Thief (Brotherhood of the Throne Book 1) (23 page)

“Well, Captain,” Tobias said. “I’ll get myself clear, but I’ll be in touch. My family has been part of the Brotherhood for a long time. I doubt those old family ghosts would let me rest if I got out just when it’s getting interesting.” Tobias winked at Brenna. “Besides, seeing our lass here get the duke so heated up was more fun than I’ve had in some time. I wouldn’t want to miss any of that.”

Kane sat silently, arms crossed over his chest as Brenna paced his small office. Tobias had left almost ten minutes ago and he and Dasid had been waiting patiently since then.

“Brenna,” Kane said. “We need to know.” He’d hoped she’d finally volunteer, but they didn’t have any more time to wait. Duke Thorold would petition the king soon.

Brenna sat in a chair before the desk and looked across at him.

“I know,” she said. “I
am
sorry. I didn’t mean to put anyone in danger and I certainly didn’t plan to cause major problems for you or the Brotherhood.”

“Apology accepted,” Kane said. “I’m disappointed, though. You
can
trust me Brenna. I hope now you will because to be honest, this could go badly for you if you don’t.”

She sighed and nodded. “I know. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Good,” Kane said. “Duke Thorold is probably on his way to see the king. If I thought we had until tomorrow, I’d get our horses ready to leave Kingsreach tonight.” Kane stopped talking and stared at her, hard. “You need to start helping us. Dasid will record this so let’s start with Thorold – you say he’s your grandfather yet he thought he was your father.” He looked over at Dasid, who had a blank sheet of paper and a quill set up on a corner of his desk

Brenna leaned back in her chair and bit her lip. Kane sighed again and she sent him a worried look. The she took a deep breath.

“My mother may not have had any power over Thorold,” Brenna said. “But she still was able to get the better of him. I told you that she was an indentured servant. She was sent to him when she was young and he took her to his bed almost immediately. She was sixteen.”

“And how did his duchess feel about this?” Dasid asked. He smoothed out a parchment and started to write.

“The duchess was very ill,” Brenna said. “In fact Duke Thorold bought my mother because he needed a healer for his wife. My mother said she spent a lot of time tending the duchess. That’s where she and Alastair met. He was their eldest son and also sixteen.” Brenna paused and Kane saw a sad smile flit across her face.

“My mother and Alastair fell in love,” Brenna continued. “Even though he knew what kind of attention the duke paid to her. Then my mother decided to have Alastair’s child.” Brenna twisted her hands together and leaned forward in her chair. “She knew herbs she could use to make sure it was Alastair’s child she bore. I have no idea why she wanted a child. Perhaps she had a touch of foresight and knew Alastair would die soon and she wanted to keep part of him, or maybe she simply wanted someone to love. She would never answer when I asked. My favorite reason,” Brenna smiled darkly, “is that my mother had me to spite Duke Thorold. We had a secret, one that made us feel powerful when he had absolute power over everything else in our lives.”

“And Alastair’s mother was the duke’s first wife,” Dasid stated. “The aunt of Duke Ewart of Fallad.”

Startled, Kane looked at Dasid. “Two of the four bloodlines of the heir to the throne of Wolde,” he said. Brenna did not look surprised. “How long have you known this?” he asked her.

“Since I found the passage about the Brotherhood in the library,” she said. “That was just a few days after I was caught in the priests’ room.”

“By the old gods,” Kane swore. “You’ve known all this time and never said anything? Do you know anything about your maternal grandmother or grandfather? They must be related to the Duchess of Aruntun and King Mattias,”

“I don’t know much about them, truly.” Brenna had sunk even lower in her chair and Kane had to sit up straighter to see her face. “Just that my grandmother was a traveling healer. She was from Aruntun, but that doesn’t mean she was related to the Duchess.”

“Do you know her name?” Kane asked. “We found records for a healer named Madelay.”

“Yes, that was her name,” Brenna said quietly.

“You said
was
, past tense,” Dasid interrupted. “Do you know for sure is she’s dead?”

“My mother didn’t live long,” Brenna said and Kane heard the bitterness in her voice. “There’s no reason to think my grandmother fared any better. She’d be well past fifty, an almost impossible age for an indentured servant in Comack to reach.”

Kane nodded. He was dismayed by just how twisted the laws of Soule were in Comack. Thorold’s father must have started it and when Thorold’s son Beldyn succeeded the king, the whole country could suffer the same fate. Brenna needed to accept her destiny, and soon.

“We know how you came into the world,” Kane said. “How did you leave the duke’s estate?”

