No one was waiting for Key or Jory at Greyson Hall. Key knew why, but pretended to grow thoughtful in the empty building. It was nice to sit down and collect himself after the morning's ordeal anyway. Pranking Jory had been a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.

After they left the merchant's square, it sounded like a crowd broke into applause, which must have been everyone observing from the rooftops. That alone almost ruined everything. Key shrugged, said it was probably nothing, and hurried along.

After arriving at their destination and finding the place vacant, Jory asked to see the letter again. Key produced it from his jacket pocket and gave it over, or rather, he gave him a similar version of it. The duplicate copy was the same in every way except for one thing: it was dated.

"What's this?" Jory exclaimed, pointing at the date on top. "This can't be right. This is marked from almost a full year ago!"

Key leaned closer for a better look and pretended not to believe it. "Maybe they wrote it wrong?"

"They must have written it really wrong, because this isn't even close," Jory jabbed the letter with his finger. "It must have never been delivered. No wonder no one's here waiting for us."

"I guess so," Key said, leaning back in his seat. At least this part of the plan was going smoothly.

They sat for a while longer in the roofless auditorium, collecting their thoughts. Jory inspected his wolf-fang necklace while Key considered what to do next. When their brief moment of respite was over, they stood up and left Greyson Hall behind them.

As they made their way back to the office, they passed the armory. The guard stationed outside nodded to them, but then he did something Key almost missed. With a subtle, deliberate motion, he tapped the back of his heel against the iron-reinforced door. It was the secret signal to put the cards away. This coded motion, widely known among the low-ranking community, was an established precaution against getting caught playing cards on watch. It warned everyone that trouble was nearby or imminent. Key's eyes narrowed at the signal; it was a direct affront against him.

He kept walking as normal, and when the armory was no longer in sight, he stopped.

Noticing Key had fallen behind, Jory turned and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Did you see that back there?" Key asked, unsure whether he would let it go. "The door guy just gave the secret signal on us. Us," he pointed between himself and Jory. "I'm pretty sure we invented the secret signal. Now they're using it against us? I don't like it."

"They're probably scared that since you turned sergeant, you also turned coats."

"I won't stand for it," Key concluded, striking a fist in his open hand. "No one uses the secret code on me. We have to go back."

"Are you proposing we sneak around the door guy and barge into the armory, unannounced?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"What about Trudie?" Jory asked, concerned. "She probably needs help with her mission. You know how she is."

"She'll be fine," Key waved the concerns away like campfire smoke. "She's probably still in the planning phase anyway. She loves planning."

"She would plan all day if she could," Jory added helpfully. "She has meetings to plan planning meetings. She's a true monster."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

It was true, and Key smiled. Trudie did like planning. She probably wouldn't need their help any time soon. Besides, they had an armory watch to sneak past.

"So, what's the plan…?"

Sometimes it felt like the armory was designed more for aesthetics than anything else. Manicured trees surrounded the building in even intervals, sometimes blocked the view of traffic. There was a time when Key had almost hacked some of them down to better see his surroundings during a watch. He was glad he hadn't because they were perfect for his plan.

He and Jory quietly moved from tree to tree, edging closer to the armory's entrance. Their goal was to sneak up on the door watch before he could alert anyone. Key was going to barge in, catch everyone in the act of playing cards, and that was pretty much it. Maybe he would pretend to care that the roving watch wasn't roving. If there had been someone constantly circling the property, he and Jory would have already been caught lurking around.

Jory slowly leaned around the evergreen barrier until he could see the back of the watch stander's head. He waved Key onward before darting to the next tree. They repeated the cycle multiple times until they were nearly in his peripheral vision. The closer they got, the longer they had to wait for the guard to turn away from them. The final interval took so long that Key just recommended they charge in already. Jory shook his head. Not wanting to risk even a whisper, he pantomimed a plan.

He would shout something, the guard would investigate, and Key would circle the tree in the opposite direction. Key agreed, but instead of yelling, Jory made a cat sound. It wasn't very believable, but it worked. As soon as the sound of footsteps on stone turned into footsteps on grass, Key circled around the back of the tree and ran for the door.

The guard had left his post to check the sound. He wasn't supposed to, but with his roving watch playing cards in the armory, he didn't have too many options. He wasn't going to interrupt everyone inside over a cat sound. When he looked around the tree, he saw Jory, sitting cross-legged on the ground in a meditative position. Jory looked up at him and asked, "Meow?" in his normal voice, and Key ran for the door. Noticing Key, the guard yelled and tried to stall him, but it was too late, and he was already walking inside, unannounced.

Key opened the door as fast as he could and gave his most aggressive 'Hey! What are you doing in here?' for shock value. It worked. Four people leapt up from the card table, spilling cards and coins onto the floor in surprise. They fumbled to hide the evidence, making it more incriminating than having cards in the first place. They would have been in a lot of trouble if anyone else had found them.

"Sit down, boys, it's just me," Key said with a wide smile just as the door watch caught up to him.

Borjani sighed in relief and slapped his cards face down on the table. "You scared the blight out of me! What are you doing barging in here like that? If I weren't clinching so hard, I would need a change of shorts. What gives?"

Key pointed to the door watch, "Who is this, and why is he giving the secret signal on me?"

"I'm sorry, Sergeant," the door watch said with a sharp salute. "It won't happen again!"

Borjani laughed and sat back in his chair. "This is Wally. He's the new guy. Don't worry, we'll teach him. Put your salute down, Wally. What are you doing? Who's watching the door right now? Get out there before someone important sees you."

"Weren't you the new guy not too long ago?" Key asked, remembering when Alrick had vouched for him.

"Would a new guy have this?" Borjani asked, opening a small wooden box that displayed a bronze medal. "Didn't think so."

"You carry that thing around with you?" Jory asked, stepping in and shutting the door behind him.

"Key and Jory together… in the same room?" One of the others exclaimed from the card table. "Are you guys seeing this?"

"Are you sticking around?" Another asked as he collected the scattered cards. "Should I deal you in?"

Jory held up his hands. "Not with my luck today."

Key shook his head. "We were just visiting to see why your new guy was giving the secret signal on us. We should really get back and help Trudie put her life together."

"Don't worry, I'll spread the word," Borjani promised, with an informal salute. "No new guys will ever give the secret signal on Key or Jory ever again."

Key mock-saluted back. "Where's Alrick?"

"He's taking the long walk today," One of the others said helpfully.

The Perimeter Watch, often called "the long walk," was a duty that required guards to patrol the entire length of the city walls. On pleasant days, it could be enjoyable, but on harsh days, it became difficult. Regardless, the fresh air from the long walk was nice, even if it did leave you feeling tired.

"When you see him, can you tell him that Lucia is at my office?"

"You're not talking about poetry girl, are you?" Borjani asked, having heard of her too.

"It might be," Key turned to leave. "Just tell him he can stop by any time to come see for himself."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.