The sword felt heavy in my hand as the sun beat unmercifully down on me. Sweat poured out of every pore, making the hilt slick in my grasp. It had been ages since I had held a sword the proper way. If my father was here, he would have scoffed at how out of practice I had
My left shoulder jolted backwards. There was pain, pain of a caliber that I had never felt before. I looked down at my shoulder and saw a quarrel jutting out right by my heart. My head swam as I took in all of the blood soaking my tunic. From the corner of my eye, I saw a pommel of a sword come down on my head. Everything went dark.
Waking up was hard. It seemed like for a while now, I had been drifting between dreams and hallucinations. Eventually, though, I had to regain consciousness. Everything ached. I could see that it was night through the window slit set high up on the wall. A candle guttered sporadically on the table near my bed. When I turned my head to look for water, it set off a chain of pain from my head to my toes.
I saw a jar of hopefully water on the table. I lifted my hand up an inch above the bed before giving up on it and letting it drop back down. A groan escaped my lips. A shadow detached itself from the far corner of the room.
"I'm glad to see that you aren't dead. My physician wasn't certain that you would make it. He has kept you out so that you could heal peacefully." The shadow's voice was cool; a woman's voice. "You've been out for some time."
The woman ran a light finger along the edge of the table. The darkness of the room made her dress look blood red. The candle light reflected gently on her jeweled headband.
"I'll admit, when my soldiers brought you in, I was half tempted to execute you immediately and half tempted to ransom you to your monarch."
"And what did you decide?" It would have been kind to compare my voice to sandpaper.
The woman poured a cup from the jug. She gently lifted my head up and tilted the cup to my lips.
"We received word a week ago from Sounis that he has the Hamiathes Gift and is traveling to Eddis to present it to their Queen. If they are married, it would be disastrous to Attolia. I might be convinced to take you on as my own personal thief."
"Is that an offer? I must warn you, though you are quite beautiful, my master is more kind."
The woman's lips quirked up in a humorless smile. "It is mainly something for you to consider while you heal. I am afraid that I must leave you. It is quite late, the Dog Watch of the night."
She swept out of the room, her feet making no sound. It would have seemed like a dream, had not the cup sat on the table.
I had no desire to see myself beheaded, ransomed, or to become the Thief of Attolia. I sat up with effort that seemed too great for such a small task. I grabbed the cup and downed the remainder of the water. I was no longer in my own clothes but a sturdy nightshirt. Somebody had taken everything in my pockets and left them on the table. I could also see my boots setting neatly by the door.
I managed to get myself situated and out of the room. I wasn't that surprised to see that there were no guards outside my room or anywhere in the hallway. Getting out of the acropolis wasn't much more difficult. The only thing that slowed me down was having to stop to regain strength every five minutes.
The morning found me stumbling along the dirt path next to the river. Every once in awhile I would stop for what amounted to a break. I justified it to myself by saying that I was listening for horses and soldiers in pursuit. The morning went on and still there were no signs of anyone caring that I was gone.
Finally, I made it to two logs jammed perpendicular across the river. Normally, crossing them would have been child's play. I could have crossed them walking on my hands if I had been feeling adventurous. Today, my pace was like an arthritic old man's.
My legs were weak first from my bedrest, then from the treck away from the acropolis. If I wasn't exhausted to the very core of my being, I might have been more embarrassed when I collapsed after crossing the bridge into the arms of the Eddisian soldiers. To be completely honest, I don't remember much about the trip to the capital city. I remember being wrapped in warm blankets and rough but sturdy hands holding me on the horse. Gruff voices that reminded me of family invaded my conscious.
To say that the Magus was pleased was an understatement. His dreams were finally being realized. The Hamiathes Gift was currently being checked over by the High Priest of Eddis.
Sounis would be married to Eddis shortly, cementing a treaty in time for the Medes. Sophos was here to witness the momentous occasion, though if the two monarchs were to be wed, Sophos would shortly fall lower in the succession list. Pol was were as well, keeping an eye on his charge.
A small, dark Eddisian messenger boy slipped through the room and the Magus' thoughts turned darker. He remembered a boy, a boy not much older that the one that had just crossed his path. He still didn't know why Gen had sacrificed himself. There had been no love lost between Gen and the Magus, especially after the misunderstanding about the food. However, it had seemed that something had changed in their relationship in their last days together.
If nothing else, when his traitorous apprentice had muttered, "Good riddance" when they had seen Gen shot down by the Attolians, the Magus certainly hadn't shed a tear when Pol pushed Ambiades off the cliff.
