A Thief's Shadow

A Flicker of Suspicion

The lack of footprints or even sound of crunching snow as the prisoner stepped on the icy snow disturbed Cal. They were traveling on a path that hadn't been used for at least a week. Snow had claimed the land in the absence of life. The silent thief watched the ground, daydreaming probably, as his captors rode by his side on horses. The General wasn't giving the thief the gift of riding horseback after the previous night's events. Perhaps the thief was a wraith and had to actually concentrate to form footprints. Cal shrugged to himself and stared at the horizon. Daydreaming was actually a good idea with nothing to look at.

The snow stretched on endlessly like a frozen desert. They'd left the trees behind hours ago and the snow gradually grew deeper. At one point it was over a foot deep and Cal noticed the prisoner lifting himself above it by grabbing the stirrups of the two horses next to him and pulling his legs up. Neither Cal nor the other knight complained. They weren't going to purposely force the prisoner to walk through the deepest snow they'd seen. Not only could it give him frostbite, but it would slow down their group. Cal tried to figure out why the thief didn't just walk on top of the deep snow like he had the shallow, but ideas seemed to be avoiding his mind as if it was poison.

A black speck, like an ant standing on the snow, stood on the horizon. Gradually it grew and spread until they could see a city much grander than Desantis. It was the city of Vicomte, the king's city. They were almost home. Spotting a much more traveled road, Cal realized they'd taken a shortcut. Instead of going around the deep snow, they'd cut straight through it. He glanced down at the prisoner and gave a short smile. "Almost there." The thief continued to pull himself up between the horses.

If Desantis's market was like a rabbit warren, Vicomte's market was an ant hill. The only reason they made it through the crowd at all was the glare of the infamous General. It was easily ten degrees warmer, but it was still far below freezing. They all wanted to get home, none more than the General. In such a thick crowd they couldn't easily form a circle around the prisoner, so once again he rode on Cal's horse. After they made it out of the main market crowd they reached the palace quickly. Outside of the grand, twelve foot doors the General halted and faced his knights. They were lucky they'd gotten through the many gates so easily. Only with a recognizable face such as the General's could they ever do such a thing.

"All of you may return to your homes now for a few days. Then report to me and I will inform you if there are new missions." Cal helped the prisoner down from the horse, untying him, and turned to leave. "You, wait. You know how to interpret his... things?" He made several random movements with his hands. Cal nodded slowly. He was going to get stuck with the thief once again, he knew it. "We will be throwing him into the prisons first, but expect to receive notices throughout the next few weeks. When you get a message immediately come here. You will be his interpreter for interrogation."

Cal nodded and began the short journey to Tyja's house. He could feel the cold gaze of the thief's eyes freezing two spots on his back, but he didn't turn around. It wasn't his fault the thief had stolen. They couldn't have robbers everywhere or no lords and ladies would visit. The lords and ladies were the money spenders, the ones who bought pointless paintings and sculptures from artisans. The King believed artisans were important, and Cal did too. His girlfriend was an artisan. Woodcarving and woodcarving supplies weren't expensive, so they could sell carvings to normal people, but the real money came from visiting lords and ladies. He smiled as he thought of the look on her face when she found out he was back from his adventure. If he was half of the storyteller the General was, she would love to hear the story of the thief.

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