Sworn in Steel
Page 52
“Before today, we were saving those promises for the day we needed them to serve the emperor. But now, with us looking at alternatives? With us beginning to think about breaking that first bond? Well, we’re going to need those debts, those Oaths, among the bankers and guild masters and high and low families.”
No . . .
“And among the Kin.”
“No.” The ball had finally reached my tongue, had pushed itself up and out past my lips, into the world. “You can’t be telling me this. Not now. Not after all this. Not after what we just went through, after what we just did.”
Degan turned his face back to mine, met my burning eyes with his ravaged blue ones. “I’m a degan again, Drothe,” he said. “You helped see to that.”
“You can’t. Not after all this, damn you. You can’t.”
Degan stood up slowly—almost as slowly as you’d expect a two-hundred-and-forty-two-year-old man to stand—and looked down at me. “Drothepholous Pasikrates, I call in your Oath. I, and my Order, would have you remain a Gray Prince.” Degan paused a moment, then added, “And help us preserve the empire.”
Son of a bitch.
Epilogue
The door swung open and hit the wall behind it with a satisfying thunk. On the other side of the room, a tall man with a gray beard and a shock of white hair looked up from his desk and cleared a dagger in one smooth motion. The man who’d been sitting in front of him did even better. The door hadn’t even bounced off the wall before he was out of his seat, blade in his hand, eyes on the doorway.
He was good. But then, that’s what bodyguards were for.
Me, I just stood in the entry and smiled.
“Hello, Longreach,” I said.
“Alley Walker,” he said. “I’d heard you were back. Didn’t think you were that dumb.”
“Please,” I said, stepping into the room. “It’s just Drothe. I don’t go in for the street names.”
The bodyguard looked at his boss, who in turn looked at me. Longreach then looked toward the doorway.
“They’re fine,” I said.
“Who?”
“The guards you’re wondering about.”
My fellow Gray Prince gave his man a nod. The man moved toward me.
“You hire that Djanese Mouth again, is that it?” said Longreach, inching around his desk. “Have him glimmer my people down?” He shook his head. “Not a good idea, Alley . . . Drothe. From what I hear, you haven’t been back in Ildrecca long enough to take a shit, let alone collect your people. Bad time to risk a war”
“I’ve been back three weeks,” I said. “Even on a straight diet of cheese and wheat, I don’t take that long.”
Longreach smiled. “Funny. But you’re not in a position to be making jokes.”
“Neither are you.” I nodded, and a bit of the shadows stepped forward and laid a blade across the Gray Prince’s throat.
“Breathe too heavily,” said Aribah in Djanese, “and I’ll take the wind from your lungs.”
“She says she thinks there’s a draft in here,” I said.
The bodyguard spun around, then turned back to me.
“Tricky one, isn’t it?” I said. “Who to stab first? Let’s see if this helps you make up your mind.”
The bodyguard’s eyes went wide as I moved to the side and Brass and Garnet and Degan stepped through the doorway. When his sword dropped to the floor a moment later, I wasn’t sure if it was due to choice or shock.
I strolled into the room. “Good choice.”
“So they were right,” said Longreach, his voice tight as he tried to watch me and talk without actually moving. “Crook Eye was just the first move: you’re trying to cut us all down.” He spit. “Fucking street trash.”
“And proud of it.” I stopped before the bodyguard and looked up at him. He quickly sidled out of the way. I sat down in his chair. “But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh? Well, if it’s not to start a war, then you better kill me, because that’s what you’ve got the moment you walk out of here.”
“It’s to get your attention,” I said. I scooted the chair forward until it was close enough for my feet to reach the desk, then sat back and set my heels on his papers. “As you may know, I did a bit of traveling of late. See the world, expand your horizons. All that crap. But aside from a few interesting new friends I picked up on the way . . .” I paused to nod to Aribah, who sniffed in turn. “I did manage to learn a few things.”
“Who thought something like you could learn anything?”
“Imagine my surprise as well. Try to keep a djinn from burning out your insides, and you end up becoming a better person. Who knew? But the point is, I found out something very interesting about people and survival and respect. Turns out if you have people who are similar to one another, how they treat each other is how others eventually treat them as well. Take cordwainers: If you have three cordwainers living on the same street and they all spend half their time making shoes and the other half berating their fellows, not only do you end up with fewer shoes, but you have fewer people willing to buy the shoes because all they hear is how terrible each man’s work is. By attempting to build themselves up at the expense of the other—”
“Is this a fucking joke?” gasped Longreach. “You’re talking about trade guilds, you idiot. It’s what they use to keep the fucking cordwainers and cobblers and whatever else you want to name from fucking over the whole industry. They’ve been around for centuries—it’s not a fucking revelation.”
“Ah, good: You’ve heard of them. That saves us time.”
“What?”
“What I’m thinking of,” I said, leaning back slightly in the chair, “is something like that for us. The Gray Princes. Only not so involved, and not so . . . structured. More of a council.” I looked past him to the neyajin. “A tribal council, if you will.”
