The Skeleton Queen

Winter

She keeps her breaths and heart still to silence her presence. Her careful footsteps go past the squeaking of mice.

At least I have a mask to cover the smell, Emilia thinks while traversing the sewers towards a particular location. She takes out a map under some light that's peeking through. She smiles underneath as she goes up the ladder.

The small sewer plate lifts up quietly. Her head swivels around. The cold night of the city welcomes her with darkness to conceal her pursuits. She steps out and jumps right into a bush. A guard with a torch walks near the jewelry shop her magenta eyes are set on. She tosses a pebble to the man's right.

A breath of warm air escapes his lips as he jumps. He whistles to alert the others. Three other men join him in that direction.

The guards keep silent as they bring out their knives. The first guard takes his knife and investigates the possible source of where the rock came from. He stabs through it and pulls back. No blood.

In the time that she threw the rock, she climbed up a wall with her bare hands and jumped onto the rooftop without making a sound.

She peers through the window and eyes a jewel that matches her color. No guards anywhere for security.

It won't be that easy, she reminds herself. With some clawed gloves, she traces a circle. She takes the piece and sets it to the side. Rope is wrapped around her several times before she propels down to stop at eye level. Her beating heart races while preparing herself.

She holds her breath as she takes out a totem of a fox. The item slips out of her grip, but she catches it before it can touch the floor. Only a few inches before making contact.

Eyes on the prize. Eyes on the prize, Emilia Bennett-Ramirez.

She reaches out with both hands, ready to perform a simultaneous action. She stares at the plate underneath the entire time. She swipes the jewel and replaces it with the totem.

The plate underneath remains still under the fox totem. She takes her prize and undoes what she did to the window above with a sticky substance.

She looks over the roof to see the guards are on high alert. She jumps down in front of one with the jewel in hand.

"Finished!" She yells for them to hear.

The guards rush in and....applaud her for the work they assigned her to perform. One of the guards remove his helmet to reveal an old man's face.

"Congratulations! And thank you for testing our system," he exchanges the jewel with a pouch of gold coins.

"De nada! And I will keep things a secret."

"Much appre-"

She disappears in the middle of his sentence. Footsteps rush along the rooftops to the marketplace.

Ghulnea and Gulak are in the middle of talking with a merchant outside a shop. Her sibling is holding all the gift bags in tow.

"Thank you for keeping them open, brother!" The mixed rogue drops down nearby. She catches her breath from all she had to do.

"No, problem."

The merchant leads her inside. She walks directly to the corner of the shop with her eyes on what she wants to buy. As she talks with the merchant....

Ghulnea shuffles her feet in place to keep herself warm. The gift bags crinkle as Gulak puts them on the street to embrace her from behind.

"Thank you, my husband."

He kisses her on the cheek while rubbing her belly bump. "I wonder what he or she will look like."

"Hmmm. Strength of an orc inside a tiny dwarf," she laughs.