Benjamin Ashwood

by AC Cobble

  “Why should I tell you anything? Aren’t you going to kill me?” muttered Ben.

  “No, I will not kill you. Your fate has not been decided. But you did seriously injure my friend Balbo. It is he who will decide what is in store for you.”

  Renfro snorted in the corner, “he will kill you.”

  Casper offered a wan smile, “yes, it is likely he will. I suppose a thoughtful man might find out if you had rich or powerful friends, forgive the injury and attempt a ransom. Balbo is not a thoughtful man though. If I enjoyed betting, which I do, I would bet that when he recovers from his wound he will beat you to death with his bare hands.”

  Ben grimaced and wondered how he could get out of this. Casper acted polite, but his calm, urbane tone when speaking of murder led Ben to believe he would get no sympathy from him. Lady Towaal or Amelie likely had money to pay a ransom. He didn’t want to put them in danger though. They had Saala and Rhys for protection but Ben didn’t know anything about these thieves. There could be hundreds of them for all he knew.

  “Regardless of what happens when Balbo recovers,” Casper continued, “you are not going anywhere right now. You might as well tell me about yourself. Why did you try to save the boy?”

  Ben sighed, Casper was right, he wasn’t going anywhere soon. Talking to Casper couldn’t make this situation any worse. “I tried to save him because I don’t think he should have been killed in the street. He should be held responsible for his crimes, but it should be by the rightful authorities. You are judging him for theft, but unless I am mistaken, you are also a thief?”

  “Ha, you are right about that. You have an interesting philosophy boy. Let me tell you mine. I am a thief and worse, it is true, but so is Renfro. Who better to judge him than his fellow thieves? He entered our society on his own free will and knowing the stakes. And like any society, there are certain rules and expectations. Any social organization must have rules. When a person violates those rules they must be held accountable. If they are not, the organization breaks down and the society cannot survive.”

  Casper paused as if to let Ben ask a question then continued, “Renfro agreed to our rules and now he has broken them. We cannot allow that or everyone will think it is Ok to break the rules and we will only have chaos.”

  Ben responded, “he broke your rules, but he also broke the rules of Fabrizo. Along with you and whoever else is in this society of your’s. Just because you formed a little group of criminals does not mean you’re not all criminals. You’re still subject to the law of the land.”

  “Ah, but what makes us subject to these laws of the land?” asked Casper with a smile. “I don’t recall agreeing to anything like that. Why am I subject to the laws of a society I did not willingly join?”

  “You are in Fabrizo under your own free will and I am certain that there is a law against stealing here. If you do not agree with that law but you insist on stealing, you could leave.”

  Ben felt himself being drawn into the debate with Casper. The man had more depth than the street thug Ben took him to be at first. It wasn’t just his clothing, this man spoke like he was part of high society and would have no problem passing as an acquaintance of Amelie’s. Ben’s perception of a guild of thieves was quickly changing. These were not just alley lurkers and head knockers.

  “You are correct again boy. I am in Fabrizo under my free will and I am aware of the laws of this town. But I do not consider myself subject to them and so far your ‘authorities’ have not been able to make me subject to them. If they do not have the power to enforce their laws, then do they have the right to make them? I and the other members of our Guild have taken certain liberties with the property of individuals in Fabrizo and we have the power to get away with it. Are we any more or less right to institute our rules on the people who choose to live here than say, the Merchant’s Guild? But more importantly for our discussion, we have given ourselves authority to serve justice on our own – those who not only choose to live here but choose to join us. Surely you agree, if you conjecture we are subject to the laws of Fabrizo by merely being within it’s boundary, then certainly a member of our Guild who joined voluntarily is subject to the rules of the Guild?”

  Ben felt himself being outmatched by the thief. He knew in his heart what was right, but this man had a way with words. He was twisting what Ben had said and what he thought and turning it into something completely different.

