An Aimless War (Greatest Thief 2)

Chapter Seventeen

"We haven't gone anywhere."

"What do you mean?" Acen asked.

I hesitated before answering him. "I snuck up onto the deck today, and we're still in East Draulin. What's the point in keeping us here? Shouldn't Kalvahi want to get Tannix to Deorun as soon as possible?" I was lying on my stomach, tracing lines into the wood with Acen's cloak pin. "Right? That's what you would do, right? If you were Kalvahi, I mean. Take Tannix to the king."

Acen seemed deep in thought. "We don't know that he hasn't. Tannix might not be on the ship."

The idea hit me like a physical blow. I hadn't even considered that Kalvahi might have taken Tannix away. "What? But... why wouldn't he take us? He told Tannix that he wanted to keep me because if he had more of us, Tannix would be more likely to cooperate."

"He still has us."

I groaned and dropped my head to bury my face in my arms. "Acen. Now I need to go see if Tannix is still here. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sneak around this ship?" It had been a few days. I'd gotten over the fact that we were floating in the water. It was the least of my worries.

"For you?" Acen asked. "Not very difficult, it seems."

"Difficult enough."

"I don't know how Tannix found you, but I'm beginning to think every personal guard needs to include a thief," Acen said lightly. "I don't know how we would be managing without you here, honestly. Have I told you how glad I am that you're here?"

I smiled to myself. "Yes. Every time I bring you food. The other knights tell me, too." I raised my head again to look at him. "It's nice to feel appreciated. I mean, sure, I'm locked in a disgusting prison ship, but at least I'm useful."

"You're more than useful, you..." Acen let his words trail off as there was a scuffle at the end of the room.

A pair of guards walked in, just like they did every few hours. Acen thought it was because they were trying to make sure we were all still alive. Sometimes, they brought stale or moldy bread and tossed it into the shelves. The other prisoners fought over it, but Acen told me not to touch it and I had passed the order to the other knights and Joen. We didn't want to get sick from moldy bread.

I slipped my wrists back into my chains so that when the guards walked past I would look just as trapped as the other prisoners. The guards cast quick glances around, but mostly ignored everyone in our room and stepped into the next one. That was odd. Usually they at least pretended to look over the shelves.

Acen finished his thought once they were gone. "You're keeping us alive."

"Well, I—"

Yelling erupted from the next room. Shouting wasn't uncommon, I was really good at ignoring it. Then it occurred to me who was yelling, and what he was yelling about.

"Put him down! You damned Deorans, I'll kill you! With my bare hands! Ender! Korender! End—" A loud thump cut him off, followed by a groan. Being hit didn't keep Kor quiet for long. "Ender!"

One of the Deorans started shouting back in his own language. He was probably telling Kor to be quiet, but neither of them could understand the other. Kor wouldn't have listened even if he could understand.

The guard was still yelling over his shoulder as the pair stepped back into our room, awkwardly carrying Ender between them. He was completely limp, his feet dragging on the floor. Kor kept shouting.

I slipped out of my chains the moment the guards maneuvered Ender out of the room. I climbed out of the shelf in a rush.

"Wait," Acen said. "Go tell Kor to shut up before they send someone to beat him senseless."