Page 3 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
“There will be a royal carriage passing through Willow’s Peak at midnight. Raven wants you to intercept them before they reach town. Inside the carriage will be a treasure chest. Your job is to take the chest and deliver it to a blue tent with a red patch on its righthand side.”
I straightened. “Where’s the tent?”
Randall’s lips curved into a smile. “I don’t know where it is, nor do I want to. If you get caught… death is the least of our troubles. So, do you agree to the job?”
The coin purse in my breastband felt impossibly heavy. “If we succeed, what happens after? Will there be any more jobs after this?”
Randall glanced at our hopeful faces with the shrewdness of a man who saw opportunity. “Perhaps. Raven has stated their interest in hiring anyone who does a good job. But that’s up to their discretion and onlyifyou succeed.”
I folded my arms. “I’ll do it.”
“Job sounds simple enough. I’m in as well,” the older man said.
“Me too.”
“Same here.”
“We’ll get it done.”
“The five of you can discuss specifics, but I’d prefer not to know,” Randall said and motioned for us to leave.
The older man nodded. “We’ll be in the forest. See you there, girl.”
I rolled my eyes and let the other men file out before I turned to Randall, who pulled out a small notebook from his satchel. “Have you met Raven?”
Randall closed the book. “I’d be a terrible broker if I turned on my clients.”
I leaned forward, stepping into his space. “Is it legit?”
His green eyes met my dark brown ones. “Do you think I can answer that?”
I scowled. “Cut the bullshit. You and I have been through some shit.” Randall might have been a piece of shit, but he was the one who got me started on these jobs. He was the reason I got my sister through the winters when her illness always reached its peak, and she needed medicine to weather the worst of it. Hell, we even hooked up a few times. I’d never call him my friend. We were allies first and foremost, and the two of us had helped each other reach the top. At onlytwenty-two, I was one of his best contract thieves, and Randall practically controlled the underbelly of Aesva.
Randall jammed his book into his satchel. “You can’t keep bringing up the past when it benefits you. I haven’t run into Raven directly. They’re careful as fuck and send messengers toothermessengers like some paranoid highborn asshole. But I did my research. They have a high body count surrounding them, but they’re legit. They’ll pay you if you survive.”
‘If you survive.’I loosed a breath. “Okay.” I turned on my heel and left but not before scanning the area. First to see if there were any of Raven’s goons, and the next, to find the tent. I didn’t find any obvious suspects, but I found the tent. At least that was something.
I didn’t waste time heading toward the forest and meeting up with the rest of the men. The assholes hadn’t wanted to introduce themselves. It was only for the sake of the job that I forced myself not to snap so I could get their names. The older man was Alton and the others were Conrad, Drustan, and Pascal. I didn’t give out my name, and since they didn’t ask, there was no need to use my typical fake name: Sadie.
“We’re not playing games, girl,” Alton said as I climbed one of the willow trees. “It’s a rookie move, being this overzealous.”
“Not a rookie. There’s a reason I don’t have any T’s on my hand.” I looked down pointedly at Pascal’s ‘T’ tattoo branded onto his hand—signifying him as athief to the world.
Pascal scowled but remained silent as he sharpened out his blade.
I climbed higher until I found the perfect perch—keeping me out of their eyesight but giving me a good view of below. We’d already gone over the plan. They would provide the distraction, and I’d slip inside the carriage and get the chest. I had ignored their insistence on using my ‘feminine wiles’ to distract whatever highborn was inside the carriage. A good fist to the face or flashing of my knife would get any spoiled highborn to behave.
“Sure are silent,” Conrad said to me from his spot at the bottom of the willow tree.
I exhaled. “Because I’m not interested in getting to know anyone here. You heard Randall. This isn’t a job we’re all coming back from.”
“Or maybe you’re just too weak to protect yourself, girl. Me and my men are coming back, and we’re splitting your share when you fuck up,” Alton bragged.
“There was no reason to hire you.” Drustan slapped a hand on Alton’s shoulder. “We’re used to working as a team. Unlike you.”
It took a great amount of restraint not to snap at him. It was only because of the money that I let it slip. Time crawled by, and I let the others’ chatter wash over my head. Very few carriages passed by.
Willow’s Peak was a difficult terrain, so it was one of the lesser used roads. But it made sense for them to take this one if they were trying to be discreet. Normally no one would dare lay a hand on a royalcarriage. If I got caught, I’d get whipped bloody.
