Queen of the night guild, p.34
Queen of the Night Guild, page 34
part #3 of Queen of Thieves Series
A good thing, Ilanna wanted to say, but held her tongue.
“A dagger cuts friend and foe alike. Without a way to curb or moderate your actions, the Guild could turn to unbridled lawlessness. That is something we cannot permit.”
Ilanna narrowed her eyes. “What do you suggest?”
King Ohilmos shook his head. “You demand the lives of your comrades. It is in the interests of Praamis to restore the Night Guild.”
“My King—!” the Duke began.
The King shook his head. “You prize your honor too highly, Brother. I am willing to bear the stain upon our line for the sake of the city.”
The Duke’s face tightened. “You cannot allow these thieves and cutthroats to roam our streets.”
“You would prefer crime to go unchecked? Gangs terrorizing the citizens of Praamis, thieves stealing without restraint, murders on every corner?” Ilanna spoke with a voice of confidence. “We offer control.” She turned back to the King. “You desire to be the hand that holds the reins of the Night Guild.”
King Ohilmos inclined his head. “That is, after all, the reason the Crown has tolerated your existence all this time.”
“Then you have nothing to fear. Your brother already holds a dagger to our throats.”
The King’s curious expression matched the Duke’s.
“He knows the location of our tunnels. His Praamian Guards and Arbitors have already looted the place for everything of value.” Angry heat surged in Ilanna’s chest at the memory of the chaotic scene in House Hawk. The Duke’s men had torn the place apart. “If the Night Guild steps out of line, he will be able to find and punish us.”
“A fair point.” King Ohilmos fingered the band of scars on his cheek.
A dangerous light glinted in Duke Phonnis’ eyes. Ilanna clenched her fists. She could almost read his thoughts: he’d invade and wipe them out the first chance he got. As Chief Justiciar of Praamis, he would have no trouble finding a reason to get rid of the Night Guild.
“But for our arrangement to be of any value to the Crown, we must be able to go about our business unmolested by the Duke’s men.”
The Duke’s face flushed. “If you think for a moment—”
“She speaks the truth, Brother.” King Ohilmos’ expression grew pensive. “The Night Guild must be able to operate as usual, lest they suspect the truth. They must continue to believe they are operating independently of our control. The marionettes must never see the strings that make them dance.”
Ilanna nodded. “And, in return, I will ensure the next Master Gold knows the truth. They will all owe their lives to me.” Never mind the fact her actions had led to their arrests. “Whoever they choose as the next Guild Master will be made to understand that their continued existence depends on their obedience to the Crown.”
King Ohilmos cocked his head. “You say ‘their’.”
Ilanna’s face hardened. “The Night Guild has taken my past from me—I will not give them my future as well.”
“Indeed?” A sly smile spread the King’s lips. “Perhaps you’d consider becoming my Royal Thief. I could use someone with clever fingers and a sharp mind.”
The Duke’s sharp intake of breath made his thoughts on the matter clear.
“No.” Iron edged Ilanna’s voice. “I am done with the life of a thief.”
The Duke snorted. “A likely story.” His lip curled upward. “Once a criminal, always a criminal.”
Ilanna held his gaze without flinching. She had nothing to fear from the Duke. He couldn’t arrest her; the King had declared her innocent. Much as he wanted to see her hang, the Duke would never go against his brother’s words. He’d no doubt send his Arbitors and Praamian Guards to find her, but she had no desire to remain in Praamis. The moment she walked out of the palace, her days of looking over her shoulder would end. She would be free.
To go where and do what, she knew not. She had only the money stored in the chest beneath the ruins of her home. It would be enough to leave Praamis forever. Perhaps she’d go to Malandria, or one of the cities farther north. All that mattered was that she would leave the Night Guild and her old life far, far behind.
The King’s rasping voice broke the momentary silence. “If I release your comrades, you will do as promised and turn over the document?”
Ilanna nodded.
“And you will deliver the next Guild Master to me?”
“He will understand that our very lives depend on it.” She turned to the Duke. “But first, he must swear not to invade the Night Guild without royal consent.”