Her eyes smiled back.
“What?” said Longreach again. “You want to . . . what?”
I sighed and looked back at Degan. He shrugged, as if to say, “I told you so.”
And here we’d thought Longreach would be the easiest one to persuade.
I turned back around.
“All right,” I said, “let’s try this: What do you know about Djanese assassin schools . . . ?”
Praise for Among Thieves
‘An unalloyed pleasure: a fast-moving, funny, twisting tale in an evocative setting with great characters . . . Read this book. No really, read this book’
Brent Weeks
‘A beguiling, lively urban fantasy’
SFX
‘A dark, gritty fantasy for fans of the Thieves’ World novels and Glen Cook’s Garrett P.I. series’
Library Journal
‘This was a pleasure to read – full of intrigue, colourful and realistic characters, and a fast-paced, action-packed plot . . . Doug Hulick is definitely an author to watch. Highly recommended’
Civilian Reader
‘A story that entertains from beginning to end’
Fantasy Book Critic
‘Among Thieves delivers exactly what one wants from a story along these low lines: good times and grand larceny by one of the year’s most promising new voices’
Speculative Scotsman
‘A pacey, well thought-out romp . . . a fun, solid read full of desperate duels and cunning twists’
Total Sci-Fi
‘Douglas Hulick’s debut is a mouth-watering beginning to an all new thief-fantasy . . . This unrelenting, action-charged novel goes far in building anticipation for its sequels while maintaining a high level of quality as a standalone. The characters will charm you, captivate you and amuse you’
LECBookReviews.com
‘An exciting fantasy debut . . . and a story that entertains from beginning to end’
Fantasy Book Critic
‘Among Thieves is my fantasy debut of the year . . . It’s a brutal, brilliantly told, gripping and very exciting read’
Walker
of Worlds
‘If you’re a fan of mysterious, exciting, and action-packed epic fantasy, you should definitely pick it up . . . I promise you, it’s a hell of a read that you won’t put down until you finish it’
Ranting Dragon
‘Among Thieves is more Locke Lamora than Night Angel. It is a cunning and well-scripted action-adventure with a surprisingly complex character at its heart. I expected guilty pleasure and found genuine entertainment’
Pornokitsch
‘I could not turn the pages fast enough as the story was riveting, a bit twisty turvy, and highly innovative. Among Thieves starts out slicing and dicing, and finishes with a bang. Mr Hulick is an author to keep an eye out for’
Fresh Fiction
SWORN IN STEEL
Douglas Hulick has been reading fantasy literature for almost as long as he can remember. He suspects this penchant for far-away lands of yore led, in part, to his acquiring a BA and MA in Medieval History, and likewise to his subsequent study and teaching of European Historical Martial Arts. It most certainly resulted in his authoring several short stories, as well as, now, two novels. Douglas reads and writes and plays with a rapier in Minnesota, where he is often surprisingly tolerated by his wife (who also fences) and two sons (who do not). All of them read.
Sworn in Steel is his second novel, following on from Among Thieves.
By Douglas Hulick
Among Thieves
Sworn in Steel
Acknowledgments
First, a hearty thanks to my writer’s group, the inestimable Wyrdsmiths: Eleanor Arnason, Naomi Kritzer, Kelly McCullough, Lyda Morehouse, Sean M. Murphy, and Adam Stemple. I don’t say it nearly enough, but I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you guys. Thanks for your sharp eyes and wise words.
Likewise, a deep bow of gratitude to my beta readers, Justin Landon and Haddayr Copley-Woods. If the devil is in the details, I would be hard-pressed to ask for better devils than you.
I’d also like to thank all those who were so forthcoming with their help and expertise on topics myriad and sundry, whether or not I ended up using the information you provided (writing’s like that some days): Jean Hetzel, Elizabeth Kalmbach, Kellie Hultgren, Ernesto Maldonado, Patrick Bailey, Terry “That Guy” Tindill, and quite a host of others, I’m sure I’ve failed to remember. Thank you, one and all.
Also, thanks to my two boys, Evan and Cameron, for putting up with me during this book. It wasn’t always easy, I know, but you guys were great sports.
And lastly, a profound thank-you to everyone who took the time to drop me a note, stop by the Web site, shoot me a tweet, or generally checked on the progess of things. Three years is a long time to wait between novels, and to a person, every one of you has been gracious, understanding, and encouraging. I couldn’t have asked for better readers if I tried. You guys are the best.
First published in the US 2014 by New American Library,
A division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc
This electronic edition published 2014 by Tor
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-230-76494-1
Copyright © Douglas Hulick 2014
The right of Douglas Hulick to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Table of Contents
Title page
Dedication page
A Brief Note on the Use of Cant in This Book
Dramatis Personae
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Epilogue
Praise for Among Thieves
Author biography
By Douglas Hulick
Acknowledgments
Copyright page