Giant thief

CHAPTER 1

The sun was going down by the time they decided to hang me.

In fairness, they hadn't rushed the decision. They'd been debating it for almost an hour since my capture and initial beating. One of the three was in favour of handing me over to an officer from amongst the regulars. The second had been determined to slit my throat, and was so set in his opinion that I'd hoped he might make a start with his companions. On that basis, I'd decided to lend him my encouragement. "He's right, you know. It's quick, but painful, and less messy than you might expect."

All that had earned me was a particularly vicious kick to the forehead, so I'd settled for the occasional nod or mumble of assent instead.

I'd often been told that sooner or later I'd steal the wrong thing from the wrong person and end up with my neck in a noose. While I'd occasionally suspected there was some truth to the theory, I'd made a point of trying not to think about it. Hanging struck me as a needlessly drawn out and unpleasant way to go, so I'd comforted myself with the knowledge that — law enforcement in the Castoval being what it is — I'd never need to worry unless I got careless or exceptionally stupid.

That day, unfortunately, I'd been both.

The debate went on, and I followed it as best I could, while surreptitiously dodging their clouts and trying to work my hands free. Despite their posturing, I felt sure they had recently been fishermen, likely down from the coast above Aspira Nero. They wore no colours, and no armour except for leather bracers and skullcaps. Their amber skin was weathered and leathery from sea spray; their speech was thick, and as rough as their manners. I was heartily bored of their company by the time they reached a consensus, not to mention tired of the irregular blows.

One — the tallest, his face glossy and flushed behind a straggle of beard — turned to me and said, "You hear that? We're going to string you up." He was the one who'd been arguing for it all along.

"I heard. I still think you'd be better off with throat slitting. It's much more straightforward, and I'd be less likely to foul myself. Still, it's your time to waste, I suppose."

"That it is," he agreed, darting a warning glance at his companion, who was toying sulkily with a bonehandled dagger.

If they'd decided my sentence beyond question, I could see no harm in telling what I thought of him. "I suppose it would be too much to expect any finesse from someone so oafish and malodorous, and whose mother in all likelihood-"

I'd planned much more, but my concentration was broken by another whack to the head, this one hard enough to knock me down. For an instant, everything went black. The next I knew, my lips tasted of blood, and though the blood was mingled with dirt, I could tell I was no longer on the ground. There was something rough and warm between my legs and something else tight around my throat. The warm thing identified itself by whinnying irritably. The other I recognised without any assistance.

I considered not opening my eyes. It didn't seem likely to be fruitful. Then it occurred to me that I didn't want to die in darkness. But the view was disappointing. Everything was as I'd left it: the road still stretched to our left, still busy with traffic meandering toward the encampment ahead; the fishermen's cart still sat upon the grass; the old beech tree was where it had been all afternoon. My view of it was a little different, though, now that I was suspended from one of its branches. The moon was clearer in the sky, the sun almost gone. I judged that only a few minutes had passed since they'd settled my fate.

"He's awake," observed the shortest, the one with the obsession for throat slitting.

"I am," I said, the words garbled a little by the noose around my throat. "So can we get on, please? There's a nip in the air, I fear it's going to be a cold night."

I'd like to think this sounded courageous. More likely, the impression was of fear-maddened babbling.

"He's right," the tallest agreed, "who wants to stand around in the cold? Let's get it over with." He turned his attention to me. "What's your name again?"

"Damasco," I told him, for the third time. "Easie Damasco. Remember it when my seven brothers come to avenge me in the night."

"Damasco," he said, "do you have any last words? Be civil and perhaps we'll pull on your legs for you."

"I'll simply remind you of my complete innocence. You may not see it, but your gods will, mark my words. Justice will be served in this life or another."

"Ha! Goodbye, Damasco."

There were other things I wanted to say, and they seemed tremendously important. Just then, however, he motioned with one hand to someone behind me. I heard the swish of a lash, the horse complained, and suddenly there was nothing between me and the ground except air.

