Queen of Thieves Box Set

by Andy Peloquin

  The wooden stairs creaked under her feet. “Ria?”

  The upstairs room was empty, the bed made with Ria’s trademark precision. Ilanna had never managed to get the corners of the sheets tucked in as tightly as the Ghandian girl. She smiled as she ran a hand over the faded leather cover of the book of fables. Ria couldn’t read, but she loved the pictures as much as Kodyn.

  Down the stairs and out into the garden she went. Her gut tightened. No sign of Ria or Kodyn. She clenched her fists and pushed the worry from her mind. They just went out, she told herself. They’ll be back soon. Hopefully, before she had to leave to meet Errik at the gate.

  A patch of color riveted her attention. Ilanna’s breath caught in her throat. She stumbled forward, her mind reeling. Amidst the bare soil of the backyard, life flourished. Purple and yellow violas bloomed beside a small rose bush.

  Ilanna fell to her knees before the plants. She ran a finger over the delicate leaves, smelled the sweet scent. She couldn’t believe it!

  How is this possible?

  Once, she had knelt in this garden, tending the plants with her mother. The flowers had suffered from neglect once her mother died. Years later, she’d rediscovered the garden and cared for them with the help of Ethen. Then Sabat had trampled the flowers and killed her friend. She hadn’t thought of the flowers—her violas and the rose bush her mother had planted for her little sister—since that day.

  But now, to find them like this…

  She turned as the door opened and Ria stepped out.

  “You did this?”

  “I did.” Ria’s smile held a brightness Ilanna had never seen. “Sometimes, a little care is all it takes to bring dying things back to life.”

  A lump rose in Ilanna’s throat. She couldn’t find the words. Kodyn’s squeal saved her from having to talk. The little boy rushed across the garden and threw himself into her arms. She clutched him close and squeezed her eyes to hold back the emotions flooding her.

  “You came for our lesson, Mama?” Kodyn grinned up at her.

  “Lesson?”

  His cheeks wobbled as he bobbed his head. “Ria’s teaching me to dance!”

  Ilanna’s eyes widened. “D-Dance?”

  Ria’s eyes slid to one side. “I-I thought to teach him…” She swallowed. “Teach him a little of my people. The Kim’ware.”

  “A war dance?”

  Ria gave a quick nod. “To my people, the Kim’ware is not just for times of war. It is also a thing of beauty and grace, a reminder of who we are.”

  “And Ria’s been teaching me!” Kodyn slipped out of her arms and ran over to the dark-skinned girl. “Can we show her, Ria?”

  Ria glanced at Ilanna, anxiety mingling with her hesitation. At Ilanna’s nod, the lines in her face relaxed. “Wait here.” She disappeared into the house. When she returned, she carried a small wooden cylinder with rawhide stretched over one end. She handed it to Ilanna. “Can you play a beat?”

  Ilanna took the odd-looking drum. “I…I’ve never tried.”

  A smile played on Ria’s lips. “It’s easy.” She crouched beside Ilanna and tapped a simple rhythmic sequence. “Like this.”

  Ilanna tried the unusual pattern of beats. After a few seconds, Ria nodded.

  “Good.” The dark-skinned girl glided over to Kodyn. “Stand like this.” She helped him adjust his posture. “Ready?”

  The boy nodded. At Ria’s signal, they began to move. In her surprise, Ilanna nearly missed the beat. Kodyn’s movement lacked the grace and precision of Ria’s, but his little hands twirled in time with hers and his feet almost kept pace with her steps.

  A lump rose in Ilanna’s throat. Years ago, she had spent hours in this very garden with her mother, learning to dance. The sight of her son dancing sent warmth coursing through her. Ria’s dark eyes sparkled, and Kodyn’s grin brightened as laughter bubbled up from her chest.

  Ilanna’s gaze followed Ria’s sinuous movements. A smile played on the Ghandian girl’s lips and she closed her eyes. Her lithe frame seemed weightless as she moved in time with the beat, graceful as willow branches on a gentle breeze. She lost herself in the dance, as if she allowed herself to simply exist for the first time in forever.

  Kodyn’s breathless giggle cut into her thoughts. “Did you see me, Mama?”

  “I did!” Ilanna set down the drum and clapped. “You were wonderful!”

  The boy laughed and turned to the dark-skinned girl. “Did you hear, Ria?”

