Iliskra was nearly finished, looking over the last of the four letters and scribbling away on her own parchment. The final letter was the longest but Iliskra was a fast reader, a quaint skill she perfected over years of being with a guild of thieves. The snowfall outside was beginning to thin visibly and the feint glow of the late morning sun was creeping across the floor in the laboratory. Even if they found nothing of value in the safe the four needed to leave the estate when they were done in here. 

There was a telltale [i]click[/i] from behind Iliskra. Firoz had managed to pick open “his” lock and as he had done with the padlock on the door caught it in hand before it fell onto the desk. Sensing the urgency Willory began hurriedly wriggling his wrists and twisting his fingers. With a shake of his head Firoz said to his companion, “Patience, do it correctly.”

“We don’t… have… [i]Ah![/i]… There…” Willory said with a relieved inhale as the lock opened and slipped from its’ mooring. Unlike Firoz, Willory did not catch the lock in hand and it bounced off the top of the desk with a metallic [i]clank[/i] and then rattled onto the floor.

“Willory!” Firoz hissed as the halfling winced, putting away his pick. 

“Sorry…”

“Just open the safe.” Iliskra said through gritted teeth as she refocused on capturing the last of the details of the letters. Willory hopped down from the table and Firoz began prying away at the latch that kept the safe door secured. With a few final scratches of her quill Iliskra had finished transcribing down what she needed from the letters and then stuffed them into Leon’s hands - instructing him to take them back to Jadarl’s room and make everything as it was before.

“I wonder if this feller has some well-aged cider or wine in there.” Willory said rubbing his pudgy palms together.

“If he does,” Firoz grunted as he cranked at the latch, “we’re selling it for a high price and not… pouring it down your gullet…”