I tried to reach for the noose, forgetting that my hands were tied behind my back. One shoulder cracked unpleasantly, and I gave up the attempt. For the first time, I began to panic. I thrashed my legs, as if this might somehow bridge the gap between feet and ground. I tried to scream, and heard a sound like water burbling, which was strangled off immediately. The pain in my throat was astonishing. It seemed to surge outward, filling my extremities, draining them of strength. Still, I struggled. I knew on some deep level that if I once stopped moving I'd be dead. But my energy was fading by the moment.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Something went "thud" above me. An instant later, incomprehensibly, I was falling hard into tall grass. I landed feet first, and tumbled backward. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to my feet. I was surprised to find that I'd closed my eyes at some point and opened them again, looking to where I thought the voice had come from.

There were a dozen riders, all similarly dressed, but he stood out like a hawk amongst sparrows. There was little physically to distinguish him: his horse stood a hand or two taller, his cloak and armour were evidently expensive, though devoid of decoration. His skin was noticeably darker than my own olive brown, his hair and thin beard bound into coils with whorls of wire, his features sharply angled. Though the effect was striking, the characteristics were typical of many a northerner. What told me this was the warlord Moaradrid of Shoan was something altogether more subtle. It was in his bearing, in the way his black eyes darted over us, in the intensity of his smallest gestures. He exuded authority, even at rest.

Other than that, his only mark of rank was the deference paid by his bodyguards. One still had his bow hoisted. I followed the angle and saw where his arrow had sliced my noose free at the bough. The three fishermen had fallen to their knees, with their brows scraping the roadside. I thought it prudent to follow their example.

"Do we waste men?" asked Moaradrid.

Every syllable had weight. The composite effect was like a rockslide.

"Your majesty, sir…"

"Do we waste capable men?"

"No lord, but we caught him stealing from the baggage train-"

"Then he has use of hands and feet."

"Yes sir, only-"

"You," he said to me, "do you want to be hanged?"

"Truthfully, I find the prospect unappealing," I replied.

My throat still felt constricted, and the words stung like salt in a cut.

"Would you prefer to serve in my army?"

"That, lord, was precisely why I was here, before these ruffians misguidedly apprehended me, and-"

"Take him to a volunteer brigade," said Moaradrid, speaking again to the self-declared leader of the fishermen.

He turned away, drove his heels into his mount's flank, and started up the road. His bodyguard fell in around him.

I watched him go without interference from my newfound companions, who seemed to be still in a state of shock. I couldn't help but admire his posture, the simple elegance of his dress, and the way his free hand rested on the pommel of his scimitar.

What most impressed me, though, was the size of the coin-bag just visible at his waist.

• • • •

"Back there… you were about to say something about my mother."

"I was?"

"You were."

"I'm surprised by that. I'm not generally the sort to comment on someone's parentage. It would take unusual provocation to make me to sink that low."

Costas — the self-appointed leader — snorted and turned away. He had been trying to pick a fight for the last five minutes, and while I wasn't averse in theory, I was hardly in a suitable state. I'd been exhausted and half starved when they caught me. They wouldn't have done so otherwise, and for that matter, I wouldn't have lowered myself to pilfering from a baggage train. The subsequent beating and hanging hadn't done much to improve my condition.

Costas was certainly tall, but he was lanky, and under normal circumstances, I reckoned I could have handled him. The short one, Armando, was more of a danger, and the middle one, who'd hardly spoken, remained an unknown quantity. In any case, it was three against one, so I'd thought it wise to try to play nice. Costas hadn't been making it easy, and I was glad he'd finally lost interest.

I was sat with Costas and the quiet one in the back of the cart, perched on crates that reeked of cabbage and dried fish past its prime. The road was poor and the cart's suspension was long gone, if it had ever had any, but it was marginally better than walking.

"So what's this volunteer brigade then?" It seemed a more neutral topic of conversation. All three ignored me at first, so I added, "Better work than being a sword for hire, I imagine?"

Armando sniggered from the driver's board.

"You'll see."

"It can't be that bad."

"Can't it?"

