Stephen Deas1: The Thief-Takers Apprentice

At last Master Sy’s eyes wandered elsewhere and let him go. The thief-taker chuckled. ‘He said I ought to get on and teach you swords before someone else does. I imagine he meant him.’

Berren almost jumped out of his seat. For a moment, Jerrin’s dead face stopped staring at him. For a moment, the memory of Lilissa closing her door was gone. ‘Did he…? And…?’

‘Patience, lad.’ Very slowly, Master Sy nodded. ‘Yes, I’ll teach you how to fight with a sword, lad. You have my solemn promise to that. But letters first. I’ll get the priests at the solar temple to do it. You’ll do your letters with them by day, and in the evenings, once you’re started, I’ll show you how to hold a sword.’

‘Priests?’ Berren’s faced scrunched up in despair.

‘Yes, priests. You want to learn swords, you learn letters. That’s the price.’

Berren slumped and rolled his eyes.

‘Be good to keep you out the way for a few months.’ Master Sy gave him a sharp look. ‘Strange thing. Kol’s men didn’t manage to take a single one of those pirates alive. That’s why I was doing a stupid thing like chasing after one of them in the pitch black and ended up buggering my foot.’ He snorted. ‘We can’t take a man like Regis down without having someone to stand up and point a finger, and there’s no one left who can do that. Kol doesn’t want to know. We have to let him go. For now. So best you’re out of the way.’

‘But what about the Dag?’

‘Already on his way to the mines, nice and quiet. A few weeks from now he’ll be a thousand miles away where no one gives a fig what he says. And no one comes back from the mines. He’ll most likely be dead before the winter.’

‘But won’t he…?’ Berren shivered. He had visions of snuffers, creeping after him everywhere he went. ‘Master, won’t the harbour-master… Isn’t he going to try to…’

‘He’ll watch us, lad, and we’ll watch him, and sooner or later he’ll be doing something he shouldn’t and I’ll be there waiting for him.’

‘Yeh.’ Berren grinned. ‘In a dark alley.’ Except every time he thought of that, of the day he’d met the thief-taker, now he saw Jerrin too.

The thief-taker shook his head. ‘No, lad. Not like that. That’s not how it works. That makes us no better than the thieves we catch. Don’t you worry. You apply yourself to learning your letters and leave our friend the harbour-master to me. Once I’m done with him, I promise you: swords.’ Master Sy reached under the table. His hand came back holding another golden emperor and he slid it across the table. ‘You still got the last one?’

Berren nodded. ‘Most of it.’

‘You remember what I told you to do with it?’

He nodded again.

‘Well here’s another one, lad. For your part. Now go and get it right this time.’ He laughed and touched Berren lightly on the back of the hand. ‘Probably best to avoid the sea-docks, though. I’d try the Point if I were you.’

The thief-taker pushed back his chair and stretched. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, lad, I was up all night and I haven’t had any sleep and even thief-takers have to rest. So I’m going home. And you, lad, for the rest of today you can do whatever you like. Have some fun.’

Berren watched his master hobble away. From behind, the limp looked worse. And then, once the thief-taker was gone, he sat back in his chair and picked the duck-carcass clean while he stared out of the window. The summer sun was high and sunset was still hours away. He smiled the happy smile of a full belly. He walked outside and stared down the hillside towards the sea-docks and the dozens and dozens of ships from every corner of the world, all sitting there in the gleaming shimmering water. He had two emperors in his pocket. For a day, the world was his.

He saw One-Thumb again, for a moment, shouting and cursing and pleading and whimpering, and this time he smiled at that too. He thumbed his nose at his ghost and slowly walked down to the sea. Somehow, he knew the thief-taker was right. Even if he didn’t quite know what it was yet, he could be anything.

Whatever. I. Like.