Chapter Seven
He stood there with his arms wide, playing to an invisible crowd. Was he expecting me to applaud? He had certainly made this into a grand production. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I asked.
Autolycus looked so offended that I had to press my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh. “Surely my name precedes me.”
“Never heard of . . .” My voice trailed off. I had heard that name a long time ago. But I couldn’t remember the context.
“King of thieves?” he added, as if that might jog something loose.
That was why I knew it! “You were the one who kidnapped the king of Ilion and immediately gave him up when the queen lit up her flaming sword!” I had laughed for a very long time when Lia told me that story.
“I didn’t kidnap him. He stumbled into our inn, and yes, I was planning on taking advantage of the situation by ransoming him, but I kept him safe. And I like my head being attached to my body, so I quickly led the queen to her beloved once she asked me oh so politely.”
Ha. Lia wouldn’t be capable of politeness if Xander was in danger. “You mean when she demanded his return and threatened to kill you.”
A smile lit up his features. “I have a feeling that to the queen, it is the same thing.”
It was a good thing that he had been clever enough to do as she said or else he wouldn’t be standing here now. “You are right about that.”
“Do you know the queen?”
“The king is my brother’s brother, which makes him and the queen family to me.” I wondered what Lia would say if I told her who I was sharing a room with.
“See? Definitely a princess.”
“And you’re what, a master thief?”
“That is what the ‘king of’ part implies,” he responded.
“So you worship Eramis like the Epirians?” I couldn’t keep the distaste out of my voice.
His eyes danced. “Who else would a thief worship besides the god of thieves?”
No wonder I’d initially assumed he was a pirate. He was a thief, and that was the same thing, just in a different location.
Shaking my head, I said, “Why would Sagaris invite the king of thieves to their tournament?”
“They didn’t. I liberated an invitation from someone on their way here.”
“And you read the rules in order to exploit them.”
“What other reason would anyone have to read a rule book?” He seemed awfully pleased with himself.
“Look, Autolycus—” I coughed to keep myself from laughing. “I’m not sure I can call you that. Lia told me the whole tale after it happened and it was one of the funniest things I’d ever heard. I’m afraid I’m going to laugh every time I say your name.”
“That won’t do,” he said. I understood his reaction because I had found that men did not particularly like being laughed at. “You should call me something else.”
“Thief? Liar?” I offered unhelpfully.
“My mother used a nickname for me. Zain. It is what my friends and loved ones call me.”
It suited him better. Autolycus was such an old-fashioned name. It made him sound ninety years old. “Zain,” I repeated. “That I can do without laughing.”
Then a bitter pang of jealousy entered my heart as I realized what he had just said. He’d mentioned loved ones. Did he have a woman he loved back home? Considering how he looked, he probably had a woman he loved in every city he visited. I shoved the feeling down. It was a waste of energy.
And his admission of being a thief and a liar should have dimmed my attraction to him.
It did not.
A fact he picked up on. “I’m surprised that you seem fine with my line of work. As I recall, the Thracian code outlaws this sort of thing.”
I wasn’t fine with it. But what could I do? I wouldn’t be able to stop him from stealing. The fact that he called himself the king meant that not only was he good at it, but he enjoyed it.
“Better that than what I initially thought,” I said, thinking a joke might be my best bet to break this tension I was feeling. “With that red tunic, I assumed you were a hetaera.”
When he smiled this time, I realized he had a dimple in his left cheek that I hadn’t noticed before. “I’m not a hetaera. But if I was, I’d be very, very wealthy.”
I rolled my eyes and he laughed. “You question my skills?”
“Men who need to brag about their prowess usually don’t have the goods to back it up.”
The air in the room shifted, and it suddenly crackled with heavy tension as his voice lowered. “I have all the goods, illora.”
My mouth went dry and I forced myself to focus. “What did you just call me?”
“I decided that if I have a nickname, you need one as well.” I could see that he wanted me to ask what it meant. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
He waited a moment and then went over to the lone window. He let out a high-pitched whistle, and a few moments later, I heard what sounded like nails clawing against stone.
Zain patted his chest and an animal leapt up into his waiting arms.
“What is that?” I asked, alarmed.
“My dog.”
“That is not a dog,” I told him. “My family has dogs. That . . . is some kind of large rodent.”
He put his hands over the creature’s ears. “Shh. You’ll hurt his feelings.”
“Does it have feelings?” The monstrosity looked like a mix between a plague-infested rat and a distempered wolf.
“This is Dagger.”
Another name that didn’t match. “Why would you name an animal, if ‘animal’ is the word we’ve agreed to use for that?”
“So I can call his name when I want his attention. Do you not name your animals?”
“No.”
“Not even your horse?”
“It’s a horse.”
He laughed like I had said something hilarious. His laughter was rich and warm and I might have sighed just a little at the sound. “Something to add to my list about Thracians. They don’t name their animals.”
