Brendell: Rogue Thief Read online

  It was an amazing enterprise, and the sight of the men hard at work made me both tired and hungry. So I wandered down to the massive building sitting alone and seemingly empty to the south. As I approached, I smelled meat cooking and tea boiling; it had to be the cookhouse. Perhaps they'll take pity on a wandering pilgrim, I thought as I opened the door and entered.

  The room was filled with empty wooden tables and benches. In the rear, I could see the kitchen staff hard at work preparing for the horde of hungry workers invading them soon. I stood silently watching and enjoying the aromas until one of the cooks turned and noticed me. “What do you want?” he asked, although not unkindly.

  I held my head low, too humble to look him in the eye. “Good sir, as you can see I am just a lowly friar, making a pilgrimage to far-off Cardinaul. As I was walking past, I couldn't ignore the delightful smell of your cooking."

  "You're hungry!” He beamed at me. “Of course we will be delighted to feed you! What would you like?"

  "A potato or two would suffice, if that would not be an inconvenience."

  "Bah. You need more than that. If you are walking to Cardinaul, you have a long, difficult journey before you. Sit at that table,” and he pointed with his spoon. “We'll put some meat on those ribs."

  "May Our Lady Wisteria bless you."

  I did as ordered and soon I had a platter piled high with vegetables, meat and a nice slice of cheese. The cook set a pitcher of water next to me. “Enjoy."

  "I hope you don't get in any trouble for this,” I said between mouthfuls.

  He pounded his chest proudly. “I run the kitchen. No one will question me. But you may want to be gone before the workers arrive."

  "Of course.” He remained so I took the opportunity to chat. “This is a marvelous operation you have."

  He nodded. “Yes. Fortunately, our work is nearly done for the season."

  "Really? You stop in the fall, then?"

  "The lumbermen will stop by the next full moon. Then it's just a matter of raising the river so the barges can be taken to Campris."

  I favored him with raised eyebrows. “Raise the river? The work of demons or the gods?"

  "Neither, good friar. The other realm is not involved. Since we completed the Wall about five seasons past, transporting our lumber has become much easier and more profitable. If your path continues along the river, you'll come across it."

  "I look forward to that. I will give it my blessing as I pass."

  "Wonderful! Now if you'll excuse me, I must ensure my staff is staying on their tasks."

  I waved at him with a full fork. “You have been much too kind.” I hastened through my meal, now eager to see what this “Wall” could be. It had to be the dam Pipo Fess believed closed the river. Thanks to the cook I knew why. Now it was time to learn how. And just what I could do to stop it.

  Now well fed, I left the lumber camp and followed the river east, my pockets filled with cheese and bread. The river narrowed as the elevation slowly rose. Several times I passed teams of men and horses pulling the laden barges upstream against the current. Time-consuming indeed, but considerably easier than trying to drive wagons through the thick forest. So I walked for several more hours, enjoying the coolness of the forest and meeting no one save teams of struggling workers totally preoccupied with the barges.

  Then, among the constant din of the forest, I heard something else, a soft roar from up ahead that became more pronounced as I walked. Through the trees, I could see a wooden structure on both sides of the riverbank. It had to be the wall the cook had referred to and I ran the remaining distance to see what Kastikaan had created.

  Here the mountains rose sharply, forming a natural basin at their base. The river entered through a narrow gorge; the roar I had heard was the river pouring down over a short range of rapids. Surrounding the basin was a nearly solid wooden wall. On the natural lake formed by the basin, filled barges were anchored and bobbed slowly on the water.

  I sat on a rock, munching cheese and bread as I watched another barge being pulled into this safe harbor. Now I understood what Kastikaan was doing. Getting the barges this far was difficult enough; getting them up and past the rapids would be near impossible. Unless the level of the lake was raised. I focused my attention on the wall. The opening was large enough for one barge to pass. Blocking that should be relatively easy. As I studied the wall further, my appreciation of the planning and effort grew. They had even bored holes near the tops of the giant wooden posts so excess water could escape. Unfortunate, I thought, that such a great boon for the Kastikaan economy had to destroy Houff's. They had probably not planned or realized what detrimental effect their work would have on their neighbors downstream. And I doubted they cared. Unfortunate also that I was going to have to stop them. And I had a good idea how.

  Kestya

  "Bikken! It's been much too long.” Baron Vincin greeted me with a hearty handshake. “You don't have any more of Ensten's discoveries with you, do you?"

  "Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. Using that alias, I had first visited Baron Vincin after the disaster involving the mad genius Ensten, a dreamer who had died at the behest of the Guilds. A dreamer who had died because of me.

  It had taken me two months to travel from Campris to Kestya, the Baron's home. Two months that, beyond a message sent to Pipo Fess, kept me completely out of contact with Houff.

  "Most unfortunate,” the Baron said. “Your help was invaluable. I've been able to recreate his fire salt, improve upon it, actually. I've built a few of his devices as well, but I'm not sure if they are working. Not sure what they are to do, actually.” He studied me. “Perhaps you could look at them, remember something that would be helpful."

