A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Now Avaliable - Through the North

When we neared the gate, a large city guard stepped in front of us. "Intentions in the city?"

I had never entered the city without Tannix. Castin glanced at me, expecting an answer, but when my confused silence lasted a heartbeat too long, Kovin spoke up.

"We're from the WDN Draulin Guardian." He gestured lazily with his scarred arm. "'m on leave, and my mates here are visitin' their family 'fore meetin' up with Lord West Draulin."

The guard's eyes trailed over us. We didn't look like the type of people who would interact with Tannix, I knew that. After carefully looking us over, his attention drifted back to Kovin. "How long are you on leave?"

"One night."

"You're going to the lower city?"

Kovin looked at me.

"Yes," I said. Castin and I looked like we belonged in the lower city, and Crelan sailors visited often enough.

"All right." The guard stepped aside and waved us past. "Enjoy your visit."

"Thanks, mate," Kovin said cheerfully. He waited until Castin and I had started walking before falling in beside me once again. "Tricky, gettin' into your city, aye?"

"It's trickier getting out," Castin muttered.

We passed under the gate, and stepped onto the main pass. It was a wide road, running along the base of the Cliffs of Loth all the way up to the castle. Nearby, another guarded gate led into the lower city. Those guards merely watched us as we walked between them. Castin was right, leaving was much harder than entering.

It wasn't until we stepped into the lower city that our arrival truly began to feel like a homecoming to me. The narrow, crowded streets felt familiar despite how long I had been away. Shabby, brown buildings lined streets of crooked cobblestones. Wooden stalls stood here and there against walls, selling cheap food and goods that merchants deemed too low quality for the upper city marketplace. People bustled around everywhere. This close to the gate, every Zian in sight had a goal. Tradesmen trying to sell goods to visitors, pretty girls trying to lure sailors to a specific tavern, scantily clad girls trying to lure sailors to a specific brothel, men trying to find jobs that would take them out of the city, beggars and thieves.

I had grown up in this sort of bustle, and I understood it. Castin and I smoothly fell back on old habits. He walked in the front, carving a path. I nudged Kovin to stay with him, and followed behind so I could keep an eye on him. He didn't look wealthy enough to draw attention from tradesmen or thieves, but I saw him catch the eye of more than one girl and even waved away one who reached out for him.

"So... grew up here, mates?" Kovin was trying to sound casual, but his left hand fiddled nervously with the rope bracelets around his right wrist.

"It'll be quieter once we get away from the gate," I said. "We grew up further away, but Baisan has a closer place now."

True to my word, once we had put some distance between us and the gate, the crowds thinned out. There were still people around, and Kovin received a few puzzled looks for being a Crelan, but nobody bothered us.

Baisan's building was an old three-story apartment building. Every time I saw it, something had changed. Most of the windows were now covered with glass instead of wooden boards. Wooden scaffolding was propped up around the top floor, where repairs were being made to the original crumbling walls. I knew Baisan encouraged the children under his care to take on paying jobs around the city, but I didn't see how he could afford to make expensive repairs to his building.

There was a flash of movement at the door to the building. A little boy ducked inside after spotting us down the street.

"So much for sneaking up on them," I said lightly.

Castin flashed me a look, and I knew what he was thinking. Baisan and the others had no idea we were in Zianna. They had no idea we were even alive. There had been no way to tell them.

By the time we reached the building, our family was bursting through the door. Ninavi came first, throwing herself into my arms and shrieking in excitement. It was her typical way of greeting me, but every time it became harder for me to catch her. She was about fourteen now, I'd guess, a far cry from the twelve-year-old I'd been able to catch with relative ease.

Next was Stria, her rush through the door slowed down because of the little boy she was holding in her arms. Castin stepped forward, enveloping both of them in a hug. Tears streamed down Stria's cheeks even as Castin leaned down to kiss her.

Our youngest brothers came out next. Orrun and Leker were the only two of us who were really related by blood, and looked similar enough that they might have twins, but they only shared a father. Once Ninavi had released me, the boys came up to pull me into jovial hugs and clap me on the back. They were fifteen, barely younger than Castin, although their cheerful natures made the gap between them feel even larger.

Baisan lingered in the doorway, his arms crossed. While elated relief filled the rest of my family, Baisan was harder to read. His gaze trailed over Castin first, then me, and for a moment it was easy to see Acen doing the same thing. He was checking on us. He was cautiously making sure we were all right, and whole, and ourselves.

I waved at Kovin so Ninavi and the boys would look at him. "This is Kovin. He's a sailor."

Kovin looked mildly startled when all three of them turned to him. I took the opportunity to slip away and join Baisan by the door. Already, I could hear the other three peppering him with questions. When I leaned against the wall beside him, Baisan mumbled something.

It took me a moment to realize that he'd thanked me. "For what?"

"Bringing him back."

"Oh." I looked over to see that Castin had lifted Gale from Stria's arms. He looked happy. I knew he was happy, and yet—

"We brought each other back," I said. "But we've both changed."

"Anything I need to know?" I understood Baisan's concern, just as much as I understood his caution and hope. Castin had always been there for him, his right-hand man. Letting Castin leave for the war had probably been the most frightening and hardest thing Baisan had ever done. He just wanted his partner back.

I shrugged. "He'll tell you what he wants to tell you. Just let him decide when to tell you."

Baisan nodded. He had always been so good at putting our family's needs above his own. He, Castin and I had spent years making sure the girls and the younger boys had everything they needed, even if it meant we went without. Castin's presence at his side was Baisan's one selfish desire.

I put my hand on my brother's shoulder. "He's back."

His chest rose with a deep breath. "I know. Now..." He was trying, so hard, to act like a leader. "Who's the Crelan?"

I nodded towards the doorway. "Let's go inside to talk. Oh, also." I adjusted the strap of my bag over my shoulder. "I'm staying the night."

Baisan actually smiled at that. The kind of indulgent, 'Finn's going to do whatever he wants' smile I had received countless times. "We actually have a room for you. In case this ever happened."

I blinked, genuinely shocked. "Really?"

"Just because you don't live here, doesn't mean you aren't part of the Thieves' Guild," Baisan said.

And then, before I had even recovered from my surprise, he hugged me.