“You slunk off so quickly, I had to make sure nothing was wrong.”
Oscar looked over, arching a brow. “You could go back and drink with Rock. I know how the two of you are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Oscar shook his head. “Not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s like your father and me when we were your age. Well, after your father got into this line of work. You’re young. You should have fun. And you don’t need to be here.”
“Neither do you.”
“It’s got to be done.”
“So we don’t end up like Pegg.”
Oscar shook his head slightly. “Pegg had probably been pinched a few times before. You don’t get the noose for one offense.”
“Even if caught there?”
Oscar paused before shaking his head. “Even there. They’ve got to save that for the really nasty crimes.” Oscar looked up into the darkness. “This was more for me and less for him.”
In the darkness, the rigid set to his jaw wasn’t quite as evident, though his scar seemed to catch the light and make it gleam.
“If you’re going out to do this, then I’m going with you,” Finn said.
Oscar grunted but said nothing more. Finn figured that was agreement.
They continued along the street toward the palace. Every so often, the street would turn so the palace would be visible, but then it would turn again and disappear. They got closer to the palace, but the maze of streets made it difficult to head straight toward it.
“What’s got you bothered? Don’t tell me you aren’t troubled. I know you well enough, Oscar.”
The Hand paused and motioned for Finn to follow him into the shadows of the street near an alley. Finn glanced at it, thinking how he could follow this alley, though it wouldn’t be as easy. He thought he knew where this one connected, but he might be wrong. Better check if they were going to take this job. Oscar might not like alleys, but Finn recognized their value. The wrong turn and you could get caught—the way Finn had almost gotten himself caught.
“It’s this business with the Client. I’ve been trying to figure out who we’re working for.”
“You have? If the King finds out—”
“He’s just going to have to deal with it. I’m not taking jobs like this until I know who we’re dealing with. Neither should you.”
“That’s what got you troubled?”
Oscar grunted. “It’s these jobs. You don’t notice anything about them?”
“How am I supposed to notice? I’m a scout, remember?”
“That means you watch.”
“I have been.”
“Then what have you seen?”
“Well, today, we went up to the—”
“Don’t say it. Not here.”
Finn looked around. He didn’t see anyone, but maybe Oscar was right. They should be more careful about speaking up even in places like this. Probably especially places like this.
“Whatever. We were there. Took… whatever that was. Then brought it to the King. No different than many of our recent jobs.”
Oscar looked past him and along the street. “That’s my concern.”
“What is?”
“What we took today,” Oscar said softly. “I’m worried about the King. Something is off lately. Something’s pressuring him. I haven’t figured out what it is, but he’s taking jobs that don’t make the most sense for the crew.”
They made their way along the street, and the palace loomed into view. The street straightened, now heading directly toward the palace, widening as it did.
The palace itself was enormous. A separate wall surrounded it, high enough Finn couldn’t make out the gardens rumored to be on the other side. Rumored only because he didn’t know if there really was a garden there. Turrets rose from the center of the palace as little more than shadowed forms against the darkness, making it difficult for him to make anything else out. A lantern flickered high in the palace, the only light visible from where they stood.
“See that?” Oscar asked, taking a place along the edge of the street and looking toward the palace.
“I see it.”
“Not the palace. The wall. That’s the first step. He would’ve had to get past the wall. Once over, then the next challenge begins, but that couldn’t have been easy.”
Two Archers patrolled the high stone wall. Finn couldn’t imagine there’d be that much room along the wall for them to patrol, but they seemed to have no difficulty marching. Moonlight gleamed off the metal helms and chainmail, and their boots thudded dully as they moved beyond them.
“Why do you think he did it?”
Oscar breathed out slowly. “Don’t really know. Too dangerous. A damn sight too dangerous.”
They stood there for a while before making their way from the palace. They stayed on the same street, but it veered down a gentle hillside, past a few massive shops, before another stone wall appeared, though smaller than the one surrounding the palace. It was still in one of the city's nicer sections, though at the western edge of the city where it practically abutted the forest.
Finn could almost imagine the forest just beyond the wall surrounding the city, a place no one ever visited. The Alainsith had some strange influence over the forest that kept anyone from venturing too far. Some thought the forest barrier shifted over time, though Finn thought that nothing but rumor, the same kind of rumors he often heard spread about the hegen.
The viscount’s manor wasn’t nearly as large as the hillside palace, though several stories high, with lanterns shining in the windows lining the street, but it was nonetheless impressive. Protected by palace Archers, the manor home would be almost as impenetrable.
“Two,” Oscar whispered.
“We can time it so we don’t have to deal with the Archers,” Finn said.
Oscar frowned. “It’s not going to be easy. I see two now, but…” He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “I think I’m going to have to come by in the daylight to see if there’s more I can’t see.”
“You’ll have to dress better than you did today if you’re going to do that.”