The magus knew that somebody in their party had to have been betraying their movements to the Attolians. Sophos was a ridiculous choice as a conspirator; he couldn't keep a secret to save his life. Pol's loyalty to the country of Sounis was unquestionable. Finally, the Magus' first choice as a traitor, Gen, had just proven his unlikeliness of being an Attolian spy by willingly dying by their hands. The Magus was kicking himself for not suspecting Ambiades' disloyalty sooner. Everything was clearer in hindsight.
The clang of soldiers running up the steps broke the Magus from this thoughts. One of the soldiers broke away from the group and stopped by one of Eddis' ministers. If the Magus remembered correctly, it was the Minister of War. The man's face remained stoic as the soldier whispered into his ear. He waved the man away, made his excuses to his queen, and left.
Eddis looked thoughtfully at the group of soldiers waiting at the edge of the courtiers. She wasn't a classic beauty, but there was something about her. She stood up from her throne, seeming to trip over her skirt. Wrinkling her nose at the nuisance tangling her feet made her crooked nose seem more noticeable. She waved a hand to dismiss the court but ordered the soldiers to stay.
"What was that about?" asked Sophos.
"I don't know. We might get an answer tonight when the priests announce the validity of Hamiathes Gift."
Sophos shifted nervously. He was not comfortable that the Magus had made a replica of the missing stone. He had seen the real thing and there was no doubting the god made gift.
Sophos had been feeling adrift recently. Ambiades' treachery and death had shook him, but not as much as the death of his friend, Gen. Two deaths of his traveling companions within minutes of each other was hard for him to deal with.
Even so, he was enjoying being in Eddis. His memories were much better, this time around. He liked the plain, outspoken population and he was mesmerized by the queen. A lot of his time was spent hanging out with some of Eddis' cousins. From their stories, he couldn't wait to meet the absent Queen's Thief. He would like to think that his Gen and their Eugenides would have gotten along like a house on fire.
It saddened him to think that even if Gen would have survived, his dreams of having his name written in stone would not have come to pass. The Magus would soon Queen's Thief and would have even if Gen had lived. Gen would only be remembered by his three surviving traveling companions.
Pol stood slightly behind Sophos, his eyes scanning for dangers to Sounis' heir. He could tell by Sophos' kicked puppy face that he was thinking about Gen again. Over the course of their journey, Pol had began to suspect Gen of being more the gutter scum from Sounis.
Upon reaching Eddis, he had pulled the first soldier he saw aside. The soldier, a man named Temenus, had informed him that their thief was not currently in the capitol. Temenus had shown him a portrait of the Queen's thief when Pol asked.
In the carefully groomed picture, Pol was able to see a slightly older, skinnier, grinning ragamuffin that was Gen. Suspicions confirmed, he had quietly informed the soldier about a thief taken out of Sounis' dungeon and how the youth had died, bravely, defending the rest of the group from Attolian soldiers. He told the man about about how well Gen had fought and how his father, a soldier, would have been proud.
Temenus looked suspiciously like an older version of one of the people in the Queen's Thief's family portrait. Pol supposed that they maybe were cousins. Either way, Temenus turned so pale that he looked green and stumbled away from Pol.
The priest was to come to the court after the evening meal to announce if the Magus' stone matched their records. Pol watched as the Magus shifted from overly confident to crippling nerves throughout the day. Sounis himself was like a puffed up rooster, assured of his soon-to-be nuptials.
When they had finally cleared the tables in preparation for the evening dancing, the moment of truth arrived. The elderly priest stood near the queen, his face inscrutable. His robes were finely embroidered with gold thread that sparkled in the candlelight.
The young queen slouched in her intricately carved throne, her feet stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankles. Her hair curled wildly, nearly obscuring her thin circlet of a crown. Her head was propped up by one of her hands. A less dignified image of a queen was hard to imagine.
"The stone provided by the Sounisians match our sacred records," said the head priest, his voice echoing through the court.
Sounis' face broke into a cocky grin. He started forward towards Eddis.
"Just one minute," drawled the mountain queen. "Before we continue, I would like to hear from one other person of interest."
Sibilant whispers broke out from the nobles from both countries. Eddis was staring at the far end of the room where a small dark figure detached itself from the shadows and started towards her. The crowd shifted haphazardly to let the man through. From where they stood, the Sounisians couldn't get a good look at him until he dropped to his knees before Eddis.
The three traveling companions were shocked. It was Gen.
The soldiers had brought me in this morning. I'll admit, I slept the entire ride here, cradled in some soldier's arms. When I arrived, the palace physician, a man named Galen, checked my healing wound. He had declared that it was healing nicely and that all I needed was rest. I was then escorted to the nearest bed where I slept even more.
It was getting dark out I woke up. I noticed two soldiers in my room, sitting, talking quietly to one another. They looked up as soon as I lifted my head.
