Rezkin had seen enough of this man’s idiocy. He did not deserve to be in any position of authority. “Your recruits are dirty, underfed, and untrained, and I doubt you have the Skills to train them properly. I am taking it upon myself to remove you from your undeserved position.”

“Who sent you? Did Draphus put you up to this?” the denleader asked hesitantly.

Rezkin did not know this Draphus, but the warrior guessed the man was a higher-ranking member of the guild. He shook his head slightly and said, “I do not work for the thieves’ guild.”

“Is that so? What makes you think you can get rid of me so easy?” The man sneered.

“A strong leader needs strong warriors. Only a weak leader would intentionally keep his men weak,” the young warrior replied.

Thorn raised the sword as if he was holding a club. He positioned his arms awkwardly out to the side like a chicken attempting to appear larger and more intimidating. “Are you callin’ me weak?”

“Obviously,” Rezkin drawled.

The denleader took a step forward and then paused. He waved his henchmen forward and said, “Kill him.”

The hefty male henchman glanced uncertainly back and forth between his boss and the intruder. The woman’s smirk deepened with a lift of one brow. Her eyes roamed up and down his body with interest.

“Uh, I don’t know, boss. He seems pretty sure of himself. Maybe we should send for Draphus,” the man argued.

The denleader rounded on the larger man shouting, “Are you questioning me?”

“No, boss. I’m just sayin’. He don’t look scared, does he? Maybe he knows somethin’ we don’t,” the big man said.

Thorn scowled with fury. Without taking his eyes off the bigger man, he snapped at the woman. “Attica, take care of him!”

Attica grinned and said, “I don’t think I can. It sounded like he was challenging you for your position. Can’t interfere in a challenge, can I?”

“What?” the denleader exclaimed. “It weren’t no challenge.” The man’s poor attempt at sounding educated dissolved as his back alley burr bled through. “He ain’t even in the guild!”

The bigger man, who was not as ignorant as he looked, caught on to the woman’s machinations and nodded as he said, “It sounded like a challenge to me.” Several of the older, small-men who had gathered at a reasonable distance started muttering to each other about the challenge and nodding along.

Thorn gripped his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Fine!” he barked as he shrugged out of his coat and threw it at the rotund henchman. He raised his sword and set his feet in a poor parody of a dueling stance.