For a Year (A Greatest Thief Novella)

And a Day

"I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Well, get over it." Tandrin adjusted my cloak tie, and eyed my sword belt. "We should have had that polished."

"Tandrin."

"Listen." Tandrin stopped fussing with my clothes and put his hands on my shoulders. "Forget about how you're feeling. This is no time for second thoughts, little brother. This is our last chance. If you hesitate and miss the moment, you will never forgive yourself."

I nodded, too nervous and tense to actually say anything. It would be a miracle if I even remembered the line Tandrin had fed me and made me practice over and over again.

"Eppson will follow you. Don't look at the other condemned, don't think about them, just focus."

I nodded again. "The, um... the king is going to be furious."

Tandrin smiled. "Let me handle King Edarius."

He has said the exact same thing a year ago, and I had trusted him then. So I would trust him again. My job was to interrupt the execution and cause a scene. Tandrin's job was to smoothen everything out with the king.

Tandrin's smiled faded as he looked over my shoulder. From our place on a side street, we could see the gallows and half of the crowd, but not the king or the princesses. "It's time. Go."

I didn't hesitate. I turned and started to walk into the edged of the crowd. People moved out of my way. They saw my clothes, my rings and my sword and they knew I wasn't someone to ignore. As I moved through the crowd, I heard a trapdoor open and saw the woman beside Finn struggling. If she was too light, Finn certainly would be.

But Tandrin had told me not to think about the other swinging bodies, so I forced myself to think of something else. The line I had to say to the king. I repeated it in my head over and over again.

Then, when I was close enough to gallows to ensure the executioner would hear me, I called out.

"Stop."

All eyes were on me when I climbed onto the platform. I let myself look at Finn briefly, but my gaze couldn't linger. Like I had rehearsed with Tandrin, I turned to the crowd. King Edarius and the princesses had their own viewing platform off to the side and behind part of the crowd. I saw Princess Esmeranda, and knowing that this plan had been her suggestion, drew some courage.

"My King!" I bowed dramatically, but before I could rise again, I saw Finn crumple.

The line escaped me. I rushed to Finn's side, and lifted him into my arms. He seemed impossibly light and fragile. His head lolled back over my arm, so I couldn't get a good look at his face. His hair was longer than he liked it, dirty and matted. His clothes—the same clothes he had worn when I kissed him—were hardly more than rags. His wrists were ringed by filthy scrapes and scabs.

But I was relieved that aside for being neglected, he didn't look abused. There were no unexplainable bruises, no large wounds, no infected sores. Tandrin's bribed guards had at least kept him from being used as a helpless plaything to beat and torment. He would recover, physically.

One of the guards took a tentative step towards me. "My lord—"

"Don't touch him," I hissed, all decorum forgotten. I had Finn, and he was alive.

Eppson appeared beside me, and under his breath, whispered. "Let me have him. You need to finish what you started."

Reluctantly, I let Eppson take Finn from my arms. He looked so small, cradled against Eppson's chest. I had to force myself to turn around and step back to the front of the platform. It took a second for the line to come back to me.