The Thief's Gamble

'Are we safe?' I asked stupidly.

'For the moment. I couldn't see any sign but they might be regrouping.' Darni glanced round the carnage. 'I'd be surprised if they came back but we'll be ready.'

As he wiped himself dry with the remains of his shirt I saw several broad purple scars on his shoulders and chest. A fresh cut on his arm was oozing slowly and his knuckles were bloody and raw on both hands. He turned and I saw there were no marks on his back.

'There's a small green bag in my kit, Livak. I'd rather not get everything bloody…'

I fetched it for him and winced in sympathy as he poured neat spirits on his wounds before trying to dress them.

'Here, let me.' I worked fast and he grunted approvingly.

'That's fine. Now, let's look at that leg.'

I had forgotten my own wound, crazy as that sounds, but as soon as he mentioned it I felt as if I'd been kicked by a plough horse. I sat and watched numbly as he cut away my breeches to reveal a deep gash. The fire had scorched my leg as hairless as a high-priced whore's but there were no burns, which was a relief given the way they fester.

'This'll need stitches,' Darni said in a matter-of-fact tone. 'Do you want to do it yourself?'

'Hang on.' Geris finished cleaning the long, shallow slice in his own arm and came over.

'This is going to hurt,' he said unnecessarily as he clamped his hands on my thigh.

Darni wiped it with a spirit-soaked wad of lint; I managed not to vomit or faint but it was a close thing. He worked fast but, by the time he was finished, I was shaking and dripping with sweat.

'Get some sleep. Geris and I will stand first watch.'

'Urn.' I could not trust myself with words and rolled myself in my cloak next to Shiv. Slowly my heart stopped pounding and the terror and elation of the fight receded. The shakes took longer to subside, just leaving me with the thumping pain in my leg. I closed my eyes and listened to the crackling of the fire. It reminded me of childhood illnesses bedded down in the kitchen and I screwed my eyes shut on sudden tears.

'Livak?' I was amazed to realise Geris' low question had woken me. I blinked up at his face, bleak with strain and tiredness in the grey light of dawn.

'Could you keep awake for a while? I've got to sleep.'

I sat up and rubbed my face, grimacing at the ache in my leg. 'Surely.' I looked round. 'Where's Darni?'

'Here.' Darni was sitting at the top of the slope keeping watch, tense like a good hound.

'Don't you want some rest?'

He shook his head. 'I couldn't; a fight like that leaves fire in the blood for hours. I'll rest later; I don't think they'll be back.'

'Who were they?'

'Bandits, I suppose. Probably out of Lescar, a group whose Lord came off second-best in some challenge.'

I squinted up at him, hair and beard still matted with blood, face cheerful and relaxed.

'Poldrion's ferry will be busy today,' I observed at last.

He grinned. 'I don't think he'll take many of these without fixing a price first. I wonder how many he'll tip over the side halfway.' He surveyed the corpses littering the grass with an untroubled air.

'I hope he'll credit you with a commission. Where did you learn to fight like that?'

'Lescar, fighting for the Duke of Triolle ten years back.'

'You're good.'

'I've got to be good at something.'

I let it go. 'What's wrong with Shiv?'

'He exhausted himself. You can't throw power like that around without paying for it.'

'I didn't realise,' I said in a wondering tone. 'I really should learn more about wizards.'

Darni stretched his arms above his head, grimacing as he tested his injuries. 'Before they realised I had no power as a mage, I attended some of the lectures. There's a dangerous old bastard in Hadrumal called Otrick; he's about the best there is with air magic. Anyway, he gives a lecture posted as “Why don't wizards rule the world?”' He gestured at Shiv's motionless frame. 'That's one reason.'

I wondered what the others were but did not like to ask.

'Otrick gives new students practical lessons too; I've seen some carried out of his hall.' Darni looked at me and smiled. 'Not being a mage isn't all bad, you know.'

The sun rose higher, Geris woke and we ate a breakfast made tasteless by the blood-soaked surroundings. Flies began to gather and we set about the revolting task of shifting the dead so we could get out without the horses going hysterical on us. Shiv slept on but his colour was back to normal, he stirred from time to time and his twitching eyes showed he was dreaming.

'We might get more trouble so we'll take some armour,' Darni ordered and we wrestled with the less mangled corpses. When I finally got a mail-shirt off, I was surprised to realise it was nearly right for me in length. I looked at the bodies with new interest.

'Stumpy lot, aren't they? You'll need to put two of these together for Shiv.'

Geris paused. 'Shiv can't wear armour; all that metal round him screws up the magic.' He put down the sword he had been cleaning and began to inspect the bodies more closely, pulling his dagger out. 'Yes, they are all rather short.' I wondered queasily if his academic interests included anatomising, but to my relief he contented himself with cutting away clothing.

'Darni, this is all rather peculiar.' He moved round the dell, removing helmets and coifs.

'How do you mean?'

'They're all very similar; they're all yellow-haired for one thing. How often do you see that?'

Darni peered at a few of the faces, bloodless with livid purple lips and tongues or revoltingly mottled depending on the way they had fallen. He shrugged, uninterested.

'So they're all related. Bandits often work in families, you know that.'

'So many of them? So close in age?' Geris looked puzzled.

'They're just robbers trying their luck.' Darni produced a pair of snips and began taking some of the excess out of the hauberk I had selected.

'Looking for what? We're hardly a merchant's train loaded with coin.' Geris sat back on his heels. 'All we've got worth stealing is the horses and they weren't their target.'

'That's because anyone who went near them got their head stamped on,' Darni grinned.

Geris did not look convinced. 'I'm going to have a look around.'

'Don't go far and be careful. Yell if you see anything.' I watched him leave with concern, half inclined to go too, but Shiv chose that moment to wake.

'Is there any water?' he croaked. 'My mouth feels like the inside of a muleteer's glove.'

I fetched him a cupful. 'How are you feeling?'

He propped himself on one elbow and wrinkled his nose at the leathern taste of the water. 'I've felt better but I'll recover.'

'You scared a season's growth out of me.' It was supposed to be a joke but it did not come out right.

'I think I used up a season's growth.' He sat up and looked around. 'Saedrin! What a mess!'

Gens reappeared, looking dissatisfied. 'They didn't have any horses.'

'Their mates will have taken them back to wherever they are hiding out. I don't suppose we got them all.' Darni threw the mail at me. 'Try that.'

I draped it round myself, grimacing at the prospect of that weight on my shoulders. 'Good enough.'

Darni began lacing the rings together with leather thong. 'I should be riveting this, you know,' he muttered with dissatisfaction.

'No, listen,' Geris persisted. 'They did not have horses; I'm telling you they came on foot.'

'Out here? We're leagues from anywhere. You must be mistaken.'

'I've been looking at their tracks. I know what I'm talking about,' Geris insisted with uncharacteristic force. I looked up from the swords I was trying for weight.