  Suddenly, out of the corner of the room Renfro interjected, “I’m right here! This talk about rules, law and whatever is interesting, I’m sure, but what does that change?”

  Casper shifted his weight and looked at Renfro, “it doesn’t change anything. You will be held here until the Merchant Mallan returns and then you will be executed. He wanted to see it himself.” He gestured to their surroundings, “unfortunately, you will be stuck in this room until that time. I apologize, we are used to making a decision and doing these things rather quickly. I don’t recall the last time we had need of a place to store prisoners.”

  He stood and turned to leave. At the doorway he nodded to Ben, “interesting speaking with you boy. Maybe under different circumstances we could have become friends.”

  The heavy oak door slammed shut with finality. They could only wait now.

  Ben and Renfro found water and bread under the napkin on the tray. The tray itself was etched silver. Yet another surprise. These thieves were clearly doing well. Ben’s imagination of a gang of dirty miscreants skulking in the city sewers vanished entirely.

  The bread and water wasn’t an ideal meal, but it satisfied and they started to relax as much as possible, given the circumstances.

  “So, what exactly did you do to this Merchant Mallan?” inquired Ben.

  Renfro rubbed his hand across his face, “it wasn’t my fault, really. I found out that there would be a cargo of Ishlanese carpets coming into port and I also knew about an out of work Captain who was willing to take a large risk for a large profit. I arranged for a distraction and the Captain and his men lifted the carpets. I thought I was sure to be elevated to a full Guild member. Turns out, this particular cargo was personally guaranteed by an Elder in the Guild. He apparently invests alongside Mallan in his cargoes and handles security.

  Ben winced, “you’re telling me you stole an entire shipload of goods from one of the most senior thieves in Fabrizo?”

  “Yeah, like I said though, it wasn’t really my fault. I just helped with a distraction. I wasn’t the one who stole it!”

  “You didn’t know it was this Guild Elder’s cargo?”

  “Well, I guess you’re supposed to clear these kind of things with the Guild. I didn’t really know that since boosting ships isn’t my normal gig. More of a one time opportunity thing.”

  Ben could only shake his head. He still didn’t believe the Guild should have the right to execute Renfro, but he understood why they might want to.

  Renfro continued, seemingly feeling little remorse for the theft, “I almost got away with it too. Just needed a little more coin to buy passage on a ship and get out of town. Sorry about that by the way.”

  “Wait,” Ben exclaimed, “you stole an entire cargo of carpets and still didn’t have enough coin to buy passage out of here?”

  Renfro grunted and stared down at his feet. “The Captain I was working with sailed out of port before I could get my payment. I’m getting paid in advance next time.”

  Ben felt enough sympathy to not bring up how unlikely he thought it was there would be a next time.

  After the food and water, Ben finally felt recovered enough to get up and explore his surroundings but there wasn’t much to see. The room must have originally been a storeroom. There were stone floors, stone walls and the stout oak door. They had a pot in the corner for personal use. The walls had a few weep holes but the squeaks and scratching coming from them turned him off of further exploration. They were too small for him to fit even a hand through and they had no tools to try enlarging them anyway. I
t would be no help for escape.

  Ben spent a few moments examining the door but he quickly realized it was hopeless. There was a door knob that wouldn’t turn and it had no keyhole to lock-pick like they would have done in a story.

  They had a flickering torch stuck in an iron ring on the wall and he briefly thought about trying to burn their way out, maybe through the door or the ceiling. He quickly dismissed that idea once he realized the practical reality of being locked inside a burning room.

  He glanced back at Renfro to see if the thief would have any suggestions but he was still sitting in the corner with his head in his hands and solely focused on his feet. And after hearing his tale, Ben didn’t have a lot of confidence in Renfro’s thieving skills anyway.

  Eventually, Ben settled down in his own corner of the room and waited.

  He woke up startled to the door banging open. Casper was again standing in the doorway with a grim expression on his face but this time he was not holding a food tray. He gestured out the door and growled, “come along.”