Brenna sat up a bit and took a deep breath. “When I was fifteen,” she said. “My mother became obsessive about my studies and made me study poisons. I had to be able to recognize even the most obscure poisons by sight and smell, as well as by the symptoms of those who had ingested them.” Brenna splayed a hand on the desk in front of her. “And I had to know the cures and antidotes even more thoroughly. For six months of my life that’s all I learned. And she made me recite the Call and the prayer to hide my eyes constantly.” Brenna shook her head sadly. “Looking back I wonder if it was because she had resolved something in her own life and was already planning to make sure I would escape.”

“So then you are about to turn sixteen,” Kane prompted and Brenna’s face darkened in anger.

“Yes, then I was about to turn sixteen,” she said. “Most children, on the eve of their sixteenth nameday, have a celebration. For me it was a goodbye. Duke Thorold was sending me to one of his minor nobles, no doubt as some payment or other. My mother had known for some time. I think she knew that since I was headstrong and opinionated things would go hard on me.” Brenna smiled tightly. “She begged me to run away but I couldn’t. I knew Thorold would blame her and probably kill her. And then Duke Thorold came to fetch me. He threatened to hurt me and then he killed my mother. At that point, I ran.”

“He killed her himself?” Kane asked.

“Yes,” Brenna said. “He’ll claim it was self-defense but I was there, I
saw
. He slit her throat with her own knife.” Brenna leaned forward and tugged at something on her back. Suddenly, on the desk in front of him was a worn leather pack.

“Where did that come from?” Kane asked. He hadn’t noticed it before she pulled it out.

“Sorry,” Brenna said “I got so used to the feel of it that I forgot it was there.”

“You were wearing that the whole time?” She hadn’t been searched thoroughly enough to catch this?

“Yep. I should have thanked Tobias for that.” She looked up and grinned. “And magic – I think the
prayer
my mother taught is actually a spell.” She reached into the pack. “Ah, here it is.”

The knife she pulled out was one of the simplest old steel knives Kane had seen. It had a short blade with straight steel guards and a black leather-wrapped handle. The sheath itself was old and worn but the plain black leather, though cracked, was newer than the knife itself. Kane reached a hand out and Brenna placed the knife into it. He gripped it, but his fingers overlapped the pommel. This was a knife for someone with smaller hands than him. When he passed it back to her their hands touched and he felt a shock run up his arm.

“That knife seems to have quite a bit of power,” Kane said.

“It’s old steel.” Brenna looked uneasy. “It was my mother’s knife.”

“Your mother owned an old steel knife?” Dasid asked. He stared at Brenna and then jotted something down on the parchment. “Another link to the prophecy.”

“It was her mother’s before her, that’s what she told me,” Brenna said. “I remember it from growing up.” She turned the knife in her hand and caressed the leather grip. “She used to oil the leather to keep it soft.”

“And?” Kane prompted.

“And when I felt this knife, my mother’s knife, I knew old steel was tied to the blood of the family it belonged to,” Brenna said. “Thorold had it hidden. I sensed it one night while I was exploring.”

Kane raised his eyebrows. “You could sense it from a great distance?” he asked and when she refused to meet his gaze he felt his anger mount. “You sensed it while inside Duke Thorold’s estate.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So you only knew it was there after you were on Thorold’s property. How many times had you put yourself in such danger?”

Brenna lifted her eyes and they glared at each other. “That’s none of your concern,” she said.

“By the gods it is,” he said. He was angry, really angry now. “Dasid and I are trying to figure out how to keep the king from locking you up or handing you over to Thorold.” Brenna’s eyes dropped away and Kane settled in his chair. “Tell me, why did you go to Thorold’s estate in the first place?”

“Ever since I ran away from him,” Brenna said. “I’ve been trying to make Thorold pay for what he did to my mother. That’s the reason I developed my network – to collect information on him. And anything that was headed his way, I would steal. My own small attempts to wound him,” she said bitterly. “Not that it could hurt as much as losing my mother, but in a small way it made her death have a little more meaning. I had some power over Duke Thorold by stealing things he wanted. Then I tried to steal the knife from the priest. You know what happened then.”

“The prophesy,” Dasid said.

“No,” Brenna said. “I got caught. Then the prophesy. Don’t you see? I finally had a good chance to really hurt Thorold. With Feiren feeding and housing me and the both of you teaching me how to use weapons I was better prepared than ever before. So I tried to take advantage of it.”

“So you used us,” Kane said softly. He was only a little disappointed, and not at all surprised. Besides, she’d been spending her time searching for ways to harm Duke Thorold, the Brotherhood’s enemy.