This was getting me nowhere, and I thought I knew the answer anyway. It was likely one of the reasons Moaradrid was down here in the Castoval, rather than up in the far north where he belonged. The plains beyond Pasaeda were a miserable place, neglected by the king because there was nothing there worth having. They were home to countless tribes, most nomadic, and traditionally they spent their time fighting between each other over women and horses, not necessarily in that order.

Moaradrid had changed all that. In so doing, he had united a third of the tribes together within the space of a year. His initiative was simple: where others had been content to take a new wife and a good stallion from a defeated enemy, Moaradrid took their warlord's head and all of their fighting men.

Making one last bid for a safe subject, I began, "I imagine there are plenty of opportunities here for a resourceful and hard-working sort like myself."

"Maybe, if you survive the night." That was Costas.

"Of course," I agreed cheerfully.

"Which you won't. You don't get it, do you? You'll be lucky if they give you a weapon. The volunteers' job is to line up and throw themselves at the enemy until they're all dead or you are. If you're still useful after that then maybe they'll let you into the regulars. But odds are you'll be dead or worse."

Though I was intrigued by the question of what might be worse than being dead, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of asking. There was one question, however, that was burning in my mind. Until a couple of weeks ago, Moaradrid's campaign had been amusing tavern gossip. Then he'd changed direction. It made a certain sense; eventually he was going to come into contention with the king, however oblivious the old fool was, and it would take more than a horde of unruly plainsmen to profit from that encounter. What had me curious was what had happened next. Most of Moaradrid's force had camped here on the plain near Aspira Nero, while the warlord himself and a small retinue had journeyed on. They had avoided the hastily gathered southern defenders, and hardly a drop of blood had been shed on either side. Now here he was again. I'd watched them passing for a while before I'd decided to chance my hand with the baggage cart. Amongst the fighting men had been a succession of large covered wagons, their contents invisible.

What was Moaradrid up to?

Even if these three knew, which I doubted, I'd missed my chance to ask. We'd been trundling steadily toward the main camp for about an hour. The last daylight was gone, and the bulbous moon hung low in an overcast sky. I'd identified the camp by a few angular silhouettes near the river that must be tents, some widely spaced fires burning higher up the slope on our right, and by the stink, which had been building for the last few minutes. I couldn't make out any details, but that rank conference of scents gave me a fair idea of how many bodies were waiting for us ahead.

I knew this region. It was at a point where the Casto Mara swung close to the eastern foothills, near the mouth of the valley. The only nearby town was Aspira Nero, which marked the boundary of the Castoval and the court-controlled Midlands, and was generally considered neutral territory. Here there were only small farms, with olive plantations higher up the slopes and rice grown on the riverbank. It would have been good land except for reliable yearly floods that turned it into a swamp. I wondered where all the locals had gone. Perhaps they were dead. Perhaps I'd been meeting them soon as fellow volunteers.

At the edge of the camp — an arbitrary distinction given how unruly it was — we were stopped by a guard, a plainsman with his hair slung in a single braid over one shoulder.

"Where are you headed?" he asked without interest.

"These men," I said quickly, "are mercenaries of the cheaper sort. I am a volunteer, come to serve Moaradrid with my youthful vigour and courage."

"But not with your sword?" he asked, looking at my empty belt.

"It was stolen by bandits," I told him sadly. "I killed nearly a dozen, then thought it prudent to leave unarmed but intact. I'm sure someone will be good enough to loan me a new one."

"I don't doubt it."

He waved over a colleague, who was lounging nearby against a post.

"Take him to the disposables," he ordered, pointing at me.

The soldier grunted, and motioned for me to climb down. The officer said something to Armando as I did so, and the moment my heels struck the ground the cart lurched forward.

"Good luck, volunteer," called Costas. He spat after me, missing by an arm's length.

"May your aim be as precise when your life depends on it," I shouted back.

My escort glared at me, and fingered the handle of his sword where it hung from his cloth belt. The sash was a reddish-purple, like a fresh bruise: the colour of Moaradrid. That meant he was a regular. I decided it might be better not to annoy him further.

"Shall we go?" I suggested.

He grunted again, and set off into the camp. I fell in behind.