  Ben’s heart sank. He had accepted he was powerless in this situation, but he held out hope that somehow he would be rescued. He had spent little time with them, but he already thought of Saala, Rhys and Amelie as his friends. At the very least he knew he could count on Meghan to search for him. He thought that somehow they might be able to find him and pay a ransom. This Balbo was a thief after all. Ben hoped he’d take the easy coin in lieu of revenge.

  “Both of you.”

  Ben looked at Renfro and saw he was surprised too that both of them were being called out. The odds that both of their executioners were waiting right at this moment seemed an unusual coincidence.

  The hallway outside was similar to the storage room, a series of oak doors down a long stone corridor. Ben noted that there had been no guards stationed outside – a sign that the thieves had also believed escape was futile.

  Casper was waiting in the hallway alone, another odd detail. Either he was supremely confident in his abilities or maybe this wasn’t a death walk. Maybe Casper’s grim face wasn’t because he was leading two men to their death.

  “So, I take it we’ll live to see another day?” asked Ben.

  Casper turned towards him and smirked, “you are a bright one aren’t you. Yes, despite my protests, the Guild has decided you will be released. Nothing personal, rule of law and all.”

  Released. So his friends had come through and paid the ransom. Ben couldn’t help a smile coming to his face and the hallway suddenly seemed a little brighter.

  They followed Casper up a set of rough stone stairs and into the back of a huge kitchen. It was finer but had the same feel as the kitchen at the Buckhorn Tavern back in Farview. There were a handful of kitchen workers who all ignored the trio coming out of their storerooms. From the looks of things, Ben could tell they had just finished preparing breakfast for a large group.

  As they exited the kitchen, he saw early morning sunlight streaming in the tall clear windows and heard the now familiar noises of Fabrizo. He was shocked because they were housed in what appeared to be a very large, very well decorated palace. As they made their way along broad hallways he noticed rich carpets, paintings on the wall, silver candlesticks and other trappings of wealth. He realized before long that this was, by far, the richest building he had ever been in.

  Eyeing the artwork that hung along the sun lit corridors, his perception of these thieves continued to change. Ben knew nothing of artwork, it was a luxury no one in Farview could afford, but someone with a great deal of skill had spent a lot of time painting the pictures and sewing the tapestries. There were gold bowls and silver sconces scattered around as well, but tastefully so. Their wealth was displayed casually, not carelessly.

  Renfro, scuttling along behind Casper and Ben asked, “so this is the Guild Headquarters? First time I’ve been here.”

  Casper looked over his shoulder at him, “first and last. Not even all of the Guild members know where this place is. And none of the apprentices of course.” He gave Renfro a hard look then waved towards Ben. “Your new friend has his own friend. A bit of a famous friend in certain circles. First I can remember that we’ve allowed someone not sworn to the Guild to walk out of here alive.”

  He continued, “I’m responsible for the security of this place, along with dealing with a variety of other unpleasant issues. I didn’t want anyone to walk out of here this time either.” He shrugged, “but I was overruled. Like I said, he is known to us. He made assurances to the Elders which I’m sure he will explain. Between you and me though, if you ever speak a word of this place to anyone then we’ll be seeing each other again.”

  “Nothing personal, right?” quipped Ben.

  Casper didn’t respond.

  At the end of the hall he pushed open two double doors and they entered a plush room to find Rhys relaxing on a comfortable looking overstuffed velvet couch and sipping a glass of wine. The walls of the room were covered in bookshelves and Ben’s eyes popped open at the display. At most he’d seen the one shelf full of maybe 20 books that Alistair Pinewood kept. There were tens of thousands of them here. He couldn’t even begin to calculate the gold it would take to stock this kind of library.

  When they entered, Rhys tipped up his wine glass and gulped the rest of the drink before standing. “I spend any more time in this city and I may be sold on the stuff. Great vintage I suspect?”

