Night of the heist

Somehow, Elegast had entered the room and snuck up behind us without anyone noticing. A shiver ran down my back. How had he done that?

“How has your journey been so far, young witch? I hope you didn’t run into too much trouble on the way here.”

For a moment we were taken aback by his sudden appearance, but I could immediately tell that we were in good hands. All the other thieves were now on their best behavior, the rowdy atmosphere of earlier had made way for respectfully hushed conversations. This was someone they admired. Chiyo however wasn’t planning on following formalities and got straight to business.

“That story can wait ‘till later. Tell us more about the Witches Guild.”

Elegast let out a lighthearted sigh. “Come on now, can’t we have a comfortable chat before we get to the difficult topics? But if you insist, I can give you a quick rundown."

A thief quickly brought a chair so Elegast could sit with us. He happily accepted.

"There are a few secret guilds scattered across the continent. One of them is the Thieves Guild, run out of Indestria, and another one is the Witches Guild, who hide out in the desolate mountains of Klaralven.”

“Klaralven… that’s where the dragons live!” Chiyo really wanted to see a dragon in the flesh. I'd only heard of them in stories, but that was enough to give me a good image of their deadliness.

“Correct, it’s one of the most dangerous places in the human realm, so it’s a fitting hideout for witches. Nobody will bother to come find them out there.”

“So I guess we’ll have to find that hidden Witches Guild if we want to learn what the mark is all about. And possibly slay a dragon or two on the way, that doesn’t sound difficult at all.” Chiyo sarcastically remarked.

Elegast raised an eyebrow at the attitude Chiyo was giving him, a hint of amusement in his eyes, but opted not to respond to it. Instead, he clapped his hands together.

“Why don’t you two get some rest? Tonight will be busy after all,” he said in a mysterious tone.

I didn’t understand what he meant by this. I had assumed that we would start planning for the raid on the palace, and get some rest after that.

“What’s going to happen tonight, then?” I wondered out loud.

“It's happening! We’re going to rob the royal palace squeaky clean. We have to move quickly, before reinforcements from other provinces arrive. The city is already on high alert, but those complacent nobles are too attached to their sheltered lives to have raised security measures for now.”

My jaw almost dropped in disbelief. It was too audacious to be executing this plan on such short notice.

“Tonight? Are we really doing this tonight?” I stammered.

"We most certainly are. We've waited years for this opportunity, and I'm not about to let it slip past us just like that."

He leaned in closer with a barely contained grin.

"So, are you in, or are you two going to leave town without finding the answers you were looking for?"

I left the decision up to Chiyo. She thought really hard about whether or not we would join the raid. It was a difficult decision, and this reflected on her face. Her eyes wandered left and right as her brain worked overtime.

“Now that I’ve heard a part of that book I really want to know more. It's our best shot at finding out more about what happened to me. But I have one condition. We won’t participate in the stealing itself. We’ll just teleport you in and leave Indestria for good immediately afterwards,” Chiyo finally said, her voice firm and decisive.

Elegast’s smile broadened.

“Marvelous! Why don’t you try to get some shut-eye? We’ll wake you two up when the time comes to fill you in on the details.”

Leaving the guild’s common room behind, we were led through the maze we came from earlier to two separate bunk bedrooms, one for men and one for women. That meant Chiyo and I didn’t have any time to discuss everything that had happened and was going to happen. Would we only see each other again right before the raid itself? We wished each other a good rest and went inside our respective rooms.

I was tired from the stroll through town and the fight with Amélie, my body still ached from that, but I couldn’t sleep a wink. My thoughts wandered to Chiyo as the hours passed.

In the past week we’d always been together. Only now, when we were separated, could I feel how much I really cared for her. It was as if a belt was being tightened around my chest. It sounded silly, only being apart for a few hours, but I truly missed Chiyo. To be by her side was my only wish at that moment. My hand instinctively reached out beside me, searching for hers, but I was only met with emptiness.

The upcoming raid on the palace? It was of secondary importance, as strange as that may sound. I should’ve been stressing out over what was about to come, but there was only room for one thing in my mind.

Chiyo.

A knock at the door jolted me out of my melodramatic contemplations. It must be Elegast or Aldo, wanting to go over the plans for the heist, or perhaps an attendant bringing a glass of water. I told them to come in, but against all expectations it was a flustered looking Chiyo who entered the room. My heart skipped a beat.

“Hey… Oliver.” She whispered, even though there was nobody else around.

“H-hey, what are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t sleep, with everything that’s about to happen. Aren't you nervous as well? We were just hanging out at a cat café earlier today, and now we’re being asked to break into the royal palace? It’s all moving so fast…”

That was certainly true. Contrary to what I was thinking about, Chiyo was mainly worried about the break-in. She had a normal reaction to what was going on. I was the weird one after all. To distract myself, I came up with something.

“You said you’ve always wanted to be a princess, and you talked about seeing the palace right? This is the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. Instead of teleporting the gang in and leaving, why don’t we take our time and get a good look around? I think that could be fun.”

Unexpectedly, Chiyo let out a chuckle at this prospect.

“You really come up with some crazy ideas from time to time, but that boldness is exactly what I like about you.”

Just hearing those words made my heart beat a few decibels louder. She liked me? The ground beneath my bed seemed to turn liquid, as everything wobbled a little bit. I quickly recovered though, slapping myself internally. She was just saying she liked my boldness, not that she likes me or anything like that! I had no reason to suspect that she saw me as anything more than a friend. I tried to continue without sounding like an overly excited idiot.

“So, you’re in? You want to go on a grand tour of the palace?”

Chiyo nodded with a grin.

“I do! It’s a stupid idea, but now I’m kind of excited to see it!”

We vividly discussed how we were going to dance in the ballroom, slowly take in all the artwork as if we were connoisseurs, and take a nap in the royal bedroom. Chiyo found it all very funny, and I couldn't help but snicker either. Eventually, the conversation ran its course and silence covered the room.

Chiyo started looking down and plucking at the edge of her skirt. Why’d she become so quiet all of a sudden, what had happened to her usual energy? Chiyo stopped plucking and whispered something, still looking down.

“Y’know, there’s also another reason why I couldn’t sleep.”

“What may that be?” I curiously inquired. There was something else on her mind besides the heist? I couldn’t imagine what it could be.

“It just… felt weird to not have you be around, I guess? We’ve done nothing but travel together and being seperated made me feel kind of restless. So, I thought, why not go over to Oliver and chat with him? That anxious feeling from earlier is gone now, just by talking to you for a little bit. It’s nice.”

Her eyes narrowed and a little smile came across her face.

How was I supposed to respond to something like that? She was feeling the exact same way as me? I felt the heat rising in my cheeks as I sat there, unable to formulate a proper reply. Chiyo went to lie on another bed and got under the covers.

“With that being said, sleep well.”

I had missed an opportunity to have a proper conversation about our feelings because of my hesitations. I wanted to reach out to her, pull her close, but I knew I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. What were her feelings towards me? I had thought she just saw us as friends, but this conversation changed the way I thought of our relationship. We may not just be travel buddies after all.

Feeling lost, I stared at the ceiling, only mildly soothed by Chiyo’s soft breathing.