Thief's Desire

by Isabo Kelly

  During the day, she ignored him as best she could, throwing herself into conversations with anyone nearby. Using every ounce of skill she’d developed as a gambler, she hid her pain and loss behind a veil of anger. Anger was easier.

  The jaded street voice at the back of her mind gloated, stabbing, telling her the obvious. That this would have happened sooner or later. They all leave, Flash. She hid behind that as well. Fell into the cocky attitude that had kept her alive. But the part of her that Jacob had touched, the part that had hidden behind boy’s clothes and a set of fast knives, the person called Victoria cried, quietly and alone where no one could see, not even Vic.

  On the fifth day, the group entered the thick pine forests a day’s ride from the Bthak border. Snow had fallen recently, dusting the ground and trees with a thin layer of white. Above, the sky shone bright and blue, raising sparkles and glimmers along the ice crystals blanketing the ground. Beneath the trees, the forest was dark, despite the bright daylight.

  They camped in a pine-circled clearing that night. There hadn’t been a hallucination for many hours, and the strain was palpable. Every eye watched closely for the beginnings of magical madness.

  Vic spent extra time grooming Gale, avoiding the others. Wary tension mixed with her individual pain made for a sour taste—too many of the wrong ingredients. Staying with Gale helped a little. The monotonous brushing, the quiet snuffling of the mare, the smell of leather and dirt and campfires at a distance, helped her blank her mind and lulled her into a blissfully thoughtless state.

  When the white-faced sorcerer stepped out of the woods, she blinked once. Then she lurched back, pulling two knives from their hidden spots.

  The sorcerer smiled, pushed aside his robe and revealed a small bundle. The child began to wail.

  Vic started forward, circling the sorcerer, keeping her gaze on his face.

  He merely smiled and turned back into the woods, dismissing any threat she might be.

  Without thinking, she charged after him, her street-trained footing nearly silent along the patchy, snow-dusted underbrush. She could see the form of the sorcerer just ahead, but the faster she moved, the wider the gap became.

  Then he stopped, turned, and smiled, opening a crater in the moon that was his face.

  With a feral cry, she charged, knives raised. She came to a skidding halt when a second shape stepped into her path. She barely recognized Malkiney’s face before slashing.

  Malkiney blocked her two quick jabs with red-gray metal bracers, and then her arms were pinned to her side. She struggled against her unseen attacker, but strong arms lifted her off the ground. She looked back as Malkiney approached, smiling with that mad glimmer she saw in her nightmares. From beside him, a new figure stepped out to face Vic, one she didn’t recognize. But she knew who it was. There had been a blood sorceress in Dareelia, the third magician, the one she’d never seen.

  The woman stepped closer, her blonde-white hair alight under the dark canopy, her blue eyes glowing with the same evil Vic had seen in the white sorcerer’s eyes.

  She tried to scream, to warn those still in the camp, but the sound froze in her throat just as it had in her nightmares. She struggled harder against the steel arms holding her in place. When the sorceress placed her hands on Vic’s cheeks, she went limp.

  The sorceress crooked her mouth, then stepped back and began a soundless chant. Flashes of a sacrificial altar, red candles inside a triangle inside a circle, the glimmer of light off a silver blade.

  Vic closed her eyes, unwilling to see her nightmares come true, and softly she breathed Jacob’s name. After what felt like hours, the steel around her relaxed, her feet touched the ground, and a recognizable voice broke through her fear. “Victoria?”

  She opened her eyes and looked into the soft, compassionate blue eyes of Tiya. She blinked. Then blinked again. Beside Tiya, Jacob was also staring intently, concern obliterating the hostility that had hardened his features since they’d left Georna castle.

  Kevin stepped around from behind her. He smiled gently at her confusion. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked.

  She shook her head, distracted, then looked to the place where she’d seen the white-faced sorcerer. “I saw him,” she muttered. “The white sorcerer. He had Arlana.” She looked back at Tiya. “What happened?”

