The Royal Thief Unbound

     There is always a specific silence when you enter somewhere you’re not supposed to be, Veifira thought, as she looked around the room. The silence here was deafening.

     Veifira was used to breaking into places that belonged to corrupt officials and wealthy, albeit greedy, citizens. Those were the places she was used to burglarizing and, being royalty herself, she was never intimidated by anyone’s status or standing.

     But this room was assigned to Dr Sloth, the most well-known villain in Neopia, and there was a certain sinister air to it. The Tyrannian elders clearly spared no expense on his residence. The suite was two, maybe three times larger than the one Veifira shared with her sister. Thalse had requested exuberant suites for the representatives of Virtupets, Darigan Citadel, and Haunted Woods. It was easier to gain their trust if they felt more at ease, Thalse had said. He made sure they were receiving top-of-the-line service to silently goad them into putting down their guards. The breakfast cart by the four-poster bed was even bigger than the one delivered to Veifira’s room.

     Distracted by her thoughts, Veifira only heard footsteps when they were right in front of the door. She barely had any time to react, let alone reprimand herself for her carelessness. She leapt under the bed; she was thankful the floors were carpeted. The door opened.

     The guest had a light tread, not a tread anyone who held themselves in high regard would have, so it couldn’t be Dr. Sloth or any of his associates. Holding her breath, Veifira looked around until she noticed someone wearing black, uniformed shoes walking about the room. It was a NeoLodge housekeeper. The housekeeper made up the room with precise efficiency. Although she worked quickly (surely, she did not want to be in Dr Sloth’s suite any longer than necessary), Veifira felt every painful minute as she took short, shallow breaths to stay as silent as possible. Eventually, the housekeeper left, wheeling out the serving table.

     Veifira got out from under the bed, exhaling loudly. There was no time to dawdle again, she thought, as she beelined towards the closet, where she knew the safe would be. It was there, looking small and unassuming, but large enough to fit papers and other valuables. It had a dial combination lock, coincidentally Veifira’s favourite kind to crack. She brought her ear close to the safe and spun the dial, listening for minuscule differences in the clicks. It took a few minutes, but she had the combination.

     Twenty-eight… six… eleven…

     The safe popped open. Veifira opened it all the way to look inside.

     It was empty.

     Veifira checked for any hidden compartments, but there weren’t any. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There were only a few things in life she was absolutely certain of, but that list included how confident Thalse was when it came to reconnaissance. He never gave bad intel, and he had reported that the plans would be in this room. Was it possible the plans had been moved?

     No, Veifira thought, that wasn’t possible. Dr Sloth was careful, but he wasn’t overly paranoid. People at the top always take their position for granted, he wouldn’t have taken the papers with him. Veifira stepped away from the safe, closing it and setting it back to the way it was. She looked around the room again, until… her eyes fell upon a mounted deer head on the wall.

     Deer, she mused, where had she heard that before?

     Suddenly, it registered. Last night on the roof, when Vatalyn was saying good night. Except he had used it “dear,” and Veifira had shrugged it off, thinking he was patronizing. And maybe he was, but he also had left her with valuable information. She crossed the room to the statue. Veifira examined it, noticing that it was slightly off-centre. In the immaculateness of the room, she found it strange. She reached out and lifted it to the side. Behind the statue, there was a small space, filled with miscellaneous documents. Veifira leafed through the pages, but there were only outlines and notes for the conference, no evidence of any plotting. She sighed and put back the papers, thinking. If the room was so made up, why was the deer head off-kilter?

     Unless… unless the housekeeper had moved it herself. As the realization dawned on her, Veifira pulled her turtleneck around her mouth to cover her face. She had to find the housekeeper.

     Veifira burst out the front door, caring less about being seen than catching the culprit. Would the housekeeper keep pretending to attend to rooms, or would she have left immediately to deliver the plans? The housekeeper had about a ten-minute lead. Veifira had to follow her intuition. If she were the housekeeper, she would have tidied at least one or two more rooms to avoid suspicion. Unless she had changed clothes, she couldn’t leave the grounds, as she would be wearing the work uniform. But there was no reason for that if she didn’t think her cover was compromised. From there, the mailroom was the only logical choice. The housekeeper could send out the mail under a representative’s name, and the post workers would be none the wiser. Veifira flew down the stairs to the basement, where the mailroom was.

