An Aimless War (Greatest Thief 2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

I felt hands prodding me, checking over my head and my chest, gently moving my arms and legs.

"He's better off than he looks." Jalor's voice came through, just as I was slowly becoming aware of myself. My head hurt, but not as badly as it could have. The rest of me ached. I groaned and tried to prop myself up with one elbow.

"Steady." Acen put a hand on my back and helped me sit up.

There was something I had to tell the knights. Something about what had just happened. I thought back—the guards kicking me until they got bored, then carrying me through the prison. I looked down at my hands. My left knuckles were bruised and scraped and bloody, and my fingers felt stiff. But they still worked.

"How do you feel?" Acen asked. He was sitting very close, his hand still hovering behind my back like he was ready to catch me if I blacked out again.

"I've been worse," I said, slightly surprised to realize it was true. Which made me think Kalvahi probably hadn't encouraged the beating, and the guards hadn't wanted to hurt me too badly.

Jalor crouched beside us and offered me a dirty flask. "Nothing looks broken. You'll probably feel awful and you'll definitely have some dark bruises, but all in all," he trailed off and shrugged. "What happened to your hand, though?"

I took a few gulps of water. "They had a clamp, and they were going to crush my hand to make Tannix talk. He..." Shame flooded through me. "He agreed. I tried to take it quietly so he wouldn't help them, but I... I was scared," I admitted quietly. "And now he's helping them and—"

"Being scared when you're being tortured isn't a weakness," Acen interrupted. "You weren't trained for this."

I opened my mouth to protest, when suddenly I remembered what I needed to tell the knights. Or rather, what I had to show them. I could feel the weight of it, hidden in my sleeve. The pieces clinked together as I drew them out and dropped them in Acen's hand.

He stared at the key ring with wide eyes. "How did you get this?"

I drank some more of the water. "I can do this rolling trick, where I just sort of dive off to the side to avoid getting hit or grabbed. But I can take stuff off of belts if I do it properly. And then I distracted the guards by pretending to get a mace."

Across the cell, Mandell perked up. "A mace?"

"I immediately found it far too... cumber-something."

Mandell laughed. "Cumbersome?"

"Yes. That."

"Finn," Acen interrupted. "These are keys. This is our way out."

I shrugged, suddenly aware of the way they were all looking at me. "I'm a thief."

Acen slipped the keys into his pocket. "Thank the Goddess you're here. This is exactly why we all have different skills. Don't dwell on the fact they realized they could hurt you to get to Tannix. That isn't your fault, and it isn't something you can control. You stole keys. You're incredible. Gentlemen," he looked around the cell. "Rest up. We'll move tonight."

The knights were anxious, but I managed to doze off. When I woke up it was dark outside our small window, and Acen was offering me the keys.

"You should do the honours."

I took them and stood up. The knights were standing in a loose circle. Dirty and disheveled, but determined and dangerous. Even Ender, with his arms over Kor and Evrik's shoulders, looked ready for a fight. I might have stolen the keys, but the knights were going to get us out of prison.