Lhind the Thief (3 page)

“Halt a moment, Lhind,” Hlanan said. “Not too much at once.”

Behind him I heard a noise of disgust—from a female. I
opened my eyes again, to see the cabin crowded with several unfamiliar faces.
One of them was a young woman with a beautifully shaped but sulky mouth. Her
oval face was framed by a coronet of jewels bound into her curling yellow hair.
She was dressed in beribboned peach and green silk, embroidered with gold—a
gown more gorgeous than any I had ever seen in Tu Jhan, and her face was rigid
with distaste, her chin lifted with assured arrogance, as she stared at me.
Here was someone used to everyone else getting out of her way.

At her shoulder stood another young woman, with a pug nose
in the middle of a round, smiling face. Her wide-set eyes were grayish-brown,
and a coronet of reddish-brown hair framed her face. This was the one I’d seen
fighting with a knife. Her air reminded me a little of Hlanan, that steady,
intent gaze with the slightest tilt of head, conveying an air of question.

“Where did this creature come from?” the yellow-haired
beauty said in one of the Southern languages. “Is this your idea of a little
jape at our expense, Alezand?” She turned a sulky shoulder toward Rajanas.

He said, “He’s a thief we saw in Tu Jhan. It seems he
followed us aboard, and stowed away.”

Stowed away? Indignant, I tried to rise, but the headache
hammered me, and I fell back. The pug nosed woman pressed a gentle but firm
hand against my shoulder, as if to stay me. Or protect me.

The doorway darkened, and a tall figure appeared, handsomer
than the statue of King Bessemar the Just in Dunleth’s capital. His long,
ruddy-tinged blond hair lay waving on broad shoulders exquisitely molded in his
velvet tunic of darkest midnight blue, edged with gold. His thin brows rose as
everyone fell back, save Rajanas, and the lazy eyes turned my way.

Then the slack, bored expression hardened into disgust. He
turned to the pouting princess. “Really, Kressanthe? You really want to be in
the same breathing space with this noisome creature?”

“I want to know if that disgusting stowaway somehow got
those pirates after us,” Kressanthe demanded.

“Throw the worthless offal overboard, then you need worry
yourselves no further,” Prince Copper-Hair drawled.

“Since stowaways usually risk their lives to hide from
danger, I am going to assume that he would not summon it, even had he the
means,” Rajanas said ironically. “You’ll have to seek some other cause,
Kressanthe.”

“I’m already bored to death. Kressanthe?” Prince
Beautiful-but-Evil lifted a velvet-molded, perfect shoulder, and left.

As the golden-haired princess hovered uncertainly, Rajanas
said, “Of your courtesy, Kressanthe and Thianra, we would like to question our
little thief, and I think it would be best if fewer people were present. The
rest of you,” he raised his voice slightly as he looked at the sailors crowding
at the door, “have things to do, have you not?”

With a shuffling of feet and a whispering of skirts, the
crowd dispersed. Then Rajanas shut the door and stood with his back to it.

“Stowaway?” I demanded.
“Really?
That is such a lie it hurts!”

“I’m very sorry about the lie. And the ropes, Lhind. These
things are a backhanded turn for your saving us as you did, but the method you
used has made us very uneasy,” Hlanan said seriously. “Lhind, we need to talk
about that magic.”

“Wasn’t me,” I said the first thing I could think of.

“It was the pirates, of course,” Rajanas murmured, smiling
faintly.

Hlanan gave him a quick look, and Rajanas half-raised a
hand, a gesture meaning he’d stay quiet. Hlanan turned back to study my face,
which by now I had squinched into my sourest grimace.

Hlanan said steadily, “Lhind, magic is exceedingly rare in
Thesreve. Any practitioners come from outside the country, and few dare to risk
the stake and fires of Thesrevan law by practicing magic openly. Most of them
are there for a reason just as deadly—to act as spies, for powers such as
Dhes-Andis in the West. I promise I will not give you over to Thesrevan
authorities. Indeed, we are past the border now. But I must know who your tutor
is. That illusion was too large and complicated for most sorcerers’ prentices.
I
wasn’t able to construct anything suitable, and
you can believe I was trying.”

It was obvious they would not believe continued denials. So
I muttered in my most grudging voice, “Wasn’t any tutor.” That much was the
truth. But then, to protect myself, I added a lie, “I stole that spell.”

