The Way of Thieves

by K.N. Lee

  Mirabelle’s long lashes flickered. “You killed them all?”

  “It was the only way to acquire the pendant.”

  Mirabelle grinned. “Excellent. I am very proud of you, you know.”

  “Proud of me?”

  “Yes. Out of all the thieves, you and Brenden are by far the more capable. And you two are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. It’s almost as if when one of you is on the job, everything falls into place. A touch of a luck and a touch of magic.”

  “Magic?” Keira asked.

  “Never mind.” Mirabelle ran her fingers through her hair. “You should go home to rest. You’ve deserved it. Soon, Brenden shall return. Then I have a mission for the two of you. It should be the last job needed for a long while.”

  “The two of us?” Keira asked.

  She’d never been on a job with Brenden before. Sure, she’d tagged along to a few of his jobs that she’d found out about. But he’d never done the same to her with one of her jobs. He knew she could handle herself. And Keira knew he could handle himself too, but that wasn’t why she sometimes snuck into his jobs from time to time.

  He was her little brother, and she wanted to look after him. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt like she had to take care of him. Something inside of her told her that he needed her. And so she stayed close to him. She needed him as well.

  “Yes…this final theft requires a team. Even then, I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”

  “A team?”

  “Yes. You, Brenden, and I’ll be sending four others with you.”

  Keira’s eyes widened. “What’s the job?”

  “I’ll tell you once Brenden arrives. For now, get some rest.”

  “As you wish.”

  Keira stood, curtsied, then left the room, all the while pondering what had to be stolen that was so difficult that it needed Keira and Brenden and four other thieves. Whatever it was, Keira knew it’d be dangerous.

  27

  Shronan ran his fingers through his long, blond hair.

  He was back at the capital with the earl. They were reporting the theft of the pendant. A letter arrived from Haedrael for Shronan at the capital. He opened the wax seal of the Sorcerers Guild’s leader, Nadar, and sighed when he finished reading.

  The letter had been utterly useless and far too late. The pendant had already been stolen. At least he’d survived the ordeal, which apparently the sorcerer protecting the baron, Daimen, had not.

  The doors to the chamber opened and the rest of the nobles joined the round table. The king, queen, duke, earl, and duke’s daughter all attended the meeting. They all looked worried.

  Once everyone was seated, the king cleared his throat. He was a middle-aged man with long, wavy brown hair flecked with white and gray. A golden crown sat atop his head and beautiful purple robes adorned him.

  “What is the status of the Sorcerers Guild on the matter?” the king asked.

  “Your liege?” Shronan asked.

  “What is the Sorcerers Guild doing about the situation?”

  Shronan scratched his chin. “I was tasked with staying with the earl and another was tasked with staying with the baron.”

  “I heard that sorcerer failed.”

  “Yes.” Shronan gulped. “He did.”

  “As did you.”

  Shronan nodded.

  “At least you still breathe.”

  Shronan nodded again. It was true, he had failed. He hadn’t known where he went wrong. Whoever had stolen the pendant under his nose was smart, and willing to wait. Shronan never would have thought they would have hid in the loot for who knows how long in order to ambush the earl. Though, he should have been more careful. Shronan took some tobacco out of a pouch and rolled it in a thin piece of paper before lighting it with the tip of his finger. He took a long inhalation, blowing smoke dragons out of his nose.

  “Whoever we’re dealing with is crafty. Tell me, to your knowledge, how many dragon pendants are remaining?”

  Shronan bit his lip. “Two.”

  The king’s eyes widened. “You mean?”

  “Yours … and the queen’s.”

  “Will we be targeted next?”

  “I don’t know. For all we know, they’ve acquired as many as they need. But we don’t know for certain. I sent word back to the Sorcerers Guild to bring more sorcerers to protect you, my lord.” Shronan rubbed his thick eyebrows.

  “Until then, I will expect you to stay by my side,” the king said.

  Shronan nodded.

  “Do you know who is behind these attacks?”

  Shronan shook his head. “It appears the sorcerer protecting the baron may have stumbled upon something, but other than giving it a brief mention, there is nothing about what it could be in the letter they sent me.”

  “Well … what can we do?”

  “I don’t know, my lord. The Sorcerers Guild doesn’t have a lot of members. A few hundred full-fledged sorcerers across the five cities of the Sorcerers Guild. Most of the people in the cities have blood so diluted that they can do little more than what a small drop of dragon scale elixir could accomplish.”

  The king frowned. Lines formed on his forehead. He didn’t look mad, but he was definitely irritated. Shronan felt for the king. The Sorcerers Guild was supposed to protect them from attacks like these. It was a large part of the reason an alliance was formed. But now, somehow, someone was breaking between the alliance between the Nobles Guild and the Sorcerers guild, and Shronan worried. He worried that the alliance wouldn’t stay in tact, and if it did crumble, it would doom both guilds.

  “That is why the Sorcerers Guild has an alliance with the Nobles Guild. We have power, but we don’t have the numbers.”

  “What ever happened to that spell you were working on to protect us?

