surprised to find how weary he could become after a few marks had been worked. He started to chuckle as he considered the idea that thieving for a living could actually be hard work, but was distracted by a flash of movement within the alley beyond. Treal came tearing round the corner, skidding to a halt in front of them.
“Took your time,” Markel said without opening an eye.
“Just met up with Ambrose,” Treal said breathlessly, and she put a hand on Lucius’ shoulder to steady herself as she panted. With her hair cut short and clothes carelessly chosen, she looked much like her brother, though Lucius thought she might become quite attractive in a few years.
“And?” he prompted.
“Just a few silver coins,” Treal said, pausing as she savoured the disappointment in Lucius’ eyes, before adding, “and a handful of emeralds and sapphires!”
Lucius smiled. Any cut stone that was green or blue was an emerald or sapphire to Treal, for she had yet to develop a thief’s keen eye for detail. However, it would be a good haul nonetheless, and he looked forward to their meeting later with Ambrose when they would learn how much the stones had been fenced for.
“We’re to move to the northern markets,” Treal continued. “Ambrose saw what happened with Markel, and says there is no reason to push our luck. Vern’s guys will take over this patch.”
“We’d better get going then.”
“Yeah – wake my brother up.”
T HEY SWITCHED ROLES in the afternoon, and it was Lucius’ turn to be handed stolen goods, this time by Treal who would make the grab while her brother distracted the mark. The twins looked to Lucius to pick almost all their marks now, buoyed by their success earlier. They all smelled a good day’s takings, and were eager to capitalise on their previous trade.
As the day wore on, the crowds thronging the Five Markets peaked, and then started to recede. There was still enough cover for the team to operate, with the ability to lose oneself among people paramount, and Lucius casually leaned against a plinth missing a statue, the original having been torn down during the city’s fall. Treal was close by, while Markel sat by the market’s edge a little further off, watching for the signal to move in on a mark.
Treal had been outlining a not entirely serious plan on how they could gain fame by being the first team to treat a guard patrol as a mark, perhaps lifting the sergeant’s sword, when Lucius hushed for her attention. Nodding into the crowd, he indicated the unmistakable signs, to the trained eye at least, of a team closing in on a mark. They watched as a young lad purposefully tripped in front of an elderly man. Pretending to be in some distress, the boy persuaded the man to bend down to help him back up, even as one of the boy’s friends quickly stepped up behind to lift the man’s money.
“I thought Vern and his team were moved to our patch,” he said.
“They were,” said Treal. “That’s not Vern. Damn them!”
Her exclamation caught Lucius by surprise, and he was mystified as Treal caught her brother’s attention and directed it to the other pickpockets. Markel frowned angrily when he saw what was going on, and he nodded back to his sister.
“Go and get Ambrose,” Treal said to Lucius. “We’ll keep watch here and make sure they don’t get far. Tell him that the Guild has moved into the markets.”
Lucius was thoroughly confused. “Guild? I thought we were the guild?”
“Not this one, we’re not. Quickly, get Ambrose,” she said, shooing him away.
No wiser, Lucius did as instructed, pushing his way through the crowds to Ring Street, which was the quickest route to the knick-knack stall by the fountain. He began to hurry, not knowing what was going on, but driven by Treal’s sense of urgency.
It was with some relief that Lucius saw Ambrose in his usual spot, talking to a young boy who he presumed was another pickpocket from a different team. Lucius
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