Will was on the road yet again, but this time it was in search of a man who lived near the Oran River. The rich merchant, Gregor Tibus, had always intrigued WIll. There were plenty of items that Will had seen leave his possession that did not seem like the type to be sold. At the very least, it would be a wonderful challenge.

Unfortunately, it would take him near the garrisons. Not the best place for a thief. Fortunately, he had not been caught by anyone of note so there was no bounty out for him. Will hoped desperately it would stay that way.

As Will approached the Garrisons, a knot began to form in his stomach. Being this close to soldiers always had this effect on him. But, there was something that seemed to be having the men distracted. A young woman coming up the path. Will simply chuckled.

Will walked in the same path as the woman was destined to walk. He bumped into her.

"Forgive me, my lady, I did not see where I was going," said Will as he quickly pocketed an item that was on her person. The beautiful thing about being a pick pocket was that at the end of the day, you would open your pockets and always be surprised by what you took.

Without another word, Will left up the path to go behind one of the livestock stables to look in his pocket to see what he found.

Aislinn had completed the tasks assigned to her for the first portion of the day, and she was determined to avoid any opportunity to be given more busy work for as long as she possibly could. She had almost mastered the art of being impossible to find as she now knew where most of the other servants could be found during the day. There were many places to hide, and almost as many ways to remain entertained. As long as she put in a few days of hard work, and did an exceptional job on most her her assignments, than her occasional disappearance did not result in any punishment other than a brief lecture or two here and there.

Now she simply walked along a rather crowded path without any specific destination but with the desire to locate either an entertaining conversation or a secluded place to daydream. Soldiers glances followed her as she made her way down the path, but she barely acknowledged them, pretending that she did not notice. Playing the flirt with so many men around the garrisons was a potentially bad decision. It was best to toy with them from a distance or ignore them, and save the complex exchanges of clever words for a few. She was a servant after all. Too much mingling and earning a poor reputation was far from wise.

The man that was coming toward her with the intention to steal from her did not catch her attention until they collided.

"Forgive me, my lady, I did not see where I was going."

Looking at him with an obviously skeptical expression, Aislinn simply nodded in a bitter greeting before continuing on her way. After quickly considering how odd such an event was, she reached to her side to make sure that her small satchel of coins and another of equal size that contained two rings were still there. The coins were still there, but her rings were gone. Squinting eyes betrayed the subtle smirk that emerged then. Of course, a thief. He must have seen her coming for some time before deciding that he would bump into her and take whatever he could get his hands on.

Turning around quickly to see where the man had gone, Aislinn just barely caught a glimpse of him before he turned to head behind the stables. Doing her best to hide the rage that was building within her, she followed him at a fairly quick pace hoping that he wouldn't get away before she could confront him. There was little that he could do here to escape the law if Aislinn accused him of stealing from her. She was only a peasant, but a thief was a thief and this thief was surrounded by soldiers.

Aislinn caught him just as he stopped to examine his prize. They were two, somewhat crudely crafted, rings of a dull silver hue. They were gifts from her brother, Teague. There was very little value in them, but Aislinn loved them enough to remove them before doing any work with her hands.

" They are not much, but what could one expect from a servant girl?" Aislinn said smoothly with an obviously angry undertone as she walked up behind the man.

Will, feeling a bit disappointed by his endeavor, was not at all surprised by the woman walking up behind him and speaking to him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"My dear lady, these are priceless. Surely something not to be so easily cast aside along the street? Fortunately, I am a chivalrous man who was about to take them to the guards to give to their rightful owner," Will lied, but he did it with exquisite charm and wit. If the lady were a noble, she might buy it. But this was a servant, which meant that she was most likely more clever than most gave her credit for.

"Surely a woman with such grace and beauty as yours is no mere servant. If thou art a servant then name me Thine servant, Will Callahan," and he performed a rather awkward looking bow as he took the lady's hand in his and gave the two rings back to her as he kissed her hand.

As charming as this man was, Aislinn was no fool. He was a thief, and an obviously poor one at that. A few flattering comments and a kiss on the hand would not alter that fact or Aislinn's opinion of him. She was already set into the thought that he was rather repulsive, and with good reason. Even in her humble situation, Aislinn had not resorted to such methods of gaining profit.

" Spare me your charm, Mister Callahan," Aislinn said almost as politely as a servant should," I know exactly how you came to possess those rings, and what you intended to do with them," unable to simply let him be and move along gratefully with her gifts in hand, Aislinn paused before rudely asking, "Are you a terrible thief, or simply out of practice?"

Such a question was not appropriate for her to ask a visitor to the garrisons, but if both Aislinn and Will were of equal social standing, most would find Will deserving of the harsh treatment. After all, he did just attempt to steal two very special gifts from a young lady. If Aislinn was noble, which she obviously wasn't from her appearance, Will would have been in deep trouble for this offense. However, Aislinn was completely powerless in the situation, so she was just lucky to have her rings returned to her without trouble. Of course, no one who knew Aislinn would ever expect her to go about her business seeing the positivity in this situation. It was not in her character to ignore an offense, despite the charming and harmless manner of this particular thief.

As much as Aislinn wanted to turn away with a piercing glance and let her insulting inquiry hang in the air, part of her wanted to learn more about this Will Callahan. He was obviously different from most thieves in the way that he carried himself. She was a student of human behavior, and his intrigued her. Before storming off, she had every intention of trying to find a way to get a bit more out of their meeting.