A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Twenty

"He wasn't the target," Kalvahi said.

"He's my prisoner," Kassia replied sharply, and she switched to Deoran. It sounded like they were moving, and sure enough, a moment later Sarnio grabbed my arm and tugged me along. I quickly lost interest in what Kassia and Kalvahi were talking about, and concentrated on our route. Knowing our way back out to the secret river entrance would probably be helpful. At least, more helpful than listening to an argument in Deoran.

Before long, their voices went off in one direction and we were dragged in another. A handful of hallways, turns and doorways later, the bags were pulled off of our heads. Sarnio untied us from each other, but didn't bother freeing our hands. He tossed me into the cell first, where I landed painfully on my shoulder and only just rolled out of the way before Castin landed on me. Kovin stumbled as he was pushed in to join us. Mayah wasn't there. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

Sarnio and the man who had been helping him strolled off down the hall. Once I couldn't hear them anymore, I got to work. I pulled my legs up to my chest and managed to slip my arms around my feet so they were in front of me. I attacked the knot with my teeth. It wasn't efficient, but it was effective, and soon I tossed the rope to the floor and got to my feet.

I helped Castin first, then Kovin. Castin was on his feet right away, eyeing the cell with a practiced eye.

"The window's pretty high," he said.

I didn't have to look. I had already realized the cell was exactly like the one I had been in with the knights. "The wall's too smooth to climb, anyway. Last time I had to be lifted to the window." I caught Castin's glance towards Kovin and shook my head. "No, he's not tall enough."

"You can't jump it?"

"Well..." I had jumped to escape Deoran guards in the hallway, but it wasn't a skill I was confident in. "I guess I could try it. But that just gets me out into the hall, it doesn't get you two out of the cell. It doesn't get us the key. Also, last time I had the knights to fight our way out."

Castin crossed his arms. "You can get us back to that secret door."

I nodded. "Of course I can."

Kovin was rubbing his wrists where the rope had chafed, eyes flickering between us as we spoke. "Weren't you wearin' a bag, mate? How d'you know the way t' the door?"

"It's just something I can do," I replied, before turning back to Castin. "And the locked door?"

"Can you pick it?"

"Maybe, but we shouldn't count on it," I said. "We'd be better off getting the key."

Already, this imprisonment felt different. It wasn't just the lack of knights, it was Castin. He thought like I did. He knew what I was capable of, and I knew what he was capable of. The knights had trusted me to work things out, and I had trusted them to fight. With Castin, there was more back and forth. We could try to plan something together.

I ran over our skills in my head. I was better at pickpocketing, Castin was undoubtedly better at fighting. We could both climb, and we were good at sneaking around. I was better at speaking and thinking quickly, but Castin was fully capable of following along with any act I might spring on him. Then there were signals that simply came from knowing each other so well—telling glances, subtle actions, Baisan's whistle.

Kovin was the surprise. I turned to him more abruptly than necessary. "What are you good at?"

He had stopped rubbing his wrists, instead his fingers were toying with one of the many rope bracelets around his left wrist. His fingers went still as he stared at me. "I'm a... I'm a sailor, mate."