  Casper nodded his head towards Rhys, “only the best for our guests.”

  Ben looked around the room surprised to see Rhys here. He thought they’d send Saala with the ransom. The Blademaster had an air of quiet intimidation about him and he’d be Ben’s pick to send into a hostile situation. His skill was also likely to be known and respected by men such as these.

  Rhys, on the other hand, had weapons but Ben had never seen him practice with them. He also had a habit of quickly finding his way to the nearest tavern. Ben knew he was hired by Lady Towaal so he must have some talent, but his haphazard and half-drunk manner didn’t seem the right fit for this situation. Case in point, when they walked he had a drink in hand and his knives and longsword were laid out on a couch across the room. After they entered, he strolled over and buckled his belts while maintaining his affable chit chat.

  Outwardly, Casper maintained his calm demeanor when Rhys moved to the weapons, but Ben noticed a slight hesitancy in his speech and his right had drifted down towards his rapier.

  Ben scanned the room looking for any object he could use as a weapon if the situation erupted in violence until he caught Rhys grinning at him then giving a sly wink. Rhys’ complete lack of concern made Ben feel slightly silly. The Thieves already had him captured, so bringing him out of the cell and enacting some sort of betrayal made no sense.

  Casper, with his eyes still on Rhys said to Ben and Renfro, “you’re both lucky. Do yourselves a favor and don’t come back to Fabrizo. You’ve been given safe passage to leave the city, but you’re on your own if you ever return.”

  Rhys stepped up to Ben and gripped his shoulder, “let’s get out of here. We’ve got places to be.”

  Casper led them down the opulent hallways of the Guild Headquarters and they passed without seeing another soul. They exited out two wide, highly polished mahogany doors that stood twice Ben’s height. Broad marble steps led through a sturdy iron gate with ornate finely wrought spikes whose artistry barely hid their deadly nature.

  Once on the streets, Rhys led them out of the affluent district they were in and towards the open water and the docks. The streets became shabby and grew more so as they continued. The merchants got louder and the persistent fish smell Ben remembered from the day before grew stronger. Along the way, Rhys explained to Ben that they had arranged passage on a ship and would leave immediately with the morning tide.

  “The girls were all worried about you of course. They wanted me to let you know. Not sure what good being worried does for you, but whatever. Heard you tagged one of them pretty good. I’m
sure you’ll make Saala proud.”

  “Yeah, I injured one. But I lost the fight and ended up in a cell with a death sentence.”

  Rhys laughed a deep belly laugh, “good point. All that sword training and look what good it did you. If you’d been just a little better you probably would have ended up dead instead of in captivity.”

  Ben grimaced. He’d surmised the same, but it hurt coming from someone he now thought of as a friend. Two weeks of training with a Blademaster and he was only good enough to get himself in real trouble.

  He broke off the conversation as they approached the docks and he had to focus on dodging heavy carts and quick moving porters who treated him like he was invisible. There was an intricate dance of goods coming in and out of the city and Ben was nearly run over several times before he started being able to anticipate which way to duck.

  Still, despite the danger of a collision, the buzz of activity by the ships was a welcome change from the silence and overwhelming dread he had faced in the cell.

  Renfro was nervously tagging along behind them. He was at ease with the frantic pace of the workmen but he constantly checked over his shoulder as if unbelieving there was no pursuit. Finally, he spoke up in the same quaking voice he’d used when they were locked in the cell, “so, do you think we’re safe now? I mean, I’ve never heard of anyone being brought in like that then being let go. Thanks by the way.”

  Rhys glanced back at him. “You are safe right now I think, but honestly, I’m not even sure who you are. When I approached the Thieves I was told there had been two boys captured together. I negotiated to get you both out because I figured it’d throw up confusion about what I was after and the less they know, the better. Whoever you are, they didn’t believe I knew you. I’d already started haggling at that point though and felt silly letting them keep you.”