Rezkin furrowed his brow in irritation. Why did all of this have to come up so quickly? Was it part of his purpose to finish his training and immediately enter into a marriage contract? What was the point of all of his training? Still, he did not want Frisha to be replaced with a stranger.

“I will consider it,” Rezkin replied.

Tam smiled broadly and slapped Rezkin on the back. He noticed that he did not tense up as much as he usually did when someone made physical contact and reminded himself not to let his guard down per Rule 24.

“It’ll be great!” Tam exclaimed. “We’d almost be like brothers.” Tam rubbed at his brow and laughed. “If I was actually related to Frisha, I mean.”

Chapter 16

That night, after everyone else was abed, Rezkin slipped into the night wearing his dark clothing, black armor, and deep cowl. The criminal element in the city of Kaibain was strong, highly influential, and ruthless. Far more dangers resided in this city than just a few simple thieves’ guilds, and Rezkin intended to add as many of them as possible to his repertoire of resources.

First, he had to meet up with the personnel he sent separately from his own traveling party. They were supposed to have left Justain the day after he and his companions departed. The thieves would have encountered the riverboat returning to Justain with the bandit captives and learned of the change in plans. From there, the Diamond Claw members should have continued to Drennil to complete the task he had set for them. After Drennil, they would have continued on to Kaibain. A few experienced thieves would have had a relatively easy time of the rough travel and should have made it to Kaibain ahead of him. Of course, that was assuming everything went to plan, which rarely was reality.

The young warrior traveled the dark streets of the city with efficiency using the map he held in his mind. On occasion during his training, Rezkin had wondered why he was required to memorize so many maps and floor plans when he was never permitted to leave the immediate area of the fortress. At times he had been sent on longer treks into the forests and mountains of the north, but never had he ventured into civilization, so the knowledge seemed frivolous at best. Now that he knew he had a purpose and that purpose was to be undertaken in the outworld, the masters’ insistence on the memorization made more sense.