Now he just had to actually go down the staircase. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? Lian paused at the stop of the stairs, sword in hand, heart in stomach, and sighed down at the dozens of steps below. Sure, a grand staircase in a castle probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but was proving not to be very practical. He had taken one, shaky step down, when suddenly he started to hear the voices again. Voices that were coming much closer and closer.
Frantically Lian threw himself behind one of the pillars beside the staircase, chest heaving up and down as he struggled to hold his breath despite his panic. Could they hear his fear from all the way down there? He listened closely to see what the bandits were saying. "This is a bad idea, Ro." One of the voices said. Female.
"Shh." The voice hissed in response. Lian couldn't make out whether it had been male or female, but he guessed it was male. Males and females, he decided, tended to rob places together more frequently. The voice whispered something back in response, but it was far too quiet for Lian to make out. He inhaled sharply.
"You be quiet. This is a bad idea and I don't think we should go up there. Let's just keep checking the closets." Aha! So they were thieves after all! Searching through Lian's personal items and trying to find things to steal! There could be no doubt now, he would have to fight the thieves off. His fantasies had been practice for this very moment.
He could hear footsteps beginning to climb the stone staircase, and he braced himself.
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