  The lines creasing Tiya’s brow fell away with her smile. “Hallucination. You were too far away for us to intervene quickly. Lucky for you these two know their way through a forest.” She nodded fondly at the two men.

  “You were moving like an old forester yourself,” Kevin said, his grin widening. “Didn’t know you could cut through the trees like that.”

  “Talent,” she said, waving her hand absently. She still couldn’t resolve what she’d just experienced with what she was now facing. Kevin’s chuckle startled her.

  As did the crunching of booted feet nearby. She turned to see Henry, Garath and a number of the other soldiers hurrying to join them.

  Henry reached them first. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Thanks to these three.” She shook her head. “It was so real. Knowing about the hallucinations didn’t make a difference. I can’t believe I didn’t realize, but…”

  Garath patted her shoulder and smiled. “My little encounter with a mountain lion this morning seemed pretty real, too.”

  She allowed a smile despite the lingering disorientation.

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” Henry said. “And since they don’t seem to hit the same person twice, you can relax now.”

  “I’ll relax when we get back to Dareelia,” she said.

  A chortle of agreement rustled through the soldiers and the group split, heading back toward camp.

  Vic stood for a long moment, still staring at the place where she’d seen the white sorcerer. She didn’t notice that Kevin and Tiya had walked away until Jacob cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to her immediate surroundings. Her gaze fell on the bracers covering his forearms.

  “I almost cut you,” she whispered. Her guard dropped in that instant, concern slipping into her voice. When she realized the slip, she forced her gambler’s expression back into place. “Sorry,” she said in as offhanded a manner as she could muster.

  The side of his mouth crooked, almost a smile. “Well, I’m glad I had on the bracers.” The smile dropped away. “So you’re talking to me again?”

  She couldn’t meet his gaze. “No.”

  When she turned back toward camp, he caught her arm. She swung around to face him, pulling her arm roughly from his grasp.

  “Victoria, we need to talk. You can’t just walk out of my life like this.”

  “The last time we talked, Marin, you threatened to throw me in a dungeon,” she spoke just above a whisper, letting anger fill her voice to cover the pain.

  “Tiya told me about your friend. If I’d known…”

  “She wasn’t the only one, Jacob,” she shouted, then lowered her voice. “She was only the first. People disappear in dungeons.”

  “I wouldn’t have allowed that. How can you think so little of me? Of my feelings for you?”

  She dropped her gaze, not wanting to see the hurt in his eyes, the accusations, choosing instead to steel herself with her anger. “I don’t know how you feel about me, Jacob. All I know is that none of the people I’ve seen thrown into a dungeon were put there by someone who cared.” She didn’t wait for a reply. She turned her back and walked stiffly toward camp, ignoring his calls.

  Jacob watched the little thief walk away, a familiar ache clenching his chest. He didn’t hear Tiya approach until she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

  “It didn’t go well,” she said.

  “No.” His jaw clenched and unclenched. “She won’t even talk to me. She still thinks I would have abandoned her. After all we’ve… She doesn’t believe I have any feelings for her. Goddess, Tiya, she’s ripping out my heart and she thinks I don’t feel anything.”

&nbs
p; He clenched his fists, fighting the fear that had clawed him since their argument. He’d never been so afraid of losing someone. After all the years and all the women, he’d finally found the woman he wanted to spend his life with and she thought him capable of tossing her aside. It hurt to know she thought so little of him. It hurt worse to think he might have given her reason.

  “Jacob!”

  Tiya’s voice sounded distant. Several heartbeats passed before he heard her.

  “Jacob, when was the last time you told her how much you love her?”

  He looked into her gentle eyes and blinked. His mind couldn’t grasp what she’d just asked.

  After a silent moment, she said, “You have told her you love her, haven’t you?”

  “Of course, I…” he started harshly, then paused. The truth hit him like a metal gauntlet. “No,” he whispered, letting his gaze fall to the forest floor. “Never in words. Never the words. I started to once, but the GeMorin…” He closed his eyes.