  “The blanket protection spell? That was years ago, my lord. The man who was working on it was a genius. He used to build spell blueprints from scratch. Sadly, he was killed over ten years ago with his wife. Quite close to a breakthrough on the spell if I recall.”

  “How unfortunate.”

  “Yes … unfortunate.” Shronan’s eyes widened. “In fact … the blueprints of what he was working on were never found.”

  The king wrinkled his nose.

  “I would not be surprised if whoever is orchestrating these thefts also had something to do with the murder of Aridian all those years ago.”

  “Didn’t Aridian have children?”

  Shronan nodded. “Yes. Two.”

  “Where are they? Perhaps they have some recollection of what their father was working on.”

  Shronan shook his head. “They were never found.”

  “Missing?”

  “Yes.”

  He remembered Aridian and his wife. They were good people, and they had been close to developing a spell that would have protected everyone in Tynaereal. And now Shronan began to believe they had succeeded, and that was why they were killed.

  It wasn’t a simple robbery, a Thieves Guild mission gone wrong. And if it was the Thieves Guild behind the robbery all those years ago… the children, Aridian’s little boy and girl—they were with the Thieves Guild, and they may have no idea who they actually are.

  “I do believe you’re right. Whoever was behind that crime all those years ago may be the same one behind these thefts today. There are far too may coincidences.”

  “Agreed.”

  The duke’s daughter cleared her throat. “Shronan. Do you think you can go over the spell that was being worked on by Aridian all those years ago?”

  “Aaylia, right? Didn’t you study at the Sorcerers University?”

  “Yes. I did. I have some knowledge of magical abilities and blueprints and am most curious to learn what exactly this gentleman was trying to accomplish all those years ago.”

  “It’s a bit complicated, but I can do my best to explain it to you later,” Shronan said.

  “Yes, please do.”

  “In t
he meantime, what are we supposed to do?” the earl demanded. “We’re vulnerable. Without the pendant around my neck, I feel naked.”

  “While you’re in the capital, I’ll provide you extra guards,” the king said. “But for the time being, just watch your step. It seems like someone out there is trying to break the alliance between the Nobles and the Sorcerers.”

  Shronan bit his lip. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  28

  Brenden returned to Forscythe.

  His mission was complete. He was done being a pawn in a larger game, and he planned to tell Mirabelle so. She’d had him and Keira running around in circles for the last few months, and for what? He had no idea. She’d hid all the details from him. And every time he walked along the city, he could feel eyes upon him. It was like everyone but him knew something was going on, and they all knew what it was. However, he was in the dark.

  The city was quiet, almost too quiet. But it was early. He’d stolen a canoe from Areshia and paddled upstream north to Forscythe all night. His muscles were sore, and his eyes drooped.

  The city appeared near empty, but he didn’t pay the road much attention. His attention was at the east where the sun raised under a purple glow with pink clouds. He loved the scenery of nature, sunrises and sunsets being his favorite. Normally they didn’t look so pleasant in the north, but this one was unusually special.

  Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the manor and jogged up the spiral stairs to Mirabelle’s office. He knocked hard three times before opening the door. Normally, he waited to be asked to come inside, but this time, he went straight inside. He was done with semantics. He saw Uriah inside. The older man sat on the chair, his white hair a bit disgruntled. Mirabelle stood behind her desk, brushing her blue dress as she sat.

  Brenden’s nose wrinkled. “My apologies. I wasn’t aware you were having a meeting.”

  Mirabelle smiled. “No apology necessary. Uriah, may we continue our discussion later?”

  Uriah stood, rubbing his hands together as he bowed. “As you wish, milady.”

  Brenden turned to watch his mentor exit the door.

  “You may be seated,” Mirabelle said.

  Brenden took a step closer to the desk, but he didn’t sit.

  Mirabelle raised an eyebrow. “Is everything all right? Did you obtain the pendant?”

  Brenden reached into his sash and dropped the pendant on her dark brown stained desk. He watched her carefully.

  She grinned as she inspected the pendant. “Excellent.”

  “Now tell me what is going on.”

  “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “You promised you would let me know what all these thefts lately have been about. I think it’s pretty obvious these are personal thefts. We haven’t been going through the account manager for any of these.”

  Mirabelle smiled. “I believe I said I would speak to both you and your sister about it together.”

  Brenden clenched his teeth. “Has my sister returned?”

  “Yes,” Mirabelle said.

  “Let me go fetch her then.”

  “That will not be necessary. Uriah will tell her to come.”

  Brenden raised an eyebrow.

  “Have a seat.” Mirabelle gestured to the chairs in front of her desk.

  Brenden did a double take at the chairs. Normally there was only one red cloth chair in front of her desk, but now Brenden saw two red chairs. He didn’t know there was another red chair anywhere else in the keep. He wondered where the second chair had been hiding. Brenden strode over to the farthest chair and sat. He didn’t have to wait long when a knock sounded on the door.

  “Enter,” Mirabelle said.

  Keira entered the room. She looked irked at first, but when she saw Brenden, a smile came across her face. Brenden was glad to see her as well. It’d been a long time, at least, it felt that way. She came over to sit in the chair to his left.

  “What is all of this about?” Keira asked.

