Huh?
Why would this low-level thief carry the mark of one of the Great Houses?
Something isn’t right here. I nudge Eban under the table. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye but there’s no way for me to tell him outright. Luckily, I don’t recognize Zagar from the palace, so he probably doesn’t know who I am, either—I didn’t exactly spend much time outside of Rollo’s quarters.
They’re still arguing when I interrupt. “Why do you have a House Eternal mark?”
Eban and Vergel look at me and then at the man’s arm. Vergel’s eyes widen. Eban, to his credit, maintains a blank expression, though I can almost see the wheels turning in his mind.
The man glances down at his own arm like it’s a surprise to him, too. “Oh, that.”
“New employer?” Eban asks with a meaningful glance.
“Nothing personal, my friend. It’s all business.”
Eban stares him down. “I’m not your friend.”
Zagar doesn’t react. “Look, I have a job, you have a job, we all understand that.” He throws his arms open wide. “Cogs in the big, huge wheel. Why does it matter?”
“It matters to me,” Eban says. “Or maybe we can just call this whole deal null and void.”
“Calm down,” Zagar says, quieter now. He leans forward. In an instant, he seems to sober up. “Where’s the loot?”
“Tell us what we’re involved with first,” I demand.
Eban looks surprised at my ferocity, but it’s just as much my business as it is his. This dirtbag’s empty promises killed Aris.
Zagar nods his chin at me. “Got yourself a feisty one, I see.”
“Answer me. What does House Eternal have to do with this?” Eban says, ignoring the jab.
“You knew what you were doing,” Zagar insists. “I all but spelled it out for you. One house or another house, doesn’t make a difference. They’re all the same. House Eternal got wind of the fact that some Guild thieves decided to break the rules and rob a high house. It’s in our best interest to intercept that situation. But we couldn’t go to the Guild, so we went to you instead to take care of it.”
“So you’re a security officer for the House Eternal?” I push him.
“This one.” He shakes his head and points his thumb in my direction. Eban and Vergel only shrug. Zagar drops his hand and addresses me. “Yeah, so what if I am. It’s a perfectly legit position. You know what isn’t in Lacon? Being an unlicensed street thief who steals from the Great Houses.” He leans back in his chair, a smug smile on his lips.
“But why didn’t House Eternal just warn House Dominant about the burglary? Why hire a couple of street thieves to get the loot back? You know what I think?” Eban asks.
“Enlighten me.”
“I think House Eternal has no interest in returning the prize back to House Dominant. And as far I know, the Great Houses aren’t supposed to steal from each other, either. That’s highly illegal, too, according to the Thieves’ Guild,” Eban says. “I wonder what the magistrate would say if we testified.”
Zagar’s smile turns into a glare as he’s caught in a web of his lies.
I tense, ready to run.
Eban’s about to stand when the back room doors and closets suddenly fly open. Armed guards emerge, drawing longswords and stringing arrows. The nearly empty bar is suddenly full of soldiers, more than I can count. The few patrons left in the place flee out the front door.
Of course. House Eternal is cleaning up the mess they’d made. I curse underneath my breath and slide my blades out of my sleeves.
The Great Houses are playing a dangerous game—breaking their own laws, robbing one another—and we’re just three young and stupid Ophir caught in the middle of a scheme much bigger than we are. We can’t be allowed to go free, to possibly talk about what we’ve done and what we know.
The guards rush forward.
Eban, Vergel, and I rise to meet them.
CHAPTER THIRTEENEBAN
