Page 86 of Realm of Thieves

I had to make some quick decisions since I hadn’t planned on needing to drag her out unconscious. Luckily there was a cart parked a little way down the alley, filled with water.

Unluckily, the cart belonged to her neighbors, an elderly man andwoman, who had gathered in their doorway having heard all the commotion with the assassins. They didn’t do or say anything when I dumped out the water, but when I reemerged from Ellestra’s house with Brynla in the cart, buried underneath a mound of blankets, they grew suspicious. Thankfully Lemi seemed to understand that I was trying to help Brynla, and he barked at the neighbors to stay back while I quickly wheeled Brynla away.

Getting out of the Dark City itself was another story. I took lower passageways back, finding my way on instinct and assuming that goods had to be constantly carted in and out of the tunnels instead of the stairs. There weren’t as many guards that way, but when I did run across them I had to dispatch them quickly or risk discovery. Thankfully, I’d had enough forethought to prepare the syringe with more drugs. It meant I didn’t have to kill more people than I already had that morning. Not that I would have hesitated.

“I assume whoever the assassins were, they knew the social system of the Dark City well enough to get through,” I tell Vidar, bringing my focus back to my brother’s intense gaze.

“Do you think they knew you were with her?” Steiner asks. “Strange coincidence for them to attack the moment you get there.”

“No question they knew Brynla was on her way back and waited for that moment.” Dalgaard has spies everywhere. “I can’t say if they were after me—perhaps they would have sent more men if they knew.”

Vidar snorts at that and I stare at him steadily until he seems to retract his derision. He clears his throat. “So then someone intercepted Moon—”

“Not possible. Moon would have told me,” Steiner says.

“Or,” Vidar continues, not wanting to get into an old debate of whether his raven really understands him or is capable of lying, “Brynla’s aunt got careless.”

I appreciate him not bringing up the accusation that Ellestra wasbehind all of it, which was what he’d been saying when we first arrived back.

“Careless or confided in the wrong person,” I point out.

“That’s the same thing,” Vidar says.

“So what does this mean?” Solla asks, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Are we in danger?”

“We’re always in danger,” I tell her. “It’s just that we’ve always had an enemy we knew—House Dalgaard. If they killed Ellestra, then that changes nothing for us. But it if was the Black Guard, and we’re now enemies of the state of Esland, well, that might change a few things.”

“Everyone is their enemy,” Steiner says. “They know how the syndikats deal and what they deal with. I wouldn’t worry about Esland coming to Norland and trying anything.”

“Even if they did, we would be ready. They wouldn’t get far,” Vidar says sternly.

“And Dalgaard is already our enemy anyway,” I say, finishing the rest of my beer. I set it down and stare at my siblings with as much gravity as I can convey. “What I mean is that this changes our plans a little. If we’re being looked at more closely by Esland’s Black Guard, we’ll need to make an adjustment.”

Vidar straightens and eyes me sharply. I hadn’t mentioned anything of this nature yet, and I know he hates surprises. “An adjustment to what?”

“To the plan,” I tell him.

“What plan?” Solla asks.

“To steal the egg of immortality from the Daughters of Silence.”

Everyone goes silent. Solla looks puzzled, Steiner seems thoughtful, and Vidar’s eyes showcase puzzle pieces sliding into place. I had told them what happened with Ellestra and the assassins in the Dark City. Ididn’ttell them about my conversations with Ellestra or what my plans have been for Brynla all along.

I still haven’t told Brynla either.

Suddenly all my siblings erupt at once.

“The egg of immortality? You know that’s just a myth,” Steiner scoffs.

“You couldn’t set foot on Esland proper without being killed,” Vidar says with a raise of his brow.

“What in the world is the egg of immortality?” Solla asks.

I suppose a better man wouldn’t revel in the fact that he knows something that his siblings don’t. But I am not a better man.

I grin at them, savoring their confusion and enjoying the secrecy for a drawn-out moment before I plunge into everything I know. Though the egg is news to Solla, it had been of some interest to Steiner for a while before he declared it just a legend, and Vidar and my father were the first to bring it to my attention, also speculating on its existence.

But I took that one step further. If there were such a thing, it would change the fate of our family and syndikats forever. And if it were to get into the wrong hands, well…

---