“Yes, I used you. And I’m not sorry.” Her head came up and she met his eyes. “I only wish I’d been smarter.”

“In what way?”

“I spent days, weeks, pouring over the plans to Thorold’s estate trying to figure a way in, trying to figure out what to look for that I could use to hurt him. And then there were the hours roaming around in disguise in order to get his guards used to seeing a young student. All this time you had a spy on the inside. I could have asked you for help and you would have given it to me.” She laughed bitterly. “I can’t believe how hopeless it was for me to try to do this by myself.”

So that was what all the midnight wanderings were about. “And that’s how you sensed the knife?” he prodded.

“A few nights ago I went into Thorold’s house for the first time.” She glanced at him. “Once inside I checked for old steel.” The smile slid from her face. “That’s when I felt the knife. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Kane, it was a tortured scream. It took me some time to get control of it but I knew immediately it was my mother’s knife. I don’t know how else to explain it, but the knife
knew
what it had done. And it recognized my mother’s blood in me. After that I had to go and retrieve it. The knife is mine.”

She looked at him almost defiantly. Kane simply nodded.

“Will that be helpful?” he asked Dasid.

“Aye,” Dasid said. “I see no reason to mention anything about how you got into the duke’s estate, Brenna. Ideally we won’t need to mention that at all, if we stick to the history.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean?”

“We’ll soon be called before King Mattias to answer to the duke’s charges,” Kane said. “If he’s foolish enough to claim you as a runaway, we should be able to counter his argument effectively enough. As to the charges of trespassing, that’s a matter for the Kingsguard. But if he’s discovered the knife is gone, it may be a problem. For now, you’ll need to be our guest in jail. Dasid will take you.” Brenna stood and followed Dasid to the door.

“And Brenna,” Kane said. She paused and looked at him from the doorway. “what Duke Thorold wants is power. We can stop him from getting it. That
is
the prophecy. But you need to trust me. You need to trust the Brotherhood.”

fifteen

Brenna slumped down on the straw with her back to the wall of the cell. She pulled her knees up under her chin and sighed. Yes, Thorold wanted power. She’d known that all her life, had lived it as a child, Thorold’s need to control everyone in his household - his wife, his children, his servants, everyone. Now he was positioned to extend that power over every single person in Soule. His son would hold the title of king but Thorold would wield the power. She’d been so focused on her own plans for revenge that she’d barely given a thought to what the prophecy meant to Soule.

What would it mean to have someone other than Thorold in power? She thought back to her childhood. She’d watched him manipulate people simply because he could - the torment he’d visited on an elderly groom when his horse wasn’t ready - the scalded serving girl who had set the too-hot soup before him. And now the entire kingdom of Soule would be vulnerable. A Soule under Thorold would become a very hard place for the poor, the weak, the ones without money and power and connections.

Like the people she knew in Thieves Quarter. What would happen to Pater and his nephew Martyn? Would they be in a position to give those with even harder lives a fresh piece of fruit every now and then? And what about Mistress Dudding, with her tidy seamstress shop, and Eryl and his gang? Life was already hard. With Thorold in power many of them wouldn’t survive.

Brenna saw a flash of Thieves Quarter, buildings ablaze and the night sky lit with by fires. She watched from afar as a roof collapsed and flames shot high into the air. Then it was gone. She shuddered and clutched her arms tighter around her knees. Was this a vision? Is this what will happen under Thorold’s rule? She prayed to the old gods that this wouldn’t come true.

She’d thought to discredit Duke Thorold and prove that he was a traitor. Now she realized that wouldn’t be enough. Thorold’s power was too entrenched. Even if he was condemned, Beldyn would pardon his father once he was king.

Only the Brotherhood was willing to oppose Thorold – and then only if she led them.

She didn’t want this. She didn’t believe she was the one foretold by the prophecy. But did it matter? The Brotherhood believed she was the one.
Kane
believed she was the one. It seemed that the choice was either her or Thorold. Could she walk away from Kingsreach, from Soule, knowing that she alone had a chance to change things, that she alone had the chance, just a chance, to try to make things better?

No. Thorold could not be allowed to rule Soule. He could not be allowed to twist the laws and mistreat the people for his own gain. Brenna would and could use the Brotherhood and the prophesy to make sure he didn’t succeed. She wasn’t the heir but she
would
be the figurehead for the Brotherhood so that Thorold could be defeated. Time enough later to decide who would rule, as long as it wasn’t Duke Thorold.

