by Beth Alvarez
The shack was empty. Tahl shoved the door shut and thrust the woman into a chair. She lunged forward but he planted a palm on her forehead and shoved her back again, no longer caring if he hurt her. Any number of ropes hung from walls. He caught hold of one and looped it around her, dragging the coils tight before she could wiggle free.
“I've had enough of this,” he muttered as he bound her tight.
She tried to kick him as he tied her feet to the legs of the chair and he scowled up at her as he jammed her heel against the wood. He knotted those cords twice.
“What are you doing?” A note of panic rose in her voice.
“What are you doing?” Tahl stood and shot her a glare. “I tried to help you and the moment we were safe, you pulled a knife on me.”
The woman writhed against her bonds. “You should have run away.”
“With you free at my back to try and stab me again? I don't think so.” He gave the rope one final tug.
She wriggled a little harder. “Why are you doing this?”
“So you can't follow me home.”
“I have no interest in you,” the thief growled.
Tahl snorted. “Yeah, well I trust you about as much as a northern green-adder now. If you're a halfway decent thief, you can get yourself out of there by morning.”
Her eyes darkened with anger. “I am not a thief!”
“Then what are you?” he challenged.
The woman stared back, defiant. Something in her eyes pricked at him.
Tahl stepped forward and pulled the mask from her face.
Chapter 4
The kitchen's back door slammed shut. “I stole the queen,” Tahl gasped.
Nia spun to face him, alarmed. Her eyes darted toward the door into the inn's main room. It stood open, but they were alone. She hurried across the kitchen to close it. “You did what?”
His heart hammered so hard he could hear his pulse in his ears. “She was in the pasture, trying to get a horse.” He'd run the whole way and his breath still came ragged. A scratchy dryness in his throat threatened to choke him. “I threw her over my shoulder and carried her down the river. She's tied up in a fisherman's shack.”
“You did what?” Nia squeaked.
Tahl couldn't help but cringe. The panic that had to be sprawled across his face was uncharacteristic, but he didn't know how to keep it at bay.
She closed the distance between them in a few steps. “Okay, first off, that's called kidnapping, Tahl.”
“I'm not a kidnapper,” he protested, “I'm a thief. I steal things, I don't kidnap them!”
Nia grabbed hold of his arm and lowered her voice. “What were you thinking? You'll get us all killed!”
He swallowed hard. “I couldn't let her go, but I don't think she can get out on her own. I don't know what to do.” That part was hard to admit. His words faltered, but he gave Nia a pleading look. That much came easily, at least.
“Does anyone else know?” she asked.
Tahl shook his head.
“Better keep it that way.” She wet her lips with her tongue. “Are you sure it's her?”
“I broke into her room at the palace, Nia. I know what she looks like.”
She spread her hands and made a gentle, soothing motion. “All right, all right. We're going to have to untie her. Maybe there's some way we can convince her to ignore us.”
His mind turned somersaults at the suggestion. “Untying her isn't enough to convince her we don't mean any harm?”
Nia scowled. “If you just walk in there, untie her and try to leave, you'll hang by dawn. You're going to have to give her something she wants to get her to look the other way.” She paused and her eyes narrowed. “Why was she in the pasture after dark? Without guards?”
“I didn't think to ask any questions after I realized she was the bloody queen,” Tahl said. He hoped he wouldn't have to mention how long it had taken him to realize it. As a thief, himself, he hadn't thought anything unusual about her need to hide her face.
Rolling her eyes, Nia turned him toward the back door. “Wait outside. I'll tell my boss it's an emergency and I'll be out in a minute.”
“I'm your boss,” Tahl muttered.
“Only half the time.” She pressed a finger to her lips and motioned for him to leave.
He retreated to the small yard behind the inn. His breathing had returned to normal, but his heart still thumped an unpleasant cadence in his chest. Part of him felt foolish for fleeing the shack and seeking Nia's help, but he tried to silence its protests. She was his second-in-command for good reason, not simply because she'd known and supported him before he was anyone worth knowing. Nia had a good head on her shoulders.
