Valdemar 06.0 - Take A Thief by Lackey Mercedes

Author:Lackey, Mercedes [Lackey, Mercedes]
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fiction, Fantasy, General, Fantasy - General, Teenage boys, Valdemar (Imaginary place), Science Fiction, Orphans, Fantasy - Historical, Thieves, Historical, Pickpockets
ISBN: 9780756400583
Publisher: New York, NY : DAW Books, Inc., 2002, c2001.
Published: 2002-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

-- and if there really were entire villages full of people who were snatched up and sold OutKingdom -

"Worse," he heard himself agreeing.

"And one answer there is, for such evil." Alberich's stone -like expression gave away nothing, but Skif wasn't looking for anything there. He already had his answer; forget anything else, he and this iron-spined man had a common cause. And somewhere inside him, the barrier strained and broke.

"I'm in," was all he said. "I'm with ye." Alberich's eyes flickered briefly, then he nodded.

"More, we will speak, and at length. Now -- ,"

There were a great many things Alberich could have said. If you want revenge, you'd better keep your nose clean, for instance, or if you get yourself thrown out of here for messing up, neither one of us will get what he wants. Or you'll have to work hard at being respectable, because it's going to take someone who looks respectable to trap this bastard.

He said none of those things. He let another of those penetrating looks analyze Skif and say something else. Something -- that had warning in it, but against danger and not mere misbehavior. Something that had acceptance in it as well, and an acknowledgment that Skif had the right to be in this fight. And Skif nodded, quite as if he had heard every bit of it in words.

Alberich smiled. It was the sort of smile that said, I see we understand one another. That was all, but that was all that was needed.

A moment later, the sound of boots on the straw-covered floor marked Herald Teren's return. "Later speech, we will have," Alberich promised, as Teren reached them. "For now -- other things."

* * * * * * * * * *

The other things were not what Skif had expected. Not that he'd really had any inkling of what to expect, but not even his vaguest intuitions measured up to his introduction to the Collegium and his first candlemarks as a Trainee. "If you're all right, then, follow me," Herald Teren said, and started off, quite as if he assumed Skif would follow and not bolt. Which Skif did, of course; it seemed that he was "in for it" after all, but not in the way he'd thought. His emotions were mixed, to say the least.

On top of it all was excitement and some apprehension still. Just beneath that was a bewildered sort of wonder and the certainty that at any moment they would realize they'd made a mistake -- or that fearsome Alberich would call the Guards. He'd lived with what he was for so long…

Beneath that, though -- was something still of the new image of the world and his place in it that he'd gotten during that encounter with Alberi ch. That -- granted, the world stank, and a lot of people in it were rotten, and horrible things happened -- but that he, little old Skif, petty thief, had a chance that wasn't given to many people, to help make things better.

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