Thief's Fall

by C. Greenwood

  I watched my quarry reappear far ahead. He followed a road leading away from the main part of the city, a path that wound sharply upward toward the top of the hill. At the peak of that rise stood the grim edifice of Selbius castle.

  * * *

  I rushed up the hill to the castle, even knowing I couldn’t possibly catch the horseman now. By the time I reached the gate, my enemy and my brother had disappeared inside. Frantic with fear for Ferran, I paced back and forth in the road. My first instinct was to bolt through the open gate and demand entrance to the keep.

  But I restrained my fear and impatience. What could I say that would get me past any guards? I needed to know more about the layout inside the formidable gray walls surrounding the keep. More than that, I needed to know what kind of situation I would be walking into. Bursting in unprepared and getting myself captured or killed would only doom Ferran’s only hope of rescue. The man with the scarred chin clearly had friends here who supported the abduction of my brother. I needed to know who he worked for and how many enemies stood between me and Ferran. Meanwhile, I shouldn’t linger here. I might be seen.

  Turning my back on the castle walls and walking away was the hardest thing I had ever done. Anything could be happening to Ferran back there. Here was I, so nearby and yet forced to abandon him for the time being. As I trudged back toward the heart of town, I was numb to the cold. I no longer felt the pounding rain. My thoughts were on what I would do next.

  I walked back to the ragged quarter in the dark, Ferran’s hound trailing after me. Even the dog looked mournful.

  My mind was busy putting together the implications of this new turn of events. I remembered the conversation I had overheard between our two “rescuers” shortly after they had taken Ferran and me from the Eyeless Tower. The red-bearded man and the one with the scarred chin had been sitting in a tavern, discussing a mysterious master who had hired them to abduct Ferran and me. The master’s name was never mentioned, but he was said to be an enemy of the praetor of Camdon, a man who wanted to use the sons of the late congrave against the province’s ruler. I had never been able to learn who this powerful and unknown person was. But now that I had tracked his scarred servant to the castle I had a guess. What if the puppet master pulling the strings was none other than the praetor of Ellesus? Praetors had been known to form political schemes against one another.

  I hoped my suspicion was wrong. What were the odds that we had fled one cruel ruler only to fall into the hands of another, that we had escaped death or imprisonment only to become unwilling pawns?

  Beyond the painful irony of it, if our enemy really was the most powerful man in Ellesus, freeing my brother from his clutches was going to be a lot more complicated and dangerous than anything I had ever attempted.

  By the time I reached The Ravenous Wolf, a plan began to take shape in my mind. I couldn’t take the first step until morning, but just knowing I had an idea would help me get through the long night of worry ahead. Dawn couldn’t arrive soon enough for me. Come first light, I knew what I had to do.

  * * *

  I could only see one way to get to Ferran. Fate had provided me an excuse to get into the keep, and at the earliest opportunity I must use it. I hadn’t wanted any further association with Tarius, the younger son of the praetor. He had helped in the burglary that gained me admittance to the guild, but I didn’t trust him. Yet I had no choice now. Renewing my acquaintance with him might just be the key to finding out exactly where Ferran was being held at the castle. Tarius might also be able to get me information.

  But what if the praetor’s son no longer wanted to see me? After all, I had failed to arrive at our last meeting as instructed. Maybe he had forgotten all about me by now. If he had a change of temper, he might even have me arrested for thieving the jewels from the great lady’s house. It wasn’t as if I could threaten to betray his part in the theft in return. Who would believe me over a praetor’s son?

  All these worries were tumbling around in my head when I rose early the next morning and crept out of our lodgings. I was careful not to wake Ada. She had been as worried as me when I came home the previous night and told her the news about Ferran. She was determined to help me in whatever scheme we could put together to get him back. I appeared to go along with her ideas last night, but the truth was I already had a plan and no intention of involving her in it. This was risky enough for one person. There was no advantage to bringing in a second.

  So I slipped quietly outdoors and around to the yard beside the tavern. In the storage shed, I found a clean bit of canvas sacking, which I wrapped around a brick and tied up with string. The contents of the package weren’t important, only that I had a parcel to deliver, a visible excuse to visit Tarius.

  Watching my preparations, Ferran’s hound whimpered to accompany me. But I had no use for Ilan where I was going, so I left her in the shed.

  Last night’s rain had stopped, leaving puddles of water in the streets, reflecting the overcast sky. The grayness of the day matched my mood. The main street leading toward the garden district was busy even at this hour, but traffic grew thinner as I passed the Temple of Light and most of the fine houses and continued toward the castle.

  Seeing the stone structure atop the hill had once given me comforting thoughts of home and the castle where I had grown up. Now it only represented a dangerous barrier that stood between my brother and me.

  Approaching the gate, it occurred to me for the first time to wonder what would happen if I encountered the man with the scarred chin inside those walls. He would surely recognize me, and the game would be over. But I had taken the precaution of wearing the hat Brig gave me back in the woods village. I had pulled the brim low to conceal the higher part of my face. I had also turned my cloak inside out again. My enemy had seen the purple outer fabric before, but perhaps the gray lining would be less recognizable. I could do no more than that. With any luck, I wouldn’t run into my foe.

