The Way of Thieves

by K.N. Lee

  “Now is not the time.”

  Brenden moved his left arm high and she spun around under it as the melody came to a conclusion. She stepped close to him, grabbing him by his shirt.

  “Follow me, will you?” She raised a brow.

  As she headed toward the double doors at the back of the room, he rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He wasn’t ready for the next step yet, but it seemed he was stuck with it.

  When Keira was involved there was little he could do to argue.

  He caught up with her as she reached the exit. The two guards eyed them.

  “A little early to be leaving the celebration,” one of the guards muttered.

  “Oh, we’ll be back.” Keira winked at the guard. “We’d just like a bit of privacy before things get started … is there a spare room we could use?”

  “Milady…”

  Keira stepped closer to him, pressing her bosom against the guard’s chest to whisper in his ear.

  The guard fidgeted as she spoke.

  When she stepped back to Brenden, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

  Brenden fought to keep himself from rolling his eyes. She’d already put the facade out there, and he was compelled to play along, despite how much distaste it gave him. He’d rather be sneaky. He preferred cloak and daggers. After all, that was how thieves were supposed to work. No one was supposed to remember you. Well, that was how it worked for him.

  Keira was a different story.

  She enjoyed the theatrics.

  “Please, my good sirs. If you could direct me to a room, I’d be grateful.”

  The younger guard who Keira had whispered to smirked. “Around the corner, third room on your right. It should be empty,” he said, and winked at him.

  Inwardly, he cringed. Now the guards would think his sister was a harlot.

  Better that than a thief, he supposed.

  Keira grinned at him. She swayed her hips as she approached him. Her hand touched his chest as she leaned up to kiss the guard on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  Brenden turned his face from the guards and rolled his eyes at this point. He reached over and grabbed Keira’s hand, dragging her away from the two guards.

  He led her around the corner and to the room specified by the guards. They were still in view, as the younger guard stepped around the corner to watch them. Keira talked about nonsense as they walked, laughing and smiling the whole time. When they reached the room, Brenden grabbed Keira around her waist, and slammed her against the door. He leaned in against her ear as he opened the door. She grinned at him as she slipped inside.

  Brenden took one last glance at the guard who wore a face-splitting grin as he entered the room.

  Once the door was shut, Brenden rushed to the bed. He knelt on the ground as he reached underneath it, grabbing two large bags he’d hidden there. He dropped the bags on the bed, and began undressing. After he took off of his silks, he placed them in one of the bags. From the other bag, he grabbed his cloth cloak, belt, and sash, which he swiftly put on. The fabric felt good on his skin—much better than silk.

  Brenden grabbed several daggers from the bag and attached them to his waist before turning around to find Keira with her own bag. She didn’t have a change of outfit, but she did begin putting knives in very interesting places.

  “Leave the rest of this to me,” Brenden said. “After all, this is my mission.”

  “I can’t believe they trusted you at all. Nobles, royal ball,” she listed, twirling her finger. “This has me written all over it. This job should be mine.”

  Brenden titled his head, and met her eyes. “You’re just jealous.”

  Keira placed her hands on her hips and huffed. “Hardly. I just came along to make sure you don’t get yourself caught, or killed.”

  His face softened. “Thanks for coming,” he said, and she smiled.

  “Did you think I’d sit at home and let you get into trouble?”

  With a sigh, he shrugged. “I suppose it’s nice to know someone here has my back,” he admitted.

  With a single nod, her smile widened. “Now, what do you need me to do?”

  “Keep the duke distracted.”

  “What about Lady Quinn?”

  She raised a brow. “I’m sure you can figure out a way to keep her entertained as well.”

  He turned around, stood on the bed, and moved one of the ceiling panels out of the way. Now, this was his style.

  No people.

  No confrontation.

  All stealth and silence.

  “Brenden?” Keira whispered.

  “Yes?” He glanced at her.

  “Be careful.”

  He smiled at her. “Of course, dear sister.”

  Brenden climbed into the ceiling, then replaced the panel, disappearing into the darkness.

  2

  Keira gently closed the door to the room, and peeked around both sides to find that the hall was empty.

  Quiet.

  The two guards in front of the ballroom were distracted in a conversation. She didn’t imagine she’d be able to sneak back into the room alone without them noticing. Footsteps pattered against the ground behind her. She turned to find a young noble approaching her. Her eyes glinted as she stepped sideways to bump into him.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, miss. I did not mean to bump into you,” he said.

  Keira fluttered her eyelashes as she stepped closer to him. She reached her hands up, one to rest on his left shoulder, and the other on his chest.

  “Are you certain?” She stroked his chest. “Oh, that is a shame.”

  “I—I—”

  “I seem to have lost my date. Would you care to escort me back into the ballroom?” Keira asked.

  The man gulped, his eyes resting on her full bosom. “It would be my honor.”

  Keira slid her arm through his on his right side so she was closest to the wall. The two of them walked past the guards and into the ballroom. Once they were past the guards, she breathed easier. She needed to keep an eye on the duke.

  “Milady, may I ask your name?”

