Take a Thief
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
For one wild moment, Skif thought— Is that a Companion?
But no—if it had been a Companion, there would certainly be a Herald somewhere about.
No, some idiot hadn’t tied the horse up, and she’d pulled her reins loose and wandered away. That groom would be in a lot of trouble—but since there wasn’t anyone combing the park looking for this beast, evidently he hadn’t missed her yet.
Well, his loss was Skif’s gain.
Making a dash out of cover, he grabbed for the reins and the saddle in the same movement, hauling himself into the saddle before she had time to do more than snort. And somehow, before he realized it, he was in the saddle and in control!
For just about a heartbeat.
Because in the next moment, the horse tossed her head, jerking the reins out of his hand, and set off at a gallop, and all he could do was cling desperately to the pommel of the saddle.
NOVELS BY MERCEDES LACKEY available from DAW Books:
THE HERALDS OF
VALDEMAR
ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW’S FLIGHT
ARROW’S FALL
THE LAST HERALD-MAGE
MAGIC’S PAWN
MAGIC’S PROMISE
MAGIC’S PRICE
THE MAGE WINDS
WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY
THE MAGE STORMS
STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING
KEROWYN’S TALE
BY THE SWORD
VOWS AND HONOR
THE OATHBOUND
OATHBREAKERS
OATHBLOOD
BRIGHTLY BURNING
TAKE A THIEF
EXILE’S HONOR
DARKOVER NOVEL
(with Marion Zimmer Bradley)
REDISCOVERY
THE BLACK SWAN
THE SERPENT’S SHADOW
THE GATES OF SLEEP
PHOENIX AND ASHES*
Written with LARRY DIXON:
THE MAGE WARS
THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON
OWLFLIGHT
OWLSIGHT
OWLKNIGHT
And don’t miss:
THE VALDEMAR COMPANION
Edited by John Helfers and Denise Little
*Forthcoming in hardcover from DAW Books
Copyright © 2001 by Mercedes R. Lackey.
eISBN : 978-1-101-11832-0
All rights reserved.
Time Line by Pat Tobin.
DAW Books Collectors No. 1199
DAW Books are distributed by Penguin Putnam Inc.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious.
All resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
First Paperback Printing, October 2002
DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. OFF AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
―MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.
S.A.
http://us.penguingroup.com
To the memory of Gordon R. Dickson Gentleman and scholar
OFFICIAL TIMELINE FOR THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR SERIES by Mercedes Lackey
Sequence of events by Valdemar reckoning
1
“GERRUP.”
Skif’s dreams shattered, leaving him with vague fragments of being somewhere warm, cozy, and sweet-scented. A toe scientifically applied to Skif’s rib cage with enough force to bounce him off the back wall of the under-stair cubby he called his own reinforced the otherwise incomprehensible order that he wake up. He woke, as ever, stiff, cold, and with a growling stomach.