To Jules, because who else would send me a two minute message with this great idea?
Merry Christmas, 2023.
Beta'd by trustingHim17, in the middle of the many other things she had to do!
SPOILERS for the book series through The Return of the Thief.
He had walked right past the horse waiting for him at the dock.
Return of the Thief, 431
It was rare that anyone could convince Costis's king to ride. But the king wanted to check the new fort at Roa's border, and while they could sail most of the way, riding was necessary to reach the fort in a timely manner.
Whatever the king said.
"Did you know in Eddis we climb the mountains by ourselves? It's a skill taught to all Thieves. And Eddisian children."
Costis gritted his teeth. "I did not know that, Your Majesty."
"We don't even need horses to do so."
Costis said nothing. The king wasn't discouraged.
"The mountain footpass would be much quicker than this trail."
"The journey after that would not be."
"We could steal horses on the other side."
"A Queen's Guard is not permitted to steal."
"I could go on my own."
"And I could tell Her Majesty that you broke your promise."
The king eyed him side-long. "You wouldn't."
After thinking about it for a moment, Costis agreed. "I would not." He valued his own life. "I would get someone else to."
"I think I liked you better when you had no sense of humour."
Costis did not reply. He was tired, and quite grumpy. In the early hours of the morning the king had woken him out of a sound sleep to tell him they were leaving; only after Costis dressed and stumbled out of the inn did he realise "they" meant the king and himself. In the dark.
Which would, technically, fulfil the promise the king made to keep his guard with him while he ventured so near to the border. They were not at war with Roa, but Roa did not like their king.
With good reason. Far too many people had good reason to dislike his king. Including Costis, who thought that an interrupted night's sleep was a very good reason.
"That's new." The king never kept quiet for long. Costis looked, expecting to see the king pointing at Costis wearing an inside-out tunic or a wrongly-buckled dagger belt, but the king was pointing off the path, towards the nearest mountain.
He couldn't mean the mountain. Costis pulled himself together and scanned the terrain. "What is?"
"The giant gaping hole in the mountainside. Honestly, Costis, I was hoping your scouting skills were better than your swordsmanship."
There was a very small dark hole in the mountain; due to the distance, it looked to be about the size of Costis's fist.
"Shall we go explore it?"
"Shall we not?" Costis muttered, but his king was already off the path—and off his horse. Costis dismounted, grabbed the trailing reins, and carefully led both horses after his king. Or rather, towards the cave. All he could see were boulders, bushes, and a tree or two. His king had vanished. I am far too used to that, Costis couldn't help thinking. In all the nations of the world, he had to be loyal to a king who didn't ride horses and who vanished from plain sight.
"Will you serve me and my god?"
"I will, Your Majesty."
"Then come out [...] knowing that you'll never die of a fall unless the god himself drops you."
The King of Attolia, 360
He made his way through the underbrush, though that grew thinner as the mountain approached,and the ground drew rockier.
"You weren't supposed to bring the horses," a voice hissed to his left, and Costis dropped the reins and drew his sword in one breath. He could see no one. The king swung down from the branch of a tree, his hook gouging a long slash in it. "Leave them."
"Why?"
"Quiet!"
That wasn't the king's joking tone; Costis soundlessly slid his sword back in his sheath, tied the horses to the tree, and crouched down in the bushes. His king stayed in sight this time, picking his way through the rocks, bushes, and boulders. Costis could not understand how he didn't make a sound. But he did notice when the king heaved himself up on a boulder that would give him a clear view of the cave. Cursing, Costis followed him clumsily up.
"You're as loud as the horses."
I was never a thief. Not something Costis could say out loud. Especially not after swearing to serve the king's god. "What are we doing here, Your Majesty?"
Gen—it was hard to think of him as the king when he crouched on top of a boulder and rocked back and forth like a little child—frowned at the cave. "We haven't gotten any reports from the fort in three weeks. And this, the fort's main pass, suddenly has a new cave in it." He cocked his head, studying the entrance. "I'm going inside."
Costis caught his arm as he made to rise. "I should go first."
"If anyone is in there, they'll hear you coming."
"We can't risk—"
"You're too much like Teleus." The king slipped out of Costis's grip like a fish in a river. "Wait here. For an hour."
And he was gone again. Though Costis didn't like it, he settled in to wait. Knowing his king, if there was anyone in the cave and the king was caught, there would be a great deal of shouting.
Costis waited for an hour. The morning sun beat down on the rock, and he thought about going back to loosen the horses' reins so they could graze—but he was on watch.
Sweat trickled down his neck, and he wiped it away.
He took a drink of water.
A bird called somewhere high in the sky.
Another ten minutes, and he would follow the king in. Though there might not be people, there—
"It's a curious place."
Costis yelped, and righted himself from where he'd fallen on his side. The king pulled himself up on the boulder again. "There're no signs of anyone having been there—but it's spotlessly clean."
"Then can we leave now?"
"Spotlessly clean, Costis. No leaves, no dust, no animals."
Costis looked at the cave, and then back at his king. That was his king's there's-a-puzzle-let-me-poke-at-it voice. "Perhaps we should get back to the fort."
"Hmmmm."
Costis swung himself off the rock and turned to look at his king. "The fort?"
"One hour," the king said suddenly. He turned on the rock to look back at the cave. "We'll explore for one hour, and then we'll be on our way. We'll even take the horses." He looked at Costis. "The last hour doesn't count. I was being careful not to be seen and heard. I only looked into the passageways large enough for troops."
