Page 5 of The Orc's Thief
Well. And two purses of gold.
I pull them from my satchel and set them on the table. I untie one, tugging at the drawstring, and stare at the coins inside. The gold gleams in the candlelight, and I grit my teeth. I’ve neverheld this much money, but he hadsevenof these, just hidden under his bed. How? Where did it all come from?
He’s a mystery in more ways than one. I take two gold marks from the purse and slip them into my smaller one, next to the four silvers and the handful of coppers I’ve carried all day. I’ll need to break those fat coins into change before paying Etta. Showing up with gold would raise suspicion. An ordinary messenger wouldn’t be carrying this much money.
The rest of the gold goes into the cubby under the loose floorboard in the far corner of the room—easy to miss, even for someone walking right over it. That’s where I keep my rainy day fund. Now it holds more than ever. I could move to a better apartment. Buy new clothes. Install proper locks for both my place and Etta’s. I could even open a bank account and store it all securely.
But I won’t. Life has shown me misfortune always comes sooner than expected. This time, I’ll be ready. No missed rent. No more living off Etta’s leftover bread.
If I’m careful, I might even stretch it long enough to find a decent job. One where I wouldn’t have to sneak across rooftops or skulk through alleyways, hunting for a purse to cut.
A yawn reminds me it’s time to rest. I make sure the floorboard is snug and indistinguishable from the rest. I check the deadbolt, turn the key twice, and rattle the window grate. Then I kick off my boots and set them by the bed, ready in case I need to run.
Finally, I remove my jacket and hood, shimmy out of my wool pants, and breathe a sigh of relief when I roll into bed. It’ll be another long day tomorrow, trying to find Lindie. Maybe I’ll use some of my new coin tobuyinformation instead of stealing it. But that would mean trusting that Damen’s men would turn on him for the right price. I’m not sure they’d do that readily.Better to rely on myself and make sure the clues I gather are legitimate before acting on them.
Other people have a habit of letting me down, but I’ve always had my own back, so I’ll stick with that for now.
And if that warrior continues to lurk around Damen’s place, I might just pit the two of them against each other, let them squabble, and reap the profits of their distraction.
Chapter
Three
ARLON
I’ve been robbed.
Some fucking asshole crept into my room, likely while I was at dinner last night, and stole my letters. And two full money purses. For some reason, the loss of my gold stings less than the letters.
Why?
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself ever since I discovered the theft this morning. Why would anyone take my personal correspondence? And why would they leave most of my money in the lockbox after going through the trouble of breaking in?
Torren won’t be happy that his lock has been picked, that’s for damn sure. When I bought this lockbox from him, he promised it would hold its own against garden-variety thieves. I took it with me because I’d anticipated more traveling than I’ve actually done since leaving Bellhaven, and I didn’t want to carry all my gold in my pockets, especially not in Ultrup, where pickpockets are a persistent nuisance.
In my next letter to my family, I’ll include a note for our resident blacksmith. It’s clear that whoever broke into my room is highly skilled, but he’ll still want to improve on his design, I’m sure. In fact, he’d probably want me to capture the thief and bring them back to the Hill with me just to have a chance at learning from them.
But I don’t have the time.
Of course I want to find whoever robbed me and hand them over to the city watch, but I’ve also been itching to leave this place and travel…somewhere else. My mate is nowhere to be found, and the longer I stay, the more certain I am that I need to move on to findher.
I’ve tarried long enough.
At first, I worked with the Duke’s men in the special task force created to purge the city of the disgusting bastards who thought trafficking people was acceptable. That team’s long been disbanded, once we swept through the streets and arrested or executed the culprits. But Major Strahl of the Duke’s watch convinced me to stay longer than I planned. We worked well together. There was always someone to help, always another lowlife to throw in prison.
I’ve been away from home for years now, save for a few short visits, and the urge to move on keeps growing. I promised the Major I’d stay until the end of the month and keep an eye on the most secretive gang in the city, but after that, I’m leaving.
Only I don’t know where.
There are hundreds of towns, villages, and outposts in the human realm, and my mate could be in any of them. The thought of traveling blind through the country, searching without the faintest clue where she is, is daunting.
I should’ve left earlier. At least then I’d have the weather on my side. But I spent the summer walking the streets of Ultrup, working with Major Strahl, inspecting every woman I saw whiletrying not to spook them. I walked through crowds, hoping to find her, but no one’s scent ever triggered that visceral reaction I’ve seen in so many of my clanspeople.
I returned to my room last night after dinner with Sarrai and Darrin, tired and full of good food. I only glanced under the bed to check that the box was still in place. I hadn’t lit a candle—the streetlamps gave me enough light—and in the gloom, the lock had seemed intact.
The night passed uneventfully, though I was haunted by the same recurring dream, riding through forests, searching for my mate. It’s been happening for weeks, so I’ve gotten used to it. But this time, the scent of sweet cherries plagued me throughout, faint, but unmistakably hers.
It was the closest I’d ever come to recognizing her in a dream. Usually, all I see is a cloaked figure in the distance, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, but never anything more. I woke this morning with a painfully hard cock and the scent of cherries in my nose, and nearly wept from the cruelty of it.
