Page 69 of Realm of Thieves

I’m touched at how much affection the grizzled captain has for Andor. In some ways it seems like the way a proper father-and-son relationship should be, much more sincere and honest than the one Andor has with his own father.

“I’m sure you won’t hold my promises to a high regard if you don’t hold my trust,” I say, “but I promise you that I will cut him loose if he at any point seems in danger.”

He stares at me for a moment, then nods and slaps me on the back. “Good. Now we just have to hope and pray he has the sense to listen.”

I let out a small laugh. “That might take more than a hope and a prayer.”

Lemi barks for my attention, and I look to the side of the ship where they are loading up the rowboat.

“Anchors down!” Toombs yells, and clanking and clattering sounds begin as Rolph and Tromson start lowering the anchor. I make my way over to Andor, Kirney, Feet, and Lemi at the boat.

“Are you ready?” Andor asks.

I nod, feeling strangely shy around him suddenly. It doesn’t seemreal that moments earlier he had me pressed against the wall belowdecks and was kissing me.

Kissing me as if he doesn’t expect to return.

After talking to Toombs, I’m going to assume the whole crew thinks he’s heading on some sort of suicide mission. I understand why they’re so paranoid too. All the stories they must have been told about Freelanders and what goes on in the Banished Land, thanks to Soffers propaganda, has them thinking any outsider won’t survive. But that’s not the case at all. Freelanders are outsiders by nature; that’s the whole reason we were banished to begin with. We’re naturally suspicious of newcomers because the Black Guard will often infiltrate our networks, gathering information about some of Esland’s most wanted who are in hiding. But even so, they’re usually easy to spot. Andor, like the rest of us, is an outsider too. I think he’ll fit right in.

It’s my aunt I’m more worried about. And the fact that Andor mentioned that it might be known that I’m working for the Kolbecks. But other than House Dalgaard, I don’t think anyone will care, and it’s not as if anyone from that syndikat can just waltz into the underground unnoticed.

I take in a steadying breath, trying to stay positive, though that’s never been an easy feat, and I get in the boat, Lemi taking the easy route and shifting beside me.

As soon as the anchor is set, Kirney, Feet, and Andor climb inside the boat while Toombs and Tromson lower it down to the sea. We’re about a hundred feet from the coast, the water startlingly clear and the lightest of aqua blues as it gets closer to the shore. I peer over the side and see the shadow of the boat on the bottom, and a few fish darting about.

But despite the coolness of the water, the air is desert dry and the temperature is climbing with each second. I’m wearing a long gauzy skirt that I know the seamstress created to be an undergarment for me, but it’s not see-through and anything else would be too hot. Ontop I just have my support garment and one of Andor’s white shirts that I knotted at the waist. All the men are dressed in white or tan tunics and loose pants, a few with linen scarves around their necks, ready to be wrapped around their heads.

“Do you have any salve?” I ask Andor as Feet starts to row us to shore and we wave our goodbyes to Toombs on the ship. “The sun is only going to get brighter from here on in.”

He nods and takes it out of his pack, wiping the black substance around his eyes before passing it to me. I do the same and then give it to Kirney and Feet. They hesitate at first but I let them know that it not only protects against the volcanic air found in the Midlands but also cuts the glare from the sun in the Banished Land. We have to cross an expansive desert called the Burning Sands once we leave the coast, with near-white sand dunes that will blind us otherwise.

By the time we reach the shore it’s like we’ve passed through a wall of shimmering heat, and Feet is sweating from the exertion, though it doesn’t take long to evaporate from his skin. I’m used to it to some degree, but it’s cooler where I grew up in Lerick and there’s a reason why the Freelanders moved into the Dark City.

We get out onto the sand, hauling the boat up onto the shore, and Lemi immediately starts shifting from spot to spot, disappearing and reappearing just a foot or two farther away.

“What’s he doing?” Andor asks, his gaze bouncing along with Lemi’s movements.

“It’s hot on his paws,” I tell him. “He shifts continuously so that they don’t have time to burn. Even with his thick skin he won’t be able to stand for more than thirty seconds before the sand does damage. We wouldn’t last five. Hopefully the bottoms of your boots won’t melt off.”

The men exchange a worried look.

“Best to copy Lemi and just keep moving,” I tell them, leading the way through the sand. I glance over my shoulder at the ship, anchoredin the glistening harbor, then survey the land around us. The borderland canyons are far off to the north, camouflaged by the shimmering heat, and to the south of us there’s nothing but the coast and sloping sands. In front of us the dunes rise, and I know from experience they will seem endless until we finally see the volcano that presides over the underground city.

“So far so good,” I say, looking back at Andor. “I’m sure Lemi will be the first to let us know if there are any hostiles.”

“So who usually are the hostiles in these parts? Did you deal with them when you had to take your boat to the Midlands?”

I shake my head. “Not really. There’s a small harbor of sorts to the north of here that the Freelanders use to go fishing. We bypassed it for a good reason—any outsider ship will most likely be attacked and raided. That’s where I usually hire a boat to the Midlands, but the Black Guard rarely patrols the area and I doubt they’d be this far south in the middle of the Burning Sands. I doubt we’ll come across anyone.”

I look over my shoulder at Kirney and Feet. “Sorry, you might be making this horrible journey for nothing.”

“Eh, it’s good to get off the ship,” Feet says, trying to sound nonchalant even though he’s red-faced and panting already. Kirney seems to be handling the heat better, and of course Andor is barely breaking a sweat. I know that all the crew have taken suen at some point, but I’m pretty sure Feet’s powers aren’t helping him at the moment.

“How long is the walk to the city?” Andor asks.

“The dunes will take us a few hours,” I tell him. “Perhaps on the way out of the city we can borrow some free-roaming camels to make the trek back easier.”

He looks intrigued. “I’ve never ridden a camel before,” he says.

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