Costis swore that oath, that long ago, for a reason. The king had proved worthy of following. But Costis seldom liked where he led.
"Off we go then," the king said, reading Costis's acquiescence in his face. "Just one hour. Then we'll be off."
"You ask to have all things made plain to you. How is that humble?"
Return of the Thief, 71
Something about the cave made Costis shiver. He could not think why; the walls were a room's length apart, with black rocks jutting out in some places; the floor felt smooth, and the ceiling high. Passages split off in regular intervals—enough passages that Costis felt the entire mountain was hollow.
But that was not what made his hair stand up straight, his breath feel cold. Something about the cave frightened him. A familiar fear, as if he'd had a nightmare—
It was then that he remembered the voice, the voice of the reality that made the world, saying, Go to bed. He remembered his knees shaking the way they shook now.
"My King—" he said hoarsely, and he saw the king turn. He saw the king's face change, horror and fear flashing over it, and then actual shadows as rocks rumbled and fell. His king jumped, jumped towards Costis, and knocked him down. Something hit Costis's head.
He woke up outside, the sun in his eyes. He blinked, and turned his head. The two horses grazed nearby, snorting into the grass. Costis looked a little further, and saw the king collapsed against a tree.
"My King?" Scrambling to his feet, spooking the horses a few steps sideways, Costis ran to the king. He put a hand on the king's shoulder and shook him. "My King?"
The king yawned. "Let me sleep."
The relief made his legs weak. Costis collapsed to the ground. Of course the king was fine. Costis looked around; the sun was still shining, the horses were settling down, and the leaves were dancing in a small breeze—and the entrance to the cave was gone, a pile of rocks in its place.
Costis looked back at the king. "Was there a cave-in?"
"Yes."
And he didn't say anything more. Costis asked, "Did you get us out?"
"Do you have any other stupid questions?"
Lots, but Costis kept them to himself and raised a hand to his head instead. It wasn't hurting, and when he ran his hand through his hair he couldn't feel a bump. When he dropped his hand he noticed the king looking at him.
"Does it hurt?"
"Nothing hurts," Costis answered, puzzled. "But if I didn't get hurt, why don't I remember coming out? Where is the cave?"
"Do you really think caves just mo—" the king broke off. "Never mind. Don't tell me what you think. Let's be going."
Unsure what was going on, and already knowing he'd be kicking himself for missing something obvious days or weeks down the road, Costis untied both reins and swung himself up on his horse. He watched the king mount much less smoothly than he'd climbed the boulder, but at least he was mounted, and they could be off. "To the fort?"
"No."
Costis drew up his reins. "Where to?"
"Back to the town, where I will get off this acc—this horse, and onto the ship, and back to the capital."
"But the fort—"
"I've cleared up their problem. We'll be getting regular messages once again." The king booted his horse a little more savagely than was his wont.
Costis felt like the world was rotating faster than it normally did. But he spurred his own horse and caught up, pulling beside the king to ask, "How long was I unconscious?"
"I don't know."
That is not something the king usually admits to. He'd usually ask me how the nap was, or something like that. "But—"
"Stop talking," the king snapped. "Don't say another word till we reach the inn." Costis drew back lightly on his reins and fell behind. He wasn't sure what was going on with the king, but if the king wasn't paying attention to their surroundings—and he wasn't—Costis needed to. True to the king's command, he didn't say another word till they reached the town gates.
"'Your Majesty, are you ill? [...] You have been quiet this morning,
and now you're being amendable.'
"'And I am never quiet or amendable unless at death's door?' said the king.
'Thank you for that indictment of my character, Ion.'"
Return of the Thief, 247
Costis worried. For the entire trip home, he worried.
The king liked to talk, unless he was hiding. Costis didn't think there was any current reason to hide. But the king was hiding. The king barely said a word during that first night at the inn.
To anyone.
Costis learned from the confused guards that he and the king had only been gone one morning and afternoon, and most of that could be accounted for in the ride to the cave and back again. The king had commanded someone to get a messenger hawk and sent a message to the fort—a message Costis hadn't quite had the courage and certainly not the clout to ask about seeing—and then the king read a book. He'd gone to bed without a single battle of wits with any of his attendants or guards.
They'd sailed the next morning. And the king still said almost nothing.
He spent most of his time away from people, up ropes only the most skilled sailors would climb. Costis climbed grimly after him at first, but the king had taken to shaking his head and pointing back down at the deck again whenever Costis began climbing.
Three days of this. Three days of a silent king. Once Costis would have thought that the greatest blessing his nation could have. But now—Costis didn't know what to do. He hoped the Queen would. That the inexplicable relationship he never dared think about would somehow get the king talking again. So when the trumpets blew for their arrival, Costis winced. Then sighed. He knew the king hated fanfare—it was his least favourite thing, among many other least favourite things—but at least it would get the Queen.
The Queen came down the steps, poised, regal, and truly smiling; her presence as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. Holding one hand out to the king even as she acknowledged the bows of the returning guards, she looked like a goddess coming to earth. Costis watched, tense, wondering what would happen, but all the king did was take his wife's hand, pulling her in for a kiss. He laid his head on her shoulder, ignoring the crowds behind them and the watchers from the palace above. "It's good to be home," he said, just loud enough for those closest to hear. Her hand pressed his head, briefly, and then pulled him back to a standing position. The two led the way into the palace, and the guards were dismissed. Costis went to hang up his armour, eat dinner, and then unpack.
