An Aimless War (Greatest Thief 2)

Chapter Twenty

I sat down between Acen and Mandell. The knights were sitting in a circle, watching Jalor scratch lines into the floor. Even Ender was paying attention, although he was sitting stiffly, still clearly in pain.

"That third turn was a left," I said.

Jalor looked down at his rough drawing of the corridors that had led us through the prison. "I'm pretty sure it was a right."

"It was a left," I repeated. "I have a good memory for maps. Acen, be honest with me. Are they hurting him?"

"No," Acen replied without pause. "Probably not. Not yet, at least. There are protocols. He'll need to be taken to the king first, and there will probably be some bargaining with Tandrin. They might try to interrogate Tannix for any useful information. They'll threaten him, but it won't work. And then they'll probably threaten us, which is more likely to work. They'll save hurting him, at least seriously, until last. He's worth more uninjured."

"What sort of bargaining with Tandrin?" I asked.

"Maybe a ransom demand. Or they might just want to brag that they have him. There are a few different ways it could go. But we have to acknowledge that if the demand is too high, Tandrin likely won't pay it."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't he pay his brother's ransom?"

"Not for lack of wanting," Acen replied. "But as much as he loves Tannix, Tandrin is going to take his duties as king very seriously. If saving Tannix means crippling the kingdom, he won't do it."

"It'll be hard," Jalor agreed. "But King Tandrin will let his brother go for the good of the kingdom. We all know that. Tannix knows it, as well."

"That said," Acen continued. "We're here. We're the ones who can do something to help Tannix now. We could use your... professional expertise."

Despite the worry gnawing away at me, I smiled at the idea that anything I was good at could be considered professional. "What do you have for me to work with?"

Acen's eyes flickered over each of the knights. "Nothing, unfortunately. We were all searched a second time before being locked in here. So all you have is us."

All I had were five highly trained knights. Six, if Ender recovered enough to be useful. That didn't seem so bad.

I looked around the cell. One wall was made up of bars, the other three were very smooth stones. We didn't have any chains that could be used as weapons, none of the stones looked lose enough to pry out. The only light came from a narrow window high on the wall.

The window. I could fit through that window. I got to my feet, aware of the knights watching my every move. The wall beneath the window was too smooth to climb, but I wasn't alone. I had six knights. I could use them.

"Mandell," I said. "Could you lift me up to that window?"

"Could I?" Mandell chuckled as he stood up. "Right now?"

Acen got up and stared at the window, his arms crossed and his head tilted slightly in thought. I could easily imagine the thoughts flashing through his head. The strategies and ideas that had given him the position of captain. It wasn't long before he nodded.

"If you could get into the corridors, you could get the lay of the land," Acen said. "Find us a place to get weapons, maybe even figure out where Tannix is being kept."

I nodded. I could find Tannix.

"He's the priority, of course," Acen said, "but you can't get yourself caught looking for him. For all we know, he might not even be in this building. Just take a look around. If we break out and rescue Tannix, we'll be in for a fight. We'll need good weapons, and we'll need to know the fastest way out of prison. Can you do that? Don't take any risks. Don't get caught."