Thievery

Large, ornately carved bookshelves filled the restricted section of the library. The shelves were alphabetized by subject, as were the books they held; at least, the ones with authors were. Finding an unclaimed tome here was not uncommon. With the knowledge held within some of these books, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out why someone wouldn’t want to be associated with it. One could find something covering nearly any topic here, if they had the time to search. Questionable bits of history, the details of long dead cults, rituals to commune with the spirits of Hell, and cookbooks for cannibals were all here.

But Kain A’rael Strommen wasn’t interested in learning about ancient cults, spirits from Hell, contested historical facts, or the proper seasonings to apply to a spit-roasted dwarf. He was in search of something truly taboo. He moved past “Krakens, And Those Who Worship Them” in the K section and rushed by the many books on lust in the L section. Nothing in the M section was interesting to him, either.

He arrived at his destination: the shelves containing everything beginning with N. He lifted his lantern and ran a finger over the books as he read the subjects on the shelves. Kain mumbled to himself in a quiet voice. “Necromancy… Where are you?” When he found the proper shelf, his heart sank. Two lonely books sat on the barren shelf. “That’s it? Only two?” He slid them off of the shelf and slipped them into his bag. “Better than nothing,” he muttered in an annoyed tone.

Sneaking into the library was easy enough. Getting out, not so much. Especially with books on such a sensitive topic in tow. He had to play it safe. Even if he was a capable wizard in his own right, he still couldn’t afford to be careless. Kain pulled the hood of his cloak up and made his way back out, patiently listening at the threshold of each room to be sure it was empty. The chances of another soul being in the library at this hour were slim, but he wasn’t about to take chances.

Finally, Kain made his way back to the window he entered through. He had figured that entering near the front would only result in a slap on the wrist if he was caught; a young elf sneaking into the public area of the library wouldn’t be too worrisome. Kain had prepared excuses in advance. Most of them had to do with extreme interest in a recently learned topic. Technically, it was true. It just wasn’t the most accepted topic that he was interested in.

Though Kain had inspected the windows earlier that day to find the least squeaky one, he opened the window as slowly and quietly as he could anyway. It had been locked when he arrived, but any wizard worth his salt had a way to get past locks as simple as a latch. In fact, anyone with a thin dagger did. Locking it back up again would take a touch of magic, but he wasn’t concerned. It didn’t take an expert to have a spectral hand flip it closed.

After being certain the coast was clear, he hopped out of the window onto the ground. After closing the windows again, a few simple gestures resulted in the window locking back up again. Satisfied, he took off into the night, holding his hood up to be safe from prying eyes.

Kain wouldn't realize he had worn a cloak with his family crest emblazoned on it until the next day.

“Kain Strommen,” an elven woman said to herself with a smile. “I wonder what you took off with…”