Vow of Thieves (Dance of Thieves, #2)

by Mary E. Pearson

I forced myself to my feet and retrieved it. My hand shook as I slipped it on my finger. “You made a vow to me too, Jase. You promised me a lifetime of—” My voice broke. I had also made a vow, that I would keep him safe always. And I had failed.

I wanted what Jase wanted. A home. A family.

Go with the current, Kazi. Keep your head up. I picked up the spoon and ate.

I watched her walk out the door unaware that her bag of remedies was one small item lighter.

I couldn’t trade this scalpel for anything, and a thousand slit throats wouldn’t give me back Jase.

What had been my last words to him? Stop? Run? Those minutes had been stricken with fear and anger. Rewind it, Kazi. Make it all different. One more chance. But the moment was gone. Someone had stolen the last words I wanted Jase to hear from me. I love you. I will always love you. I had tried to save him. I had fought for all I was worth, but it hadn’t been enough.

I wiped the blood from the scalpel and slipped it beneath the chair cushion for safekeeping. This weapon would not be taken from me. The Patrei’s blood vow was my vow. Protect at all costs. And I had nothing left to lose.

Animals got him. I made myself focus on a distant point down the hall. The faraway point was all that mattered. It kept the world from turning upside down.

None of that was going to happen. I felt myself being pulled under the current once more, everything about me unsteady, trying to breathe. I reached up and felt his ring on my finger. Don’t fight it, Kazi, lean back, feet forward. His voice, so clear in my head. So close.

Head up. Breathe. Jase pulling me up again and again.

It’s been in my family for generations. Once it’s put on, it never comes off.

“No, it was another servant. Several of the staff were left behind when the Ballengers fled. We’ve taken them in and given them work to help make their lives normal again. That’s what we’re trying to do with the whole town. We mostly have it back under control now.”

I don’t want to make a martyr out of him like the first Ballenger—the mythic man who died saving the last remnant of humanity. That only begs for the loyalists or another Ballenger to rise up with more self-righteous violence.

For the good of the town, it’s best that this chapter of history be closed for good.

It’s the kindest truth, and will help the town let go and move forward into a new era.

“I’m wondering … just how did you know the Patrei was returning?” “He sent a message.” “A message that you intercepted?” “The man in the message office who had been on the take from the Ballengers turned it over to us. He wanted the bloodshed to end too.” “And that’s when you ordered the ambush.”

There was no denial in his answer, only justification. He had murdered Jase.

I felt Jase’s arm’s around me, holding me, keeping my head above the water. Steady. I’ve got you. I promise.

Juggled the words in my head into the perfect order, then stacked them into a neat pile. These were the things I knew how to do, the things that were second nature to me while everything else swirled wildly out of control. I needed control.

I walked back to the table, the king’s plate empty, mine still full.

I leaned forward on the table. “Or maybe you’re just a very stupid one.” His chin lifted. Angled. The sly king. Ah, there he was. Back again. Slinking out from the shadows. All he needed was a little prod.

On the contrary, it would be ugly and slow—maybe something like being torn apart by animals.”

“That was fate, ordered by the gods.”

I really had no plan beyond this moment. Wren would hate this. No escape. No juggling. But if I were to die, the king would die first. Of that much I was certain.

My only regret was I couldn’t kill them all.

Was his bumbling, oafish manner just a part of the façade he had carefully groomed for years?

5. If you ever lie to the king … one of the children will die, and you will be forced to choose which one.

I nodded. But I would slit my own throat before I would choose between Lydia and Nash.

I groaned and a hand pressed hard over my mouth. “Shhh,” a voice hissed. “Unless you want to die!”

I heard something creak over my head. A wooden floor? Muffled voices.

“I don’t know. It was dark, the middle of the night. He didn’t say his name, and it was hard to get a good look at him. I think he wanted it that way. He told me to take care of you—to do my best, but not to call a healer. He said they were watching all the healers, following them. He tried to give me coin for your safekeeping, but I wouldn’t take it. Before he left, he wiggled your ring off your finger. Said he needed it, and I didn’t argue, seeing as he was trying to save your life.”

Paxton, Rybart, and Truko. It had to be. They had joined forces.

But I did know. They had her. She was their prisoner. That was the only way Kazi wouldn’t be here beside me. Unless— I remembered them swarming over us, black shadows moving over the dark hillside. “I have to get to—” I

I had to get Lydia and Nash out of their grip. That was the most important thing.

The world I knew how to navigate had disappeared. I had to follow the rules Banques laid out. It was my only option.

Jase. He was gone. It was a crushing thought that would slam into me unexpectedly and rob me of what little sanity I had. Only thinking of how I could save Nash and Lydia allowed me to shove the madness away.

A long sword and dagger were slid into my weapon belt. There was no worry that I would use them. It had been clearly outlined what would happen if I made the slightest aggressive move.

Every detail conveyed strength, leadership, and a message that this was a king who was fit and able to lead.

I was usually good at judging temperaments, knowing just how far I could push, but this king seemed to be many different people, and I didn’t understand even one of them.

She should be smiling at Jase. Oleez stood off to the side. She smiled at the king, and they shared a few whispered words. She avoided my burning gaze, though I know she felt it.

But mostly I wondered who was really in charge, the king or Banques?

Rybart and his men were dead and gone. Now it was a town that had been invaded, and these soldiers were there to squelch any opposition.

The air was punched from me, and I stared, not quite believing it. It had been the beautiful focal point of the entire plaza, its white marble walls casting an ethereal glow over everything. Now, instead of a sanctuary, it looked like a passage into hell.

She chose not to, which made her a Ballenger accomplice and a danger to other citizens. Our job is to restore order and to make everyone feel safe again.”

I knew him, but I didn’t.

Nash and Lydia didn’t seem to even notice the hanging bodies, or maybe they had become numb to them. What horrors had they already endured?

This was hardly the same city it had been just months ago when it had been full of color, and noise, and light, and warmth. Now it was a dreary sea of long woolen cloaks. Scarves covered noses and mouths, and only bare slivers of eyes looked up at me.

He placed a hand on Nash’s shoulder, pulling him closer. Was it a gesture to comfort Nash, or was it a warning to me?

Jase, I need you. This couldn’t be happening, but it was.

I looked back at Lydia and Nash. Their faces were blank. Any emotion about the news I had delivered was buried deep beneath some new hardened armor they had never worn before.