  “Keira.” She smiled. “And yours?”

  She knew she shouldn’t use her real name, but no one really knew who she and her brother were. Especially in the noble circles.

  “Benedict. My father is Earl of Areshia.”

  Brilliant.

  Keira squeezed his arm. “Oh, is that so?”

  “Indeed. Would you care to dance?”

  Keira glanced around the room and saw both Lady Quinn and the duke. As long as she could keep an eye on them, she’d do whatever Benedict wanted. Besides, he’d make a good cover for her. If she watched the duke and his daughter as she stood alone, it might look suspicious.

  “I would be honored,” she said.

  Benedict held out a hand, which she took with a smile. He twirled her around a little awkwardly, but Keira was able to make it look elegant. It appeared that he may be the son of an earl, but he wasn’t exactly the most elegant nobleman she’d met.

  Keira had spent the last few weeks studying the nobles. The thieves guild had several volumes of books to study. She spent a lot of time in the books. They actually had more books on the nobles society and the Sorcerers Guild than any other subject.

  She found that odd, especially since the two guilds were so closely related. The majority of the people loved the nobles. They enjoyed having the same family from generation to generation rule the land—and those families loved politics.

  However, none of them would be able to stay in power if not for the sorcerers who protected them. The history books were vague on the subject, but the sorcerers and nobles were linked somehow. The nobles kept the sorcerers in the dark, and in power, and the sorcerers kept the nobles safe. There hadn’t been a noble assassination in over a hundred years.

  Benedict twirled Keira around a few times. Though she smiled back at him, she continued to study the crowd. The duke stood at the front of the room,
erect and proud as he started at his daughter. He wore a red jacket over a white silk shirt. Three buttons were clasped at its bottom, and dark black pants met his polished shoes. A thick, white mustache sat on his upper lip. He often used his bottom teeth to bite his mustache as he studied the room. The expression on his face told of a father proud of his daughter.

  Keira wasn’t sure what he was proud of. As far as she could tell, the marriage was arranged. It was supposed to bring the noble land of Areshia and Utopolois closer together. Keira would hate such an arranged marriage. She would never want to be forced into a marriage against her will. Perhaps the duke was proud that she went along with the marriage.

  From what Keira learned of the duke’s daughter, she’d been studying with the sorcerers at their guild. It was a far better study than the local university, at least that’s what Keira imaged. The sorcerers had a lot more knowledge than the university.

  It seemed, for a time the duke was content to have his daughter study at the Sorcerers Guild to learn as much as she could with them, but that was before his wife died mysteriously. The duke was distraught with grief. Many peasants swore they could hear his tears from the keep for the first three nights since his wife’s death. He waited nearly three weeks before sending for his daughter to come back from the Sorcerers Guild. It wasn’t in the city, but well over a couple hundred miles away, secluded and in a thick forest surrounded by mountain ranges.

  The song came to a close, and Benedict bowed his head to her.

  “It’s been a lovely dance. However, I have some business I must attend to, milady.”

  “Understood, Sir Benedict.” She curtsied.

  “Perhaps I will see you later tonight.”

  “I would be delighted.”

  Benedict strode away. Keira turned around and froze. The duke was no longer standing on the platform at the back of the ballroom. Her eyes widened as she scanned the room, searching for him. She squeezed through the crowd as the orchestra began another song. Several men tried to grab her for a dance, but she slipped by each one of them.

  Someone bumped into her side. She turned to come face to face with the duke. Her eyes widened. He declined his head.

  “I’m sorry, miss. I did not mean to--”

  “I would love to dance.” She grinned at him.

  “That’s not—”

  “This is my favorite song,” she interrupted.

  She grabbed his hand and put her other hand on his shoulder. He half-grinned at her, his expression obviously uncomfortable. She pretended not to notice.

  “I do not recognize you. What is your name?”

  “Katlyn,” she lied.

  Keira didn’t want to tell the duke her name, especially when they were there to steal something of his late wife’s. It also would make it easier to disappear if she gave out a few different names during the night that when people tried to remember who she was, everyone came up with something different.

  “Katlyn?” he asked, letting her false name roll off his tongue. “It doesn’t ring any bells. Are you from the noble class here in Cappria?”

  “No. I’m from Sephranium.”

  “You are a long way from home. What brings you here? Business, or pleasure?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Both. We’re going through a bit of a drought and wanted to see how trade was this far in the north.”

  “We have little fruit or vegetables here, but we do have plenty of oats and grain. Most of our more elegant foods, we import ourselves. However, I’m sure what we have in excess will help your city get through the rough winter that is about to come,” he said.

  “That’s all we need,” she said.

  “What do you have for trade?”

  She bit her lip. “I’m sure we could come to an arrangement. We have lots of fish.”

  The duke twisted his nose. “Fish? Fish are hardly elegant foods, and they cannot be stored properly this far into the land. We would require something a little more stable.”

  “I assure you, if cooked right, fish can be quite an elegant meal. Perhaps we could provide a few recipes to go with the seafood. We also have plenty of shellfish as well. Tell me, is lobster elegant enough for you?”