He didn't know what to do with himself afterwards. He didn't feel like talking about the trip, nor like drinking. He wanted to puzzle over the problem, so he went where he thought best. He sat in the armoury, polishing his sword over and over.
There had been a change in the king. What had caused it? Costis wondered if maybe the king had been the one with the head injury in the cave—and what the three nations would do, if the Annux could no longer be Annux. Perhaps that Magus had a plan. But Costis's strokes grew harder on his sword. He didn't think he'd be released from his oath to the king and the king's god, just because of a switch of thrones. But could the king still be the Thief, if he changed?
Those weren't questions Costis could answer.
"Costis." Teleus stood in the doorway of the armoury. "The Queen summons you." Costis hastily stood and followed his captain out the door and down the hallway.
He tried not to think about why he was summoned as he moved swiftly to the Queen's rooms. He tried not to think at all.
The Queen had two of her attendants with her, but not the king. Costis bowed and wondered how much he should say about his worries; nothing, unless the Queen asks, he decided as he risked a glance at her. She looked as serene as an immovable mountain, but he had no wish to precipitate a landslide.
The one in the cave had been enough.
"I understand that most of the guards did not make it to the fort."
"No, Your Majesty."
"Just you and the King?"
"We did not make it to the fort either, Your Majesty." Costis hesitated, then blurted out, "There was a cave, and the King went to explore it; he came back and got me, and then there was a landslide. When I woke up, we were outside the cave, and His Majesty said there was no need to go to the fort."
"He was not hurt?"
Costis shook his head.
"He did not explain why there was no need to go to the fort?"
"No, Your Majesty." Costis swallowed. "He's spoken less since then, Your Majesty. Especially on the ship."
"Towards me as well." The Queen looked at Costis. "It may just be tiredness. But it would be wise to have those who know him keep an eye on him." She rose. "If it continues many more days I may summon the Eddisians once more, but I would prefer it did not come to that."
Costis bowed. He preferred it too; the cave-in had happened with Costis. He should be the one to solve it.
"Eugenides mostly observed while his wife ruled, but his observation was as keen as a razor's edge and sometimes as dangerous."
Return of the Thief, 449-450
Three days later, Costis had solved nothing.
The first day, the King still said very little. His telling observation of the court remained, but there were moments when Costis became aware of the gaping silence. Moments when the king no longer redirected attention away from the questions asked, or the observations made.
When the exasperated ambassador from Eddis-that-wasn't had enough of Gen's brief complaint about mud on his skin and pointed out that Gen had once been shoved in the mud by his older brother, the king said nothing, Costis wondered what happened to the older brother, to the mud puddle, even. Before the king's remark would have turned his thoughts in an entirely different direction. Probably by barking like a sheepdog.
The king's silence was somehow much more unnerving than his speech. But a guard did not demand his king talk.
The second day was a little better. The king told his wife over breakfast that he did not feel like going to court that day, and that he'd take his children into the Queen's garden instead.
"Is anything wrong?" the Queen asked quietly.
The king gave her a sunny smile. "It's good for me to spend time with our children."
She sighed. "You're avoiding the question."
His smile vanished. "There is not anything wrong. From most people's point of view."
"From yours?"
"Mine would be much restored by some time with our children."
"Eugenia has a slight cold and should not be outside, but Hector would love some time with his father."
"Eugenia will probably show up beside her brother anyway," the king agreed cheerfully. "If she does, it is not my fa—I will not have been the one who brought her there."
"If she does appear, do not tell her the same stories you tell Hector."
The king kissed the Queen on the forehead, a custom they still kept, and went to get his son. Eugenia lay huddled under her blankets, and the king smoothed her hair off her forehead, got her another blanket, kissed her, and looked at the attendant. The attendant nodded, coming forward to sit by the princess, so the king took his son's hand and made his way to the gardens.
Costis was relieved to see that Eugenia did not join them. The king walked round after round through the garden, his son striding sedately beside him, eyes riveted on his father's face. The few times they came close enough to hear, Costis heard snatches of stories of the pranks the king had played on his father, the mighty minister of war. He'd stolen his father's belt buckle once and replaced it with the belt buckle of the minister's uncle. (The Queen had forbidden any stories of pranks being repeated to their ever-curious daughter.) "Pay attention to the little things," Costis heard the king advise. "They are often the things people forget to change and they'll tell you a lot."
"Will I need to know a lot?"
"You will need to know almost everything that your sister doesn't know."
"That is a lot."
"Yes, but don't tell her so. I wish she'd inherited your love of books. Shall we go to the library today?"
Their voices faded as they walked further away, but Costis relaxed. A little. The king seemed fine.
But the third day he was back at court—and saying nothing. He still didn't talk with his attendants or guards, or even Relius. And still the king told the Queen over breakfast that everything was fine, from most people's point of view.
Costis trusted that as much as he trusted the Mede Empire to remain within its borders.
How could he serve the king when he didn't know what was wrong?
In the end, the Queen sent not for the king's cousins but for Sounis and Eddis, inviting them to the twins' fourth-year celebration. And the king knew what she was doing.
When the Queen asked if they should invite the other sovereigns to the birthday party, the king had shrugged and said it would be good to see Sophos again. And if he stole the invitation on its way out and put it back on the Queen's desk as a joke, it was gone the next morning when Costis looked for it.
Eddis and Sounis arrived, bringing their own son, and the King seemed to truly smile—and to keep to Sounis' company. He even avoided his cousin. Eddis watched with her son on her hip, and frowned.