  “That might explain why she doesn’t know. Until she hears the words, it’s easy for her to wonder.”

  A smile nudged at his mouth. “Do you remember once, a few years back, I told you that young men do stupid things in the name of pride?”

  She smiled at the memory and nodded.

  “Well, all men do stupid things in the name of love.”

  “I think it’s time to correct that,” she said, patting his shoulder and ushering him in the direction the thief had disappeared.

  Before he moved away, though, he bent and brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Thank you, my friend.”

  He moved into the trees, a lifetime of practice keeping his footsteps light and nearly silent. He didn’t catch sight of Victoria until he was almost at camp.

  Her back was to him. She walked slower than she had when stomping away. Her movements were limp and heavy, her arms dragging at her sides.

  The difference shocked him for a moment, and he couldn’t follow. He’d never seen his little thief look so beaten. His heart tore further to realize what he’d done. But in her solemn gate, he finally saw the pain that had, until that moment, remained safely hidden behind anger. And in a strange way, it gave him hope.

  He covered the remaining distance in a quick trot. “Victoria,” he called, as he drew closer. “Victoria, please.”

  She stopped at the tree line before entering the clearing, but she didn’t turn to face him.

  He stared at the back of her head, his jaw and throat too tight to speak. Had he been fooling himself, thinking that she could be hurting just as he was? Or did she really feel only anger now? Was she lost forever?

  He couldn’t accept that option.

  Taking a shallow breath, he whispered, “I was being selfish. At the castle. Trying to protect you so I could protect myself. When you get hurt, it hurts me. If you were to get killed, it would kill me. But I never thought anything could hurt this much. To see you every day. To see anger in your eyes where there was once affection. To know that this… I’d rather be dead than lose you this way.”

  She remained motionless, her back stiff, her head tilted to one side, listening, but not acknowledging. He closed his eyes, forcing back the fear that threatened to close his throat for good.

  Then he looked once more at the soft brown curls falling around her shoulders, the small, athletic frame covered in black, the stubborn stance. And the words came tumbling out. “I love you, Victoria. I love you so much…it’s like a knife in my gut. Except a knife would hurt less. I’ve never loved anyone like this before. Love has always been pleasant and, on occasion, dangerous or sad, but it’s never been the wrenching pain I’m feeling now.” He swallowed hard, straining past the lump in his throat to get the last few words out. “Please, Victoria. I can’t lose you. Don’t walk away from me.”

  He watched her shoulders shake, the first movement since she’d stopped. Then they rose, straightening, and she held her head high. She moved a step forward, away from him.

  And turned around.

  A single tear slid over her cheek, the first tear he’d ever seen her shed. But her jaw was rigid, her mouth a hard line.

  “Don’t ever do anything like that to me again,” she said and threw herself into his arms.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  They crossed the border into Bthak just before sunset the next day. Their journey had been slowed by an increase in the number of hallucinations, plaguing their every step until they passed the border. Then the hallucinations suddenly stopped.

  They camped on a rocky outcropping circled by thick stands of trees and posted a larger number of sentries. There was no sign of civilization in this part of Bthak, but this was GeMorin territory. No campfires were lit.

  By Tracker’s account, they were a short ride from the ruins. Tiya could still feel Arlana, closer than she had since the night of the kidnapping. They’d moved ahead of the magicians, but not far. It would be a race to the ruins—if nothing went wrong.

  No scouts were sent out for fear of detection. Henry could hold the shield, but only if they stayed together. So far, their secret was safe.

  The need for rest pressed all of them, but knowing sleep was necessary and actually being able to sleep were two different things. Vic tried to doze, feeling warm and protected in Jacob’s arms once more. But even his comforting strength couldn’t banish the anticipation and anxiety.

  They’d reach the ruins tomorrow. Only then would they know if the kidnappers traveled to these ruins or were actually intent on some unknown destination. Either they’d fight tomorrow or be forced once more into the chase.