  Ria ruffled his long hair. “I did. And to think it took me two months to learn, not two weeks.”

  Kodyn beamed. “Will you teach me another one?”

  The lump returned to Ilanna’s throat. She coughed and swallowed hard.

  Ria cast a sidelong glance at Ilanna, hesitation in her eyes. “I think your mama wants to spend time with you.”

  Ilanna waved. “Oh no, I want to learn to dance, too.” She leapt to her feet and came to stand beside her son. “Teach us, Ria.”

  Ria blushed. “A-Are you sure?”

  “Of course.” Ilanna gave her a reassuring grin and winked at Kodyn, eliciting a giggle from the boy. “I can’t let my son become a better dancer than me.”

  “As you wish.” Ria squeezed Kodyn’s shoulder. “Can you help me teach her the Ris’ale?”

  “The Wind Dance?” Kodyn’s head bobbed. “Oh yes!” He took Ilanna’s hand. “So, to do the Wind Dance, Ria says you have to stand like this…”

  * * *

  A log cracked in the still-hot oven. A sweet smoke filled the room, adding to the aromas drifting up from the bowl of stew in front of Ilanna. She took her time to enjoy every bite of the savory dish Ria had prepared using a handful of spices Ilanna had never tasted before.

  Ilanna stroked Kodyn’s long hair. The boy had fallen asleep in his high chair, his chubby fingers still gripping the carved birchwood hawk she’d brought. She didn’t want to be parted from him. The shadows had begun to lengthen, but neither Ria nor Ilanna moved to light the lamps. For a moment, Ilanna was content to bask in the peaceful silence filling the kitchen.

  Ria spoke first. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you? For longer this time.”

  Ilanna met the girl’s eyes. “How did you know?”

  Ria gave her a sad smile. “Something about you today reminded me of my mother before she traveled across the grasslands.” She inclined her head toward Kodyn. “She wouldn’t let go of me or my sister until she had to leave. Almost as if she feared she’d never see us again.” Sorrow filled her eyes. “The last time, she was right.”

  “That won’t happen.” Steel rang in Ilanna’s words. “Nothing’s going to stop me from coming back.” She bent to kiss Kodyn’s head. “Nothing. I’ll be in Voramis for—”

  Ria stiffened, her breath catching. “Voramis?” Her shoulders hunched and a shadow passed over her face. “No, no, no, no…” She rocked in her chair, head shaking, her gaze unfocused.

  “Ria? What’s wrong, Ria?”

  Ria’s gaze snapped to Ilanna, fire burning in her dark eyes. “You must not go there!”

  The girl’s ferocity shocked her. “What?” Ilanna jerked backward as Ria drew her belt knife in a white-knuckled grip. “Why?”

  Ria clenched both fists around the knife. “Bad things happen there.” She shuddered and closed her eyes, pain etched in the lines of her face.

  “What happened, Ria?” Ilanna’s eyes never left the knife. The blade hovered a hand’s breadth from Ria’s chest. “What happened in Voramis?”

  Moisture sparkled in Ria’s eyes. “The men who took me…”

  Ilanna’s breath caught. Of course. The men who’d held Ria and the other girls in the warehouse hadn’t been Praamians. I should have known. The Bloody Hand weren’t the only flesh traders to operate through the Port of Voramis.

  “Those men, th-they killed my father and brothers, dragged me from my home in chains.” Tears streamed down her cheeks now. “My sister…she was too young, too weak to reach the ship. So man
y others, dead at sea.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Theirs was the kinder fate.”

  Horror twisted in Ilanna’s gut. What words of comfort could she offer?

  “I do not remember much of that city, Voramis. Or this city, either. But what I do remember…” Ria shuddered. “They tried to break us. Beatings first. Starving us. Opiates. Many gave in. I did not.”

  Ilanna nodded. She’d glimpsed strength in Ria that day in the warehouse brothel.

  She pointed to the piercings in her nose and eyebrow. “My captors never took these from me. Said they wanted me to look ‘exotic’.” She gave Ilanna a savage grin. “That was their mistake. These were my mother’s, and her mother’s before her. The men saw only pretty jewelry, but these are more than just silver. They are the mark of a Ghandian nassor—a warrior chieftainess, like my mother.”

  The fire burned in Ria’s eyes again. “No matter what they did, these rings reminded me of who I am. I did not let them break me. Until the day I found a way to be free.”

