Crow returned to the area of the citadel behind the keep. Glancing up at the sky, he saw that it was about high noon. Since he had arranged to meet with Lily in the evening, he didn’t have much time to rest in between. He looked at the buildings around him in search of somewhere to eat lunch, eventually settling on a tavern near the curtain wall. It didn’t look too crowded despite the hour, so he headed inside.

When he passed through the doors, he paused to take another look around. It seemed that this tavern was popular among Younisian knights, because there were multiple tables filled with them. They all had empty ale mugs and flushed faces. [i]They’re getting drunk on the job,[/i] he mused, smirking to himself. [i]Maybe they’ll have loose tongues as well.[/i] Keeping a neutral expression, he made his way over to an empty chair near the intoxicated knights and sat down. However, before he had a chance to listen in on their conversation, a wench came over to take his request.

“I’ll just have whatever you think is best along with a mug of mead,” Crow offered her a friendly smile, though his eyes flicked back to the knights. While he was hungry, he was too distracted by the prospect of learning more about the castle to think about food at the moment. He liked to eat, but he liked surviving palace raids much more, so he wanted to focus on their conversation rather than think about what he was in the mood to have for lunch.

As the wench left to take his order, he eavesdropped on the drunken guards. For the most part, they only spoke about unhelpful things, such as upcoming jousting tournaments, who would beat who in a fight, noblewomen they found attractive, and other such pointless banter. He sighed. It was beginning to seem like they wouldn’t say anything useful after all.

After listening to them chatter for a while longer, he downed the rest of his mead and prepared to leave the tavern. Just as he was about to stand up though, one of the knights finally said something that caught his attention.

“Did you men hear about the new swords the palace guards are getting tonight?”

[i]New swords?[/i] Interest piqued, Crow glanced at them out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah,” another knight scoffed. “Apparently the king had them specially made by a skilled blacksmith. He wants the entire royal guard to exchange their current swords for the new ones when they come in.”

“Lucky bastards,” another knight shook his head. “What I wouldn’t give for a new blade. Mine is balanced terribly.”

“Mine too,” one of the knights rested a hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. “Maybe we should just ‘borrow’ some of the new ones. The king paid for so many that I doubt he’d notice if a few went missing.”

“Good luck getting past his watchdog,” the first knight snorted. “Even if you could get inside the weapons vault, there’s no way Aeklora would let you escape.”

“Lighten up,” the other knight threw up his hands. “I was only kidding. I’m not stupid enough to try to steal from the king.”

[i]But I am,[/i] Crow smirked to himself. Having heard everything he needed to know, he got up from his table and exited the tavern, heading for the castle gates one more time.

--

Crow crouched behind a stable, his gaze fixed on the main road as he waited for the wagon that would be delivering the swords that the knights had been talking about. He glanced up at the sky every once in a while, hoping it wouldn’t be too much longer before the cart arrived. He didn’t want to shortchange himself on sleep to the point where he wouldn’t be able to function at his best during the heist. Stifling a yawn, he shook his head, trying to ignore his exhaustion and stay focused on the task at hand.

After a while of waiting, a horse drawn wagon finally came into view, headed by two Younisian knights. The thief watched them from his hiding place, tensing to run as soon as he saw an opportunity to sneak inside of the cart. He didn’t have to wait long. As soon as the knights passed by the stable he was crouching behind, he shot out and hopped into the wagon bed, wincing as it lurched slightly from his added weight. Fortunately, the knights didn’t seem to notice the motion. He looked down to find bundles of sheathed swords at his feet. There were dozens of them, so he would have to work fast.

Opening up the closest bundle, he drew the first sword. It really was a beautifully crafted piece of weaponry—probably expensive too. He almost felt sorry for what he was about to do to it.

He laid the sword down flat on the bed of the wagon, then stood on top of it with his right foot, gripped the hilt firmly, and pulled up until the blade snapped beneath his weight. Picking up the two pieces of the now-broken weapon, he replaced it in its scabbard and repeated the process until he had successfully destroyed every single sword in the shipment. He looked over the bundles of seemingly untouched sheaths and grinned, [i]I almost hope one of the royal guards finds me, just so I can see the look on his face when he only draws half of a sword.[/i]

Having finished sabotaging the knights’ weapons, Crow snuck out of the cart and headed back to the other side of the citadel. He stretched lazily as he started to feel the toll of missing a full night of sleep. There was still enough time for him to take a nap before his meeting with Lily, so he began to search for someplace safe to stop and rest.

After a while, he spotted a stable with a pile of crates beside it. Changing direction, he stepped up to the crates and used them to climb onto the roof of the stable. He looked around and smiled to himself. No one would see him up here. It was a perfect place to take a nap. Letting out his breath contentedly, he laid down on the rooftop and closed his eyes, propping his head up on his arms as he drifted off to sleep.