The Defender’s Banker
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“I’ve never been one for the whole ‘banker’ thing,” said the Defender. “It sounds like something you’d do to a horse.” He looked around at his companions, who were all staring back in shock and horror. The Defender had just called them horses.
“You’re not going to get away with that!” cried the Thief.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the Defender. “Didn’t know you were here.”
“That’s it!” shouted the Thief. “We’ll have no more of this! We’re leaving!”
“Wait,” said the Defender. “Let me explain what happened.”
“No,” said the Thief. “Just tell us where we can find your bank.”
The Defender sighed. “This is a long story,” he began. “But basically, my father was an accountant, so I grew up surrounded by numbers and ledgers and things like that. And as soon as I could walk, I started helping him out. But I didn’t really enjoy it much. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized how boring accounting actually is. So I decided to leave home and go on adventures instead.”
“What about your parents?” asked the Thief. “They must be worried sick!”
“Well, they don’t know exactly where I am right now,” replied the Defender. “But I sent them a letter explaining everything. They should be fine. In fact, I think they’re probably looking forward to getting rid of me. Anyway, after I left home, I wandered around for a while and ended up joining the Thieves Guild.
I did pretty well there, too, but eventually, I decided that I wanted to travel and see the world. That’s when I met the rest of you guys.”
“So why are we still talking about this?” demanded the Thief. “If you want to talk about your life, then let’s hear some stories! How about that time you stole from the king? Or that time you killed that guard?”
“Okay,” said the Defender. “First off, I’m not sure I ever told any of you about the time I killed that guard. It was actually quite embarrassing.”
“You mean the time you accidentally stabbed yourself in the foot with your own dagger?” asked the Thief.
“Yes,” agreed the Defender. “That was embarrassing.”
“And what about that time you tried to steal from the king?” asked the Thief. “Or maybe that time you tried to rob the palace guards?”
“I haven’t done either of those things yet,” said the Defender.
“Then what about that time you tried to kill us?” asked the Thief.
“Actually, that was the first time I tried to kill anyone,” admitted the Defender.
“What?” exclaimed the Thief. “Why would you try to kill us?”
“Because I thought you were trying to kill me!” explained the Defender. “It turns out that I was wrong, though, and I felt terrible about it afterward. But if I hadn’t tried to defend myself, I wouldn’t have gotten into such a mess in the first place.”
“So, what happened next?” asked the Thief.
“I ran away,” replied the Defender. “And I spent several years wandering through the wilderness, living on my wits and whatever food I could find. Eventually, I made it to the city of Kesh, and I joined the Thieves’ Guild there.”
“What did you do once you got there?” asked the Thief.
“Well, I found a job working for a merchant,” answered the Defender. “He paid me good money to help him transport goods across the countryside.”
“Sounds boring,” commented the Thief.
“Yeah, it was,” said the Defender. “But I learned a lot, and I also met someone special.”
“Who was she?” asked the Thief.
“Her name was Daphne,” said the Defender. “She was a beautiful young woman who lived in the same town as I did. She had bright red hair and green eyes, and she always wore these really nice clothes. Whenever we saw each other, we would smile at each other and say hello. I was completely smitten.”
“How long did you keep seeing her?” asked the Thief.
“For about two years,” replied the Defender. “But then, one day, I came home from work and found that she had packed up and left without saying goodbye. I figured that she’d finally gotten tired of waiting around for me to ask her out, so I went back to my merchant friend and told him that I wanted a new job.
He gave me a different assignment, which took me all over the country. After that, I traveled for another year or so, and then I decided to settle down in the city of Varnar.”
“Where is that?” asked the Thief.
“In the south,” replied the Defender. “It’s a big port city, and I worked there for a few years before deciding that I needed a change of scenery again. So I moved to the capital of the kingdom of Zark, and I’ve been here ever since.”
“And what does your wife look like?” asked the Thief.
“She has dark brown hair and blue eyes,” replied the Defender. “We met when I was visiting a local market. We started talking, and we hit it off immediately. I proposed to her a week later, and we were married within the month.”