  Ilanna’s eyes widened. Had Ria somehow escaped her captors?

  All thoughts faded from her mind as Ria pulled up the long-sleeved shirt she always wore. Two jagged scars ran up the smooth ebony flesh of her forearms. Before she realized, Ilanna reached across the table and ran her fingers along the raised flesh. She was surprised to find Ria didn’t flinch at the contact.

  Ria’s eyes met hers. “You have the strength of a nassor, Ilanna. The look in my mother’s eyes, I see the same in you when you look at your son. You would do anything for him. Even leave his side, if it means he is safe.”

  Ilanna nodded. “I do this for him. For us.” The words poured from her mouth. “I will not let him suffer the same fate as I.”

  It was Ria’s turn to look surprised. “As you?”

  Without a word, Ilanna fumbled at the straps holding her bracer. She slid it off and unwrapped the cloth beneath.

  Ria gave a tiny gasp. “What does it mean?” Her dark fingers traced the outline of the numeral “7” tattooed in Ilanna’s forearm.

  “The people I work for, the Night Guild, they tried to break me just like you. They took my name, gave me this number. That’s all I was to them: just one more slave to be molded as they pleased.”

  Ilanna shivered at Ria’s touch. Yet it wasn’t out of revulsion; something about the gentleness of Ria’s hand on her arm sent sparks coursing through her.

  “They branded you like this?”

  Ilanna shook her head. “No. I did it to myself. A reminder of who they are.” Her free hand gripped Ria’s. “And a reminder of who I am.”

  She’d gotten the tattoo the day she discovered her pregnancy. Not even Denber had known about it. It was her way of telling herself she would never again be that weak, scared tyro. She was Ilanna, and nothing in the world would frighten her.

  An odd tingling ran through Ilanna’s hands. Ria’s skin had a musky, spicy scent that seemed suddenly alluring. Ria’s hand in hers felt soft, lacking the calloused roughness of Ilanna’s. Yet that grip had a strength mirrored in the dark eyes that met hers.

  Ilanna found herself drawn into the girl’s gaze. In Ria’s eyes, she caught a glimpse of the person she could have been. Once, a scared girl desperate for anyone to take her away from the horrors she’d endured; now, someone who had found a sense of purpose, a place of peace. Ilanna had outlived the fear and desperation. Perhaps, one day, she could find peace as Ria had.

  But for now, it had to be enough to keep her son—and, by extension, Ria—safe. That meant going to Voramis, taking on the Secret Keepers, and defying Duke Phonnis. No small challenge, but worth it if it meant Ria and Kodyn would be safe.

  The ringing of the Lady’s Bells shattered the afternoon calm. Kodyn shifted, murmured, and continued sleeping. The moment had passed.

  Ria squeezed her hand. “Be careful, Ilanna.”

  Ilanna nodded. For the first time, she had no desire to break off the contact. The feel of Ria’s hand in hers, the strength in the grip, comforted her.

  “I will.” She returned the squeeze. “I wish there was another way, but…”

  “I know.” The warmth of Ria’s smile reached her eyes. “You’re doing what you must. For him.”

  The lump returned to Ilanna’s throat. “When this is over, we’re leaving. Kodyn and me. To get away from all these memories, start a life somewhere else.” She met Ria’s gaze. “Come with us.”

  Ria’s eyebrows rose and her lips parted.

  “Kodyn will be miserable without you.” Ilanna swallowed as the truth hit her. Ria had brought that “something” she’d been missing since Ethen. Ilanna had told herself she’d kept the girl around for Kodyn’s sake, but that had been a lie. Ria, like Kodyn, was “home” to Ilanna. “I want you to come, too.”

  Tears sparkled in Ria’s eyes but her smile lit up the kitchen. “I-I’d like that.”

  Though every fiber of Ilanna’s being protested, she slowly broke contact with Ria’s hands. She didn’t dare meet the girl’s dark eyes for fear she’d never leave. Placing a kiss on Kodyn’s head, she slipped toward the door, pausing only long enough to take one of the hawk figurines from the mantelpiece.

  “Ilanna.”

  She turned at Ria’s call.

  “Come back to us safe.”

  Ilanna couldn’t speak through the pressure mounting in her chest. She could only manage a weak smile before slipping out the door and into the late Praamian afternoon.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “You’re doing it again.” Errik’s sharp tone pierced Ilanna’s listless mind.

