Thief

by Jane Glatt

“Dasid?”

  Dasid shook his head.

  “So,” Brenna said. “The Brotherhood has no plan.” She settled back in the chair to wait to see if any of the men would disagree. They didn’t and she sighed.

  “If you think I’m simply going to wait around here, hiding out until King Mattias dies, you’re mistaken.”

  “I really don’t think there’s a need to make too much haste, Brenna,” Feiren said. “The Brotherhood has been waiting for two thousand years. It will take some time to get it organized for action. Time we have, I might add. King Mattias is yet a young man.”

  “That all may be true,” Brenna replied. “But I remind you that things have happened with much haste recently. Not seven days ago I was a simple healer and thief. Now I’m told I’m the long lost heir to the throne. A throne that you feel will be occupied for a long time, though the odds makers in the Quarter give King Mattias no more than five years. And during that time Thorold will continue to consolidate and strengthen his position, just as he’s done for the past half a dozen years.” Brenna sat back, a little surprised at her own words. She didn’t want this role, so why had she even brought any of this up? But the Brotherhood could make a difference, even without the prophecy.

  “She’s right,” Kane said. “The High Bishop is almost fully under Thorold’s control and the King’s health continues to decline. The odds makers may even be a little too generous. Now that Thorold’s son Beldyn has been named heir to King Mattias, he has even more authority. And Brenna has been revealed to us now.”

  Feiren sighed deeply. “Yes, that she has. You think it more than coincidence?”

  “I don’t think the prophecy operates on coincidences,” Kane replied.

  Brenna leaned back in her chair with a calmness she didn’t feel. She’d almost forgotten about Beldyn. Her “little brother” as he’d thought, as she’d let him think, for all those years. What had growing up in Duke Thorold’s household done to him? He’d been stubborn as a boy and she’d tried to help him hide it, but it would have been impossible for him to conceal his anger for all these years. And Beldyn was the kings’ heir. Thorold would not have wanted that unless he was sure of his ability to control him.

  “I think,” Kane continued. “That Brenna has been revealed to us with little time to spare.”

  Feiren sighed and rubbed a hand across his temple. “Aye. No doubt you’re right and an old man like me just doesn’t want to admit that if the heir to the prophecy is needed, my king has little time left on this earth.”

  Brenna looked from one grim face to another and shivered. Please Ush, she prayed, keep King Mattias in good health. For good measure she petitioned Jik for peace and order - if the king died soon they would be in short supply.

  “Feiren,” Dasid said. “I’m not sure the Brotherhood is ready for this. You know there were many at the last meeting who were less than convinced.”

  “Then convince them!” Brenna said. “You have to. There’s no one else who can defy Thorold.” And she would do almost anything to help them. She’d watched Duke Thorold kill her mother. He had to pay for that.

  “The lass is right, Dasid,” Feiren said. “The Brotherhood must move quickly or all could be lost.”

  By the time the housekeeper called them in for supper, they had the beginnings of a plan. At least the Brotherhood did. Brenna wasn’t sure it was what she was going to do, but she couldn’t get Beldyn out of her mind. Distracted, she followed the others into the dining room and sat down.

  Brenna had thought of Beldyn over the years, of course. And when she’d heard the news that he’d been named King Mattias’ heir, her heart had ached for him. Duke Thorold would never have allowed Beldyn to be named the king’s heir unless he was certain the boy was under his control. Which meant that the Beldyn she knew was gone; no doubt twisted into a bitter, cruel youth by his father. But still, Brenna felt that she was overlooking something important. She couldn’t shake the feeling, nor could she ignore it. No, there was something there, something she’d need to uncover. She’d had hunches like these before and they always turned out to be correct. Brenna shut her eyes tight as she saw Sabine Werrett lying dead. What if her ‘hunches’ were connected with Sabine’s declaration that she was a Seer? She opened her eyes and deliberately put that thought from her head.

  There was one thing the Brotherhood wanted her to do - learn how to fight, with real weapons. That was something she’d never considered - that they would teach a former indentured servant how to wield a weapon – and it was worth a few months of captivity. As military men, Kane and Feiren had no idea what a valuable gift they offered her. She’d seen enough tavern brawls get out of hand to know that any training could be the difference between life and death.

