Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2)

“I’ve been summoned by Archduke Percy Braga,” Count Pickering explained, holding up the dispatch, “to report to Essendon Castle as witness for the immediate trial of Princess Arista on the grounds of witchcraft, high treason, and murder. He has accused her of killing not only Amrath but also Alric.” He dropped the dispatch on the table and slammed his hand down on it in disgust. “The blackguard means to have the kingdom for his own!”


“It’s worse than I feared.” Alric summarized for the thieves: “My uncle planned to kill me and my father and then blame both murders on Arista. He will execute her and take the kingdom for himself. No one will be the wiser. He’ll fool everyone into thinking he is the great defender of the realm. I’m sure his plan will work. Even I was suspecting her only a few days ago.”

“It’s true. It has long been rumored that Arista has dabbled in the arcane arts,” Pickering confirmed. “Braga will have no trouble finding her guilty. People are afraid of what they don’t understand. The thought of a woman with magical powers is terrifying to old men in comfortable positions. Even without the fear of witchery, most nobles are uncomfortable with the thought of a woman monarch. The verdict will be assured. Her sentence will be handed down quickly.”

“But if the prince was to arrive,” Baron Enild said, “and show he’s alive, then—”

“That’s exactly what Braga wants,” Sir Ecton declared. “He can’t find Alric. He’s searched for days and couldn’t locate him. He wants to draw him out before Alric has a chance to gather an army against him. He’s counting on the prince’s youth and lack of experience. He wants to manipulate the prince to react with emotion instead of reason. If he can’t find Alric, he will lure the prince to him.”

“Less than half our forces have mustered so far,” Pickering grumbled despairingly. He walked to the great map of Melengar, which hung opposite the ancient charter, and slapped the western half of the map. “Our most powerful knights are the farthest from here, and because they have the most men to rally, it will take them longer to report. I don’t expect them for another eight hours, maybe as long as sixteen.

“Even if we resign ourselves to employing only Galilin’s forces, the earliest we could be ready to attack wouldn’t be until tomorrow evening. By then Arista will be dead. I could march with what troops I have, leaving orders for the others to follow, but doing so would risk the whole army by dividing our forces. We cannot jeopardize the realm for the sake of one woman, even though she is the princess.”

“Judging from the mercenaries we encountered at the inn,” Alric told them, “I suspect the archduke anticipates an assault and has strengthened his forces with purchased arms loyal only to him.”

“He will likely have scouts and ambushes prepared,” Ecton said. “At first sight of our march, he will tell the other nobles assembled for the trial that we are working for Arista and that they need to defend Essendon against us. There is simply no way for us to march until we have more forces.”

“Waiting,” Alric said sadly, “will surely see Arista burned at the stake. Now, more than ever, I feel guilty for not trusting her. She saved my life. Now hers is in jeopardy, and there is little I can do about it.” He looked at Hadrian and Royce. “I can’t simply sit idly by and let her die. But to act prematurely would be folly.”

The prince stood and walked over to the thieves. “I have inquired about you two since we arrived. You’ve been holding out on me. I thought you were common thieves. So imagine my surprise when I discovered you two are famous.” He glanced around at the other nobles in the room. “Rumor has it you two are unusually gifted agents known for taking difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, assignments of sabotage, theft, espionage, and even, on rare occasions, assassinations. Don’t bother denying it. Many in this room have already confided in me that they have used your services in the past.”

Hadrian looked at Royce and then around at the faces of the men before them. He nodded uncomfortably. Not only were some of the men past clients, some had been targets as well.

“They tell me you are independents and are not aligned with any established guilds. It’s no small feat to operate with such autonomy. I have learned more in a few hours from them than I did after days riding with you. What I do know, however—what I discovered for myself—is that you saved my life twice, once to honor a promise to my sister and once for no reason I can discern. Last night, you challenged the might of the Lord Chancellor of Melengar and came to my aid against a superior force of trained killers. No one asked you to, no one would have faulted you for letting me die. You could expect no reward for saving me, and yet you did it. Why?”

Hadrian looked at Royce, who stood silent. “Well,” he began as he glanced at the floor, “I guess—we’d just grown kind of fond of you, I suppose.”

Alric smiled and addressed the room. “The life of the Prince of Melengar—the would-be king—was saved, not by his army, not by his loyal bodyguards, nor by a grand fortress—but by two treacherous, impudent thieves who didn’t have the good sense to ride away.”

The prince stepped forward and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “I’m already deeply in your debt and have no right to ask, but I must beg you now to display the same poor judgment once again. Please save my sister and you can name whatever price you wish.”





“Another last-minute, good-deed job,” Royce grumbled as he stuffed supplies into his saddlebag.

“True,” Hadrian said, slinging his sword belt over his shoulder, “but this is at least a paying job.”

“You should have told him the real reason we saved him from Trumbul—because we wouldn’t see the hundred tenents otherwise.”

“That was your reason. Besides, how often do we get to do royal contracts? If word gets around, we’ll be able to command top salaries.”

“If word gets around, we’ll be hanged.”

“Okay, good point. But remember, she did save our skins. If Arista hadn’t helped us out of the dungeon, we’d be ornaments for the Medford Autumn Festival right now.”

Royce paused and sighed. “I didn’t say we weren’t doing it, did I? Did I say that? No I didn’t. I told the little prince we’d do it. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it.”

“I just want to make you feel better about your decision,” Hadrian said. Royce glared at him. “Okay, okay, I’ll see about the horses now.” He grabbed his gear and headed for the courtyard, where a light snow was starting to fall.

Pickering had provided the thieves with two of his swiftest stallions and any supplies they thought they might need. Ella had a late-night snack and a sizable travel meal prepared for them. They took heavy woolen cloaks to brace against the cold and dark scarves that they wrapped around the lower half of their faces to keep the chill of the wind off their cheeks.