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Chapters (122)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. Map
  4. Prologue
  5. Part I - A Thief’s Ransom
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Chapter Thirty
  36. Part II - An Unquiet Crown
  37. Interlude
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Chapter Thirty-Three
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Chapter Forty-Five
  53. Chapter Forty-Six
  54. Chapter Forty-Seven
  55. Chapter Forty-Eight
  56. Chapter Forty-Nine
  57. Chapter Fifty
  58. Part III - The Crew
  59. Interlude
  60. Chapter Fifty-One
  61. Chapter Fifty-Two
  62. Chapter Fifty-Three
  63. Chapter Fifty-Four
  64. Chapter Fifty-Five
  65. Chapter Fifty-Six
  66. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  67. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  68. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  69. Chapter Sixty
  70. Chapter Sixty-One
  71. Chapter Sixty-Two
  72. Chapter Sixty-Three
  73. Chapter Sixty-Four
  74. Chapter Sixty-Five
  75. Chapter Sixty-Six
  76. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  77. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  78. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  79. Chapter Seventy
  80. Part IV - The Job
  81. Interlude
  82. Chapter Seventy-One
  83. Chapter Seventy-Two
  84. Chapter Seventy-Three
  85. Chapter Seventy-Four
  86. Chapter Seventy-Five
  87. Chapter Seventy-Six
  88. Chapter Seventy-Seven
  89. Chapter Seventy-Eight
  90. Chapter Seventy-Nine
  91. Chapter Eighty
  92. Chapter Eighty-One
  93. Chapter Eighty-Two
  94. Chapter Eighty-Three
  95. Chapter Eighty-Four
  96. Chapter Eighty-Five
  97. Chapter Eighty-Six
  98. Chapter Eighty-Seven
  99. Chapter Eighty-Eight
  100. Chapter Eighty-Nine
  101. Chapter Ninety
  102. Chapter Ninety-One
  103. Chapter Ninety-Two
  104. Chapter Ninety-Three
  105. Chapter Ninety-Four
  106. Chapter Ninety-Five
  107. Chapter Ninety-Six
  108. Chapter Ninety-Seven
  109. Chapter Ninety-Eight
  110. Chapter Ninety-Nine
  111. Chapter One Hundred
  112. Acknowledgments
  113. Excerpts from A Thief in the Night and Honor Among Thieves
  114. A Thief in the Night - Prologue
  115. A Thief in the Night - Chapter One
  116. Honor Among Thieves - Prologue
  117. Honor Among Thieves - Chapter One
  118. About the Author
  119. Books by David Chandler
  120. Copyright
  121. About the Publisher
  122. Cover

“With a great deal of luck,” she said, “that plan will see you both killed very quickly. That way Hazoth won’t be able to torture you. He’s very good at that.”

It was midnight.

Four days left.

Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Two

“Milady,” Malden said, bowing low. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming, as—”

“Obsequiousness does not suit you, Malden,” Cythera said. She climbed down from the window and came over to the table where the maps lay. Malden noted that she didn’t even glance at Croy. “This plan doesn’t either. You’ve badly underestimated the villa’s defenses.”

Malden stepped back from the table and let her peruse the maps. After a moment she went to the unlit brazier in the corner (Malden used it only in the wintertime), took out a piece of charcoal and began to sketch in parts of the map that neither Malden nor Kemper had been able to draw.

“I take it you’ve decided to help us,” Malden said when she seemed to be done.

“What choice do I have? If I betray you now, for the sake of peace, I will only be delaying the inevitable. He’ll find some excuse to torture my mother regardless of what I do. No, her only hope is your foolish scheme. Which still won’t work.”

Malden looked down at the additions she’d made to the map. Mostly she had drawn in the rooms on the second floor, which did not concern him overmuch, but she’d added two walls on the third floor he had not known were there—and which would have caused him significant problems when he got inside.

“And . . . how is your mother, if I might ask?” Malden said. “Is she at least safe, for the nonce?”

“You could say that,” Cythera told him without looking up. “She turned herself into a tree.”

“A what, lass?” Kemper asked.

Cythera looked up then. She had never seen the intangible scoundrel before. Yet she did not demand to know who he was. “A tree. A rowan, of course.”

“Of . . . course,” Malden said.

“The rowan is sacred to witches and magicians. Its wood is the only proper material for magic wands, and its berries are a potent charm against sorcery. Coruth has not fruited yet, though. She is still a sapling, for she lacks the strength to increase her size through magic. At first I thought she had a cunning plan—that she would grow, as a tree, and eventually her branches would break through the roof of Hazoth’s house. In that way she might free herself in, say, fifty or one hundred years from now.”

“She expects to be prisoned that long?” Malden asked in surprise.