  I had no trouble gaining entrance to the castle courtyard, but approaching the great doors of the keep itself was an intimidating experience. I was nervously aware of the high surrounding walls cutting off any route of escape.

  But when I showed the guards at the door my parcel and explained my orders to deliver it, I was admitted. Getting to see Tarius himself was more difficult. The castle’s steward left me standing in a large open room with a high arched ceiling and tapestry-covered walls, while he went to check the accuracy of my claim for an appointment with the praetor’s son. This was the moment of truth. Would Tarius agree to see me?

  Standing in the vast, cold hall, I tried not to think of all the things that could go wrong. Tarius might well betray me. I seemed to have bad luck with praetors. Why should their sons be any different?

  I didn’t have long to wait. Soon the sound of echoing footsteps alerted me that someone was coming. I turned to find the familiar figure of Tarius approaching. He came alone. The castle steward had been dismissed, and there were no sign of the guards I had imagined he might set on me.

  The praetor’s son looked much as he had on our last meeting. His dark hair was heavily oiled and swept to one side, and his clothes were of fine cut and thick velvet fabrics. The thief in me assessed the probable value of the numerous glittering rings he wore on his fingers and the one jeweled stud in his ear. The golden clasp pinned to his high collar alone was doubtless worth enough to feed me for a year. But I hadn’t come to rob Tarius. I was here for a favor. I tried to appear respectful but unafraid in his presence.

  He greeted me with an expression of mock surprise. “So you finally decided to show up. I had begun to think my offer wasn’t good enough for you.”

  “I’ve been busy,” I said.

  His dark eyebrows twitched. “Busy? Burgling more great houses and robbing wealthy old ladies of their precious jewelry?”

  His voice carried so loudly that I cast an anxious glance around. Luckily, no one seemed to be near.

  “Busy staying alive,” I correct
ed him. “I’ve had little time for anything else since last we met.”

  “And yet here you are now,” he observed. “I suppose desperation finally drove you to come to me.”

  I kept my expression bland, careful not to betray how right he was. “At first I thought I wasn’t interested in whatever work you had for me,” I answered. “I didn’t figure it worth the risk of entangling myself in any risky business.”

  “But you’ve changed your mind,” he guessed. “Grown greedy perhaps?”

  Now was the time to take a calculated risk. “I need something from you,” I admitted. “But it isn’t money. It’s information. In exchange, I’m prepared to do whatever you ask.”

  Tarius’s lips pulled back in a smile that held little warmth. “Now this is unexpected—and amusing. What ‘information’ could a street thief possibly want from me?”

  “You remember how I told you at our last meeting that I had a brother?”

  “One who was in trouble,” he recalled. “One who would be killed unless you succeeded in your quest for the jewel.”

  “Yes, that brother. He’s in danger again.”

  “It seems to be a permanent state in your family,” said Tarius.

  I ignored that, saying, “My brother was snatched off the streets and brought here by a man with a scarred chin. I believe that man works for someone within the castle. I need to know where the boy is being kept and what fate is planned for him.”

  At my mention of the scarred man, Tarius’s gaze sharpened. “I know this person you describe. His name is Valko. A servant of my father, he carries out the praetor’s less pleasant tasks, the kind of work that cannot be done openly.”

  He looked at me as if seeing me in a new light. “You want me to go behind my father’s back and find out whether his servant is acting on his orders in this matter or under some motive of his own.”

  I held my breath. This was the part where my scheme was most likely to fall to pieces.

  But he didn’t appear offended at the idea of spying on his own father. He seemed intrigued.

  “I will do what you ask,” he said as if suddenly making up his mind.

  I was surprised at securing his agreement so easily.

  “You will? Why?”

  “Remember that task I said I have for you?” he answered. “Like the praetor, sometimes I have plans that cannot be carried out beneath the light of day. I need you to be my Valko.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He glanced around. “I can say no more here. Meet me tonight at the water cemetery, and I will tell you the price of the favor you ask.”

  I was in no position to refuse. Before leaving, I gave him the brick I had brought wrapped in sacking. I couldn’t be seen carrying that away after I had made its personal delivery the excuse for my visit.

  “What’s this?” Tarius asked as I handed it to him.

  He wasn’t asking about the parcel, I realized, but about the bulky silver ring I wore on my thumb, the only finger thick enough to hold it. My father’s signet gleamed up at us, a pair of fighting stags in raised relief against a surface of green jasper.

  “It’s nothing,” I said, instantly wary. “A gift from a dead relative.”

  “A very fine gift to be possessed by a street thief,” he observed.

  Although I knew he couldn’t possibly guess anything of my past or my true identity, I felt impatient to escape the subject.

  Luckily, our conversation was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps ringing across the polished floor.

  “Who is this, Tarius?” asked the newcomer. “I didn’t realize you had a visitor.”

  I looked up to find an older version of Tarius approaching us. He had the same dark hair and sharp eyes, but his curls were un-oiled and his clothing well made but simple. He wore no jewelry. Perhaps a year or two older than Tarius, this young man had none of the other’s sly manner. His face was open and curious.