Moaradrid's campsite was, frankly, a shambles. I got the impression that the vast majority of his troops had spent the last few nights in the open, with only the officers and veterans housed in the tents and commandeered farm buildings down by the water's edge. The fact that they hadn't bothered to make more permanent arrangements suggested they didn't intend to stay much longer. That in turn meant a battle was probably imminent. I knew our army was located nearby to the north. Now that Moaradrid was back from his mysterious journey, it seemed inevitable that the long-brewing conflict would come to a head.

Of course, it wasn't really "our" army — or at least, not mine. I was now the enemy, strictly speaking. It was a depressing thought, on many levels.

To cheer myself, I drew from the folds of my cloak the stash of food I'd taken from the cart: a hunk of bread, a quarter of wilted cabbage, and some foulsmelling fish. The bread seemed least unappetising, so I tore a lump and chewed ruminatively. I broke it in half when my escort stopped to glare at me and offered him the remainder.

"Stolen?" he asked.

"Not from here," I said, fairly truthfully. In fact, I'd acquired it just before the officer stopped us at the camp border.

"I'll have some fish as well then," he told me, so I halved that too.

After he'd eaten his share and kept it down, I followed his example. It was surprisingly good — though since I was starving, my own boots would have probably tasted delectable right then. The soldier finished his bread as well, then took a swig from a water skin and handed it to me. It turned out to contain wine. Though objectively I knew it was vinegary and heavily diluted, it too seemed delicious. I grinned at him gratefully, but he only grabbed the skin back and kept walking.

We'd been heading upwards all the while. I couldn't tell much beyond that. While the moon was almost full, it was cloudy, with a storm brewing over the eastern hills. The only real light was from campfires, and there weren't many of those, maybe due to the scarcity of wood this close to the river but perhaps also because Moaradrid didn't want to betray his numbers. My escort seemed to know where he was going, which implied that there was some order to the gaggles of men and bright spots of firelight. That didn't help me much. If I was going to escape before the battle, as I was determined I would, I'd need a better idea of where I was.

We came to a halt. There was a pitifully small fire, close to a stunted olive tree and what appeared to be a large upright rock like an obelisk. There were figures around the fire, though I couldn't judge how many. I could only count the innermost few and those were evidently a favoured minority. My escort glanced around. His night vision was better than mine, because he focused on one black shape no different from any other and called, "Lugos, how are your numbers?"

A stocky man loomed out of the darkness. "I've lost two to sickness, and one in a knife fight." His voice was coarse yet high-pitched, and the flickering orange glow upon only half his face served to emphasise his ugliness. "Why, have you brought me a new body?"

"I have if you want him. He's skinny and a thief. That hardly matters for what you want, eh?"

The man named Lugos turned to me. "Not at all," he said. "Skinny thieves die just as well as other men."

"My name is Easie Damasco," I said, "and stealing once to fend off starvation doesn't make me a thief."

"Who cares? Sure, I'll take him off your hands," he said, and my escort nodded and turned back the way we'd come. Then, to me, he continued, "Damasco is it? There's a few rules you'll need to know. Do what I tell you. Don't argue. When it comes to it, don't run away. And don't mess with Leon and Saltlick."

"I think I can remember all that. Who are Leon and Saltlick?"

"Here, I'll introduce you, and you'll know who to keep away from."

He led me around the campfire. One or two men cried out as we trampled blindly on their extremities, then shut up quickly when they recognised Lugos. We stopped near to the large rock I'd noticed before. There was a lean figure sat at its base, and he looked up as we drew close. He seemed surprisingly young to have been singled out for whatever special authority he had.

"This is Leon," Lugos said, and Leon waved a skinny hand at me. "And that," he went on, pointing to the black mass the boy was resting against, "is Saltlick."

"What? Behind that rock?"

Leon chuckled, and Lugos barked out a laugh. I wondered what could be so funny — until the rock moved. The clouds flurried away from the moon for an instant, and I saw a monstrous hand, each finger as long as my head. I leaped backward, and Lugos gripped my arm and held it tight.

"Careful," he said. "Or Saltlick might just decide you're food."