“So how many kids do you have?” asked the Thief.
“None,” said the Defender. “At least, not yet.”
“Are you planning on having any?” asked the Thief.
“Maybe someday,” said the Defender. “But right now, I’m happy just being with my family.”
“Do you know where Daphne is now?” asked the Thief.
“No,” replied the Defender. “I haven’t seen her since that day she left me behind. And I don’t think she wants to see me again. I guess she thinks I betrayed her.”
“I’m sorry,” said the Thief.
“Thank you,” said the Defender. “Anyway, I hope you’ll forgive me for asking all these questions. You’re the only person I can talk to about this, and I need to get it off my chest.”
“Of course,” said the Thief. “I understand.”
“Thanks,” said the Defender. “By the way, I have something else I want to tell you. Do you remember the time you stole from the king? Well, I was the one who helped you steal the ring.”
“Really?” asked the Thief.
“Yes,” confirmed the Defender. “The night you tried to steal it, I was watching from the shadows. When I saw you go inside the palace, I followed you. I knew that you were going to try to steal the ring, so I hid in the closet and waited until you left. Then I sneaked into the room and took it while you were still unconscious.”
“Wow,” said the Thief. “You must be pretty sneaky.”
“I am,” agreed the Defender. “That’s why I became a thief.”
“Why didn’t you just let me take it?” asked the Thief.
“Because I knew that I could never live with myself if I did,” explained the Defender. “If I hadn’t helped you, you would have died, and I couldn’t stand the idea of letting that happen. Besides, I didn’t want anyone to know that I was involved in the theft.”
“But you still took the blame,” said the Thief. “How come?”
“Because I thought that if I admitted that I was the one who helped you, then you wouldn’t hate me anymore,” answered the Defender. “I hoped that you would realize that I wasn’t trying to hurt you, but I was hoping that you would find some way to forgive me. But no matter how hard I tried to explain things to you, you refused to listen. Instead, you ran away and left me behind.”
“I’m sorry,” said the Thief. “I wish I could have done more to help you, but I was afraid of getting caught.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the Defender. “I got over it a long time ago.”
“What happened to the ring after I stole it?” asked the Thief.
“I kept it for a couple of weeks,” replied the Defender. “Then I realized that I might end up spending the rest of my life in prison if I was caught, so I decided to give it to someone who could use it better than I could. I gave it to a friend of mine, and he sold it for enough money to buy a small house in the countryside. He used the money to start his own business, and it turned out to be very successful.”
“I’m glad you had such a good outcome,” said the Thief.
“Me too,” said the Defender. “Now I feel like I can finally move on with my life. Thanks for listening.”
“No problem,” said the Thief. “I’m glad I was able to help you.”
“Good luck finding Daphne,” said the Defender. “I hope everything works out for you.”
“Thanks,” said the Thief.
The two men shook hands and parted ways. The Thief walked back to the inn, feeling much lighter now that he’d gotten rid of the burden that weighed him down for years. As he made his way through the streets, he noticed that the sun was setting. It was almost time for dinner, and the smell of food filled the air.
He entered the inn and found the table where his friends were already sitting. They greeted him warmly as he sat down next to them.
“Where have you been?” asked the Bard.
“I’ve been looking for my sister,” said the Thief. “I haven’t seen her since we escaped from the castle.”
“She probably went to find her father,” suggested the Bard.
“I hope so,” said the Thief.
“So what did you do today?” asked the Bard.
“I talked to a man named Thomas,” replied the Thief. “We had a lot of things in common.”
“That sounds interesting,” said the Bard. “Tell us more.”
“It turns out that he was the same man who hired me to steal the ring from the king,” said the Thief.
“That’s amazing!” exclaimed the Bard. “Did you ever meet the king?”
“I didn’t get a chance to,” said the Thief. “Thomas told me that the king was killed by an assassin during a banquet.”
“Oh no!” said the Bard. “Was it the same assassin who attacked our caravan?”
