending her hands and balancing perilously on one foot. "Won't you walk me back to your holy place of camping and rest, oh ser knight grandmaster ser?"

Lucian stared at the thief, all traces of emotion having vanished from his features. Looking her over, he gestured to the camp a distance away and said, "Forthwith, then. Compel me to march a mile and I shall go twain."

Ceara rolled her eyes.  "Right.  To the campeth, leadeth on, mine own lief cousin."