Honor Among Thieves by David Chandler Read Free Book Online

to fight even as I’m trying to kill you?” Malden asked.
    “Judging by your skill, it’ll take you quite a while to do that,” the knight responded. “I have to find some way to pass the time.”
    Malden seethed with rage. He tried a stroke he’d seen Croy make a dozen times— feint quickly to the left, then shift all your weight to your right side and on the follow-through bring the blade around to—
    Iron clanged on iron. Chillbrand slid down Acidtongue’s blade and its point was suddenly at Malden’s throat, while Acidtongue was thrust harmlessly to one side.
    “A swordsman,” the knight told Malden, “trains every day of his life. He sustains himself on wholesome food, to build up his strength. You’re puny, boy. You’ve gone to bed hungry one too many times. You’re quick on your feet, I’ll give you that, but the muscles in your arm are soft as cheese. I can feel it.”
    “Will you insult me to death? Stop toying with me!”
    “When two knights meet, swords in hand, they call it a conversation, because of the way the steel sounds its joy, back and forth. But you’d know that, too, if—”
    Without warning Malden brought Acidtongue around with his weight behind it, intending to run it straight through the knight’s body. Acidtongue flickered in the air, it moved so quickly. Yet the knight was as ready for the blow as if he’d read Malden’s mind. Chillbrand came down from overhead and turned Acidtongue to the side like earth off the blade of a plow.
    “Cut me down or let me pass!” Malden shrieked.
    “If you insist,” the knight said.
    Yet he would not even grant Malden the mercy of a quick death. Instead he just lunged forward and slapped Malden across the forehead with the flat of his blade.
    Ice crystals grew and burst inside Malden’s brain, exploding his thoughts and freezing his senses. He felt every shred of warmth sucked from his body, drawn into the freezing sword. He started to shake and his teeth clacked together like the wooden clappers of the lepers he’d seen. His body convulsed with the cold and suddenly he could not control his fingers, and Acidtongue fell from his hand to bounce off the cobblestones.
    Desperately, Malden tried to wrap his arms around himself, to stamp his feet—anything to get warm. His body had rebelled against him and he could not stop shaking.
    It was the work of a moment for the kingsmen behind him to grab him up, bind him, and haul him away. He could offer no resistance at all.

Chapter Eight
    W hen Malden had burst out of the inn, Cythera leapt to her feet, fully intending to follow him. People pressed in on every side, though, and she just could not match the thief’s speed or nimbleness. Still, she tried to push her way through the crowd—until Croy grabbed her arm and dragged her back.
    “If they have a warrant for his arrest,” he said, “we must—”
    “He’s our friend,” Cythera said, staring daggers at the knight errant. “I’m going after him!”
    “If you must, then at least let’s do it the right way. We’ll speak to the proper authorities, and find out why they want him and how he can be freed. Just let me settle up our bill here, and—”
    She stared at him with wild eyes. “I’ll go alone. You keep an eye on Balint.” She twisted her arm out of his grip and ducked under the elbow of the taverner, who had come to see what all the fuss was about. The people in the inn drew back when they saw the look in her face.
    She would not lose Malden. Not when she’d just realized how she felt about him. That fate should take him away from her now was unacceptable.
    Outside of the inn she sought wildly through the crowded streets, having no idea where she should look for him first. She knew he would likely have taken to the rooftops, but she wasn’t as nimble and couldn’t follow him that way. When she heard the hue and cry go up, though, she knew to head in the direction of the shouting—and raced around a corner just in time