Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter Seven

Kodi tried to fight, she really did.

She kicked, poked, and punched until she had no feeling left in her limbs, but she was outmatched. Cobra was as small and quick to strike as his namesake. He had her pinned against a wall before Kodi's brain had even registered what had happened to her. Then Panther- who had muscles like a smith's- twisted Kodi's arms around her back and lifted her as easily as if she had been a toddler, not a teenaged girl.

"Thanks for leadin' us to her, Colt!" Cobra jeered.

Kodi remembered her friend, her last hope. "Do something!" she shrieked at him.

Colt just stood there. He looked so stricken that Kodi knew he wasn't expecting his friends to be here, but she couldn't believe he was going to let them carry her away like this.

"I should've left you trapped!" she called as Panther dragged her out of the room. The older girl had given up on carrying Kodi after a particularly hard kick to the shoulder.

Kodi struggled harder to free her hands from Panther's tight grip. She had a knife hidden in her sash for emergencies. If she could just reach it, she might have a chance. Then again, maybe not. Panther and Cobra probably had blades too. Also, she didn't want to call attention to her sash, and the bundle inside it. It was always possible that the Thief Lord didn't know she had it yet. Kodi wasn't taking any chances.

They made the long, boring trek through the tunnel in silence. Kodi tried not to think about the future, but her mind kept coming back to one thought: What was going to happen to her? She thought about someone rescuing her and nearly laughed. Who would do that? Her only real friend had been Colt, and he'd proved where his loyalties lay. Briar, a small voice in her head argued, Briar will come. Kodi rolled her eyes at this. She had known Briar less than a day. Why should he face the Thief Lord for her? He came to help Colt, the voice retorted. Kodi brushed this aside. In her experience, Bags like Briar didn't care about street rats like her. She didn't want to cling to false hope.

So now what were her options? She was at the Thief Lord's mercy, except of course that the Thief Lord had no mercy. So she was dead, unless he found out she had magic. Then she would just be a slave.

Kodi was expecting to go to the Thorn's hideout and leave from there, so she was surprised that they took the right fork instead of rejoining the main tunnel. "Where are we going," she asked Panther.

"Thief Lord," Panther answered curtly.

So the right fork leads to the Thief Lord's place, Kodi thought, but that doesn't make sense! Why would the Thief Lord's place, the Thorn's hideout, and the Palace all be connected?

Kodi thrust the mystery out of her mind as they neared the end of the passage. Whatever was happening here wasn't her headache. She needed to worry about staying alive for another day.

Cobra opened a door at the end of the passage. Inside was a holding cell barely big enough for Kodi to stand up in. He pushed her in roughly and stalked away. Panther turned to her.

"Kodi?" she said softly. "I'm sorry."

Kodi grabbed the door and slammed it as hard as she could. The echo bounced around the chamber and mingled with the sound of Panther's footsteps pounding on the cold, stone floor. Kodi would not forgive Panther. Not now, not ever.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed in the holding cell. Time ran together in her head until hours felt like seconds and moments seemed like years. Kodi started to wish a vision would come on, so her spirit at least could leave this place.

Finally someone came to take her to the Thief Lord. It was a man Kodi recognized. His name was Smits and he ran the Thief Lord's day to day affairs. He had bright red hair that made an odd contrast to his blank gray eyes. His clothes were worn and plain. The only hint that Smits was anything more than your average tavern grunt was the weapons on his belt, a heavy blackjack and a wickedly sharp knife.

Wordlessly, he grabbed Kodi by the scruff of her neck and carried her out the door.

"I got feet," Kodi told him resentfully. "I can walk." In response, Smits grabbed her neck cutting off her air for seconds. Kodi decided to keep her mouth shut after that.

The tunnel emptied into a small receiving chamber. Smits let go of her and threw her roughly through the door. When Kodi stopped seeing stars, she looked around at the chamber. She had thought she was alone, but standing over her was someone who could only be the Thief Lord. 

A/N: Thanks to Manga_Lover123, mjulie2001, storm mage, Nie Starwhistle, and vreader for reviewing.

 Impatient Griselda: Wait a minute, are you comparing my story to the UN and the war in Iraq? Believe me that's not something I intended. Here's my thinking on the subject. Emelan seems like it would be one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, country on the Pebbled Sea. Why? Because Duke Vedris's fair, if tough policies- policies that Sandry is continuing- make life pretty good for people in Emelan. Happy people with a good life are more apt to defend it, especially via joining the military. Also, Winding Circle is a famed center for magical learning, attracting mages to Emelan. Mages + good military = power. Sotat wants a bit of that power, along with some of the rest of the Pebbled Sea's countries, for themselves, so Sotat pays pirates to bleed off of the countries' merchant ships- and avoids entering all out war with Emelan. The Pebbled Sea countries catch on to this, but all except Emelan are to scared to actually talk to King Rididar, because with all the gold Sotat mines, and the taxes he takes, Sotat's not doing so bad for themselves either. So, Emelan goes to not negotiate with Sotat, but deliver a warning: Quit paying pirates or we go to war. Emelan also wants to find some concrete proof of this though, because then it will be easier for them to get help from the other countries being affected. I hope that makes sense.