"You see it too?" the Queen asked Eddis softly. Costis, stationed by the King's throne, wondered uncomfortably if he should take a few steps back so he couldn't hear. But he'd rather not draw his Queen's attention by doing so.
"He's dodging something. Usually consequences of some of his actions. But if he is, he will never tell us what." She sighed. "If the consequences get too much for him to handle, you'll know about it. The entire palace will know about it. That's usually when I stepped in."
"Perhaps if we remind him that the harm he causes to himself also harms those who love him."
"We can try." Eddis looked down, and Costis grew even more uncomfortable; the look of love on the warrior queen's face as she cradled her son, sleeping and sucking his thumb, felt like a very private thing, one Costis should not be witnessing.
If they tried over the next few days, Costis did not witness it. Gen continued to be quiet, and the court ran much more smoothly without his continual misdirections.
But it wasn't like the king Costis had agreed to serve. Costis wasn't sure whether he missed the whining, lying, tsunami king he'd served, but he did know the palace and country and world felt safer with such a king around.
Costis had no idea how to bring him back.
'"Hector,' she affirmed for her son. 'And Eugenia,' for her daughter.
'A king and his Thief,' said Eugenides."
Return of the Thief, 434
Preoccupied with his king, Costis didn't notice the other trouble till after it arrived. Sounis was the first to see something wrong. Unsurprising; the King played with and watched over all three children as often as his life allowed. The king and Queen of Attolia were at breakfast when Sounis strode in.
"Gen, did you steal my son?"
"Not recently," the king replied calmly, taking another piece of melon off his wife's plate.
"Did you steal him before last night and do you still have him this morning?"
The Queen laid down her fork. "He is missing?"
"None of his attendants have any idea where he is. His crib was empty this morning."
"Send someone to the guards and order a search," the Queen ordered her attendants sharply.
"Someone go see where our children are as well," the king added, and Ion bowed and left.
"Our children?"
"A precaution, or perhaps a premonition," her husband added, with a smile that did not fool any of the people in the room. "Sit, Sophos, or my neck will be—no, I much prefer you at my level."
Sounis sat, took the roll the Queen held out to him, and ate it without appearing to notice it was food. Everyone was silent.
They were four-year-old children, and they were the heirs to two kingdoms and possibly the entire island. Chloe appeared back in the room soon after, curtsied to the three, and said, "The guards are searching the gardens, the halls and rooms near the nursery, and also the places where the Eddisians are housed."
"Teleus leads the hunt?" The king looked at where Eronditus* sat playing with orange slices on a nearby table. "He's good at finding children."
"Yes."
Half the news, the news everyone knew was coming. Costis kept his ears open for the sound of other footsteps. It was not long before he heard them; they were swift and heavy as Ion ran. He entered without bowing. "The twins are not in the nursery, Your Majesties."
The King of Sounis and the Queen of Attolia rose at once, heading for the door. But the Queen stopped like a wave halted, and turned to where her husband still sat eating breakfast.
"Gen?"
He looked at his plate and said nothing for a moment. "I do not think there is cause to be worried yet," he said in careful tones, and the Queen's eyes narrowed.
"Do you know something we do not?"
"N—lots of things. I do not know where our children are at this moment. Still, I shall join the hunt. Teleus may need help." He tossed his napkin onto her plate, covering it with perfect aim. "You might stay and finish your own breakfast."
"Or I might not."
"Gen, tell us," and Costis heard half frustration, half pleading in Sounis' voice.
"I have been taking our daughter for walks through the palace at night." Costis took a half-step back. It was unlike the king to admit anything so blatantly in front of more than one or two people.
"You think she might have taken her sibling and her second cousin?" Sounis asked slowly. The Queen did not speak, but the room had gone very cold.
"It is the duty of the Thief to train the next one," the king said quietly. "It is the duty of the next Thief to be able to navigate any palace on the island."
"She is three," the Queen snarled.
"Four."
"She was three when you started!"
"So was I in the palace in Eddis," the king shot back. The Queen opened her mouth again, hesitated, shot a look at all the other people in the room and closed it.
"Eugenia likes her cousin. I did not steal him, but I would not be surprised to find that she had."
"Of course it was your daughter who stole my son." Sounis passed a hand over his eyes. "What would she do with him? Dedicate him on the god's altar?"
"I have no idea, but I intend to find out. Come, Costis. Let's join your captain's search. Pheris, you might search the Queen's Garden. She likes that as much as you do."
"I will go with him," the Queen of Attolia said firmly, and Gen nodded.
"The rest of you will go help search elsewhere. Sophos, you might try the library. She's sometimes amenable to her brother's suggestion that they look at maps and books."
"Fine. Let's try to find them before Helen finds out they're gone." Sounis turned towards the door.
"Helen's used to Thieves," the king called reassuringly after him. He was out the door before anyone could say more. Costis followed.
It was normally only at night that the king moved through the palace unseen, but it seemed he was the Thief today and not the king. He popped up in corridors and startled nobles, nodded at flustered servants, and poked his head in an inconceivable amount of rooms. Costis stayed a step behind. For someone who did not seem to be in a hurry, the king covered a large amount of ground in the next hour.
They did not find the children. Costis tried not to worry—his king did not seem to be worrying—but as they finished with the entire royal wing, and the palace treasury, Costis heard the king say something and moved up to hear more clearly.
He was cursing. Cursing the Mede empire, bitterly and ferociously. Costis felt his heart sink. If the Medes had the children, the king would not rest till he stole them back again.
