Page 119 of Realm of Thieves

She blows me a kiss and then sticks her head back into the carriage.

I let out a little growl, my cock pulsing beneath my armor. If we make it out of here alive, I’m going to ravage the fuck out of her and I don’t care if the entire ship hears it.

Kirney gives me an odd look.

“Just keep driving,” I tell him. “We have to get through Lerick before we can relax.”

And a carriage galloping at full speed is going to attract a lot of attention.

Luckily by the time we pass underneath the east gate, there isn’t a Black Guard to be seen. Seems Vidar and the rest did their job.

I take the reins over from Kirney as the city appears and the streets get narrow, doing my best to dodge the civilians, even though we’re taking out and knocking over every street cart we see, galloping through shop awnings, decimating the tents of a market, spices flying in the air until the horses are painted in shades of red, yellow, and white.

People are yelling, running around in a panic, and in the distance I see dark figures up on scaffolding and the roofs of buildings, arrows being drawn, and then three guardsmen galloping toward us.

“Friend or foe, friend or foe?” I yell, not daring to slow down as the carriage careens around another tight corner, everyone yelping from behind me.

It isn’t until one of the guards gets close and flips up his shield that I see that it’s Vidar.

“Head for the ship!” he yells, as he, Raine, and Feet come into formation behind us. “Watch for the arrows.”

Just as he says that, arrows fly from the rooftops, hitting the sides of the carriage.

One of them hits Kirney in the arm.

“Fuck!” he yells, grabbing his biceps. “It pierced the armor!”

“Hold on,” I tell him just as the lane opens up and we find ourselves at the waterfront. “Almost there.”

Here the tiles are white, giving the whole area a clean appearance, fishing boats neatly tied along the docks, the horses’ hoofbeats echoing loudly as we gallop through throngs of people.

Up ahead is the wharf and at the very end of it, my ship, with Steiner and Toombs on deck and Feet standing on the dock, holding on to the ship’s lines, the sun setting over the horizon behind them.

“Almost there,” I say under my breath. “Come on.”

The wharf itself is wide enough for the carriage, but even so it’s hard to maneuver around all the people fishing off it, most of them having to launch themselves into the water to get out of the way.

“Set sail!” I yell at Toombs.

He nods and he and Steiner run around the ship, attempting to get it underway. Any other time I would have been tickled pink at the idea of Steiner, the most unphysical person I know, lending a helping hand, but he’s actually doing good quick work.

I pull the horses to a stop and jump off the carriage, giving them an appreciative pat as I run to the boat and take the line from Feet. “Get on board, everyone, go, go, go.” The ship is already starting to pull away from the dock, Kirney running past me to leap onboard, along with Vidar, Raine, and Belfaust.

“What about us?” the mint-haired woman says, the other prisoners huddling behind her.

“You can come with us,” I tell them. “Start a new life. Or you can go back to the one you have here.”

“Remember there’s always the Banished Land,” Brynla tells them. “You can keep your freedoms in the Dark City. But if you come with us, you can’t come back here.”

“Brynla, hurry!” I yell at her. I appreciate her compassion but not at the cost of her life.

“All right,” the woman says. “I’m coming.” She looks at the rest of the group. “If you stay, you will die here. Or you’ll find yourself back in that place.”

That’s enough to get the group moving. Brynla and the woman help the old man and the rest of the prisoners toward the ship, helping them onboard.

“What’s your name?” I ask the woman as she hurries past.

“Eydis,” she says, and for the first time I realize how young she must be. Around Steiner’s age.

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