The Thief's Passion by Reed James

Author:Reed James [James, Reed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Naughty Ladies Publications
Published: 2018-03-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five: Chaotic Party

Thrak – The Free City of Raratha

Night cloaked the beach beneath the Saltspray Palace. The waves crashing into the shore had a faint tinge of glowing blue, a phosphorescence churned by the foam and only revealed in darkness. I studied it, pondering what could cause the glow.

A property of sea water? An organism in the waves? A chemical polluting the ocean?

Thinking about the cause was better than waiting and brooding on the robbery. Better than staring up the dark cliff to the palace, waiting for the appearance of Xera and Minx, their theft complete and without incident. The Doge would not suspect Angela and in two days, she would leave the city with Sophia, Faoril, and Chaun, rendezvousing with the pirate ship we had contracted.

The ship anchored on the horizon, a black shape occulting the rising stars. The Golden Hunger, captained by Thyrna, a predatory human female with lush lips and hungry eyes. She made my blood boil when we met.

She would make the trip to the Isle of Birds and beyond...interesting.

“Tide's shifting,” one of the brawny pirates said. He stood by the longboat pulled onto the sand. “Your friends need hurry.”

I faced the man. “We wait.”

The rumble of my voice made him flinch. The pirates Thyrna recruited were all large men, powerfully built, muscular humans who dwarfed the average of their race. But I was an orc. I stood taller, my shoulders wider, my muscles stronger. They knew I could break them. They feared me.

Everyone feared me when they met me. Even Faoril.

I turned my head from the glowing froth to stare at the palace. If things had gone wrong, there was nothing I could do but wait.

“Be safe, Faoril,” I whispered.

~ * ~

Chaun – The Free City of Raratha

Pain burned in my belly, kept at bay by my singing. The melody flowed from my lips as I lay on the marble floor of the feast hall. I stared up at the vaulted ceiling. A painting crossed it, ships sailing the dark sea battling sea serpents while mermaids swam around it, strange flowers in their vibrant hair.

I had to keep singing, to convince my body not to die. I only had a gaping hole in my belly left by Incessae, the erinyes bitch. I wasn't the target of her vengeance, and yet I was the first person she attacked.

She feared my song. Music held power. Even one not trained at the Bardic College could move an audience to laughter, to joy, to sorrow, and to despair. Songs could uplift or dismay. Incessae feared the lusts my song would inspire in her body.

I never thought my music would make me a target over a knight with Angela's martial prowess.

Maybe joining the quest was a mistake? Maybe I should have said no to Lady Delilah? I could have stayed safe skulking in taverns and low-born common rooms, singing for copper pennies, a warm bowel of stew, and a dry place to sleep.

But greed had seized me. I wanted back all I lost when I was caught abed with my sweet Princess Adelaide by her jealous husband.

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