Thief's Fall Read online

  “Folk say the old praetor is ailing and won’t live much longer,” Javen told me. “But he’s a tough old hawk and too stubborn to take to his bed. And look—it seems like his sons are here too.”

  I followed his attention to a pair of young men who followed their father up the steps. Across the distance, I had a brief impression of fine clothing and proud faces that didn’t look much older than mine. Then the whole party, flanked by bodyguards, disappeared into the house.

  “Come on,” Javen whispered to me. “Things are getting too risky with the place full of guests and the extra security around the praetor. I don’t like lingering with his guards nearby.”

  I didn’t move. “I’m not going without the Azure Star in my hands. The captain of your guild made it very clear anything less would cost my brother his life.”

  Javen didn’t try to persuade me otherwise. Perhaps he knew the thief king too well to hope he would accept excuses.

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” he asked. “If you’re caught burgling a house where the praetor dines, you’ll be hanged.”

  I fingered the lucky amulet inside my tunic. “Let me worry about the risks,” I said, hoping I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life. “I’ve died before, and I’m not afraid to do it again.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Javen looked impressed by my show of bravery. Little did he know it took all my courage to stick to the plan. The last thing I wanted right now was to break into that house. I hadn’t escaped the scaffold at the Eyeless Tower only to die for nothing at the end of a noose.

  But the words of the thief king rang in my ears. I had no doubt he would cheerfully keep his threat to decorate the walls with my brother’s entrails.

  At Javen’s suggestion, we waited among the hedges until all the guests finished arriving and the banquet was fully underway. Noise and light spilled out the windows of the lower floor. With any luck, the mistress of the house and her guests would keep downstairs and the household servants would be busy waiting on them. There would never be a better time than now.

  I left Javen behind and, keeping to the shadows, scurried across the grounds. I met no one and attracted no attention. When I reached the tree growing against the corner of the house, I found its many low branches made for an easy climb. That was a relief because I had never done anything like this before. I climbed my way up the trunk until I was even with the balcony, then transferred my hold to the marble rail and scrambled over its edge.

  The window leading from the balcony into the darkened room beyond was not only unlocked but partially open to admit the evening breeze. This was more than I had hoped for. Cautiously I opened it wider and peered into the blackness. The only illumination came from a sliver of moonlight slanting in from behind me. It was enough to reveal the room was deserted.

  I scrambled through the window and dropped to the floor. My feet made no sound on the thick carpet. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom, I was able to make out the shapes of the surrounding furnishings. A quick exploration revealed there was no jewelry or other valuable items here. This was an impersonal space, probably a vacant room kept ready for guests. My confidence faltered. If Javen had been mistaken about this being the noblewoman’s bedchamber, what else had he been wrong about?

  But I couldn’t give up so easily. My life and Ferran’s hung in the balance. I cracked open the door and blinked in the candlelight from the corridor. There was no one in sight, although that could change at any moment. My magic bow was back in the lodgings above The Ravenous Wolf. I had a feeling if it were with me now it would be blazing like a furnace at the danger I was about to walk into.

  Reluctantly I exited the room and crept down the hall, feeling exposed and expecting any moment to come face-to-face with some inquisitive servant or the owner of the house herself. But I met no one. Distant sounds of merriment drifted up from the banquet on the lower floor. It seemed everyone was kept busy there.

  Still set on finding the right bedchamber, I slipped into the next room. After the bright light from the corridor, this space was even darker than the last. I stumbled around, trying to determine where the dressing table was. Fine ladies always had those, I remembered. My mother used to keep her jewelry in such a place.

  An unexpected creaking noise startled me. Heart nearly jumping out of my chest, I froze. I scanned the deep shadows. I had been so certain the room was unoccupied. But now I had the distinct feeling I wasn’t alone. A sudden tiny flare of light confirmed that suspicion. A candle flamed to life in the darkness. It illuminated a young man who had just sat up in bed, doubtless surprised to find me standing in the middle of his room.

  Only he didn’t look afraid as he took me in. Briefly startled, yes. But that passed quickly, and then his face settled into an expression of mild curiosity.

  “What have we here?” he asked. “A clumsy assassin or a lovesick swain searching for his lady’s bedchamber?”

  I stared at him in silence, as if by not speaking I could make myself invisible.

  He continued, “Old Lady Agnetha is a bit ancient for the latter, so I assume your heart is filled with murder, not love.”

  Despite the accusation, he showed no sign of fearing for his life. Instead, his thick, dark brows and the glittering eyes beneath them were fixed in an expression of wry amusement. He was about my age, no more than sixteen, and there was something familiar in his wavy, dark hair and fashionable clothing. I abruptly recognized him as one of the young men I had seen arriving at the house earlier. He was a son of the local praetor.

  He spoke lazily. “I could call my father’s guards and have you cut down in an instant. So if that is not what you desire, I suggest you speak up and defend yourself.”

  That got a response from me. “I’m not here to kill anybody,” I said. “I wish you no harm.”