But could he, in the state he was in? Or would he fall?
"The king's attendants had watched, open-mouthed, as he'd thrown his practice sword aside, rushed directly at the wall, and gone straight up it—as if the power that pulls all things toward the Earth had tipped on its side just for him."
Return of the Thief, 93
The king headed to the parapets. Costis did not like this, just as he did not like the king climbing on ships—if the king did fall there was little Costis could do about it that a god could not also do—but he'd sworn to follow the king. Into caves and across rooftops, hunting clean floors and four-year-olds.
It was, of course, while the king walked on the parapets and Costis the walkway beside it, that they heard the children yelling.
But not, Costis realised, with fear. Rather with excitement.
"Jump! Jump! Jump!"
Costis looked up to the crenellations, two rooms and a watchtower over—and saw three silhouettes. Two of them rode the crenellation like a man astride a horse, but one—one balanced, standing, both arms out, at the ending edge.
One terrible flashback of a drunk king on a the crenellations—
One moment to desperately hope the same god would catch this younger Thief—
Costis began running—
Costis realised the standing silhouette had short hair, and this wasn't the young thief, this was the scholarly four-year-old heir to the throne, who was not sworn to the Thieves' god. Costis pushed himself to longer steps.
The king flashed by him. Jumping from parapet to parapet, climbing over the tower in seconds and jumping—Costis couldn't see him land, couldn't hear his footsteps, but he ran gasping around the tower walls and saw the king still running and jumping—
The prince jumped for the next crenellation. Costis could only watch the tiny body fall far short, begin the fall towards the roof below—
And be caught in his father's arms. The small body overbalanced the Thief, but the Thief threw himself sideways, one arm around his son, the other outstretched to let the hook catch on tile—the tile cracked—
And Costis was there to catch them both, hitting to the floor of the walkway with an omph. He lay there for a moment, shaking.
"Costis," a voice hissed very quietly in his ear. "Take the prince." Without thinking, without getting up, Costis reached over and cradled the very small body in his arms. The prince was shaking. Costis held him more tightly. The king rolled away, already on his feet, and jumped up onto the parapet again. He jumped from the parapet to a protruding stone, and then was up to the top of a crenellation a few seconds later.
"Father!" his daughter squealed, then coughed. Costis sat up, moving the prince with him. He felt two arms go around his neck even as he watched the king throw one leg over the ridge and sit facing the princess.
"I have told you not to take others on the roof," her father reproved her gravely. "You will be confined to your room for this."
"But my cousin!"
Costis realised the Eddisian heir had both arms around the little Thief's waist.
"Your cousin wanted to see?"
"I jumped!"
"You may jump. Your brother may not. You are still confined to your room. And no pouting. I am too upset, Eugenia. We will talk of this later. Or your mother will. Your mother is much better at that than I am. You get down on your own; I will take your cousin."
"Mine!" The princess turned, grabbed her cousin, and jumped to her feet holding him before coughing again. The king steadied them both.
"Not yours. People are not yours to steal. At least not yet. Wait till he's older, and see if he wants to be stolen. And don't ask your mother first." The last sentence was muttered; Costis barely caught it.
"Ask after."
"Down now," her father said firmly, swooping both children up. Deciding he didn't want to watch the descent, Costis looked at the young prince instead. The child no longer had his face buried in Costis's leather armour, and instead was watching his family with grave interest, though the fingers in Costis's collar were still tightly clenched. Costis wondered, if he told the prince not to climb crenellations, if the prince would listen better than most of his family did.
In the meantime, he signalled the watchtower, and when the guard arrived he told him to report to the other three rulers that the children had been found by their father.
By the time Costis turned back around, the other three were on the walkway, safe and sound. Costis heaved a sigh of relief.
"Perhaps you should stop being laz—get up now, Costis."
Costis got up at once. The king was still pale, despite his even tone, and Costis knew what came of those who crossed the angry Thief. He didn't want to be one of them.
"Let's make our way to the other three people who will be waiting quite anxiously. I am not looking forward to explaining this. Costis, I think I shall make that your job. Though I will step in if the Queen decides to execute you."
"Not Costis!" his daughter piped up.
"You are not allowed to speak. I have some idea of what a punishment that is, and I think it will do for now."
True to his word, the king handed the prince of Eddis to his parents without a word, kissed his Queen on the cheek and handed her the princess, then took his son into the nearest garden to teach him how to jump. It took the other three, hugging the children, a few minutes to notice he was gone. Costis spent the moments sweating; but the other three seemed to know exactly who to blame for the morning's fright.
"Do you think his daughter inherited all of his mischief and he doesn't have any now?" Sounis asked, looking down into the garden from the wall.
"Hardly," the Queen responded dryly. "But it has seemed to be strangely absent these past days."
"Perhaps it is not surprising that it is children who brought him out of his good behaviour," Looking back at her husband, Eddis said, "But do you think it will last?"
"You could always make a sacrifice to his god and ask for the Thief back," Sounis said, picking his son up and rubbing noses with him. "And you, sir, are not to go anywhere with Eugenia unless a grownup is present."
"He will need the gods' favour if he is to do that," the Queen said dryly. She looked after her husband. "And it is not always a bad thing to be stolen."
"'Immakuk and Ennikar,' he said.
'Where?' I snapped my head around to scan the dock, and he nudged me with his elbow.
'Idiot. Us.'"
Thick as Thieves, 332
Costis did not know what to think. The king was here but he wasn't. Still a Thief—or able to climb and jump like one—but quiet. It was in all ways beyond Costis.