With the decision to work with the Brotherhood made, a sense of peace, a sense of rightness seeped into her. More relaxed than she’d been in weeks, Brenna closed her eyes to wait.

Early in the afternoon the door to the cell room opened and Dasid entered.

“It’s time,” he said. “The king has asked Duke Thorold and Kane to convene in his audience chamber. As we’d hoped, Thorold has not charged you with trespassing or theft. He’s claimed that you are a runaway indentured servant with an outstanding debt owed to him.” He passed a clean white shirt through the iron bars to her. “Put this on. Kane asked that you be present and the king has agreed. You can leave your pack here.”

Brenna turned her back, pulled her black shirt off and donned the white one. It was a little big, but at least she was no longer dressed as a thief. She shoved her pack under the straw, turned and stepped through the open cell door.

“I’m ready,” she said. She tried to smile, but her stomach was in knots. What if Thorold’s claim on her was granted? What if he convinced the king to hand her over to him? Kane said she should trust him and right now that was the only thing she could do.

“It shouldn’t be too bad,” Dasid said. “We have a defense for this charge. But don’t show any anger towards Duke Thorold. He’ll be calm and reasonable when stating his case and we’ll be the same. Above all, try to look like you’re not a threat.”

Brenna nodded and followed Dasid through corridors and past the curious stares of Kingsguardsmen. Dasid stopped in front of two guards who stood beside a small wooden door.

“Here we are,” he said and pushed it open.

The room they entered was large, its arrangement vaguely familiar. Then she placed it. Duke Thorold’s salon was set up the same, although his room hadn’t been this grand.

King Mattias sat on the throne opposite the door. He wore a fine black leather vest over a shimmering white silk shirt. Black brocade breeches were tucked into black leather boots so supple Brenna knew they would make no sound on the marble floor. His thinning grayish hair was held back with a simple black ribbon.

The stark black and white clothing emphasized the yellow tinge under the pallor of the king’s skin. He was very ill. How long would he live? A year? Two? The prospect of Thorold reigning over Soule became real to Brenna. Her steps faltered when she remembered her vision of Thieves Quarter in flames. Then Dasid took her elbow and pulled her towards the king.

Two tables in front of the throne were piled with various scrolls and books. Kane stood behind one table, serious and commanding in his formal dress uniform.

At the other table sat Duke Thorold and his scholar, Fridrick. Brenna concentrated on remaining calm as she walked past Thorold and stopped in between the two tables. Dasid backed away until he stood at Kane’s side.

“So this is the woman all the fuss is about.” King Mattias’ voice was still strong, despite the obvious signs of illness. “She hardly looks worth it to me.”

At the humor in his voice, Brenna looked up. Shocked, she quickly lowered her gaze. Up close, the king appeared even more ill. With effort, Brenna brought her attention back to the proceedings. She had to know her own fate before she could spend energy on what ailed the king.

“Your Majesty, she does indeed seem worth little,” Thorold said calmly. “But it is the principle of the matter. Indentured servants simply cannot be allowed to run away without paying their debts. I’m sure that Captain Rowse will agree with me on that.”

“I certainly agree with Duke Thorold on that point, your Majesty,” Kane said. “However I am currently not able to verify that this woman did run away from the duke’s household.”

“You dare to challenge my word?” Thorold’s voice was low and dangerous.

“Unfortunately it’s not your word I’m questioning, my Lord Duke, but your record keeping.” Kane gestured to the books on the table in front of him. “After our discussion with Duke Thorold this morning and after interviewing the woman in question, Kingsguard Addems and I checked all the Comackian records surrounding the year in question. We’ve found no reports indicating that one of the Duke’s servants ran away. There is no record of any outstanding debt owed by her. There isn’t even a record of her being indentured in the first place. In the absence of these proofs I simply cannot hand this woman over to the Duke. I would be failing my oath to uphold the laws of Soule.”

“This is most unusual, Captain,” King Mattias said. “We certainly must hold to the law. Duke Thorold, what think you of this?”

“Your Majesty,” Thorold said. “I feel I am in the unfortunate position of having my word brought into question because of a clerical error.”

Brenna heard the edge of anger underneath the conciliatory tone in Duke Thorold’s voice. Someone would pay for this later, she knew.

“This woman,” Thorold continued. “Was certainly part of my household, as was her mother before her. I insist she be given back into my custody at once.”