  “Excellent. I feel very reassured,” he said drily. “I was imagining all sorts of evil reasons for a stranger with a weapon to creep up on me in my sleep.”

  “It’s not a weapon,” I said of the tool on my belt. “It’s a spade.”

  “And you were about to do a little indoor planting?”

  His refusal to take the situation seriously nettled. “You aren’t supposed to be up here,” I said. “You should be down there dining with the rest of them and leaving the upper floor empty.”

  “How thoughtless of me to disrupt your plans,” he said. “Unfortunately, a massive headache brought on by those bores downstairs made it necessary for me to seek the comfort of a dark and quiet room. Apparently, I chose the wrong one. Now I’ve explained my outrageous presence in the house where I’m a guest. I ask you to do the same.”

  I was unable to invent any convincing story on the spot. Besides, I had the unsettling feeling this sharp-eyed young man would know if I told him a lie. So I spilled the truth.

  “I’m here to steal your Lady Agnetha’s valuable gem, the Azure Star. I’m acting on the orders of people who hold my little brother prisoner. His life will be forfeit if I fail.”

  I expected him to shout for his father’s guards.

  Instead, the son of the praetor eyed me thoughtfully. “You must be telling the truth. No one would invent such a stupid tale.”

  “So what now?” I asked. “Will you have me arrested?”

  “Why should I?” He shrugged. “Finding an idiot peasant snooping around my host’s house is the most entertaining thing that’s happened to me all night. It’s not as if you were here to steal from me. If that were the case, I would have you cut to pieces.”

  While I digested that strange bit of logic, he continued with, “No, I think I’ll help you. I never liked Lady Agnetha anyway. Too ugly.”

  His behavior confused me. “This isn’t a game,” I said. “My brother could lose his life.”

  “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” he asked flippantly. “Wait here and I’ll fetch what you want. I’ve always thought I would make a good sneak thief. I’m light on my feet.”


  He leapt off the bed where he had been reclining. Before I could think to stop him, he swept past me to the door.

  “Try not to call attention to yourself while I’m gone,” he said. “You’re the clumsiest burglar I’ve ever met.”

  “You don’t really think I’m going to wait here?” I asked, finding my tongue again. “What’s to stop you from going to summon your father’s guards?”

  “What’s to stop me calling for them now?” he countered.

  He made a good point. I fingered the spade at my belt. I doubted I could use it to kill someone. Not before he had time to shout for help anyway. Anyway, much as I wanted to appease the thief king, I wasn’t prepared to murder for him.

  “Besides,” the praetor’s son continued, “your stake in this game is greater than mine. It’s nothing to me if you want to crawl out a window and flee while I’m gone. But if what you say is true, your brother will die for it.”

  With those final words, he ducked out the door and closed it behind him, leaving me alone in the dark. He had taken the candle.

  I fully expected he would alert the house to my presence. Why should he do anything else? I should be fleeing while I had the chance. And yet, what he’d said was true. Ferran’s life depended on my staying.

  I waited in an agony of indecision. I wondered how much time had passed since I had entered the house. Was Javen still waiting for me in the bushes, or had he given up and left?

  A soft tread outside the door alerted me that someone was coming. I looked around for a hiding place. But before I could decide whether to dive into a tall cupboard or under the bed, the door opened. In slipped the praetor’s son. He came alone. And as promised, he clutched something in his hand. Opening the lace kerchief to display its contents, he offered it to me with a flourish. Inside the kerchief nestled a necklace of blue stones that gleamed in the candlelight.

  “I think this will serve your purpose,” he said.

  I looked at the jewels. They were magnificent, but they weren’t what had been described.

  “This isn’t the Azure Star,” I pointed out.

  “Of course it isn’t,” he said. “I couldn’t find that exact gem. Anyway, you don’t want it. The disappearance of something as valuable as the Star would turn this city upside down. Everyone would be searching for it. The jewel is so famous and recognizable it would be impossible to sell without the authorities being alerted. Even I know that. What kind of amateur thief are you?”

  I had to admit he made sense.

  “This necklace is no small trinket and should impress whoever is holding your brother enough to secure his safety,” the praetor’s son continued, handing me the necklace.

  Not knowing what else to do with the prize, I knotted it up in the kerchief and tied it to my belt.

  “Now that this business is finished, it’s probably time for you to beat a hasty retreat,” advised my helper. “I’ll make sure the hall is clear.”

  Still confused by the turn of events, I waited until he made sure there was no one coming. Then I crept quietly down the corridor and back into the concealing shadows of the room I had entered through. The window still stood open. I hoped Javen continued waiting where I had left him and hadn’t given up hope and dashed off to the guild to report failure.

  The praetor’s son had slipped into the room with me. He held the window as I clambered through it. I hesitated halfway out, curiosity getting the better of me. I had to know.

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked. “I don’t believe you would risk yourself out of simple boredom.”

  “You forget I’m the second son of the praetor of Ellesus. What is dangerous for you is nothing for me,” he said. “But you’re right that I have a motive for intervening in your fate. I might soon have a use for someone of your background. Come up to the castle tomorrow and ask for Master Tarius. Pretend you have a parcel to deliver to me. We can talk then about what I want from you.”