Costis's next thought was to talk to Kahmet. Kahmet had a lesser understanding of the king (in Costis's opinion), but a greater ability to understand far-reaching causes and effects, in subtleties. So he went to the library to find his friend, a bottle of wine in hand and an eye out for a secluded alcove.
Kahmet analysed everything Costis could tell him (which wasn't much), and said that the odd cave-in seemed to be the start of the king's odd behaviour. And he also pointed out that the king seemed to keep company with those who either did not know him well, or who were, like Sounis and the children, completely honest. Costis did not think that was helpful.
"Then I have no answer for you. But there is a suggestion."
Costis waited.
"If you think the cave-in started it all, go back to the cave."
The hair on the back of Costis neck stood up. Kahmet raised an eyebrow.
"You do not like that idea?"
"I do not like that cave."
"It must be an unusual one. I would guess, my friend, that most of your answers are to be found there."
Somehow Costis had been hoping to hear something different. He did not want to go back to that cave.
"Would you like company?"
"Because you travel so well?" Costis grumbled in his friend's direction.
"I am not a soldier. And you're avoiding the point."
Costis sighed. Every soldier's instinct he had warned him that the cave held danger, and was not meant to be explored by ordinary mortals.
But it did seem to be the only thing left he could do, if he wanted answers.
"I'll go alone."
Still, Costis thought about putting it off for a day. Then he woke up the next morning and heard from every servant that the king had once again destroyed his room, ripping the curtains to shreds with his hook and breaking every breakable thing. This time even his attendants didn't know why, according to what Costis overheard.
But he knew whatever was happening, the king hated it too.
"Never let the moonlight find you telling a lie. Failing that,
your olives will be razed and your city too."
King of Attolia, 276
Costis had rather less trouble than he wished, getting permission to ride to the cave. Teleus talked to the Queen and came back the same evening, saddled a horse, ordered supplies from the kitchens, and sent Costis on his way. "The King will have less chances of stopping what he doesn't know is happening," was Teleus's pointed remark. "Fair winds and a safe journey. Get some of the garrison from the port to go with you."
The winds weren't particularly favourable or unfavourable on Costis's way back, and a rather tame journey was just what Costis wished for. He rounded up five soldiers from the garrison as well as six horses by use of the King's seal, and they all made their way towards the mountain pass.
"Have there been regular messages from the fort?" he asked casually, about an hour into the ride.
"Yes. No sightings of Roa's soldiers, if that's what you're here for."
"They had enough trouble dealing with the rogue Mede soldiers looting their way home," another muttered.
"They deserved it."
"I heard the messages stopped for a while." Costis took a drink from his canteen. "What was that about?"
The water splashing in his canteen as he put it down sounded very loud in the sudden silence. Costis looked around at the soldiers. "Is that a story I should have heard already? Did I mishandle the spear?"
"They won't say," a soldier suddenly chimed in. He looked around at the mountains, lowering his voice. "I think we all picked it up from them. Not a message in weeks,and then when they start again, no reason as to why, only that they don't like the pass, nor the things in it. Well, some of us went hunting, and guess what we found?"
"What?" Costis asked, leaning a little closer over his horse.
"Nothing. The pass was normal."
"I bet they were up to something and didn't want to be found out.
"I heard the king paid a visit and the pass suddenly became normal again. Or maybe he discovered what they were up to."
"That'd be enough to scare anybody. Did you hear what happened in the war? He took on six elephants, all by himself!"
"Killed the entire command structure of the enemy army, too."
"You're from the capital," the soldier in the front of the group observed. "Have you ever seen the king?"
"All the guards see him," Costis replied after a moment. His tone did not invite further comment; but the guards paid no attention to it.
"What's he like?"
"Is he as small as they say?"
"Can he really jump from one tower to another without any help?"
"Does he really ride an elephant through the capital streets?"
"Of course not, where would the other carts and horses go?"
Costis thought of the king hanging from a hook in a roof tile, his son in his other arm. He thought of Kamet's description of the sandal-maker's apprentice, and of the way the king whined. "Let's ride."
The soldiers kept talking, but at least they stopped asking Costis questions. Costis was glad. He wasn't quite sure where they'd turned off the path; he remembered how big the mountain looked, and how far up the base of it they were, but the memories grew fuzzier the longer he looked at the actual mountain in front of him. He was pretty sure the evidence of the cave-in would still be there, however.
The soldiers gave each other wary glances when he told them they were leaving the path, but they did follow. Costis didn't let it bother him; he spent the time looking for the boulder where he'd spent an hour waiting. That he was pretty sure he could recognise.
Before he found that, however, he saw a tree with a long gouge in the branch—the place where the king had swung down and surprised Costis.
When he'd still been talking.
Costis felt a small thrill. He was on the right track. Within the next ten minutes he found the boulder, and he looked up.
There was no pile of rocks, no evidence of a landslide, and no cave. Costis stared at the boulder. It looked exactly the same. Dismounting, he heaved himself up onto it, studied his surroundings, and then studied the mountain.
This was the boulder. He knew it. That was the right mountain. But there weren't any rocks covering the mouth of the cave.
Costis did not like this.
Nor did the soldiers, when he ordered them to camp here for the rest of the day. Many threw sideways glances his way, through the rest of the day, the two meals, and the setting up of the tents. At first, they reminded Costis of the time the guard thought he'd killed an assassin. But then he remembered the king's advice on dealing with them and ignored them. As best he could, even though that meant taking his supper alone on the boulder. As he took a bite of the thick stew, he wondered if the others would believe he was watching the sunset and not avoiding them.
