Shadow Blades (The Cimmerian Cycle #2)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I'm Cormac," he said smiling, "So, what brings you to the city?" he added conversationally.

That was another of his tactics. Lull them into a false sense of security and then strike when they least expected it. He loathed playing the honest city person but acting the part was essential.

"We're here to see the King," said the boy, "and I'm Koran. This is Leo, the twins and Rute and Yulan. The happy couple is Kiayani and Mik." He pointed each of them out.

Mik raised an eyebrow and Kiayani, the noble girl, just stared thoughtfully into the distance.

Cormac frowned, "the King?" he looked at Kiayani.

"Who else lives in the palace?" Leo asked and Mik smiled appreciatively.

"I know that," said Cormac impatiently, "I'll take you to the gates but then you are on your own."

Sure that girl was a noble, but was she high enough up to be granted audience? The city was full of noble families and he had assumed she would be visiting them. It did seem a bit odd that they had stayed in a tavern rather than going straight to a relative's house where her and her companions would no doubt have gained shelter.

There was no way Cormac was going anywhere near the palace. It was too risky for him as he was certain some of the guards would recognise him from the wanted posters he had failed to pull down quickly.

The others made no comment, only talking amongst themselves as they walked. Cormac tried to plot ways of getting Kiayani on her own but none of his viable. He wanted to scream in frustration. Why was he so useless? This whole morning was going to be a waste of time if he couldn't come up with something.

They reached the inner city gates in no time and he halted the group. This is where they parted.

"Here we are," he said before giving directions to the palace. He assured them that if they got lost they could ask any page for help. Koran shook his hand and gave him his thanks, slipping a few coins into his palm.

After waiting for so long he was letting them just walk away right under his nose. He wanted to kick something in defeat. What was wrong with him? A week ago he had been one of the top thieves in the entire city. Now he was no more than commoner scum. That girl had done something more than render his right knee useless. She had torn something inside, broken his will to look to the shadows for survival. What if he couldn't recover?

He spat on the ground. His gang couldn't support a hopeless member for long. A useless thief was just going to leech off of the gang's small funds.

Cormac would be thrown onto the streets again. His shoulders tensed. Chills racked his body as he came to that conclusion. If he was thrown out he would have nowhere to go. His parents were long dead and the family farm had been sold. If he had had the money then perhaps he would not have turned to thievery. But, the money had been taken by some drunken uncle. He hadn't seen a single coin.

A sense of despair filled another space inside him and he knew it would only get worse as the weeks went on. Cormac slumped against the wall and put his head in his hands. What was going to happen to him?

He lingered for a good half hour, both worrying and debating whether or not he should wait for their return. Cormac had the feeling that they wanted more than a visit to the King.

Just as he gave up and was walking away he heard a grating sound and turned around to see a figure cloaked in deep red robes sliding down the wall before pushing off and jumping to the nearest roof. The figure slid down the roof on his feet and dropped down the other side.