“You’ll get no such oath from me, girl!” The Duke’s face flushed.
“I would expect no less from the man who broke his oath once.” She bared her teeth.
“But you will swear to me, Brother.” The King’s rasping voice had a commanding edge to it. “As she said, the Guild must be allowed to operate freely in this city for them to serve any use.”
The Duke opened his mouth to reply, but the King drove on. “You are free to arrest any you catch in the act of committing a crime. As Chief Justiciar, it is your duty to uphold law in this city. But I will have your oath that you will act only as your office of Chief Justiciar permits. No more.”
A deep purple suffused the Duke’s face. Fire and hatred burned in the gaze he turned on Ilanna. His silence dragged on for long heartbeats. When he finally spoke, his words came out in a low growl. “You have my word.”
The King’s mouth pressed into a line. “Swear by the Watcher, Brother.”
The Duke’s expression darkened, and his mouth twisted into an angry snarl. “I swear, in the name of the Watcher, who weighs the souls of men and punishes all oathbreakers, that I will act only as my office of Chief Justiciar permits. And that I will allow this filth to continue ruining our city until such a time as you grant me permission to wipe every one of the Keeper-accursed scum from the face of Einan.”
The King sighed and lifted his eyes heavenward. “Brother, no one will ever accuse you of being flexible. Too righteous and rigid by far.” He turned to Ilanna, shaking his head. “That is as good as you can expect from him.”
“It is enough.” Ilanna gave the Duke a saccharine smile.
“Which still leaves you with the problem of explaining to the crowd why you are letting hundreds of murderers and thieves walk free,” Duke Phonnis interjected. “Criminals who were rightfully tried and condemned to die.”
“Indeed.” The King frowned. “The nobles will be none too happy about it either.”
Ilanna toyed with her clothes. Rhynd’s blood had dried to a hard crust that chafed on her skin. She shifted her tunic to a less uncomfortable position, and an idea struck her. Bloody hell, that’s brilliant!
“The Bloody Hand.”
Both the King’s and Duke’s eyes snapped to her.
“Use the Bloody Hand to convince the crowd.”
King Ohilmos’ right eyebrow danced upward. “You said the last of the Bloody Hand are dead.”
“And they are. Thanks to the Night Guild.” Ilanna stepped forward. “Everyone knows what the Bloody Hand did to Voramis, how they’ve all but destroyed the city since they assumed control. Use that fear to sway the crowd.”
“Intriguing.” The King stroked his scarred chin with slim fingers.
“The Night Guild has been tried for crimes they committed. But Praamian law grants the King power to offer a pardon.”
“To hundreds of criminals?” The Duke shook his head. “Not bloody likely.”
“Once you regale the crowd with how the Night Guild was instrumental in repelling the brutal Voramians from the city, they would be far less likely to take umbrage at the pardon.”
“Paint them as heroes of Praamis?” The King chuckled. “You’ve got a pair on you, girl, I’ll give you that much.”
“It would also paint you as a King as merciful as you are just. Men, women, and children of Praamis stood against the tide of violence that threatened to sweep the city. In return, they are given their lives.”
A smile tugged at the corners of the King’s lips.
“Add to that the announcement of reduced taxes, and—”
“What?” the Duke roared. “We cannot afford to lessen taxation. Of anything, we should be increasing it.”
Ilanna’s grin matched the King’s. “Thanks to Grand Reckoner Edmynd, the Crown won’t have to worry about money for now.”
Shock stained the Duke’s face. “What did you have to promise that fat bastard to get him to part with his gold?”
“His life.” The King chuckled. “The Grand Reckoner and I had a pleasant chat yesterday. When I informed him I knew about his dealings with the Bloody Hand, he was more than happy to offer the Crown a loan at a drastically reduced rate. And, of course, to turn over every copper bit deposited by the Voramians.”
The Duke’s mouth worked without a sound.
Ilanna grinned. Her first meeting with the Duke had made one fact plain: he wanted her and the Night Guild dead. With that understanding, she’d gone behind his back and paid a visit to the King on the same night she’d left the skull-headed dagger and the note on the Duke’s bedside table. The King had proven much more amenable to her bargains—for both the Grand Reckoner’s ledger and the document linking the Crown to the Night Guild. He’d offered her freedom in exchange.
