The Way of Thieves

by K.N. Lee

  Lanynor blasted a sphere of wind at her as he ran the opposite direction. He saw from the corner of his eye as his spell did nothing. It dissipated as soon as it contacted her. She was protected.

  A gust of wind swept him from his feet. He tried to move, but another blast struck him. He tried again to blast her with energy, this time fire, but again, it disappeared as soon as it touched her. Instead, he unsheathed a long dagger and rushed for her. He slashed from left to right, but both times she evaded him. After a spin to avoid her magical attack, he stabbed into her stomach. Nothing happened.

  She grabbed the dagger, turned it around, and stabbed it into his own chest. Lanynor froze as pain sank through him, filling his entire body. His mind was clear, but the rest of him surged with agony. He fell to the ground, gazing up at her.

  “Your life ends here, Lanynor. And soon, the Sorcerers Guild will crumble. It’s a shame you won’t be around to see it.” She grinned.

  Lanynor clenched his fists, feeling his nails biting into his palms. He closed his eyes, concentrating with the last of his energy. He brought as much air spirit as he could to himself. And he talked to him. He told them everything: about Mirabelle, about the Thieves Guild, and about her plans to unseat the Sorcerers Guild and the Nobles Guild. He held the spirit to him for as long as he could, then he released the rest of his energy.

  He watched as the spirit of air zoomed around Mirabelle, then rushed out of the manor. He hoped there was enough power for it to make it all the way to Kigam. It was the closest Sorcerers Guild city. He hoped whoever received it heeded the warning. And he hoped it wouldn’t be too late.

  “Noo!” Mirabelle screamed.

  She reached for the spirit, but she was too late. It had escaped.

  Lanynor smiled as he watched her snarl. She gritted her teeth, grabbed the dagger embedded in his chest, then sliced it through his throat. He gagged, then he went still, his eyes staring blankly up at the woman he had once called a friend.

  34

  Brenden walked into their new hideout.

  The walls were tan, built of some sort of clay, which was vastly different from the gray and black stone that most of the city had been built from. Spoiled vinegar and rot lingered in the air and made his nose twist with disgust. He saw a makeshift kitchen with a knife and vegetables on the counter.

  They were fresh, and a few slices of the carrots and potatoes had been cut, but not all of it. Brenden raised his eyebrow. The other thieves hadn’t unpacked all the crates yet. He walked around the counter to see a woman in the corner against the counter of the kitchen with a child no more than eight straddled against her.

  Uriah had said the place was empty. Had he not seen the woman and her child? Brenden walked around the counter to get a better look at them. Crimson stained the woman and child’s grimy shirts. Her eyes were wide open; her face horror-struck, and her neck was slit. It was recent; it was fresh.

  Brenden’s hand clenched as he crouched down to look at the child. The boy’s neck had also been slit. His hands trembled as he backed away. He bumped into the wall and jumped, a chill crawling up his spine.

  “Is everything all right?” Keira asked as she approached.

  Brenden nearly jumped again at her voice.

  “This house was not empty,” he whispered.

  “What?” she asked.

  Uriah walked into the room. His eyes were hard, defined, his mouth pressed tight together. “Is there a problem?”

  “You’re bloody right there’s a problem. Your murdered them!” Brenden shouted.

  Keira rushed to look on the other side of the counter, and when she saw the woman and child, she screamed.

  “Silence. Do you want to bring the whole blazing Sorcerers Guild after us?”

  “Why?” Brenden asked.

  Uriah shrugged. “We needed a place to stay.”

  “That’s all you have to say? We needed a place to stay? Is that all it takes for you to justify murdering a family?”

  “We couldn’t trust they would stay quiet. We don’t have the luxury of keeping prisoners. All of us are needed for this mission. We can’t sit around to babysit.”

  “A child. You killed a child!” Brenden shouted.

  His entire body trembled with rage. He couldn’t keep his arms steady because they were shaking so hard. His body warmed, heat traveling all through him. Brenden broke.

