“If it’s not an injury, then what are these wrappings for?” he asked.
Other than a mediocre attempt at disguise? I smiled at him, which hopefully looked pretty grotesque considering the ball of cloth still stuffed between my cheek and gums. In a hiss of a whisper, I said, “Plague wounds.”
Which was all that needed to be said. In whatever way the plague traveled from one person to the next, we all knew the hazards of being near someone so diseased.
Vargan nearly leapt away, and for better effect I groaned and raised a hand toward him. The way he twisted to get away from me would surely increase any back pain he had felt before. At least, I hoped it did.
“There’s plague with these men!” Vargan shouted. “Release them all!”
The soldiers dropped Erick as if he burned their hands and emptied the wagon almost faster than I could blink. They rushed their king into his carriage nearly as quickly. Within seconds, he and his military escort had left us behind in the dust of the horses’ hooves.
The men let out a cheer as I unpeeled the bandages, but Erick only stared at me as if I’d done something wrong. He finally folded his arms and said, “You owe me an explanation.”
That was probably true. But he wasn’t getting one. I only said, “If I hadn’t done that, we’d all be waking up tomorrow as Avenian soldiers.”
“Maybe so. But that’s not why you did it.”
“I did it because someone here had to have a plan.” With that, I replaced my knife in its sheath and began walking over to Mystic. I climbed astride and without looking back, continued on the trail to the thieves’ camp. The other men followed my lead, and after another minute, I noticed Erick had taken up the rear on the trail, the stolen coins jangling again in his saddlebag. Only when we had left that area of the road did I allow myself to breathe freely again.
It was late morning when we returned to the camp. Fried eggs and biscuits were prepared, and I forced them down only because one of the men I had saved from recruitment — the pockmarked thief — insisted on it. Fink sat beside me, full of questions about our adventures away from camp, and disappointed because I didn’t answer any of them. His rat was back on his shoulder, eyeing my breakfast.
“You’re family now,” he said. “That’s what the men are saying.”
“I have no family.” And if I did, they wouldn’t be thieves.
Fink only chuckled at whatever thought was breezing through his brain. “Told the king you had the plague? Ha! When I’m your age I’ll be just like you.”
“Go away,” I growled. “You don’t want to be anything like me.”
He was unconvinced, and continued to eat his meal by my side. After I’d finished, he pointed to a bedroll near some tents. “Erick said if you’re tired, you can sleep there. I’m supposed to keep watch on you.”
“I thought I was family.”
He shrugged. “Erick just wants to make sure you’re not the kind of family who runs when we’re not looking.”
“I’m not going to run, Fink.”
“I know. But I’m supposed to watch you anyway.”
True to his word, Fink parked himself on the ground with a direct view of my bedroll. I lay down and closed my eyes but sleep was impossible. After a short while, it must have looked like I was asleep because Erick approached Fink and whispered, “What do you make of him?”
There was a brief hesitation, then Fink said, “He’s no ordinary thief, not like any of us.”
“I agree. He didn’t want Vargan to see his face. Why do you think that is?”
“Dunno. You said he’d be more open with me, because we’re both young. But he doesn’t act young. And he doesn’t tell me anything.”
“He’s probably seen a lot in his life, and learned to keep his secrets. But you were right — he is a good thief. Which means he must have some very interesting secrets. Keep an eye on him until I figure out what he really wants. I don’t think he cares a devil’s inch for the treasure inside that cave.”
In fact, I cared plenty about it. Most of the wealth of Carthya was stored there. I’d let the pirates kill me before I told them where it was.
There was a backup plan. Before I left Drylliad, I’d asked Kerwyn to order extra soldiers to guard the cave. If I failed, I wanted to make sure nobody would get at Carthya’s wealth. But if everything went well, my plan would be complete long before it came to having to reveal that location.
I finally drifted off to sleep, with a pit in my stomach reminding me that since the night of the funeral, nothing had gone well for me.
The sounds of applause and cheering woke me later that afternoon. I sat up and brushed my hair out of my face. “What’s going on?” I asked Fink.
He was standing on a rock and leaning over a tree branch to see something behind my tent. “A Queen’s Cross game has started. Want to go watch?”