Chapter 19: The Snake in the Garden, Part 2

As they were almost every day, the cobblestone streets of Lochmire Keep were shrouded in fog. It was especially thick tonight, turning the gas lamps lining the streets into fuzzy golden orbs suspended in the air. The sound of horseshoes clopping against the stones echoed through the streets. The city was too large to ever go truly quiet, even at night, but it came close now. The only people out right now were late night errand runners, city peacekeepers, and troublemakers looking for a little extra concealment to their activities—adulterers, runaways, and, of course, thieves.

Xigbar slipped onto the roof of the church belfry, finally high enough to be clear of the worst of the fog below. He took a moment to appreciate the church architect's love of flying buttresses. It made climbing up here a lot easier. He hadn't even had to use a his grappling hook.

He hadn't, anyway.

Below, Arthur Masters grunted as he struggled up a rope to reach Xigbar's perch. The hook anchoring his rope was only a few feet from Xigbar. They were really high up, and the hook's purchase was the only thing keeping Arthur from becoming a red mess on the sidewalk.

No one would know. 

Well, a priest could always put him under a truth prayer, but Arthur was notoriously bad at everything. Who wouldn't believe that he fucked up something as basic as making sure his grappling hook was secure before he tried to climb with it? If someone else told Xigbar the story, he'd have bought it without a second thought.

One kick to the hook. 

No one would know.

Xigbar let out a long sigh. After another minute of struggling, Arthur reached the top of the belfry and hauled himself up.

"Thanks for the help," Arthur said.

"Weren't you right behind me?" Xigbar asked.

His partner glared at him, something he'd been doing a lot since they'd left Shadefall. Xigbar didn't look back at him, but he did make sure his footing was solid enough that he couldn't be easily pushed off the edge of the belfry. Just in case.

"Fucking snake," Arthur muttered to himself. Much louder, he said, "At least we can see it from here."

From their current position, they had an unobstructed view of their target. They could see the tops of most buildings, emerging from the sea of fog that engulfed them, but the main keep towered above them all, its pointed spires spearing into the sky. Gates taller than most structures in the city surrounded its grounds, and gold orange light spilled from every one of its hundreds of windows. Even from this distance, they could see figures moving inside, and see the orange torchlight of guards manning the walls.

It was the keep that gave the city its name, and the home of the King's Chosen here in Lochmire territory. The inside of it would be a hive of urks, bound to be backed up by at least a squad of elites, and probably hand selected enforcers on top of that.

And they were going to have to burgle it.

"I'm starting to think your brother doesn't like you," Xigbar said.

"Shut up," Arthur said, but there was less venom in it than there normally would have been. He could see the same task ahead of him that Xigbar did.

"I'm serious," Xigbar said. "Put together a real crew, maybe they could hit this place, but he sent you with nobody for back up but me. I'm flattered he thinks I make that much of a difference, but even I have limits."

"Will you stop sucking your own dick for five minutes?" Arthur said. "I've been running with the Pavers since I was fifteen. You've been here six months, and we fished you out of the fucking gutter. I know my shit. You're a fucking infant crawling around with a blindfold."

Arthur was half right. Xigbar had only been with the Pavers for half of a year, and he had in fact been picked up by a recruiter half-starved and lying in a gutter. But when it came to experience, Xigbar had him completely outclassed.

Xigbar hadn't been born in Xykesh. Instead, he'd grown up on the streets of Her Lady's City in Iandra, an orphan in the employ of a minor gang that liked to recruit wayward kids like him. He'd been stealing to earn his keep since he was nine, and he was good at it. 

So good, that a little more than half a year ago, he'd been recruited for a job to break into what turned out to be a wizard's laboratory while the wizard was home. He'd almost pulled it off, too. But where "almost" usually meant a narrow escape or a night in jail, this time, it had meant accidentally getting flung through an unstable portal and waking up on another continent.

A few people in the Pavers had twigged he was an outsider, but nobody really much cared when he was as good at what he did as he was. 

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Instead of bringing any of that up with Arthur though, Xigbar went with, "So what does it say about you if your brother sent a blind baby to make sure you don't screw up?"

"I hope you choke the next time you swallow a mouse," Arthur said.

Xigbar opted not to tell Arthur that he didn't actually do that, and that he really was more human than snake, but he knew Arthur wouldn't listen or care. Besides, he hadn't actually had a response to Xigbar's point.

"You think he wants you to fail?" Xigbar asked. "Maybe you've screwed up too big, too many times, and this is his way of getting you out of his hair."

"Shut up."

"No, you're right, he'd never do something like that," Xigbar said. "Larian's such a nice, forgiving, criminal underlord."

"I said shut up!"

Arthur took a swing at Xigbar, and the snake-human effortlessly flowed out of the way of the fist, stepping under and around it. Arthur's momentum carried him past Xigbar, straight for the edge of the roof. Arthur's fury vanished in an instant, replaced by sheer terror.

No one would know.

Xigbar's hand flashed out, gripping Arthur by the belt just in time to stop him from going over. Arthur hung, suspended at a thirty degree angle off the roof, staring down at the drop below. Xigbar waited a few seconds, letting him take in the view of what his stupidity had almost cost him, and then hauled him back.

As soon as Arthur was back on solid foot, he swatted aside Xigbar's grip on him. Xigbar said nothing, choosing instead to keep wearing his smirk.

"We're doing the job," Arthur said. "I earned that spot in Shadefall, and I'm gonna prove it."

"Do you have a plan to go with that pomp?"

"Yeah," Arthur said. "Tomorrow. Sunset. I'll explain then. Don't be late."

Arthur shoved past him, and Xigbar let him. It was important to keep a push and pull when antagonizing someone. If he constantly humiliated Arthur without letting him get any kind of revenge, the younger Masters brother would snap inside a day. He needed little, petty victories to string him along, keep him just on the edge of furious. Xigbar had just rubbed his face in the fact that his older brother wanted him dead or in prison, and then saved his life. Arthur had earned a shove.

But Xigbar wasn't about to let him have the last move, either.

"Arthur?"

The thief stopped just before he could start climbing down, shooting a glare at Xigbar. In return, Xigbar offered the widest, friendliest smile he could, showing off the fangs in his teeth.

"You're welcome."

Arthur started swearing incoherently for a bit, which Xigbar took with a smile. Eventually, Arthur let off enough steam to leave, and Xigbar was left alone to savor the night air. It tasted like victory.

Technically, he and Arthur hadn't been given a hard deadline to complete the job. They were stealing from the Chosen as a punishment for missing his last payment to the guild, so in theory they should get it done before the next one came due, otherwise that might muddle the messaging, but that was only implied, not explicitly stated. They could have taken more time planning things out and getting intel.

But it was probably for the best that Arthur wanted to do it tomorrow. Even as much as Xigbar was edging his antagonism, he suspected it wouldn't be long before Arthur actually tried to kill him.

He could always stop antagonizing Arthur. But he had that perfect blend of pride and incompetence that made it too fun.

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