by Stephen Deas
‘Kill him!’ screamed the princess. ‘He killed the king! Do your duty!’
‘Stand aside, friend,’ the Bloody Judge growled. ‘No need for you to die.’
One of the other soldiers moved forward. Lucama put a hand to his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. ‘I was there in Kalda, Berren. I know what the queen’s message said. I brought it to you after all. You should go. You have what you were promised. Take them and leave.’
Princess Gelisya screamed again. ‘Kill him! King’s guard! Obey me!’
For second after second Lucama and Berren stared each other down. Then the Bloody Judge stepped back one pace and then another, and with each step Lucama backed away in turn, taking the other soldiers with him. Behind him his princess howled, screaming curses.
She’s afraid of him. We’re all afraid of him.
Without taking his eyes off them for a moment, Berren Crown-Taker, the Bloody Judge of Tethis, backed away to the ladders still slung over the side, to where Prince Talon’s longboats bobbed in the water. He sheathed his sword and climbed carefully down, carrying his burdens with him. Lucama watched him go. We could rush him, he thought. One man carrying a body over his shoulder and another under his arm, and he’s only got one sword, even if he really is that quick. But he didn’t move. Instead, he let his eyes linger on the ladder, watched it shudder with each step that Berren took towards the water, until it finally went limp.
Gelisya was screaming something about crossbows, but Lucama knew they didn’t have any. He didn’t tell her; and when she vanished into the cabins to look for one, he strolled to the side of the ship. He watched Berren row slowly away to the shore. After a bit he took hold of his badge, the badge of the king’s guard, and tore it off his chest.
‘Good luck to you, thief-taker’s boy,’ he murmured. He tossed the badge into the water and turned away. Then he put his hand to his sword and went looking for mad Princess Gelisya.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With thanks to the usual suspects: Simon Spanton, devourer of unnecessary prologues, who I finally managed to put on a diet with this one. To my agent John Jarrold. To the copy-editors and proofreaders, whose names I’ve rarely known. To David Young for the covers and to all of you for reading this.
This is the end of the thief-taker’s story, but not of Berren’s and Saffran Kuy got one thing at least a bit right: Dragons for one of you. Queens for both! So Berren will return in Dragon Queen. Information on such things occasionally crops up at www.stephendeas.com. Other things also crop up. Some of them are even worth reading.
And lastly, if you liked this book, please tell lots and lots of people so there can be more.
Also by Stephen Deas from Gollancz:
THE ADAMANTINE PALACE
THE KING OF THE CRAGS
THE ORDER OF THE SCALES
THE BLACK MAUSOLEUM
THE THIEF-TAKER’S APPRENTICE
THE WARLOCK’S SHADOW
Copyright
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Stephen Deas 2012
All rights reserved.
The right of Stephen Deas to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper Saint Martin’s Lane
London, WC2H 9EA
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2012 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 0 575 09458 1
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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