“Your Majesty,” Kane said. “Once again we seem to have run into some, um, clerical errors. We’ve not been able to find any reference to this woman’s mother. I’m at a loss to explain this since the accounts from the two time frames in question are clearly written by two different hands. Frankly, I’m concerned about the validity of
any
of Duke Thorold’s accounts. Duke Thorold, do these same clerks record your tax accounts?”

King Mattias glared at the duke. Thorold didn’t squirm but Brenna did see a bead of sweat roll down his neck. Had Thorold been cheating the king out of taxes? As a thief she knew how much people hated being stolen from. The king would be no different.

“Your Majesty,” Kane continued. “As I said we did question the young woman. She admits to growing up in Duke Thorold’s household, the daughter of an indentured servant. We might simply be dealing with a clerical error. However, according to the young woman she left on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, as is her right under the laws of Soule. And there is nothing in this record to show she had any outstanding debts.”

Kane had turned the tables on the duke. Thorold would be forced to defend
all
of his accounts, including the ones that proved she was not indentured to him, just to keep his tax records from coming under more scrutiny.

As the discussion flowed around her, Brenna turned her attention to King Mattias. His sallow, yellow-toned skin, his thinning hair and the sweetish scent of his illness reminded her of Mistress Dudding’s brother before his liver failed him completely. But some of the other symptoms - the glassy eyes and the sweat that slicked down his hair, did not fit that disease.

Kane seemed comfortable and almost amused by the current discussion, so Brenna relaxed a little and concentrated on the king. She compared what she knew about diseases with his symptoms, starting with the most common and moving towards the most obscure. When she had run through all the diseases she could think of, she started over. She must have missed one. Unless …

“Your Majesty,” Kane said. “I suggest that if we are finished with the initial charges it would be appropriate to remove the young lady at this point.”

“Yes, of course,” Mattias said. “By all means, let her go, let her go. Duke Thorold, I suggest you send to Comack for your own personal records. I’ll have my clerks go through them.”

King Mattias rose slowly. Brenna followed Kane’s lead and bowed low as the King left the room, followed by his guards. Dasid edged over to her and led her back into the corridors of the castle. After a quick stop to retrieve her pack they made their way to Kane’s office.

“That went well,” Dasid said as soon as he closed the door. He motioned to a chair and Brenna sat down while he sat behind the desk. “We looked through the records a few days ago and found no mention of either you or your mother. We didn’t want to mention it to you in case the argument didn’t succeed or Thorold laid the trespassing charge.”

“Thank you,” Brenna said. “Trespassing would have been the most obvious charge. I was caught inside his estate.”

“You were caught in his private office,” Dasid amended. “We’re lucky he over-reached himself and tried to get total control of you. Having you jailed and released again was not what he wanted.”

“No. And I am lucky,” Brenna agreed. She grinned in relief and was rewarded with one of Dasid’s rare smiles. The door opened and they both turned as Kane strode in.

“Well, that’s it then.” Kane sat in the chair beside her.

“That’s it,” Brenna echoed. “Thank you. Now what do we do?”

“We leave Kingsreach,” Kane said. “This will only make Thorold more furious. I’ve just resigned my commission as Captain of the Kingsguard.”

“Can you do that?” Brenna asked. “Simply resign?” She was a little surprised, but she understood the truth of it. Thorold would
not
stop. He would try to kill her - and Kane too, despite his rank. His former rank.

“The king didn’t like it,” Kane said. “But I told him that the continuous disagreements between Duke Thorold and myself were causing him undue stress. He cannot afford that in his condition. In the end he agreed.” Kane shook his head sadly. “In part because he was simply too tired to argue. Uncle Feiren will be asked to take over until a new captain can be named.” He looked at Dasid. “Unfortunately I don’t think it will be you, although I’ve already advised the king you’re my choice.”

“Which is what we expected,” Dasid said. “If Thorold spends his energy making sure his own man is chosen for the captaincy he won’t pay attention to other things.”

“What other things?” Brenna asked.

“The former captain leaving town with a known thief,” Kane said.

“When do we leave?” Brenna asked.

“Tomorrow,” Kane said. “Thorold won’t do anything today, not so soon after the matter being decided by King Mattias. He’ll put a plan into action soon, though. He isn’t the type of man to let something like this slide.”

“Tomorrow,” Brenna repeated. “That doesn’t give me much time. I need to get to the Collegium library right away.”

“No,” Kane said. “Absolutely out of the question. I’m taking you back to my uncle’s house and you won’t be leaving it even if I have to tie you down and stand guard all night.”

“You could try,” Brenna said. “But you’ll take me to the library first. The king is being poisoned and I need to confirm what I think is being used on him.”