     As she turned the corner, Veifira collided with another person. It was a housekeeper, a slight, mousy pink Aisha, holding a stamped manila envelope.

     “My sincerest apologies, ma’am!” the housekeeper exclaimed, before taking in Veifira’s appearance. With her face covered, Veifira surely didn’t look like a proper guest. “Um, I’m sorry, who are you? Were you invited?”

     Veifira ignored her act. “I’m going to need that,” she said instead, reaching for the envelope.

     The housekeeper’s façade faded as she clutched the envelope and leapt backwards. “I don’t think so,” she sneered.

     In the past, Veifira would respond instinctively, fight unpremeditatedly and hope to win by brute force. But she had come to the conclusion that this was indeed Sophix II, a mercenary soldier, and that Veifira would likely lose in a full brawl. Instead, she channelled Thalse and tried to read her opponent.

     Although Sophix II was right-dominant – as her transmitter watch was on her left wrist, she chose to protect the envelope with her right hand, as its contents were of utmost importance. Because of this, her offence was weaker. That gave Veifira an advantage. She had to go for Sophix’s right side, where a left-handed defence was difficult. Veifira lunged forward, aiming for the letter itself.

     Torn between attacking and protecting the envelope, Sophix was severely weakened, but her combat experience allowed her to fight back despite the handicap. She aimed a swift kick for Veifira’s legs. Veifira just barely jumped out of the way, grateful her leather boots had reinforced padding. She countered with a barrage of attacks, knowing that Sophix’s priorities were split. Although Sophix was able to parry a few attacks, Veifira eventually got a critical strike and was able to incapacitate her. Veifira solemnly took the envelope out of Sophix’s hand.

     Stepping away, Veifira pulled her turtleneck back down under her chin and returned her gloves to her pockets before heading back upstairs. It was opportune timing; the summit was currently on break. The attendees were mingling outside the large conference room. Veifira walked up to Thalse, who was standing off to the side with Vatalyn. They were both dressed nicely, in collared shirts but without the overly formalwear of yesterday.

     “Your request, my liege,” Veifira said, handing the envelope to Thalse.

     Thalse raised his brows, impressed. “Well done, Veifira,” he said, taking the envelope from her.

     “Praise?” Veifira asked, pretending to look shocked. “You’re getting soft, Thalse.”

     He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ll make sure this gets to the right people. I’ll keep you two updated.” Thalse gave a wave before heading off, leaving Veifira with Vatalyn.

     Vatalyn spoke first. “You did good work,” he said. “You’ve learned a lot.”

     “Thanks,” Veifira mumbled. “And, uh, thanks for the ‘dear’ thing.”

     Vatalyn laughed. “I thought it was pretty clever. Did it help at all?”

     “Funny story,” Veifira responded. “Ah, yes and no. Well, I didn’t get it until it was too late. Actually, what happened was –”

     “You can tell me about it later,” Vatalyn interrupted. “I think someone wants to talk to you.” He nodded at the person behind her.

     Veifira turned around to Astael, who was waiting for her. She walked up to her sister.

     “How’s the conference?” Veifira asked.

     Astael smiled brilliantly. “It’s going well. Um, I like your outfit,” she commented. She knew that Veifira only dressed like that as the Dark Thief. “Interesting choice of clothes.”

     “I can explain,” Veifira replied quickly.

     Astael continued smiling. “There’s no need. I know you were helping. You help in your own way, you always have.”

     Veifira nodded. She supposed Astael was right, even if most others would never recognize her work.

     “Actually, you’re just in time. I do need your vote for a few things,” Astael said. “Why don’t you come in?”

     Veifira grinned. Maybe she could find a balance between both sides of her life after all.

     The End.