But he hadn't solved the mystery of the king's silence yet. He wasn't sure sitting on top of a boulder watching the light fade would actually help in the end, but—
But there was a dark hole in the mountain. An opening. Costis set his bowl down on the boulder and stared at it cautiously. It looked exactly like the first cave he and the king had entered. He glanced back at the soldiers. He thought of taking them with him, but—the king always went to these kinds of things alone.
Trying not to think about the terrible example he was following, Costis did his best to slip down quietly from the boulder and head towards the cave. None of the others paid attention to him; nor had they seemed to notice the new opening.
Determined, and determinedly not thinking about anything but placing one foot at a time, Costis climbed. The way felt eerily familiar, as if he walked from his family's stable to their house, not a path he'd climbed only once.
Stopping outside the cave, Costis took a torch from his belt, stuck it in the ground, and struck flint to set it ablaze. As it began burning, Costis picked it up, squared his shoulders, and entered the cave.
One step. Another. Three, and the cave was dark before him except for the light of his torch. Shoulders tense, steps echoing—it was the same cave, spotlessly clean, with passageways exiting in every direction. Costis realised he was bracing himself for another cave-in, but the rocks stayed still.
With slow and hesitating feet, Costis took ten steps further. "Greetings?" he called, feeling foolish.
His voice echoed down the cave, coming back to him more and more faintly. A breeze began stirring his hair, causing the torch flames to waver, the shadows to dance. The hair on the back of Costis's neck stood on end once more, and he hastily knelt.
"I mean no offence to whatever may be here," he offered quickly—he was not the king, and conversed with no gods. "But I come—asking for help." Internally he swore at himself; he should have brought an offering. He should have remembered this feeling and brought something to give; his hands fumbled at his belt while he thought, seeking something he might give.
"Your king had the same problem," a deep, female voice said. It emerged from the darkness all around him, amused but warning, and Costis found it hard to breathe. "He, too, had nothing to offer in exchange for what he sought."
For the king, he reminded himself. "What did my king want? If I may ask," he added hastily, and the breeze stirred around him like a soft laugh.
"Your life. Your life and his. You both have the same habit of giving yourselves completely." The voice paused, and Costis found himself falling on his face. The weight of something watching him, something that knew him and could undo him or make him godlike with a touch, was too much for him to stand.
"Will you offer what he offered, little soldier?"
The silence waited for his answer. Costis could not speak; perhaps the god saw it, for the weight of her considering him lifted a little. "If I can," Costis gasped. "I am no king, nor thief."
She laughed again, an audible sound that reminded Costis of starlight in the darkest nights, but it pierced like the heat of a flame. "Then you may find this easier. For a full changing of the moon, speak no lies, nor redirect the attention of others so they assume lies of themselves; be a truthteller."
Oh.
"Did that answer your question, little soldier? So you agree?"
Costis nodded hastily. The amused voice began to fade. "Now leave my cave. If love had not called you back, you would not have been able to enter."
Costis found himself back outside the mountain, lying on the grass and gasping. Lying on the other side of the camp of soldiers, he realised as he sat upright and tried to breathe. He knew coming back to the cave was a terrifying idea.
On the other hand, he thought he knew what troubled his king.
"Better to trust in the moon's promises than in the word of the Thief of Eddis. He was famous
in three countries for his lies."
Queen of Attolia
Once he had control of his breathing and his legs stopped shaking, Costis made his way back to the camp. Silence fell when he strode into the firelight. "Pack up," he told everyone. "We leave now."
"In the dark?" someone muttered behind him, but Costis ignored him, stooping to pick up the stake of his own tent. He did not want to outstay his welcome.
"To the fort, then?" asked the lieutenant, voice resigned.
Costis snorted. "No. Back to the town and the harbour."
"You can't mean to sail tonight?"
"Tomorrow." Picking up the last stake, Costis paused when a hand grasped his wrist.
"What happened?" the captain asked, voice low. But the faces of the men behind him were all turned their way, their eyes fixed on this strange palace guard. Costis felt foolish. What was he to say?
"I found what I was looking for," he temporised.
"And what was that?"
"An answer." Suddenly his memory brought forward the king's command to not speak on the ride back, and it was easy to understand. What was there Costis could say in response to these questions? He'd seen a goddess—heard her, he hadn't seen her—and she'd shoved him out of her cave and sent him on his way with a vow to tell the truth for a month?
"Let's get going," he told the captain shortly. "I must take news to my Queen." Though why Costis had to be the one to say it, why the king hadn't just admitted it, to his Queen at least—Costis would never understand how or why the king did things.
The trip back to the town was silent, the condemning judgement of the guards clear in the wary distance they kept from him. Costis sailed the next morning, and without a king to keep off of the mast and sails, the trip was almost relaxing. Though Costis did find himself a little quieter than he'd been on the trip towards the cave. Not answering seemed a very effective way of dealing with impertinent questions about the king or Queen that he did not want to answer truthfully.
It was only as the ship docked and Costis began walking back to the palace that he realised two things.
One, he didn't know if the king knew where he'd been yet. Or what revenge the king might have planned if he didn't like what Costis had done.
Two, in one more day it would be a month since his first visit to the cave.
Putting his bag in his quarters, he hesitated for a moment. What now?
The Captain, he thought after a moment. Report to the Captain.