  "I didn't work with him that long,” I said with a sad smile. Which was the truth. “Ensten wasn't always forthcoming with his inventions, their purpose or how they worked. Once he was done with them, he lost interest rather quickly."

  "Shame. I enjoyed our correspondence even though we never met."

  He and Ensten had communicated via birds. I wished that were possible with Pipo Fess. Or my father. “Yes, he felt the same way himself. Spoke about you often."

  "Indeed.” He sat back and sipped his wine. I did the same. Even though it had taken two months to get here, I had traveled as fast as I could, over land, sea and land again, finally arriving on an exhausted mount less than an hour previous. Now I was more than content to sit in a comfortable chair and relax.

  Finally he asked the obvious. “Since you bring no wonders from Ensten, why are you here? Are you seeking employment?"

  He assumed I had been Ensten's assistant, when I had really been sent to steal the Far Glass. Which I had done. Which had led directly to Ensten's death. “No. Your assistance. I would like to purchase a quantity of fire salt."

  "Really?” He frowned. “I do not keep quantities on hand. I've found it can be quite dangerous if handled improperly. Which, I'm sure, you know. Why not just make your own?"

  I blushed. “I don't know how."

  That startled him. “You did give me the formula."

  No reason to lie. “I forgot it. I am not the genius you and Ensten are."

  "Disappointing, Bikken. A good lab assistant would never be so careless."

  "I guess I was never that good a lab assistant. Ensten was very effective at keeping his secrets. He wrote his notes in a code I couldn't read. I was fortunate to save what little I could."

  He nodded sagely. “True. I write in code myself. I'm sorry, I judged you too harshly, Bikken. Could I ask what you need it for?"

  "My village needs to clear some land for farming. I thought the fire salt could help."

  He considered. “Yes, I suppose it could. In much larger quantities than I've experimented with. You will be careful with it, not let the formula fall into irresponsible hands?"

  "Absolutely. I will destroy the formula after I am finished."

  He ruminated some more. “It's only right, I suppose. You gave it
to me in the first place. So be it.” He went to his desk and returned with quill, ink and paper. “Here you are,” he said after a moment's writing and handed me a folded paper. “Ensten's original fire salt with my minor improvements."

  I glanced at it and whistled softly. The ingredients—niter, charcoal, sulfur—were so ordinary it was hard to understand why it hadn't been discovered before. Or why it helped cause Ensten's murder. I placed it in my pouch. “My village and I thank you, Baron. Now I must hurry back so we can have our fields ready before the spring planting."

  "Of course. Good luck, Bikken."

  "Thank you. And good luck to you.” I hurried out the door before the Baron could reconsider my transparent tale.

  On my ride back to the nearest port, I considered the aftermath of what I was planning to do. If it worked, Kastikaan would survive; they would just have to return to their old way of transporting lumber overland instead of by water. But there would be an economic setback. One they were not going to take lightly.

  They would surely blame Houff as Houff had the most to gain, which meant additional problems with the Assassin's Guild. And no matter how effective my little army of thieves might be, they would never obtain enough wealth so Pipo Fess could hire members of the Guild to help her. Which meant she or I had to obtain protection from somewhere else. Unfortunately, I had a good idea where I could get it.

  "It's been a long time, Bourherr Gastinell,” Pipo Fess scolded me gently. “The seasons have changed twice since you left."

  "It couldn't be helped.” I selected a haunch of mare from the many platters of food before me. “Kestya is a long ways off."

  "I have been told as much. Still we are relieved you are back."

  "As am I."

  "When will you resume the training?"

  I looked at her in surprise. “I'm not sure that will be necessary. Not if what I have brought with me succeeds.” I had already told her about the dam Kastikaan had constructed, its true purpose and how it might be eliminated upon my arrival in Houff.

  "As you can see,” she pointed at the feast laid out before us, “your other plan has worked exceptionally well. It has been moons since our coffers were this full."

  I was afraid this might happen. I set my meal aside and stared in her eyes. “I will tell you what I told my students: thievery is not a profession to enter in lightly. They have been fortunate they have not been caught. Sooner or later it will happen. I must believe the Thief's Guild is already becoming curious. You already have the Assassin's Guild armed against you. You don't want my former Guild as an enemy also."

  "I'm sure if you train them properly, that danger can be avoided,” she said over her glass. “Those you chose have taken eagerly to—how did you refer to it?—property reallocation. Their efforts have saved their homeland. Yet there is so much more they can do. Want to do."

  "Isn't getting back to your old way of life more important?” Even as I said it, I knew that would be impossible.

  "I never wanted to preside over a nation of thieves, Gestinell. But I don't want to depend entirely on rain, the river and the good intentions of Kastikaan to survive, either."

  "You won't. But there are other ways."

  Fess stared at me darkly. “If you were one of my subjects, we would not be having this discussion. However, you are still in my debt, Gestinell."

  I set down my fork. “True enough. I will talk with the class tomorrow.” But they won't like what they hear.