  Confusion wrinkled her brow. “What?”

  Errik rolled his eyes. “Grinding your teeth, like you always do when you’re worrying about something.”

  Ilanna narrowed her eyes, but the ache in her jaw and gums told her perhaps he was right. “Sorry,” she muttered.

  Silence, thick as cheap wool and twice as stifling, hung over the Windy Plains. Flat land surrounded them on all sides. A single broad wagon track cut through the yellowing grass that stretched beyond the horizon. In the last day, they’d seen precisely one tree—a stubby elm barely twice her height. The featureless terrain added to the boredom and exhaustion of their ten-hour days of riding in the wagon. The baking sun and the utter absence of a breeze—Windy Plains, my foot!—added to her misery.

  She hated every second of inactivity. Her instincts screamed at her to be doing something, anything, to further her plans for breaking into Lord Auslan’s mansion. But she could do nothing but sit, drink in the scenery, and—according to Errik’s scowl—grind her teeth at the plodding pace set by the tired draft horses.

  And think of Ria and her son. The first day out of Praamis had passed in a blur. She’d replayed the last moments spent with Ria over and over. Her fingers had toyed with the ebony hawk figurine as the memory of Ria’s dark hand in hers, the feel of soft skin on her forearm, stirred something deep within her. The touch had seemed so innocuous at the time, yet it had grown to mean so much more.

  Since Sabat, Ilanna had flinched at even the slightest contact not initiated by her. Only Kodyn had been able to touch her without provoking an instinctive flash of fear. Yet when she touched Ria’s hand, there had been no fear. Something about the dark-skinned girl made her feel… safe.

  That moment had changed Ilanna. She found herself dreaming again; not the nightmares of being pursued or screaming in Sabat’s grip, but about a future filled with possibility. She’d clung to that dream since Kodyn’s birth. She’d envisioned herself taking her son away from Praamis to start a new life. Everything she’d done since that day had been to further that goal.

  Now, a new face entered those dreams. She stood beside Kodyn and Ria, building a new, happy life. Though it left her confused, she wouldn’t drive those dreams away. They served as the single bright spot in a life that had, thus far, been filled with misery and suffering. One day soon, she told herself, I’ll be done with this.

  But first they had to g
et across this endless stretch of the most boring landscape on Einan. She wished for a rain cloud, a pack of animals, even an extra-long blade of grass to break the monotony.

  “What’s got your fuss up?”

  She glanced at Errik. He seemed so at ease on the hard wooden bench, as if he’d spent years driving a wagon team. How could he be so calm at a time like this?

  “Going over all the things that have to be done, and realizing there’s not a damned thing I can do about it.” She stabbed a frustrated finger at the draft animals. “Worse, somehow we got stuck with the slowest pack of horses in Praamis!”

  Errik chuckled. “And Jarl said you’d never relax.”

  “How can you?” His mirth irked her. “Aren’t you thinking about everything that could go wrong while we’re gone?”

  The Serpent shrugged. “Sure, but what are you going to do?” He gestured at the barren landscape. “You’ve made your plan, left the right people with their tasks, now there’s nothing more to be done. The more I make this trip, the more I realize worrying doesn’t make time pass more quickly.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You do this often?”

  Errik shook his head. “Not often, but House Hound sometimes gets us in to help if they suspect their fugitives will get violent. Seeing as I learned the ways of Voramis while hunting Malak Short-Hand, I usually get the job.”

  Ilanna had known of his Undertaking hunting the ruthless Praamian killer-for-hire who had fled the King’s justice. But she knew of very little else of his life or work for House Serpent.

  “What’s it like? Being a Serpent?”

  Errik gave her an odd look. “What does that mean?”

  Ilanna rolled her eyes. “Back with the Reckoner, Tyren, you said torturing a man takes something out of you. Is that how you feel?”

  The Serpent’s face hardened to a blank, stony mask. “It’s the way of things,” he said with forced nonchalance.

  “Don’t give me that.” She scowled. “Look around you. There’s no one to overhear, just you and me, Serpent.”

  For long moments, Errik remained silent, the tension in his expression spreading to his shoulders and back. Finally, he shrugged. “Not a job I thought I’d end up doing, but it could be worse. The way things were before…” He trailed off, his eyes narrowing.