Oscar shot him a look.
“I was just trying to be helpful.”
“If you think you’ve got some way of getting in there and finding out more than I can, be my guest.”
“You wouldn’t trust what I told you, anyway.”
Oscar shrugged. “Your father taught you to count well enough.”
A moment of silence passed between them. “What do we have once we get past the walls?” If they were scouting, they might as well do it right. Talking it through with Oscar made him feel better about the plan.
“Once through there, we have to get into the manor itself. The King is saying the direct approach is best, but I’m not as certain. It all depends on what we’re going after.”
“I’ll check with Rock. The King might have said something to him.”
Oscar nodded slowly while Finn watched the wall, noting the regular procession of Archers across the walkway. They came often enough he didn’t think they’d be able to sneak past them all that easily. It would take impossibly consistent timing, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to do that.
That had to be what Oscar wanted to know. How often the Archers came by. Whether there was a break they could take advantage of to slip through. Perhaps even if there might be a weakness somewhere else along the wall they could use.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Finn said softly.
“It’s not.”
“Easier than what Pegg tried, I guess.”
“Pegg took on more than he should,” Oscar said with more force than Finn thought necessary. What sort of rivalry had existed between the two men? “Damn fool always thought he could outsmart everyone and get into things most know better than to do.”
“Did you keep in contact with him?”
“Not much lately. Ever since…” Oscar clenched his jaw a moment. “I suppose it doesn’t mat
ter.” Oscar shook his head and turned away from the palace as if he’d seen everything that he’d needed. “Got what I needed here.”
He started off, and Finn followed, but a sign along the street caught his attention. He recognized the symbol for the physician, nothing else. With the light on inside, he thought he could go and investigate. With the job they were about to pull, it had to be a sign. The gods wanted them to pull this job.
“Oscar?”
The Hand slowed and turned toward him, frowning. “What is it?”
“Do you think it can be done?”
“The job?”
Finn nodded before looking along the street and toward the manor house in the distance. “The job. Getting over the wall. Breaking into… there. Do you think it can be done?”
Finn studied the manor home, but he wasn’t able to see anything from there. The wall made it difficult to make out anything beyond. Even if they got beyond the wall, they still ran the danger of what was on the other side. They didn’t know. Sure, Finn suspected the King had sources that would tell him what they might find. Possibly even Archers who’d once served there. That wasn’t the same as having been there themselves. Knowing the layout. And having a definite plan of approach.
That was how jobs went well. Oscar had taught him that, but so had his father. As much as Lena didn’t want to talk about their father, he had been skilled. The jobs he’d taken had provided for them. His sister had known that as well as Finn did, regardless of whether she wanted to acknowledge that anymore.
“Almost any job can be done. Just have to have the right approach. We’ve got the right crew. Everyone knows their job. Skilled. That’s what matters on a job like this.”
“Like Pegg.”
“Don’t go there, Finn. We don’t know what Pegg did when it came to his job. For all we know, he thought he could break in alone.”
“What are you going to tell the King?”
That was really why Oscar had come out here.
Finn might serve as scout on the job, but Oscar was the real scout. If he said no, Finn figured the King would agree.
Not doing the job meant the Client would find a new crew. It meant the jobs they’d been taking—all of them paying much more than they were accustomed to earning with their jobs—would disappear. Another crew would benefit.
His gaze drifted down the street and toward the light in the shop in the distance.
“I told you we can do it. It’s just going to take planning. This isn’t the kind of job you rush into. You do it right, get the information you need, and make sure that you cover all the possibilities. The King ought to know that, regardless of what his Client wants from us.” Oscar motioned for him. “Come on. Let’s get moving. Maybe you and Rock can find some trouble before the night falls.”
Finn headed toward an alley, laughing softly. “Let’s catch up later. Either tonight or in the morning.”
“Don’t be up too late with Rock. Neither of you, but I know you’ll at least listen to me. Can’t have you miss when the King wants us to meet.”
Finn nodded, though he didn’t know if Oscar could see it against the darkness. “I’ll be there.”
Finn wandered through a few alleys before emerging onto a street that would bring him back to the Wenderwolf—or back to the physician he’d seen. He was still on the palace side of the river, and with the curfew, needed to be careful, but there was no sign of Archers.
As Finn made his way along the street, he caught sight of a shadowed figure. When he got close enough, he realized it was the King. He was talking to another man, a heavyset person with a dark cloak hanging over his shoulders.
Could this be the Client?
Finn snuck closer, staying in the darkness of the shadows, trying to move the way Oscar had taught him, and snuck into the entrance of an alley to watch. The King leaned forward and passed something to the man, who quickly stuffed it into his pocket. The King whispered something Finn couldn’t hear before striding off down the road. Finn lingered in the alley, and as the man turned the opposite direction, Finn caught sight of him. He had a ruddy face and prominent jowls but was dressed in an elegant jacket beneath his cloak. Somebody of wealth. Maybe it really was the Client.