“What?” Hlanan exclaimed.

“A good thief can steal more than just money,” I pointed
out.

Hlanan sat back on his heels, looking at me in silent
amazement. Rajanas laughed softly.

Determined to ignore him henceforth, I gave Hlanan the story
I’d concocted before I fell asleep. “I was sitting on a roof over on the Street
of Doves. A lot of wealthy merchant folk live there, and the houses are close
together and easy to break into. Anyway, I was waiting for a jewelry-maker and
his wife to leave for a party. Their house was next to an inn.” I stopped.

“Yes, go on,” Hlanan urged.

“Some water first? Those long, dry six
days . . . No food for at least a week before
that . . . Then being jumped and tied up like a turkey for
market . . .” I said pitifully.

Rajanas rolled his eyes upward, but Hlanan’s brow puckered.
“I’m sorry, Lhind. Here’s the water.” He held the glass to my lips, but when I
was done drinking, he went right back to the topic. “So you were next to an
inn, in the Street of Doves. Please continue.”

“Was last summer. The attic window of the inn stood slightly
ajar. I heard voices. A man, talking about illusions. I didn’t really listen to
the side-talk, but I sure liked what the spell could do. So I shifted over, and
peeked in. He was talking to a sniveling fellow whose strength went into
growing, not brains, because by the time he stumbled through the words and
gestures, I had it all by heart. I thought it would be a great aid in getting
take for my friends. In the Thieves’ Guild. Who will be looking for me.”

Hlanan listened with an air of courtesy, but didn’t answer
any of these hints.

So I sighed, and continued my lie. “Anyway, that magic
tires you out so—and you have to be careful not to forget your surroundings.
But when I stole that spell, the harbormaster, who runs the Thieves’ Guild, you
know, was so happy with me I went back to the inn next day, but a family of
weavers was staying in the room. So I robbed the jeweler that day, instead.”

Hlanan listened without interrupting, his brown gaze never
wavering. When I stopped, I scowled again, hoping he’d believed me.

He didn’t look skeptical or even angry, but when he spoke
his words froze my gizzard: “I wish we could get you a bath, Lhind. I would
like to see what you really look like.”

“His looks might be just as repulsive as they are now, but
it’s bound to cure the smell,” Rajanas said, grinning. “How long have you been
wearing that cowl, boy? Since you first learned to walk?”

I snarled a couple of choice curses, adding heartfelt detail
when I saw Hlanan’s eyes narrow as he studied my cowl.

“We dare not spare the water until we find out where the storm
drove us, Lhind,” Hlanan said at last. “But you might enjoy it. Except, we
would have to get you some new clothes. I don’t think anything short of burning
will do for those you have, and we have no one aboard who’s small enough to
provide a rough fit—”

“Call those a fit?” Rajanas interrupted. “I’ve been
wondering why you weren’t able to steal something closer to your size. Those,
ah, knickers, look like they were last owned by that yellow-smocked bruiser you
robbed.”

“Easier to hide the take in,” I said disgustedly. “And if
you don’t like my smell it’s your problem! I didn’t ask to come on this ship.
Since I can’t abide your looks, why don’t you free me and we’ll both be happy?”

“Manners, boy,” Rajanas drawled, flashing a smile of
amusement. Him, I understood. Though neither of us had the least respect for
the other, he no longer saw me as a threat, nor did I see him as a threat.
Hlanan was far more unsettling because I didn’t understand him at all.

I snorted explosively.

“Why were you so reluctant to tell us how you got that
spell?” Hlanan asked, gentle but persistent.

“Because you already grabbed me against my will, for doing
nothing,” I said promptly. “I thought if I told you I stole that spell you’d
hand me right off to the mage-burners.”

“Would you like to learn more magic?” Hlanan asked, leaning
forward as if proximity would enable him to see inside my skull.

“No! One spell’s enough for me,” I said promptly, avoiding
that steady gaze. I looked down at the crust of the rotten onion that I had so
carefully smeared over my smock to help keep people at a distance. My stench,
made up of smears of the stinkiest foods and spices I could find (plus vintage
horse sweat when I sneaked into stables to catch some sleep) rubbed into my
unwashed clothes, was a work of art. “I just want to get back to the Guild.
They’ll be worried about what’s happened to me.”