  He raised a single brow. “I’m sure we can work out further details. The main problem is freshness. Our grain and oats can store for a long time, but your seafood will have a short shelf-life. Therefore, we’d require more shipments, and since we haven’t done a lot of business with your city much in the past, we’d require even shipments of grain and oats to you in exchange rather than you getting the supplies ahead of time. I hope that would be acceptable to you.”

  Keira smiled. “I completely understand. Perhaps we could draft up a contract.”

  He returned her smile. “I foresee this being an excellent alliance between our two cities. See me in the morning. I will have a contract drafted. For now—” He brushed his hand through his long white, wavy hair. “I have some business I must attend to.”

  He attempted to leave at the end of the melody, but Keira grabbed his bicep.

  “Must you go so soon?”

  He glanced at her hand, and cleared his throat. “I must.”

  “I heard of the recent passing of your wife.”

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “Yes,” was all he said. His eyes watered, and he refused to look back at her.

  “I can’t imagine that was easy on you, or your daughter.”

  “It wasn’t.”

  “How did she pass?”

  “We don’t know. She was healthy one moment, then the next, she was dead. There was no warning.”

  “It happened during the day?”

  “No. Well, yes, in a way. It was the morning. I woke early that morning. When I left, she was still asleep in bed. Peaceful. She looked like an angel, as she always did. But that morning I remember in vivid detail. Her breaths were slow, her lips moist, and her chest heaving up and down in steady breaths. Absolute perfection. I sat and watched her for several minutes before kissing her forehead and heading out.” He sighed. “I should have never left her.”

  “Where did you go?” Keira asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

  “Several days a week, I head to the stables to ride one of the wyverns. I want them to stay in shape, and I love the freedom of it. It’s my moment of peace in a world full of politics.”

  Keira chewed her bottom lip.

  “When I returned, I learned she’d gotten dressed that morning, headed to the bedroom door, opened it, then fell dead outside the room and into the hall. The servants found her.”

  Very odd.

  “She just dropped dead?”

  The duke nodded. “I had it investigated. My first assumption was poison. Though, I can’t imagine who would would want to do such a thing to one of the most kind, wonderful women you’d ever meet. Nothing was found. Not even from the practitioners.”

  Keira knew he referred to the sorcerers. If something was astray, they should be able to find it. However, the entire thing did seem rather suspicious. First, the duchess drops dead. Then, the duke invites his daughter back to the city. She would become the new duchess of the city once he passed since they had no male children. He planned to marry her off to secure her title for the city, and the Thieves Guild was hired to steal a pendent of the late duchess right in the middle of all the chaos. In her gut, the entire thing seemed staged.

  “I’m sorry,” Keira whispered.

  “Now I really must go. It was a pleasure, Katlyn.”

  Keira was too stunned to chase him. The duke seemed like a nice man. In fact, the more Keira thought about it, the more she realized most of the nobles were kind. Sure, there were some from time to time who were known for their cruelty. But especially here in Cappria, they were known for their kindness. Yet, something seemed to be in motion to displace the nobility. And for some reason, it all revolved around the duke and his family.

  She was lost in thought for a long moment as she meandered toward the front of
the ballroom. Benedict approached her, eyebrows raised, and cockeyed grin on his face.

  “Would you care for another dance, milady?” he asked.

  “Not at this time,” she said, still dazed.

  He gave her a wry grin that was more charming than she expected. “What? Am I not good enough after dancing with the duke?”

  The duke.

  Her eyes widened. She looked around the room. The duke was nowhere to be seen.

  “I need to go,” she said.

  Keira slipped past Benedict and rushed toward the exit.

  3

  Cassius sat in a comfortable chair, his legs crossed, and a large cigar sticking out of his mouth.

  Its tip burned cherry red as he took another puff. A fireplace crackled as he glanced over it. He leaned back in the chair, making himself more comfortable.

  He held a long handled knife in one hand and a sharpening rock in the other. The blade ran across the rock slowly. Metal against stone twang over the fire, sending shivers along Cassius’ spine. He loved the sound of metal against stone. Often times, when he was bored, which was whenever he was without a mission, he would sharpen all of his knives—one after the other.

  It would take a while.

  After all, he had sixty-seven of them. Each one had their purpose. And all but three had been used in missions.

  There were some people out there who deserved a special knife against their throat. For some men he knew, they deserved only the finest quality to carve their neck open. He clenched his teeth; anger swelled inside of him. Cassius made it a code of honor to only kill for money, but sometimes, he wished he could go against his code to kill for fun. However, that was not the way of the Assassins Guild. The order was strict, and he would keep to the code.

  For now.

  Soft footsteps pattered against the wood floor. It was about time someone showed up. Cassius did like the silence, the aloneness, even the fire crackling was soothing to him. But he wasn’t supposed to be alone.

  Someone was meeting him. And the most cringe-worthy part was the fact he had no idea who. The message hadn’t been detailed, though messages often weren’t when they made it to the Assassins Guild. After all, what wife wanted everyone to know she planned to hire an assassin to murder her husband, or a son hiring someone to murder his father.