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I awoke with a boot to my ribs, which was better than I’d expected. When I opened my eyes, Erick towered over me, his arms folded. Fink stood in the shadows behind him. He had a dark bruise on his forehead from where I’d kicked him. A better person might’ve regretted kicking a kid. I didn’t.
“You’ve got a rat behind you,” I muttered to Erick.
Fink shook his head. “No, my pet’s in her cage. ”
“I wasn’t talking about your pet. ”
“Call me whatever names you want,” Fink said. “They said as long as I watch out for you, I can stay too. ”
If he expected a congratulations from me, he was going to be disappointed. This was no place for someone his age. Nor mine, I supposed.
“Why didn’t you run?” Erick asked. “It appears our knots were no good for you. ”
“Undoing all those knots made me tired. Besides, you and I have business to discuss. ” I eyed Fink. “Without him. ”
“If it wasn’t for me, they would have killed you already,” Fink said.
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here in the first place,” I retorted.
Erick grabbed my shirt and yanked me to my feet, then led me forward with Fink at my heels. Every time he got too close I stopped walking, forcing him to run into me, then I turned around and grinned back at him. It irritated him, but I was bigger so I didn’t think he’d try anything back. Of course, the last time we met I had kicked him in the face, so maybe he would.
They led me into a makeshift tent on the edge of camp. From the looks of it, this was a supply tent, though there wasn’t much here to offer. In the center was a small table. Lying on it were my knife, sword, and the satchel of coins I’d given to Fink.
Erick motioned to the items. “Explain these. ”
I flashed a wry smile. “If you don’t know what these are, then you’re in the wrong business. ”
He wasn’t amused. He picked up the satchel by a seam and dumped the coins on the table. “These are Carthyan and in new condition. How do you come to possess so many of them?”
“I took them. ” Which was easy to do because as king, they were mine.
“So you’re a thief. ”
Casually, I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Looks that way. ”
“Are you any good?”
My answer only required a nod at the coins.
“Where’d they come from?”
“Why do you want to know?” As if that weren’t obvious.
“You told Fink you could get more. ”
I eyed Fink. “He should’ve realized that secret divided better between only the two of us. ”
Erick was quickly losing his patience. “So are there more?”
Folding my arms, I said, “You can’t expect me to answer that. If there are, I’d rather save that news for the pirates. ”
Erick grinned slyly. “Ah. You think with some treasure you could earn yourself a seat at their table?”
I didn’t need a seat. Just a sword and a lot of luck.
Erick continued, “It won’t work because they don’t know you. They would take the coins and then give you a quick beheading. ”
“I’m very opposed to any beheadings involving my own neck,” I said. “So tell me how to make it work. Maybe you know the pirates. ”
“I know a few. ” Erick scratched his jaw. “If you told me where this treasure is, I could tell the pirates. ”
“Which still results in my headless problem,” I said. “I have access to the coins, but I can’t get them alone. And no offense, but I wouldn’t trust your amateur bunch of thieves with stealing a single coin from a wishing pond, much less the treasure I have access to. It has to be the pirates and it has to be me who tells them. ”
Erick pulled out a knife and shoved me against a post of the tent. “There’s no treasure. I think you’re making it up. ”
Which was rather insulting, because if I’d intended to make up a story, I could have done far better than this. However, my focus remained on the knife at my throat. “You don’t want to do this. ”
His lip curled. “Yes, I do. ”
I considered that. “Fair enough. But it’d be a mistake. The coins are real and there’re thousands of them. They’re in a secret cave in Carthya. The royals keep only a small portion of their wealth in the castle. If it’s ever overrun, they don’t want their enemies to have all the treasury. ”
“How do you know this?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t? It’s common practice for all royals, not just Carthyans. ”
“I thought that was a myth,” Fink said.
“I’ve been there,” I said. “I’ve stood inside the walls. ”
That had happened only once, when I was still quite young. I had a memory of having gone there with my father and Darius. My father had caught me using the coins as skipping rocks across a wide pond at the far end of the cave. My backside still remembered his anger for that.
Erick finally released me, then rubbed a hand along his unshaven jaw. “Where’s the cave?”
“You think it’s that easy to find?” I chuckled. “I could draw you a map and you’d still miss it. You’ll have to keep me alive if you want to see it. ”
“How much is in there?” Fink asked.
“More than you’ll see in a lifetime. There’s enough for every pirate to split a healthy share, and I figure it’s more than enough to earn me a seat at their table. ”
“And perhaps me as well. ” Erick shook his head. “You can’t go to the pirates alone, but if I brought you along, they’d hear you out. I could bargain with them, that in exchange for the treasure, I’d earn a place with them too. ”
“Could you include keeping me alive as part of that bargain?” I asked.
Erick grinned. “That’s not my top priority. ” I started to protest but he added, “You’re not leaving here on your own. But if you’re one of my thieves, with me as your partner, then you might have a chance. Besides, there’s no other way you can find their camp. ”
With a stubborn frown, I said, “You’ll get all the glory for my coins. ”
“We’ll both have it. You said yourself you couldn’t get them on your own and the devils know I won’t let you go without my share. So don’t look at it as losing the glory. You’re gaining a partner. ”
In fact, I looked at it as neither of those. But I made the appropriate expressions of thinking his proposal over, then nodded. “All right, I’m in. But we don’t have a lot of time. ”
“Why not?”
Because time was not on my side. It was now only five days until the regents met. However, I figured that detail would only complicate our tenuous relationship, so I said, “There’re others who know about the cave. We have to get there first, or not at all. ”
“Then we’ll go to the pirates soon. But first, you must prove yourself. ”
Suddenly anxious, I cocked my head. “I already have. I brought you those coins. ”
“Yeah, but I never saw you take them. Did you think I’d recommend you to the pirates unless I saw you for myself?”