Better than that, she always put up with his wild schemes. If there was something good to come out of his accidental stealing—kidnapping, he thought with a grimace—of the queen, Nia would know how to find it.
“At least this will be an interesting addition to my reputation,” he murmured to himself, rubbing his face with both hands. All he'd wanted was the horse. Why couldn't the job have been simple?
Warm light spilled across the yard as Nia slipped out the back door. She had left her apron behind, but still looked the part of a barmaid, her dark hair up and her long skirt stained with spilled ale. “All right,” she said. “Let's go.”
Tahl eyed her sleeves, pushed to her elbow. She'd been halfway through preparing vegetables when he'd burst in. “Your boss let you out willingly?”
“I told him my brother got himself in trouble. He knows enough about you to know it's not unusual.” Nia stuck out her tongue, but gestured for him to lead.
Unsettled, Tahl turned toward the river.
Though Nia worked in a number of inns throughout Orrad—he liked to consider it gathering intelligence—she seemed to favor those near the east docks. It made sense when Tahl considered how many people came and went by ship. Large as the Westkings were, the ridges of mountains across the center of the conjoined continents were a hindrance for travel. Most goods were transported by ship.
He led the long trek back to the shack, silently praying the fisherman hadn't chosen the short window of Tahl's absence as an opportune time to return home. Whether or not the man worked with the guild, Tahl doubted he'd know what to do if he opened his door and found the queen tied up inside.
As they walked, Nia remained silent. Unusual for her, and Tahl took it to mean nothing good. Even so, her company was reassuring, and he walked with his usual confidence and composure again by the time they reached the shack. A dim light glowed inside. Tahl hoped it was only the lantern he'd left on the table.
Nia went in first.
The queen was still there and the fisherman was still absent. The bound woman raised her head and gave them a dark glare. She couldn't do more with the gag in her mouth.
Something crawled across Tahl's skin, a sensation it took him a moment to place.
Magic.
That was right; he'd already suspected the queen was a mage. Now he was certain, the presence of her Gift tingling in his senses. No doubt she'd feel him, too. The knowledge made him frown. If she was Gifted, why hadn't she tried to free herself with her magic? Or perhaps she had tried, and had failed. Or perhaps the discomfort of being tied and gagged was just enough to keep her from concentrating enough to grasp the flows of power around them.
“Your Majesty,” Nia offered in greeting, her tone prim. The queen's expression only darkened further.
Tahl locked the door.
“We have some questions for you. First off, do you know who we are?” With nimble fingers, Nia undid the gag.
“Soul-blighted thieves,” the woman spat the moment she was able.
“I am not soul-blighted,” Tahl replied dryly. “The priestesses said so themselves.”
Nia put out a hand as if to tell him to settle. “So you don't know.”
The queen's brows twitched.
“I hope you know this wasn't any plot or plan against you,” Ni
a said. “You were just unfortunate enough to be in the Ghost's way.”
“The Ghost?” the queen repeated, blinking in confusion.
Nia glanced toward Tahl. He raised an eyebrow in response.
The queen's eyes raked over him. “But you're a child.”
“I'm eighteen,” Tahl replied, irritated.
Again, Nia motioned for him to settle. “He is the Ghost of Orrad. I thought you would recognize him after he took the crown.”
This time, the queen's lips parted with her look of surprise. She studied Tahl again, focused on his face. The feeble lantern light did little to illuminate his features.
Tahl pulled a coin from his pocket and curled his fingers around it. A moment later, it flared to life, glowing softly with the hint of magic he'd used.
The queen's eyebrows flew up. “You're a mage?”
He hesitated. Hadn't she known? Her Gift prickled unmistakably at the edge of his awareness, her power calling out to his. He could have sworn she would feel it, too. “If I was,” he said slowly, “I'd be bound to the service of the emperor. The law is that all trainable mages are to be sent to the academy and put beneath Atoras's thumb, is it not?”