“Apparently it was,” said the Thief. “He also mentioned something about a dragon.”
“A dragon?” asked the Bard. “Is that true?”
“I don’t know,” said the Thief. “I didn’t ask any questions.”
“Well, maybe we’ll learn more tomorrow,” said the Bard. “I think we should all go to bed early tonight. We’re going to need our strength if we’re going to face a dragon.”
The Thief nodded. He felt tired, but he knew that they needed to stay alert. If there really was a dragon in the city, then the best thing they could do was to prepare themselves.
***
The next morning, the group gathered at the inn once again. This time, however, their goal was to confront the dragon. After breakfast, the group set off for the palace. They arrived shortly before noon and found the gates closed. A guard stood outside the entrance, and he informed them that the king had ordered everyone inside the city to remain indoors until further notice.
“What are we supposed to do?” asked the Bard.
“I guess we’ll just wait here for a while,” said the Thief.
They spent the afternoon waiting for word from the king or his advisors, but nobody came to speak with them. By evening, the sun was starting to set, and the sky was darkening. The group decided to return to the inn to rest for the night.
As they approached the gate, the guard stopped them.
“You can’t leave the city,” he said. “There’s a curfew in effect until further notice.”
“Why is that?” asked the Thief.
“I don’t know,” said the guard. “All I was told was that the king has ordered everybody inside the city to stay home.”
“Do you want us to come back tomorrow?” asked the Bard.
“I suppose so,” said the guard. “But make sure you stay inside the city limits.”
“Thank you,” said the Thief.
The group left the city behind and returned to the inn. When they reached the door, they heard voices coming from the other side.
“This is ridiculous,” said a voice. “We’ve got a dragon to kill, and we’re locked up inside the city!”
“Calm down, Daphne,” said another voice. “Nobody wants to hurt you. You’re safe here.”
“I’m not safe anywhere!” shouted Daphne. “I need to be free! I need to get away from this place!”
“Just calm down,” said the first voice. “Everything will work out fine.”
“How? How can everything possibly work out when we’re trapped in the city?” asked Daphne. “We’ve been hiding in the castle for days now, and we still haven’t learned anything about the dragon. We might as well give up.”
“Give up?” said the second voice. “Are you crazy?”
“No, I’m not,” said Daphne. “I’m just trying to look on the bright side.”
“Look on the bright side?” said the first voice. “I think she means that we should surrender to the dragon.”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” said Daphne. “If we surrender, then the dragon won’t attack us.”
“And if we don’t?” asked the second voice. “Then we’re dead.”
“Exactly,” said Daphne. “So let’s give up and save ourselves some trouble.”
“We can’t surrender to a dragon,” said the second voice. “That would be suicide.”
“Maybe,” said Daphne. “But what else can we do?”
“I have an idea,” said the first voice. “Let’s go to the king and tell him that we surrendered to the dragon.”
“That’s brilliant!” said Daphne. “I like your thinking.”
“Good,” said the second voice. “Now let’s go see the king.”
The group walked into the inn, where they saw the Thief sitting at a table. He looked up and smiled.
“Hello, my friends,” he said. “I hope you’re having a good day.”
“Where have you been?” asked the Bard.
“I went to talk to the guards at the gate,” said the Thief. “It turns out that they weren’t able to find any information about the dragon.”
“Really?” asked the Bard. “Did you ask them why?”
“Yes, I did,” said the Thief. “They said that there was a curfew in effect because of the dragon. Apparently, nobody knows anything about it.”
“Well, that’s interesting,” said the Bard. “I wonder how long the curfew is going to last.”
“I don’t know,” said the Thief. “I didn’t ask.”
“What are we going to do?” asked the Bard.
“I don’t know,” said the Thief. “I guess we’ll just have to wait for the king to decide.”
“I hate waiting,” said the Bard. “It’s so boring.”
“I agree,” said the Thief. “But it looks like we’re stuck doing it for a while.”
“At least we’re together,” said the Bard.
“True,” said the Thief. “That makes things a little easier.”
The End