  We met in the same room of Fess’ manor as our original classes had been held. I was relieved once again that none of my students had been caught. I was especially relieved Cordita was among them. “So. Pipo Fess assures me you all have been working hard in my absence.” They were eager to tell me of their successes, so I listened patiently while each described their adventures. I yawned when the last one finished. “Is that all? And you dare call yourselves thieves?"

  They stared at me, their emotions ranging from shock and embarrassment to outright anger. “We've done everything you said,” one finally offered.

  "No, you haven't. You've been robbing the blind, stealing from sheep. None of you have been face to face with a demon, stood on the gallows with a noose around his neck, entered a castle guarded by the living and dead, made off with anything of real value. If I allow you to continue, you will abase the honor of my entire profession."

  "We obey the will of Pipo Fess,” said Cordita coldly. “In everything we do."

  Everything? That led to possibilities I did not want to explore. “Soon our troubles with Kastikaan will be over. You can return to your lives as farmers or,” I nodded to Cordita, “innkeepers. It's best that way. Trust me."

  They muttered amongst themselves and more than one favored me with a dark glare. “You're a thief. Why should we trust a thief?” Theroun said.

  "You did everything I told you to do, correct? And you were able to obtain the wealth Houff needed to survive thus far. That will change, especially after we deal with the treachery of Kastikaan. What lies ahead will be much more trying than what you've dealt with up to now. Petty theft is not going to be the answer."

  "What exactly lies ahead?” asked Cordita.

  I had spoken the truth until now. I saw no reason to change. “Quite possibly war."

  Cordita sought me out after I had dismissed the class. “What are you doing, Bourherr Gestinell? What are you doing to Houff?"

  I sat and placed her on my lap. “Like you, I am obeying the will of Pipo Fess."

  She wriggled in anger, not an unpleasant sensation for me. “But ... war! There can be no war. The Assassin's Guild will never allow it!"

  "I'm afraid the Assassin's Guild will be fighting it. Don't you understand, Cordita? The Guilds have lied to you.” Just as they lied to me.

  "This makes no sense. We couldn't afford the Assassin's Guild; that's the reason they wouldn't work for us. But now we can."

  "No. The Assassin's Guild is working exclusively for Kastikaan. Pipo Fess told me she could not hire the Guild because they refused."

  She stared at me, unable to believe. “But the Guild doesn't do that. They never take sides!"

  "That's what they want you to believe. They've told me as much. They are using you against Kastikaan, just like they tried to use me against you. I've seen what they will do for the honor of their Guild. You cannot expect their protection no matter how much gold is in your coffers."

  Her gaze dropped to her hands clutched in her lap. “We have no hope. We can not prevail against the Guild."

  "Perhaps we cannot defeat them, but we might be able to discourage them."

  She looked up at me hopefully. “What does Pipo Fess say?"

  I smiled. “She has said nothing. But she knows. She has to. She is a strong leader, Cordita. She only does what she must."

  She steeled herself. “Whatever she says shall be done."

  I placed one arm on her shoulders. Did I dare ask what was on my lips, in my heart? I had no choice. “Did Pipo Fess give you any orders on how to act toward me?"

  She frowned. “To follow your instructions, of course. We were all told that."

  "I mean, anything else. Anything ... more personal?"

  The surprise in her eyes turned to anger. “Are you asking ... damn you, Gastinell! You dare imply I was your whore on the behest of Pipo Fess?!” Then she slapped me across the face. Hard. “If you think you will ever share my bed again, you are as foolish as a newborn goose."

  She stalked away while I sat there in silence, rubbing my aching cheek. Funny, I thought as I finally left. Over the years I had stolen just about everything, from a 10-foot statue and a demonic disk to a stolen scepter and a baron's peace of mind. But how could I possibly steal Cordita's heart?

  "I've received many complaints about you, Gastinell. You greatly upset the men and women I provided you."

  I looked across the dinner table at Pipo Fess. It was now an hour after I had dismissed my class and I was more interested in eating. “What I d
id was entirely necessary. If I am successful, there will be no need for any of them to be anything but the peaceful farmers they once were."

  She rubbed her chin, deep in thought. “Yet you also warned them that we will be at war. Presumably both with Kastikaan and the Assassin's Guild."

  "I wish I could lie. If I am successful, I fear it will be inevitable."

  She slammed her fist on the table. “I cannot put my people in such jeopardy! You shall not do this."

  I remained unmoved. “Your people are already in jeopardy. What they've stolen has bought you a little time, nothing more. Your farmers will continue to suffer every year as long as Kastikaan dams the river. And they have no intention of stopping.” I set down my fork and leaned forward. “I will do whatever you wish. But we both know things cannot continue as they are, relying upon theft to finance your kingdom. Sooner or later, one or more is going to be caught. Your secret will inevitably get out. If not Kastikaan or the Assassin's Guild, the Thief's Guild will descend upon you."

  "I should never have listened to you. I should never have allowed this to happen.” She shook her head.