  Uriah shook his head. “You know, Brenden, I really thought I raised you better. You are a thief, not some noble-hearted sissy. I taught you to have no compassion. To kill if necessary without compassion. I don’t know where I went wrong. You’ve always seemed to care more than anyone else, son.”

  “Don’t call me that,” Brenden said through clenched teeth.

  “What?”

  “Son,” Brenden spat. “I am not your son.”

  “I raised you, boy.”

  “But you are not my father.”

  Uriah took a step closer to Brenden.

  “Don’t. I will never forgive you for this. What if that boy had been me?” Brenden asked.

  “He wasn’t you.”

  “He could have been. I was all alone that age as well, if you remember. Why’d you choose to keep me, and kill him? What’s the difference?”

  Uriah shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “The bloody olive’s pit it doesn’t matter,” Brenden snarled, stepping close to Uriah so their faces were inches apart. “Why did you kill him?”

  Uriah backhanded Brenden, causing him to tumble to the ground holding his left cheek. Brenden jumped to his feet and rushed Uriah, but Uriah was too quick. His fist slammed into Brenden’s right eye.

  Brenden’s face swelled as he sat on the ground. Pain surged through him. His teeth relaxed and he sank backward into the cabinet. Defeated, he took a deep breath.

  “Listen, boy. I may not be your father, but I am your elder, and you will listen to me. Mirabelle put me in charge of this mission. And it’s a good thing too, because you would have had us killed by now.”

  “I would have found a way,” Brenden grumbled through his hands.

  “Perhaps so, but it would have taken too long. Now look, you and Keira have excellent skills. It’s one of the reasons you two have been given more and more tasks lately, but this mission requires all of us. And don’t for a minute think that your opinion matters more than anyone else’s. I’m going to give you a few minutes to cool off, but then we’re going to need to talk about this mission. It’s going to take all of us to plan this heist. If we make one mistake, it will cost all of our lives.” Uriah paused. “Understood?”

  Emotions surged through Brenden. Hate. Anger. Fear. Until now, he’d never feared Uriah. The man had raised him. He was a hard man, and disciplined Brenden often when he was a child, but this was a whole new level. Now Brenden understood so much. The joy Uriah had showed Brenden when he was a child when he brought back snakes or birds he had killed.

  Uriah’s encouragement to do it more.

  To kill more.

  Uriah was trying to prepare him for murdering people. It made Brenden sick. Nausea came over him as he looked at the man he had once considered a father. Everything Keira said was right. She’d known all along. Brenden understood why she never trusted Uriah.

  For so many years, he tried to convince Keira to give Uriah another chance. But it was he who was wrong. Brenden held no doubt that Uriah could have killed his parents. In fact, he started to believe he had. But the question burning inside Brenden more than any other was, why?

  If Uriah had killed their parents, why had he done it?

  He wanted to ask the man so badly, but he bit his tongue, counted to ten, exhaled slowly, and relaxed. He would need to be strong. Brenden needed to see the mission through. He could not defeat Uriah alone, and especially with three others loyal to the man with him. If it were he and Keira— then maybe.

  He would find out if Uriah had killed his parents or not. It may take a little time, but he would learn the
truth. And if Uriah had killed their parents, Brenden swore that he would make the man pay.

  “Understood,” Brenden said, defeated.

  35

  Keira stood behind Brenden as he sat.

  Her hands rested on his shoulders as everyone looked at the table. Uriah led the mission now, of that everyone was clear. Keira had never trusted the man. She knew there was something off about him, but she knew she could never convince her brother of it.

  Now he knew, and she was sad for him. Keira had seen it a long time ago. She saw Uriah try to break them as children, try to mold them into people without feelings. He’d succeeded in part, but they’d held onto compassion somehow through it all.

  She wished it were different. More than anything, she wished to know her real parents, or at the very least, had grown up with someone with compassion. But that was ancient history now. All Brenden and she had were the Thieves Guild. She squeezed her hands on Brenden’s shoulders. He reached up with one hand and squeezed her hand.