“You mean, what’s happened to that purse you stole,” Rajanas
put in helpfully. “You still have it on you?”

I tensed, bringing my knees as close to my stomach as I could.

“Cease your fret,” Rajanas said, with a lazy wave of one
hand. “I haven’t any desire to put my hand near that clothing to find it. The
question was inspired by the repellent notion of having to sleep on a bag of
coins . . . but you probably have a number of other oddments
secreted in those garments as well, don’t you?”

I worked up another good grimace.

Rajanas’s smile flashed. “I never imagined housing a thief
would be so entertaining. Shall we risk turning him loose among the company, do
you think, Hlanan? Half of them have already seen him lying there on the deck
by the galley, and I mislike locking up someone who very probably saved our
lives.”

“If he’ll promise not to use the spell against the
passengers,” Hlanan said slowly. He frowned up at Rajanas, who met his look
with a faint shrug. Turning his gaze back to me, he added, “And Lhind. This is
even more important, and we must have your promise. To protect you, not just
us. I’ve told the others that it was I who managed that spell. It really would
be best if you did not mention you had magic.”

“Better add that he cannot rob them, either, at least until
we reach port. After that they can fend for themselves,” Rajanas said with a
dismissive flick of his fingers, and I understood that he didn’t particularly
care for all of his guests.

“I won’t,” I said, inwardly rubbing my hands. While I had no
interest in the reasons for Rajanas’s dislike, I wanted to find out who’d
earned his ire. These would be my targets.
Also
my
targets. He still owed me for grabbing me in the first place.

Hlanan gave me a grateful smile. “Good. I’ll feel much
better to see you free. Tell me, are you hungry?” He laughed. “Save your
breath! If that was not a look of sheer appetite then I’ve lost my wits
entirely. I’ll fetch you something right away.”

Rajanas stepped lazily away from the door and Hlanan
disappeared. For a long stretch he seemed to stare right through me, giving no
hint to whatever thoughts went on behind that bony face.

“How about untying me so I can eat,” I suggested with some
hostility after what seemed three forevers.

Rajanas blinked, his focus returning to the present. And to
me. “From the looks of you you’ve never used your hands to eat before,” he
commented, his tone amused as he pulled a thin-bladed dagger from the top of
his boot.

“Ha ha,” I snarled, turning my back on him. “Are you going
to keep your promise and turn me loose soon’s this bucket hits a port?” As soon
as I felt the cords ease I jerked my hands apart and rubbed my wrists through
my sleeves. My feet were free next, and I rubbed my ankles as well, enjoying
the faint disgust that curled his lip when he stared down at the mud flakes
that fell off my filthy feet.

“We shall see,” he said, straightening up. “Ah. Here comes
Hlanan. Watching you eat will probably be a spectacle I’d rather miss.” He
sauntered out.

I made a rude gesture at his retreating back, then followed
to the door, casting my gaze over what part of the yacht lay in immediate view.
I could not see much damage. This was surprising. The Skulls were famous for
destroying what they couldn’t steal, and they usually made quick work of their
victims by doing all at once.

That is, when they were attacking for their own purposes.
Some of their captains hired their ships and crews out from time to time when
normal pickings were lean. The lack of destruction pointed to the possibility
of either slaving or hostage-taking missions. Attacking ships belonging to
lords was a very risky business, and tended to cause the sort of thorough
revenge-seeking that only the rich relatives of lords could afford—unless one
of those relatives had hired the ship in the first place. Hostages? Or—?

Hlanan appeared, carefully bearing a tray. My eyes and nose
welcomed lentil-and-tomato soup, and two wheat-cakes, and a thick, creamy
pudding covering a fruit tart.

“Here you are,” he said, smiling. “I suggest you eat and
then sleep. You’ve earned it. We’ll talk more after you’ve rested.”

The way he carried the tray so carefully indicated he wasn’t
used to performing this task. The best way to get rid of nosy people, I’d
found, was insults. And the quickest insult was against status. “For a servant
you sure are slow,” I said as I picked up the soup bowl.

“Slow at what?” he asked, his tone inviting me to explain.

I slurped in the soup, partly because it was hot, but mostly
because slurping was supposed to be unmannerly.