She’d delivered the ledger into the Duke’s hands before the raid on the Night Guild, but had kept the other document hidden away against this very day. She’d anticipated the Duke’s betrayal and subsequent arrest of the Guild members. She’d intended to get into the palace again and convince the King to release the Night Guild. Her plan hadn’t included being locked in the Black Spire or capture by Rhynd—she’d very nearly failed because of Duke Phonnis and Rhynd.
“Do we have a deal, my King?”
King Ohilmos studied her for a long moment, his expression indecipherable. “We do.” He stood, his royal robes falling around his gaunt shoulders, and strode down the dais toward her. She knelt and kissed his outstretched hand.
“Master Gold trained you well. He always spoke so highly of you.” The King spoke in a voice pitched for her ears only. “You sure I can’t convince you to be the Royal Thief, girl?”
She shook her head. “Thank you, my King, but my days of crime are done.”
King Ohilmos shrugged. “So be it.” He turned to the Duke. “Go, Brother. Speak to the crowd and tell them my decision. My final decision.”
His words cut off the Duke’s protest. With a stiff bow for the King and a hate-filled glare for Ilanna, Duke Phonnis strode from the room. The double doors boomed shut with a note of finality.
“My brother is many things—fiercely loyal, honorable, and nobler than any Keadanis ought to be. But he will never understand that a King must make certain dishonorable decisions.”
“Is that why you neglected to tell him about the twenty percent of Grand Reckoner Edmynd’s gold you promised me?”
The King shook his head. “We agreed on five percent.”
“Ten it shall be.” Ilanna gave him a bold smirk. “The document will be delivered within an hour. I suppose it’s too much to ask for the Duke to return the equipment his men looted from the Guild tunnels?”
“I’d have better luck convincing the rain to stop falling.”
Ilanna sighed. “Not making our lives very easy, are you?”
The King chuckled. “Like Elodon says, you’re criminals. What sort of King would I be if I did?”
With a bow, Ilanna turned and strode from the Throne Room. Every muscle in her body was tense, and her nerves felt frayed and ragged. But she forced herself to maintain a slow, steady pace until she had left the palace complex.
The Duke stood in Watcher’s Square, addressing the crowd from atop the scaffold. He spoke in a strong, commanding voice that echoed across the open space. The angry shouts and jeers rising from the throng fell silent as he wove a tale of Voramian treachery and brutality and the heroics of the Night Guild with a skill that any bard would envy. His face bore no sign of the disgust she knew he felt. By the time he delivered the King’s decision to reduce taxes for the next two years, the crowd had actually begun to cheer.
Ilanna’s eyes went to the Night Guild standing behind the gallows. Their expressions were a mixture of stunned shock, relief, and confusion. They seemed unable to understand why the Praamian Guards cut their bonds.
As she strode from the Watcher’s Square, a mountainous burden of exhaustion settled on Ilanna’s shoulders. She was tired, so tired. She had walked into the Throne Room and dared to speak to the Duke and the King himself with such irreverence. Yet she had done it: she’d saved the Night Guild from death. It didn’t matter that they had nothing—no equipment, no gold, nowhere to hide from the Duke’s men—they still lived. It had to be enough.
Now, she wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week. And eat; gods, how she wanted to eat! She hadn’t had a proper meal in…she couldn’t remember how long.
But not yet. She had just one more matter to attend to.
Chapter 45
Shadows hung thick in the warehouse, and Ilanna shivered as an eerie wind whistled through the shattered windows on the second floor of the abandoned building. She rubbed the exhaustion from her eyes.
Hard to believe I was lounging comfortably in my room just one week ago. Too much had changed in such a short amount of time.
Anxiety tickled in the back of her mind. She had freed the Night Guild, but she wasn’t free of them yet. She had to make sure the next Master Gold understood the importance of a relationship with the Crown. That meant going back into the tunnels and facing the memories of her dead friends and comrades.