  I recognized him at once as the praetor’s elder son, though I had caught only a brief and distant glimpse of him on the night that he, his father, and his brother had attended the banquet at the house I had burgled.

  “Habon, how good of you to grace us with your presence.” Tarius greeted him dryly. “Pay the ‘visitor’ no mind, my brother. He is only a delivery boy.”

  It was clear he didn’t wish to speak of our secret arrangement before this Habon.

  To me, Tarius said abruptly, “Very well, you’ve delivered your parcel. Be gone now.”

  I didn’t wait to be told twice. With a respectful tip of the head, I exited the place as quickly as possible, leaving the two brothers behind.

  That was how I found myself walking away from the castle yet a second time without Ferran. If it had been hard before, it was even worse now, knowing he was so nearby, somewhere within these very walls. But at least I had hope, a connection on the inside. If Tarius could be trusted to do as he promised, I might soon know more of Ferran’s situation. Meanwhile, I told myself my little brother’s captors had no cause to harm him. At the very least, they must keep him alive for their purposes.

  I was distracted as I followed the road down the hill and returned to the busy part of town. I was thinking that this latest turn of events changed everything. As soon as I rescued Ferran, we would need to leave Selbius for good. If the praetor of Ellesus was really our enemy, we wouldn’t be safe from him until we lost ourselves in Dimmingwood. That meant I suddenly had less time than expected to carry away the treasure of the thieves’ guild. What I had planned to do subtly over a period of weeks or months would have to be accomplished more quickly even if that meant an increased risk of getting caught by the thief king. All must be made ready so that when I freed Ferran we could leave town at a moment’s notice.

  I went straight to the old part of the city. There was no time to wait for the cover of darkness or for an occasion where I had a reasonable excuse for visiting the ruined temple. I would just have to take care I was seen by no one.

  This wasn’t very difficult since the place was as abandoned as ever. I passed through the open gates, followed the path past the rows of ancient crumbling houses, and slipped into the temple that was the thieves’ meeting place. It looked less ghostly in the afternoon light. Quickly I entered the treasure room, took what I needed, and returned upstairs, pushing the statue of the eagle-lion back into place when I was done.

  I had been more daring in my theft this time. Knowing we were running out of chances and must soon flee the city anyway, I took something large, something valuable. The same necklace of glittering blue stones I had supplied to the thief king on the night of my branding. I knew the theft of such an item would not avoid notice for long. Because of my past connection to the necklace, I might even be the first suspect at its disappearance. But I saw no choice. Anyway, with any luck Ferran and I would be long gone before my action was discovered.

  I had safely concealed the necklace inside a tear in the lining of my cloak and was just about to exit the temple when I realized I wasn’t alone.

  Someone stepped out from behind the shadows of a nearby pillar.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  My heart jumped into my throat until I recognized the figure.

  “Ada, you startled me!” I exclaimed.

  “You ought to be more than startled,” she said, eyes narrowed. “You should be afraid for your life. It might have been any one of the thieves from the guild who found you just now instead of me. What were you doing in the thief king’s treasure room?”

  I dodged the question. “What are you doing in the temple?”

  “I followed you when you left this morning, watched you go up to the castle, and waited to see what you would do next.”

  She didn’t look at all embarrassed by the admission.

  “So you were spying on me?” I asked.

  “It seems the only way to learn anything since you never tell me what you’re up to,” she returned. “Which brings me back to my question. Are you
stealing from the guild?”

  I was very aware of how our voices echoed around the stone walls.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said. “We’ll talk while we walk.”

  She didn’t argue. As we left the temple behind and hurried down the path leading the other way, I decided I would have to confide in Ada about the theft. There was no way around it since she had caught me red-handed. I explained how I had begun carrying off small bits of the guild’s treasure and stashing it in a safe place for later.

  She demanded to know why I had told her nothing of this before. I had no response for that. I wasn’t about to confess that keeping secrets had become a habit. After what Ferran and I had been through, I doubted I would ever fully trust anyone again.

  “You haven’t been as clever or as careful as you think,” she told me as we passed through the gates and left the old town behind. “I’ve heard rumors the thief king suspects someone is stealing from his treasure room. He means to discover who the traitor is and make an example of them.”

  “Which makes it all the more important that we flee the city as soon as I get Ferran free,” I told her. I tried to conceal how uneasy her words made me. The last thing I wanted was the thief king interfering right when I needed to focus on getting Ferran back.

  “You still haven’t explained exactly how you mean to get your brother away from whoever is holding him in the castle,” she said. “I have a right to help with your plans. I’m very fond of Ferran—and remember my life is as much in danger as yours, after your actions. The thief king will certainly hold me responsible alongside you.”

  “I’m still working on a scheme, and I don’t want to jeopardize it,” I said. “You’ll just have to trust me.”

  She didn’t like that answer, but I was too preoccupied to care. Anyway, we were coming to a busy street where the noise and bustle of the crowds made it impossible to talk further.

  Back at The Ravenous Wolf, I concealed the stolen necklace in the storage shed where Ferran’s dog lived. I hid the jewelry beneath a scattering of loose straw in the corner. I couldn’t risk carrying it.