"About time," the taller one stated. "I thought that you would never wake up."
"Your timing is something else," said the shorter soldier. "The Sounisians are here claiming that they have the Hamiathes Gift. The old coot that is our most revered high priest is currently checking it against our records. He makes the announcement to the court in about half an hour."
"I have something I need to tell Eddis." I started to get up, paused, then pulled the covers back up. "But first I need some clothes."
After changing, I made my way to the court. When Eddis called me forward, I could hear the crowd muttering about me, but none more than the Sounisian corner. I knelt before the queen only to startle when I felt a hand on my shoulder. The Magus stood beside me, his hand unintentionally digging into my bad shoulder.
"Your Majesty," he said in a low voice, "I believe that there has been some misunderstanding. You see, this boy is a Sounisian thief that I brought along to help steal the Gift. We thought that he died in Attolia. Please excuse him, he is just a commoner."
"I thought you stated that you stole the Gift."
"Well, I did. This boy is just the tool that I used-"
"You do not understand our traditions and rules," the queen interrupted. "You previously stated that you became the true Thief after stealing the Gift. However, you just admitted that it was not you but this boy in front of me that stole the Gift. It does not matter if you planned the trip, the fact is, only the person who stole the stone can choose the rightful ruler of Eddis."
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, the fact still remains that we have Hamiathes Gift."
"Actually…" I stood up at this point and reached behind my head to untangle my braid, "That is not quite accurate."
"Gen," the Magus hissed at me, "What are you doing?"
"This man here lost the stone. He told me himself that it didn't matter. He knew what the stone looked like and he could make a forgery."
At this, the elderly priest gasped and sunk into the chair behind him. I walked up to him and handed him the object previously hidden in my hair.
"I not only stole this from the gods themselves, but I re-stole it from the Magus when the soldiers attacked."
"Gen, you snake," whispered the Magus.
The priest held up the riverstone. The candlelight reflected off the sapphire embedded in the riverstone. Nobody looking at it could deny that it was the true stone. Just looking at it quashed any doubts.
"It's real," said the priest.
I nodded. "As the true Thief of Eddis, I choose who I give it to as the true ruler of Eddis."
At this, the Magus looked hopefully at me. I took the stone from the priest and dropped it into Eddis' lap. The Magus' face warred between shocked, confused, and angry. His mouth flapped like a landed fish.
"Happy birthday. You can't say that I never gave you anything."
"My Thief."
"My Queen."
I quickly stole a look at the Sounisians. Sounis' face was so red that I briefly worried about his heart. Sophos looked like a stunned bunny whereas Pol looked surprisingly calm and unshocked.
The queen began politicking again. I tuned her out. I drug the Magus away to rejoin the rest of our traveling group.
"Good to see you alive again. I was impressed by your sword skills, Eugenides." Pol nodded his head at me.
Sophos looked confused, the suddenly blurted out, "So what happens to their old Thief?"
One of Eddis' close cousins, a mountain of a man named Aulus heard and turned to join in our conversation. He slugged me good-naturedly on my bad shoulder and said, "We celebrate that he's back and asked him what took him so long in Sounis."
I leaned away from him, rubbed my shoulder, and glared.
"Wait, you were Eddis' Thief all along?" Asked Sophos.
"Much to my consternation," said the Eddisian Minister of War, joining our conversation. He took a sip of his wine and muttered into his goblet, "He could have been a soldier. What a waste."
I rolled my eyes, well accustomed to his disappointment. I looked at Pol. "What did I tell you about soldiers. I'm sure you and my father will get on splendidly."
"Have you heard about the fight at the bottom of the mountains?" Sophos jumped to defend me. He then proceeded to describe it in a fashion that was very flattering with Pol jumping in occasionally to add support. I was shocked with their support.
By then, my shoulder was killing me. I absent mindedly rubbed at. Everyone in the group, excepting Sophos, noticed. I quickly jerked my hand down to my side.
"You were checked out," Asked my father.
"By Galen himself." I stifled a yawn.
"We should get you to bed."
"I'm fine."
"You can either walk out, or I'll carry you out," interjected Aulus.
"You leave me alone unless you want me to retaliate. You must have forgot when I was gone. I'm the Thief. I can-"
"Steal anything that you want," recited the entire Eddisian court with me.
I hid a grin. It was good to be home and around family that knew you and accepted you. I would give it a couple days. Soon I would have everyone here wishing that I stayed gone. I let my family lead me away to rest. Soon, everything would be right again in the world.
AN: Yes, Attolia let Gen get away. She did not want a unification of Sounis/Eddis. And for those of you who don't remember, Telemus is Gen's brother.
Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while. I took my boards, graduated, and got a RL adult job. Let me know how I did.