  They’d also decided that Kane, disguised as Master Arlott, would visit Eryl. Brenna’s information network would be handed over to the master thief in exchange for his cooperation. Eryl would find the situation irresistible - the Captain of the Kingsguard asking for his help. Brenna knew Eryl could be counted on to keep his head down and his mouth shut, something she wasn’t yet sure Kane could do. Thankfully Kane agreed to let Eryl continue to ply his trade. For his part, Kane had promised to do what he could if the Guard caught up to Eryl.

  A plate of food was set down in front of her and she ate, but once the plate was removed Brenna couldn’t have said what had been served. The three men had kept up a steady stream of conversation all through dinner, but she easily tuned it out - names of people she didn’t know, events that were not familiar. The dishes had been swept away by Feiren’s efficient staff and Brenna stared down at the tea that sat in front of her. The silver of the spoon glinted and she picked it up.

  “There’s something I need to do,” Brenna said. Three pairs of eyes turned towards. Suddenly nervous, she looked over at Dasid. She wasn’t sure how much he knew about the reaction between her and old steel. “I need to try to figure out more about the old steel. I mean, what happened today, well, I mean …” She trailed off, unsure of exactly what she was trying to say.

  “Brenna and I had an interesting morning,” Feiren said. “Brenna knew which of the old steel weapons on my office wall were family pieces and which ones weren’t.”

  “They seemed to have a slightly different feel to them,” Brenna explained. “And the light they gave off had a different hue as well, and the humming …” She stopped talking and rose to her feet. “Here, why don’t I just show you?”

  Brenna picked up a lamp from the table near the door and without waiting, headed down the hall to Feiren’s office. She put the lamp down on the desk and stood directly in front of the wall of weapons, her attention caught by the way the old steel glinted in lamplight. Unconsciously she raised a hand to the weapons. She felt the men crowd into the room behind her and her hand wavered.

  “Here’s what I did earlier.” Brenna let her hand touch the hilt of the bottom knife. Same as before, that knife lit up first and then all the old steel weapons began to glow. She clearly heard the hum of the weapons and through her hand she felt the vibration of the knife she touched.

  “Can you see the difference in the hues of the light coming from the Rowse weapons and the others?” she asked softly.

  “Yes.” The answer was close to her ear and she twisted her head and looked directly into Kane’s blue gaze. He had his own sword out and as he held it closer to the others on the wall it too, began to glow. It had the same underlying hue as the other Rowse weapons. Dasid joined them, sword out, wide eyes washed by the greenish radiance of his glowing weapon.

  “I can hear it in my head,” Dasid said. “A hum. And I can feel it through my hand as well.”

  “Just wait,” Brenna said as she closed her eyes to concentrate on the sounds. Each weapon had a differently pitched hum. And Kane and Dasid were somehow present within the sound - Kane was a deep thrum along her spine, Dasid was a lighter tone. She concentrated on Dasid until she isolated him. When she opened her eyes, only
Dasid’s sword still shone, its light illuminating the room. The rest of the weapons were dark. Brenna let her hand drop from the knife on the wall and Dasid’s sword went dark as well.

  “That was very interesting,” Kane said. He replaced his sword in its scabbard. “I think we’ll need to get the help of a few more families for this. The more different weapons Brenna has to work with I think the more she’ll learn.”

  “Aye. But you’ll need to be careful of who you select.” Feiren dropped into one of the chairs. “We should choose those most in need of convincing. We’ll also need to consider who we give access to the Caller.”

  Brenna grimaced. She’d rather not be around people who only were there to figure out how to use her. She did well enough in the Quarter, with those who wanted access to a healer. But she doubted she would be a match for a seasoned member of the nobility, or a merchant. She’d seen enough of the politics in Duke Thorold’s household to know that it was a blood sport for many.

  “Can we invite youngsters?” Brenna asked. “We could call it weapons practice.” She could probably handle a group of fourteen year old boys. No doubt they’d be much like Eryl’s gang, no matter their social standing. “I’ll need someone to train with anyway.”

  “I like it.” Kane smiled warmly