Zain set his monster down and it came rushing toward me.
I expected it to jump or claw at my legs, but he sat down at my feet.
His tongue lolled out of his mouth and one of his eyeballs pointed in the wrong direction.
His fur was wiry and in patches, and he wore a red leather collar around his neck that matched Zain’s tunic.
I offered the rat-dog my hand and he sniffed it, then moved so that I could scratch him behind what I guessed were his ears.
“Dagger doesn’t like anyone but me.” He sounded surprised.
“And me, apparently,” I said as the quasi-dog leaned harder against my hand, wanting more. “I love animals. Always have. But I’m not sure Dagger is the right name for him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s obviously not a dangerous weapon.”
“Sometimes looks can be deceiving,” he said.
I glanced down at the half-dog and his looks were not deceiving. If Dagger could manage to navigate the hallway without running into a wall, I would have been shocked. I, of course, already loved him, but he seemed to be a not very bright little monster.
“We’re not supposed to bring pets but I couldn’t leave him at home,” Zain said, trying to get Dagger to come back to him, but he was very happy right where he was.
Zain lounged on the bed and I wondered if that was calculated. Because it looked inviting and I found myself wanting to join him. I returned my attention to petting his dog.
“Are you going to the party tonight? The Sagari are throwing a massive celebration for the opening of the tournament. They expect the competitors to attend.”
I brushed the hem of my tunic. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
“There’s no requirement to wear clothing. I’m sure no one would object if you showed up naked,” he teased.
A tiny voice in my head wondered what he would look like naked and I quickly hushed it. “Everything I own is dirty, and none of it is appropriate for a party.”
“You don’t strike me as the vain type,” he said.
“I’m not vain,” I shot back. “I’m just—I’m already going to stand out as the only female competitor. I don’t want there to be additional reasons for people to gossip about me.”
“They’ll gossip about you regardless. Why do you care?”
He wasn’t understanding what I was trying to convey, and so I decided to be more straightforward. “I hate being made fun of or being the butt of the joke. The only person I’ve ever let do that is my brother and I barely tolerate it from him.”
Zain lay there quietly for a few heartbeats before he finally said softly, “You’re more sensitive than you let on.”
“That’s not at all—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he stood up. “I might be able to help you.”
“How?”
“Leave it to me. You should rest—all that traveling must have made you tired. I’ll be back soon.”
I started to ask him what he was doing when he paused at the door.
“Basileia?” When he saw that he had my attention, he went on. “A woman as beautiful as you should be vain.”
My heart started pounding hard in my chest as he closed the door.
No one had ever called me beautiful before.
Thrax gave me his hand and I jumped up to grab it, and he helped me climb the rest of the way up the labyrinth wall. We had let the Carians into Troas deliberately and Xander had asked us to help defend the labyrinth.
My brother had already triggered multiple traps—doors that opened suddenly and crushed anyone who went inside, pits that appeared beneath the invaders and swallowed them whole. Thrax tripped another trap and a wall of arrows flew straight across the passageway, killing everyone in their path.
Other Ilionian soldiers ran along other walls, setting off their own traps. There were explosions and fire and smoke and the screams of the dying.
The Carians shot at us as we hurried along the top of the wall, but having the high ground gave us the advantage. We rained down arrows on them. So many died that I lost count.
Thrax’s attention was on the army below, and he didn’t see the fighter who had climbed the wall to attack us.
“In front of you! Down!” I yelled.
He immediately dropped into a crouch and I leapt over him, keeping my balance as I landed. We had trained together for many years and had easily fallen back into our old and familiar routine of having each other’s backs.
With a yell I ran at the attacker with my sword drawn. He waited for me and was so distracted by the noise I made that he didn’t notice when I pulled a knife from my belt and threw it straight into his neck. He fell off the wall, landing on his countrymen.
I spotted the ladder that soldier had used and saw other Carians climbing it. I kicked it off the wall and watched as it fell.
Then I heard an unmistakable sound—a child was crying.
I whirled around, scanning the area. Why was there a child out there? Xander and his men had gathered all the citizens in the cavern under the palace to keep them safe.
There.
My heart dropped.
There was a family and they were completely surrounded by the enemy. Why weren’t they in the cavern? I saw a rope on the wall and headed for it.
A hand clamped around my upper arm. I turned to fight but saw it was my brother.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” I demanded.
“There’s too many of them! You won’t survive! You are not allowed to throw your life away. You are needed here. If you run to your death, who will avenge that family? We can’t save everyone! Be smart, Bas!”
I watched as they were cut down, Thrax still holding on to me. I owed them that. To witness what was done to them. When the last family member died, fury and despair ignited inside me and I screamed and screamed.
“Basileia!”
Before I even knew what was happening, I had my knife out and felt it meet flesh.