But first, she had to deal with the traitor. Her note had told them to come alone. With their allies in the Guild and the Bloody Hand dead, she doubted they had anyone to help. But that didn’t make them any less dangerous.
The keen edge of a dagger pressed into her throat. Breath fell hot on her ear. “Why, Ilanna?” Sorrow filled Allon’s voice. “Why did it have to be you?”
Ilanna remained unmoving. “Easy, Allon. I came to talk.”
The knife never left her throat as the Hound moved to stand before her. A small splotch of blood stained the bandage around his head, and pain showed in the lines around his eyes and mouth. But his hand pressed the dagger to her neck without a quiver.
Ilanna raised her empty hands. “Did you come alone?” The movement sent pain flaring through her chest, and she winced.
“Did you?” Allon’s eyes darted around, searching the gloom of the warehouse for hidden assailants.
“I know you, Allon. You searched the warehouse before coming out. Did you find anyone?”
Allon shook his head. “No.” Suspicion permeated his expression. “If you just want to talk, why bring me here?” He moved the blade from her neck but didn’t sheathe it.
Ilanna glanced toward the enormous steel door that stood in the heart of the warehouse floor. “I thought it fitting. We spent weeks here working on the Lord Auslan job. All of us: Darreth, Errik, Joost, Veslund, Jarl. And in all that time, you never once mentioned you were working with the Bloody Hand.”
Allon’s face darkened. “You don’t understand, Ilanna. I—”
“You’re damned right I don’t understand!” Ilanna’s shout echoed through the empty building. “You know what they did to Voramis, how they turned their city into a cesspit. How could you want to bring that here? How could you want to destroy everything we have?”
“Everything we have?” Anger flared in Allon’s eyes. “What exactly do we have, Ilanna? A life of slavery? It may be dressed up in fancy titles—Journeyman killer and thug—but that doesn’t change what it is. Enslavement by men who care for nothing more than gold and profit.”
“And your solution for that is the Bloody Hand? You may hate the Night Guild’s avarice—Keeper knows I’m more than sick of the endless grasping for coin—but the Voramians are far worse. They’d bring violence, cruelty, and bloodshed that would make even the Bloodbears look tame. No matter how much I hate the Night Guild and everything it stands for, I would never go that far.”
Allon’s face hardened. “Your hands aren’t exactly spotless, Ilanna. I’d dare say more of the Guild died because of your actions than mine.”
“I won’t deny that, Allon. But the difference is the reason why I did what I did. I was trying to save the Night Guild—”
“And I was trying to save the city of Praamis from the bastards that rule over us!” Allon’s voice rose to a shout. “They call themselves ‘noble’, believe themselves better than us. They live in their fancy mansions and grow fat on the blood and sweat of the men and women they have enslaved. Their appetites run unchecked. They do whatever they want to whomever they want, consequences be damned. They ruin innocent lives for the sake of power and control.”
Ilanna’s eyes narrowed. She’d never heard Allon speak this way. She’d always believed he bore the same disdain for the nobility as all in the Night Guild, yet this sounded…personal.
Her conversation with the King and Duke flashed through her mind. The King had spoken of royal bastards with the carelessness of a man accustomed to doing whatever he pleased. Most of the noblemen in Praamis had a mistress, and it was no secret that many took their pleasure with serving girls, maids, or whatever morsel of flesh happened to cross their paths.
She caught her breath. She’d never asked about his parentage—few in the Night Guild talked about or even remembered life before their days as tyros and apprentices. But Allon remembered. He remembered everything. Apprenticeship in the Night Guild began around the age of eight. The flawless memory that had made him the perfect addition to her crew would not let him forget his eight years of life before the Guild.
“What happened, Allon? What happened to you as a child that caused such hatred?”
“Absolutely nothing!” Allon bared his teeth in a snarl. “I had a life as close to perfect as an unwanted bastard could have. Food, clothing, a warm bed, a mother that loved me even if my father never acknowledged me. And they took it all away when I became ‘an inconvenience’! A three-year-old child, ripped from his home and condemned to live in the streets because no one could know the truth.”