“Yes,” she replied, cocking her head. “But you're...”
“Not,” Tahl concluded for her. He put the mage-light on the table and slid it across the wood with a fingertip. The light remained when he let go. “What were you doing sneaking around the horses?”
“Not trying to steal one,” the queen retorted.
Nia choked back a laugh. “Knowing who he is, do you expect anything different?”
“Why that horse?” Tahl asked.
“He's mine.”
A halfway useful answer, he mused. “Out of every horse in Orrad, why is that one yours?”
“I bought him.” A flicker of uncertainty crossed the queen's features. “I'm not the most skilled rider. I was told he belonged to an older woman.”
Which meant Ebitha hadn't been directly involved in the sale. Tahl fought back a frown. “What if I told you the horse was stolen?”
The queen glanced between Tahl and Nia. “From you?”
“From who doesn't matter,” Tahl replied coolly. “My job is stealing it back.”
“Strangely noble for the thief who stole my husband's crown.” The woman lifted her chin, a hint of defiance returning to her eyes.
“He's not evil,” Nia said. “He's just...” She stared at him, her hand groping at the air as if to find the answer.
“Unusually motivated,” Tahl suggested.
From the odd look both women gave him, perhaps that wasn't the best answer.
“What do you want from me?” the queen asked at last.
Tahl and Nia exchanged glances. He wanted the horse. And for his hide to be intact after they let the queen go. From the desperation in Nia's eyes, he suspected she wanted something else. He spread a hand and motioned for her to go ahead.
She cleared her throat. “Firstly, Your Majesty, we'd like to know your name.”
The queen's jaw went slack. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your name,” Nia repeated.
“You know who I am.”
Tahl crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “That's the funny thing. We don't. Your face is on our currency and the museum's named after you, but by that, I mean it's called the Queen's Museum. We know you're the emperor's wife. Beyond that...” He flicked a hand in helpless dismissal.
“After the Ghost took the crown”—Nia gave him a sidewise glance as she avoided his name—“he realized nobody seemed to know anything about you.”
“But I'm your queen,” she insisted.
“Shouldn't you be our empress?” Tahl asked.
Evidently, she didn't appreciate the question. Her eyes grew stormy and her face crumpled with a scowl. “Oria.”
Nia tilted her head. “What?”
“My name is Oria,” the queen said.
Tahl's arms tightened across his chest and he drummed his fingers against his bicep. “Wasn't that the name of the last queen before the first emperor? The woman who founded Orrad?”
“My great-grandmother,” Oria said. “Yes. I'm surprised you would know that.”
He shrugged. The academy had found it important. “She was the last of the mage queens.”
“Not the last,” Oria murmured.
A suspicious look drifted over Nia's face. “Mage queens?”
“Before the First Empire, Orrad was the capital of a smaller country that was ruled by matriarchy,” Tahl said. “The mage queens were the last bastion against the empire's expansion. That's why Orrad is the capital of the empire now. The emperor saw it as an opportunity to gloat, taking what was once considered an impenetrable city as the heart of his holdings.”
“Well look at you, with all your fancy schooling,” Nia intoned.
“Indeed,” the queen said. Her eyes weighed too heavily on Tahl for his comfort.
He stared back. “Well, now we know why you're called the queen. So is it your choice to keep the people from knowing your name, or is Atoras responsible for that?”
Oria did not reply.
Nia shifted on her feet. “I don't think we're going to get any more answers out of her right now.”
“Probably not,” Tahl agreed. “But considering how many times she tried to knife me, I don't think untying her is the best idea.”
“I thought you were after me,” Oria said.
Tahl raised a brow. “I was after the horse. Which still needs to be addressed, by the way. I'm getting it back, one way or another.”
Again, her eyes weighed on him, but this time it was with thoughtful consideration. “You said it was your job. You're a thief for hire?”