  Uriah moved pieces on a table. It appeared he had a full set of miniatures for the castle and little men to show moves. Keira wondered where he’d hidden all the pieces.

  “The castle is here.” Uriah motioned with his hand, signaling a metal castle. “This isn’t like the Nobles Guild castle in Cappria. It will not be easy to enter and exit. Instead of guards, which they will have as well, there will be magical barriers protecting not only the entrance, but throughout the entire castle. This is why no single person can enter and exit without them being aware. It is also the reason all of us are required to break in.”

  “How do we get inside?” Brenden asked.

  “We need to either go around the magical barriers, or find a way through them without tripping them. And we’ll need someone on the inside.”

  “But you just said no one can enter without them being aware.”

  “Did I?”Uriah chuckled. “No, I said no one can enter and exit without them being aware. Someone can enter, but it will take all of us to exit. “

  “Who’s getting inside? And how?” Keira asked.

  Uriah smiled. “Seraphina. She’s small, agile, and can fit into a crate.”

  “And all we have to do is convince them they need to bring the crate inside?” Brenden asked.

  Uriah nodded. “They’re expecting a shipment next week. A shipment of valuable merchandise. They will move this merchandise into their protected vault. A vault that is more than impossible to enter. We will not be able to access it from the outside. This vault is the most likely place the scepter is stored, especially since we believe they have new reason to protect the scepter.”

  “New reason?” Brenden asked.

  “Yes,” Uriah said. “When we had you steal the Reverum book, we knew they’d connect the dots and hide the scepter in their most secure location.”

  “Why?” Brenden asked. “It sounds like it would have been a lot easier if it were wherever it was before than inside of an impossible vault.”

  Uriah raised his brows. “Yes, it would have been … if we knew where it was. There are six cities in the Sorcerers Guild, with unlimited hiding places. We had no idea where the scepter was. There were three different rumors. However, as we began to unfold this plan, we noticed an uptick of carriages delivering supplies to Haedrael. They’re hiding everything here, and the reason is, they have the most secure vault. Anything of value will now be inside of it … including the scepter.”

  Brenden frowned.

  “What do I need to do?” asked Seraphina.

  “Once inside, you will need to be careful. Use some dragon powder to broaden your senses and make sure there are no magical traps inside the vault. We don’t want to trigger a warning to the sorcerers. You’ll need to go to the door, possibly over or under obstacles. You will find the vault door and place explosives on the inside. Then you’ll need to get far away from the vault door. Explosives on the inside won’t be enough. We’ll also need to use them on the outside as well. When we set off the charges on the outside, it should trigger the ones on the inside, causing a large explosion that should demolish the door.”

  “Explosives?” Brenden asked.

  Uriah nodded. “Yes. Rycroft here is an explosive expert. Did you bring enough, Rycroft?”

  A man with dark, grimy skin grinned. Two gold teeth sparkled around several dirty and missing ones to give Keira chills down her spine. He had matted dreadlocks hanging on each side of his face and a lit roll of tobacco in his mouth. “Oh yes. I have enough dragon powder to blow up the whole castle.”

  “Excellent.”

  Keira tilted her head. “It seems we all serve a purpose on this mission. Rycroft is in charge of explosives, Seraphina is in charge of getting on the inside and setting half of them, what about the rest of us?”

  Uriah rubbed his hands together. “Obviously, I’m in charge. I will be right there with all of you though. We still need a way inside, and a way to disrupt their coordination.”

  “And how do you propose we do that?” Keira asked.

  “You will secure our way inside,” Uriah said, his cold eyes glared into Keira, making her nervous.

  “Me?”

  “I know all about your missions. I guess it’s a good thing you’re really not my daughter, or I probably wouldn’t approve.”

  Keira bit her lip.

  “If you’ve noticed, while this city consists mostly of sorcerers, there are others here. Nobles, guards, and a few civilians …. You will pose as a civilian, and seduce a key out of the guards.”

  “Seduce a guard?”