Two corridors later, the king made that impossible. "Costis," a voice hissed in his ear, and Costis had whirled, hand on his sword, before he recognised the voice and bowed. The king leaned against one wall behind him, regarding his guard, though Costis hadn't heard any footsteps. "You've been gone," the king said after a moment.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Irene assured me you weren't dead. Or held captive by any of the troublesome barons that still seek to fill their own winecups." Costis swallowed. The king never reproached people directly about the things he truly hated. "I see she was right." Standing up, he pushed himself past Costis and down the hallway. "Come along," he called over his shoulder. "She's waiting for you in her rooms."
It was not just the Queen waiting for Costis. Sounis, his sleeping son in his arms, was sitting by the fire chatting with his wife; Attolia sat at a nearby table, working on needlework. She laid it aside the instant she saw her husband and Costis. Behind her, the conversation died away, and Costis had the full attention of a King and two Queens. His king, of course, kissed the top of his wife's head and went to go steal his cousin-once-removed.
"Report," the Queen commanded, fixing her gaze on Costis. Swallowing again, he drew himself upright and fixed his eyes on the mantle over the fireplace.
"When I arrived at the mountain, the cave no longer existed." The mantle was made of a pretty, dark wood. Costis wished he could appreciate it more, but he'd already seen the king instantly turn and glare in his direction at the mention of the cave. "I told the squad to set up camp. When I was eating dinner, the cave appeared again. I went in."
"You sent him back to the cave?" The king's question, razor sharp, was addressed to Attolia and Attolia alone.
"I had no other way to find out what had changed you," she shot back. He said nothing. "Continue, lieutenant," she said, after that pause.
Clearing his throat, Costis suddenly wished the other royal couple out of the apartment. He did not know if they would believe what he said next. "I heard—a voice. The voice said she would grant me safe passage out of the cave if I promised the same thing my king had promised earlier."
The Thief snorted. Turning back towards the fire, he began playing with the boy's hand, ignoring the adults in the room.
"For a month, I am not to tell any lies or deliberately lead anyone to a false conclusion."
Silence filled the room, broken only by the toddler's small snores.
"You haven't told a lie since we've been here," Eddis said to her cousin, stunned.
Gen said nothing.
"How? You lie more easily than breathing."
"I made a vow," Gen snapped back at her, and Costis shifted. He wished there was an easy way for him to leave the room, but he thought everyone had probably forgotten about him for the moment.
"You've been quiet because…you've had to be honest?" Attolia's slow words filled the room. A smile, a small one, started on her face and began to grow bigger. "What a trial for you."
"It has been," the king stated plaintively. "I couldn't put the barons in their place. Even cursing—I could only curse the Mede empire, since I truly wish their harm. I couldn't do anything, hardly. And it's not done yet. You could show some sympathy," he added as his wife's sides began to shake, and as Eddis and Sounis both began to laugh. "It's been very trying month."
"Gen—why didn't you tell us?" Sounis asked, poking at his friend's ribs.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Attolia's question was no longer light-hearted, and Gen turned swiftly towards her.
"I…did not like being that exposed." Sighing, he sat down. "And you would have taken full advantage of it."
"Mmmmmm." She tilted her head to one side, regarding him with her dark eyes. "What do you think Eugenia is going to steal?"
"Everyth—I have no idea." The king scowled at his wife.
"What is the oath the Thieves take to their god?"
"I am not answering any more of your questions."
"Did you miss us while we were away?" Sounis asked, joining in the game. Gen ignored him.
"Did you really jump from the palace wall to a treetop outside, or was that a story you made up?" Eddis' eyes were lit with laughter.
"Here is your son. I am going to bed. When I wake up tomorrow, the nightmare will be over, and I will no longer have to answer any of your questions. Good night." Dumping the prince into his mother's arms, the king exited.
"I could try to catch him," Sounis offered after a moment. "If we have more questions."
"I doubt you could catch him, my love. But we can try."
"I think not," Attolia interjected. "Costis, you are dismissed. I will have Teleus assign you to one of the quietest parts of the palace for the next month. Or you could make a trip home, after travelling for the crown," Attolia offered.
After what he had just seen, Costis shuddered at the idea of being under this oath while around his family. "A quiet part of the palace would be welcome, Your Majesty."
"Then you are dismissed."
Bowing, Costis left with great relief, glad the entire thing was over.
Only it wasn't.
By the next morning, gossip flew from mouth to mouth about all the insane things the king had done before Costis had woken. Waking his friend up from a sound slumber, the king had convinced Sounis that Eddis was pregnant again, and sent the other King flying down the hallway half-dressed after his wife. Then the Thief had convinced Eddis that Sounis had fallen into the water reservoir, and had nearly tripped her into it when she came after him; he'd tried to trick Attolia into believing that the elephants had gotten lose in the city, but she'd laughed at him and not believed him.
"Just like our Queen," the serving maid announced proudly.
And just like our king, Costis thought with a sigh. But a smile might have lingered on his mouth as he took another bite.
The Thief was back.
The world was in chaos.
All was as well as it could be.
*This is Pheris, but Costis would think of him as Erondites, since he is now the head of the household.
Alternate opening:
Ornon always had something to say, and Ornon said this was Gen's fault.
Gen said it was Costis's.
Costis asked, as politely as possible, how a cave-in was his fault. And who had wanted to be in that cave in the first place.
The king said his guard should take better care of him, and that left the fault at Costis' door.
Costsis said nothing more, because after all, who would have the courage to place the blame where it truly belonged, and accuse the gods?