  “That’s what we’re about to find out,” Brenden said.

  Keira raised a brow.

  “Brenden has been asking lately what is going on with the Thieves Guild, and why we’ve been stealing pendants—“

  “And what you’ve been planning?” Keira interrupted.

  Mirabelle coughed. “Yes. I know you two have been in the dark about it—“

  “It seems we’re the only ones,” Brenden said.

  She tilted her head.

  “I can see it in everyone’s eyes around us. Everyone knows something we don’t know.”

  “I needed to keep you focused. There needed to be as little distraction as possible,” Mirabelle said.

  “What are the pendants for?” Keira asked.

  “To protect us.”

  “From sorcerers?” Brenden asked.

  “And others, yes.”

  “Why do we need protection against sorcerers?”

  “Because we are going to displace the hierarchy.”

  “Why?” Keira asked.

  “It is time for the nobles to be replaced. They are no longer competent to rule over this land.”

  “Why? And why now?” Brenden asked.

  “This has been in place for a lot longer than you know. Poverty is all over the land. Something needs to be done about it. The nobles aren’t doing their job.”

  “Who’s going to take their place?” Keira asked.

  “We are.”

  Brenden chuckled. “Thieves? What do we know about ruling a kingdom?”

  “We know how to redistribute wealth. It’s what we do. It’s why the Thieves Guild was founded. The problem with our society is there is too large of a gap between the rich and the poor. We’re going to rectify that by taking over and redistributing the wealth.”

  Keira scrunched her lips. “If everyone has the same amount of wealth, won’t it devalue the worth of coin?”

  Mirabelle shook her head. “I don’t expect the two of you to understand. You’re still young. But know this, we are taking the place of the nobles, and we are doing so soon. We lack only one item to put our plans into motion.”

  “One item that you’d like us to obtain?” Brenden asked.

  Mirabelle smiled. “Yes.”

  “What if we say no?” Keira asked.

  Mirabelle scowled. “Then the two of you will be cast out of the guild. You will have no place here. You won’t be welcome, and you will have to find somewhere else to fit in. But I can assure you, I won’t make that easy on you.”

  “We’ve never really fit in,” Keira said.

  “Hmm?” Mirabelle asked.

  “Brenden and I.” Keira glared daggers at her. “We’ve always been different than the rest. We’ve never fit in with everyone around here. Most of the time, I thought it was because we’re better as thieves than any one else, but I think there’s more to it than that.”

  “You’re imagining things, I’m sure.”

  “What do you need us to steal?” Brenden asked.

  Mirabelle grinned. She brushed her fingers through her long, curly red hair. Her fingers laced with each other as she sat back in her chair. “The Scepter of Reverium.”

  “The what?” Keira asked.

  Brenden’s eyes widened. It was the same name as the book he’d just stolen for her. He remembered a mentioning of the scepter in the book, but only vaguely. It talked about how the scepter had the power to reverse any spell casted, permanently.

  “And where is this scepter?” Brenden asked.

  “Haedrael.”

  “The Sorcerers Guilds’ capital? That doesn’t sound easy.”

  “Or possible,” Keira chipped in.

  “It is in the leader’s personal collection,” Mirabelle said.

  “Wait a minute,” Keira said. “You want us to walk into Haedrael, the capital of the Sorcerers Guild, a city that is crawling with dozens of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, stroll into the castle, break into the most powerful sorcerer in the world’s private co
llection, and steal a magical scepter? You are insane. There is no way that could end well.”

  “Only you two could pull it off, though, it won’t be an easy task. I will be sending you help.”

  “Help?” Brenden asked.

  “Yes. A heist this grand will need several people.”

  “Who?” Brenden asked.

  “Seraphina, Rycroft, Tedlyha, and Uriah.”

  “And you think the six of us can do it?” Brenden asked.

  “I think you are our only chance of getting the scepter.”

  “Why is the scepter so important?” Keira asked.

  “With it, we can lower the spells the nobles have protecting them. Without their protection, we can replace them in their seats of power with ease.”

  Brenden frowned. “Are you sure this is the right course of action?”

  Mirabelle nodded. “Absolutely.”

  “And how are we supposed to protect ourselves against sorcerers?” he asked.

  Mirabelle pushed six dragon pendants across the table to them. “We were only able to acquire six. There are only two more out there, but they’re with the king and queen. We dare not chance facing them yet.”

  “Six pendants? Six of us…” Brenden whispered.

  “Exactly. This is why we’ve been having the two of you steal the pendants. You will need their protection for this mission.”

  “I will do it,” Brenden said.

  “Brenden?” Keira gaped, eyes locking onto her brother’s.

  “I will do it,” he repeated.

  29

  Keira watched as Brenden packed the last of his vials of dragon elixir into his bag.

  She towered over him, her hands on her hips. Keira couldn’t believe he was going to go through with this. She didn’t know if she could. Brenden was right. They were misfits. They’d never fit into Forscythe, or anywhere inside of the Thieves Guild.

  “Are you seriously going to go?” she asked him.

  “What choice do we have?” he asked.

  “Run away?”

  “And forget everything we know? Everyone we know …”