  “You shouldn’t need to get too close. Perhaps a few ales and a snatch while in a pub. We don’t have time for anything further. But you’ll be able to get the closest to a guard. I mean, I’m good-looking, but I’m probably not their type.” Uriah grinned at his joke.

  Keira didn’t. She did have an unorthodox approach to her thefts at, but she didn’t know word had traveled that far about her methods. And she especially didn’t like Uriah knowing about it. The way he looked at her, it was disgusting.

  “And what guard would I need to seduce?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure yet. I will be heading out in the morning to do a case study on all the guards who have access, and who would be the best candidate for you to approach. Then I will let you know.” He twitched his brows.

  “What about me?” Brenden asked.

  “You will be tasked with finding a way to distract all the sorcerers on the inside of the castle.”

  Brenden dropped his chin to his chest and his eyebrows sprung to his forehead. “And how exactly do you suppose I do that?”

  Uriah shrugged. “This city is full of spells. There are spells that offer protection over the castle, spells you will need to break for us to get in. They also have a lot of lanterns outside and inside the castle. I believe the substance that keeps them alight is called firelight. I need you to figure out how to reverse the spell to turn them all off.”

  “Reverse the spell?” Brenden asked. “I’m not a sorcerer.”

  Uriah grinned. “No? Well, you’re the only one of us who’s entered a Sorcerers Guild city, stole something, and returned unscathed.”

  Brenden crinkled his nose.

  “You did what?” Keira asked, hearing about this for the first time.

  Brenden’s shoulders tensed under her grasp.

  “Brenden broke into the Sorcerers Guild master library in Kathrael to steal a book. A book that told him everything he needed to know about spell reversal,” Uriah said.

  “A book that I gave to Mirabelle,” Brenden said.

  Uriah cracked his knuckles. “Do you know what makes you so good, Brenden?”

  Brenden didn’t respond.

  “You have an incredible memory. Once you see something once, you remember it. Did you know that no other thieves have that ability? We would not give you a mission if we didn’t want you to see something.” Uriah pulled his mustache with his fingers. “And, no, I may not
be your real father, but I do know you, Brenden. You’re curious. Especially lately. I know you read the book in its entirety on your way back to Forscythe. And because of your memory, I know you memorized the entire thing. You know how to reverse spells.”

  “Just because I read it in a book doesn’t mean I can actually do it, and I’m not a sorcerer. I don’t have powers, Uriah.”

  “I think we both know that’s not true. But if you want to continue to lie to yourself, use some dragon powder to complete the spell reversal. But get it done. We need you to reverse the protection spells so we can all slip inside safely, otherwise, they’ll kill us all.”

  Brenden ran his hands through his hair. He tilted his head back and took a deep breath. Keira could feel him shiver.

  Somehow, she’d known. She’d known they were special, that they could do things no other thief could. For as long as Keira could remember, she had a talent for detecting trouble, and for finding things. She knew Brenden had some similar abilities. Keira just brushed it aside, thinking it was a special trait. At the time, she didn’t want to consider it being magic. After all, thieves weren’t magical. That power was for sorcerers only. However, it all made sense now.

  Had that been why Mirabelle had kept using them over the last several months? Could only they accomplish the missions she’d been putting forth?

  Her mouth twisted, disgust forming inside of her. Brenden and she were nothing but pawns to the Thieves Guild. They were being used, and Keira wondered how far back it went.

  “All right. I’ll see what I can come up with,” Brenden said.

  “And, Brenden?” Uriah said.

  “What?”

  “There will be more than just the initial traps getting inside. Once we find the vault, there will be more deterrents on the way to it. I have a map that we all need to study,” Uriah said.

  He lay a map of the castle on the table, spreading it out with his hands. It was detailed, including all the hallways and chambers for each level. He showed each of them the path they would need to take from the entrance all the way to the vault. The path was convoluted, as he didn’t want to travel the most direct path because it would offer the most resistance. He used needles to show each person’s position all the way inside, and explained in detail how everything would work, and what obstacles they might face.