When the man disappeared, Finn should have headed toward the Wenderwolf, but something pulled him in the other direction and toward the physician’s shop with a light in the door. Finn slowed, studying the symbol above the door. A thick-walled square set on one point, a curved staff angled through it. The mark of the physician. It had to be chance that he’d come across a physician while scouting with Oscar.
Finn lingered at the door for too long.
A shadowed form moved behind the window before peering out, and the door came open.
Pale white light streamed out from within. A man younger than what Finn would have expected stood in the doorway, a book clutched in one arm.
“Is someone there?”
Finn debated slipping off into the darkness. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to hide. He didn’t need to say anything. He could claim he was passing by…
The physician started to pull the door closed.
“Master…” Finn started, realizing he didn’t even know the physician’s name.
That alone would make his presence stand out. Most who came to the physician would know his name, so his not knowing would draw attention to the fact that he didn’t really belong here.
“Master Porgen,” the physician said, holding the door open. He looked into the dark, cupping a hand over his eyes as he stared. “Come toward me.”
Finn approached. Now that he was here, there wasn’t much of a point in hiding.
“What are you doing here? You don’t look like you need my services.”
His tone had shifted, gotten brusquer. The physician stared at Finn in a way that left him feeling as if he were examined—and discarded.
It was nearly enough to convince him to turn away.
Nearly.
“It’s not for me. My mother. She’s been ill for quite some time, and I wanted to know if you—”
“You have to pay up front. My fee for consultations is three branna.”
Finn’s breath caught, and he didn’t know how to react.
Three?
One branna was more than he had. The silver in his pocket was a start, and if he added it to the collection he’d made over the years—all of which it seemed his sister hadn’t spent—it might get him close.
Were there really people who paid that much?
“I can see from your face that’s more than what you can afford.”
“It’s more than I have on me,” he said hurriedly. “I have the rest. She’s been sick for the last year and now barely awakens. She eats, but only when fed. She sleeps most of the time, and there has been—”
The physician ignored him. “That’s only for the consultation. If someone has been ill for a while as you say your mother has been, there are often tests required. Occasionally, it will necessitate a person travel to Brandelton, where additional testing can be done. Then there are the other physician fees, and travel costs, and… you can imagine it gets quite expensive.”
And he was the thief?
“If you don’t want to help, you could just say it.”
“Did I say I wouldn’t help? I wanted you to have an honest understanding of the costs involved. All told, it will likely run closer to five branna.”
That much money was more than what Finn would be able to make—honestly or otherwise—in years.
Hadn’t Lena looked into what a physician would cost?
She couldn’t think they would be able to help their mother with a cost like that. Even with him taking on ever more dangerous jobs—and breaking into the viscount’s manor was a dangerous job—it would take a long time to make that much money.
“If that is all, I will say goodnight.”
He started to close the door, and Finn stepped toward him.
What am I doing?
He couldn’t assault a physician. He needed him.
“I can pay. Just come with me, and I’m sure you can do something to help her. It’s not far, only in the Olin section—”
The physician’s expression clouded. “You’re better off asking a surgeon for help.” He said it with disdain.
“The surgeon we’ve contacted couldn’t help. Said to get a physician. He even recommended you.”
The physician sniffed. “Indeed? What surgeon would make such a recommendation?”
Finn didn’t know enough about the surgeon his sister had used, only that he’d cost more than she’d been able to afford at the time. Probably more than she’d be able to afford even now. And probably only a fraction of what this physician would cost.
“I can show you to her,” he tried again.
“A surgeon, an apothecary, or the gods know, even a hegen would be more what you can afford.”
Surgeons and apothecaries cost about the same—more than Finn had. The hegen exacted a different cost for their magic, but still would be more than what he wanted to spend. Some claimed the hegen made people steal for them, others claimed they took a part of their soul, and others made even more outlandish claims about the hegen witches and their magic. Finn had avoided them his entire life and had no idea how much of it was true.
“I’m not asking the hegen to help my mother,” Finn said.
Could the physician really have suggested that?
“I know what your kind believe. You might even find some value in it.”
“My kind?” He took a step closer. Now he grew irritated, and he had to suppress that.
If he could find the necessary funds, he didn’t want to put the physician off from helping.
No. What Finn needed was to keep the possibility open to him and his mother.
If the job went well, he’d be close to having the necessary consultation fee. Once he had that, he could figure out if there was something more his mother might need. If that involved heading to Brandelton, then that was what he’d do.
“I mean no disrespect.” The physician glanced past Finn before turning to look at him. “I’m sorry that I’m not able to help.”
The Executioner's Right (The Executioner's Song Book 1) Page 5