  “Why would I do that?” I asked. “For all I know, I’d be walking into some sort of trap. Maybe you intend to betray me to the city guard.”

  “If I wanted that, I’d have done it already,” the boy called Tarius pointed out. “Anyway, you have no choice now, do you? If you don’t follow my orders, I’ll describe the robber responsible for tonight’s burglary and set the authorities after you.”

  I didn’t really believe he was laying a trap for me. He was a praetor’s heir and I the son of a congrave. Though he didn’t know it, we had something in common. We were both of noble birth and bound to keep our promises, once given.

  “All right, I’ll come,” I said, impatient to get away.

  Without another word, I clambered out the window and onto the balcony. From there, it was a short climb down the leaning tree to the garden below. I raced across the lawn without encountering another soul until I reached the safety of the shadowed hedges. Here I found Javen, who had nearly given up waiting for me. I hastily explained that I had the jewel and then, together, we ran off into the night.

  I expected we would return to The Ravenous Wolf so was surprised when Javen didn’t take me in that direction. Instead, he led me down a confusing series of lanes in a way I didn’t at first recognize. Gradually I realized we were returning to the new lair of the guild, the ruins of the old city. We passed through the open gates and were again surrounded by the skeletons of old stone dwellings with crumbled walls or missing roofs. Everything looked just as it had the last time I visited this eerie spot. The silver light of the moon illuminated the desolate ruins, as Javen and I flitted like a couple of ghosts up the overgrown path.

  The ancient temple reared up ahead, lit from within by firelight. I felt curiously numb as we mounted its steps. I should be afraid. I had been sent after the Azure Star and returned with a lesser prize. Would it be enough to satisfy the captain of the thieves? I didn’t know. But I had experienced too many emotional twists lately. Now I felt nothing at all.

  The inside of the thieves’ den was just as it had been last night. The same crowd was gathered, and the thief king awaited us on his throne-like chair at the head of the room. The only difference was that a great flaming brazier had been added to the middle of the room, its blaze adding to the glow of the torches along the walls. A heavy stone block had been arranged near it. I wondered if this was where I was meant to lose my head or some other body parts if the guild leader was displeased with my performance.

  “You have kept us waiting,” complained the thief king as we arrived.

  Javen dropped back, joining the spectators and I approached the king alone.

  “I think you will find the wait worthwhile,” I said, untying the kerchief from my belt and tossing it to where the thief king lounged in his chair.

  He caught the bundle in midair, with an expression of mild surprise. Again I wondered if he had expected me to fail. Unknotting the kerchief, he spilled its contents into his palm. The blue stones on the necklace sparkled more brilliantly than ever beneath the dancing light of dozens of torches.

  The crowd of onlookers gave low whistles and other sounds of noisy approval.

  The thief king raised an eyebrow, a movement that tugged at the ugly scar surrounding his eyepatch. “This is not the Azure Star,” he said questioningly.

  “No,” I admitted. Remembering the words of the praetor’s son, I added, “It occurred to me the theft of the Azure Star would attract more attention than you might want. The city guard would be very thorough in their search, and the guild would be endangered. I also realized such a recognizable stolen gem would be all but impossible to sell. These other jewels seemed like a wiser option.”

  “I don’t expect my people to be wise. Only to obey orders,” said the thief king. But he didn’t sound angry. He examined the glittering jewelry in his hand. “Nonetheless, you have accomplished more than I expected. I’m of half a mind to accept your offering.”

  While he was speaking, I had been scanning the room. I was relieved to see Ferran and Ada among the ga
thering. They looked nervous, and Ferran’s face was very pale. But they seemed well and unharmed.

  The thief king leapt out of his chair unexpectedly. “A decision has been reached,” he declared and motioned forward a handful of his followers.

  “Wait! What decision?” I asked as I was grabbed roughly and dragged away from the throne.

  I had thought things were moving in a favorable direction. What had gone wrong?

  The crowd of thieves pressed inward, muttering among themselves. I didn’t like the looks of anticipation on their cruel faces. I searched the throng for another glimpse of Ferran and Ada, but they had disappeared behind the rest. I was dragged toward the center of the room, toward the great stone block that glowed beneath the fiery light of the brazier.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I fully expected to be pushed to my knees and forced to stretch my neck across the block. Images flashed through my mind of another place and another block, of a sharp blade poised above the neck of my father. Even in this terrifying moment, a cool detached part of me thought it fitting that I should suffer such a similar fate to his.

  But at the last moment, I discovered it wasn’t the block the thieves were shoving me toward. It was the brazier. What new horror was in store for me now?

  As I was made to stand still, a red-hot iron was drawn from the coals where it had been heating. My arm was gripped, and my sleeve ripped open, exposing the pale skin of my inner arm. I realized what was happening and had only an instant to brace myself before hot iron met flesh. Pain seared through me. The sickening smell of burning skin rose to my nostrils.