Curiosity ran through him like a tingle. “I can be.”
A slow, devious sort of smile wreathed itself across the queen's face. “Then I have a job for you.”
Chapter 5
The entrance alone was still enough to make Tahl uncomfortable.
“Rupert's not going to like this,” Nia murmured.
“We don't even know if Rupert is home.”
“He was home last time.”
“Well then we go left,” Tahl said. “Rupert never goes left.”
Between them, the queen wriggled in her bonds. They both paused.
“She doesn't know who Rupert is,” Nia said.
Tahl couldn't help his grin. “If she's lucky, it'll stay that way.” He waved Nia into the narrow mouth of the cavern and tightened his grip on Oria's arm. The queen had given up fighting a while ago, but he felt no more inclined to trust her than when she'd kicked and flailed before he'd stuck her in the fisherman's shack.
Nia trudged on ahead, Tahl's mage-light in her hand. He'd replenished it once they made it to the countryside, safely away from prying eyes. Getting upriver with a bound and gagged woman without drawing attention had been a considerable feat.
“One last thing, Your Majesty,” Tahl said as he turned to face her. She still glowered at him, but it was a look of frustration now instead of contempt. He offered his best apologetic smile before he swept her cloak up over her head and wound it so it wouldn't easily come undone. Oria grunted her protest behind her gag.
“I apologize. I know it's inconvenient, but so is bringing you along in the first place.” Tahl guided her into the tunnel. “Which, I'd like to remind you, could have been avoided entirely if you'd not pulled a knife on me. Three times.”
“He doesn't like unnecessary confrontations,” Nia called back.
Tahl cringed. “Rupert,” he prompted.
A hint of color rose in Nia's cheeks and she lifted a finger to her lips to indicate she would be quiet. Good.
They wound through the leftmost tunnels of the cavern without incident. If their makeshift guard was present, they saw no sign of him. The cavern connected to the sewer tunnels beneath the city, and by now Nia knew the path well enough to lead without needing Tahl to give directions.
&n
bsp; After what seemed an eternity, they reached the foot of the ladder. Nia opened the stone trapdoor while Tahl unwound the queen's cloak from her head.
Oria sucked in a deep breath through her nose the moment she was uncovered.
Tahl pointed up the ladder as Nia scurried through the hole. “You'll have to climb. I'm going to check you for weapons.”
The queen started to backpedal, then scowled behind her gag. Undeterred, Tahl stepped closer and skimmed her form with his hands. A dagger in her boot was first to go. Nothing on her arms or thighs. A ridge at her back drew his attention and her eyes widened with fury as he untucked the back of her shirt and his fingertips explored. Tahl unsheathed the knife at the small of her back and twirled it between his fingers.
“A lot of weaponry for a mage,” he remarked as he added both her blades to his own small collection. Counting the three she'd pulled on him and lost before, that was five. Enough to rival his own equipment, most days. Satisfied she was disarmed, he loosened the ropes that bound her wrists. “Why not just use your Gift?”
Oria tore the gag from her mouth and threw it on the ground. “Why not use yours?”
Without knowing why, Tahl smirked at her. The expression seemed to be off-putting, for the queen huffed and turned to climb the ladder.
“I'll get the door,” Nia said from above.
Tahl politely averted his eyes while the queen scaled to the museum's basement. Unlike Niada and her dress, Oria wore close-fitted pants and a curve-hugging knit shirt that resembled his own heist shirt too much for comfort, but there was something both unseemly and uncomfortable about watching a queen's backside as she climbed a ladder into one's lair. Once she disappeared, he made his way up.
The three of them strode into the guild headquarters together, and everything happening in the front room slowed to a halt. One after another, each of the half-dozen thieves present turned their eyes toward the queen.
“Sir?” Jeran asked, his voice shaky.
Tahl cleared his throat. “Guild, Queen Oria. Queen Oria, this is my guild.”
