Ceres finally recovered from the strain of the flight into the keep, and, looking about, she smiled, picking up a pair of silver candelabras, as well as a bagful of coins that had been resting on the table in the centre of the room. Tossing the loot over to Soa, she grinned. "Easy pickings. If every room is this opulent, you'll probably stuff that pack of yours with coins and have enough left over for a small bucketful of gems."<br/><br/>Above them, they heard several shouts, followed by a loud, deep thud. Raising an eyebrow, Ceres pointed up, and held up four fingers. "At least four, possibly five or six. Sounds like they're trying to beat the door down, too."<br/><br/>Moving to the lone door leaving the room, she eased it open, looking in each direction several times before slipping out into the hall. To her left, a spiral stair rose upwards, while, to her right, another stair sunk into the floor below. Half-crouching, and holding one of her few remaining knives in her left hand, she slowly edged partway up the rising stairs, and, seeing a half-dozen guardsmen, she ducked back, concerned that they saw her. After a moment, and hearing a loud 'BANG' from above, she looked again, then grinned, seeing that all six guards were occupied with a short ram, and trying to knock down the door.<br/><br/>Ducking back down, she looked over at Soa, waving her unlikely compatriot over, and whispered to her, asking that Soa blast the guards as soon as she wants to. Then, grinning, she stole back up the stairs, testing each step to avoid creaks and groans, and, sneaking behind the rearmost guard, she slipped her long knife between two ribs, just below the armpit, which poked a rather nasty hole into the guard's lung, and his heart.