  In the predawn darkness, they broke camp. Even before the sun had poked above the mountains, they rode. The air was sharp and cold, so dry it choked Vic’s throat.

  Around them, the ground was dusted with a light fall of snow, painting, without covering, the rocks and brush along the trail and beneath the trees. Ice clung to the leafless limbs and the brown grass along the roadside. In the light of the sun as it rose to meet a cloudless sky, the ice crystals became glittering strings of gold upon a bed of white down.

  The trail they followed turned east into the rising sun. They rode fast and hard to the ruins. By midmorning, they reached their destination.

  Thick forest opened just before the deteriorating walls of what had once been a monastery. A standing archway, cut from the red stone wall, opened to a large front courtyard, its stone floor now covered with moss and weeds. A single tree grew to one side of the yard, black and leafless for winter. The walls surrounding the courtyard, though crumbling and weed-choked, still stood five feet at their lowest points.

  Opposite the arch were the remains of what had once been a large building, its outline and interior structure still evident in the weatherworn stone walls. Behind this building, another courtyard. The rear wall still stood almost twelve feet high. Embrasures gave glimpses of the snow-covered valley beyond.

  To the left of the central building stood the lower third of what had been a round tower. Sun slanted through the open top and arched frame of the doorway into the front courtyard. A second intact round tower stood along the right wall of the rear courtyard, climbing four stories to a low battlement. There was one visible window, near the tower’s top level, and one doorway. A green wooden door kept the tower sealed.

  Everything was covered by a thin film of snow like dust in an unused room. The silence of a place long abandoned was disturbed only by the sounds of the soldiers and their mounts.

  Jacob motioned his soldiers around the ruins, checking for traps. Curiosity took Vic to the intact tower. She dismounted at the foot, dropping Gale’s reins to the ground. A series of stones extended from the tower wall in a spiral, the remains of what had once been an external stairway circling up to the battlement. Now only the upper third of the stones remained, ending just below the window, which looked into the courtyard.

  Vic turned her attention to the large door, approaching it with a knife in hand. She pushed, but it
held firm. She tried twisting the latch, but it wouldn’t move.

  She was inspecting the lock, considering picking it, when Jacob came up behind her.

  “Anything?” he said, nodding at the door.

  “Locked. Want me to open it?”

  He stared for a moment then shook his head. “Better if we don’t give them a potential hiding place or a place to defend from.”

  “What do you think?” she said, sweeping the ruins with her gaze.

  “I think we’re too exposed. There’s not enough cover for our entire group, and the GeMorin will know we’re here before they’re close enough to attack.”

  “Not good.”

  “No. Henry might as well have not bothered with the shield.” He took a deep breath and looked at the soldiers still combing the area.

  “Are they coming from the same direction we did?”

  “Yeah. Tiya says they’re approaching fast.”

  She frowned, studying the courtyard. Then she nodded to the rear wall. “What’s behind that?”

  “The ground slopes to the valley. No tree cover, just snow-covered fields.”

  She walked to the wall and looked out one of the embrasures, pressing her hands against the stone sill and standing on her toes to see down to the wall’s base. “It’s not steep, Jacob. What if we hide most of the soldiers behind here, place a group back in the woods…”

  “And trap the kidnappers inside the ruins?” he finished. His brow wrinkled as he stared at the rear wall. After a moment, he turned and motioned Kevin, Tiya and Henry over. “Victoria has an idea.” He sketched her plan.

  “Can you hold the shield if we spread that far?” Kevin asked.

  Henry looked dubious. “I don’t think so. But, if Tiya could shield the group in the woods, I can shield the group behind the wall.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Tiya said. “We need every advantage we can get. But do you think it’ll work?”

  No one looked convinced.

  “If we stand and wait,” Jacob said, “they’ll most likely avoid the ruins altogether. If they think we’re here, they won’t fall into the trap. And there’s always the chance that they’ll discover us despite the shield and turn the trap around on us.”