Free Circle of Thieves: Legends of Dimmingwood by C. Greenwood Page A

bound
them up and tossed them into Red Rock cave with a guard assigned to them. We
could hardly take this prisoner to Boulder’s Cradle and parade him in front of
Rideon and the men. This was business of the circle and had to be kept quiet.
    But it was hard to keep a snarling yowling Skeltai warrior
quiet. We stuffed rags in his mouth, bound him thoroughly with rope, and for
want of a better plan, took him to an abandoned woodsman’s shack Nib knew of a
little distance from Horse Head Rock.
    The shack was ill-constructed , and all but caving in at the roof, but seemed ideal for our purpose as it was
an hour’s walk from Boulder’s Cradle—far enough distant that no one
inconvenient was likely to stumble over it.
    Once we had our prisoner safely stashed away came the
debacle of what we were to do with him next. Attempts were made to question
him, but he spoke not a word of our tongue, or if he did, refused to acknowledge
it. I would have called for Ada to interpret, but she was away on an errand for
Rideon. And so, I was left to deal with the situation.
    I stood in the center of the crumbling little shack, dust
motes swirling around me, and a stiff wind cutting through the cracks in the
walls. I knew I faced my first test as leader of our circle. Just now I wished
to be anything but leader.
    I glared at the prisoner trundled into a dark corner who was
the cause of my dilemma. It struck me that the Skeltai didn’t seem in the least
intimidated by his situation. I had never seen a prisoner appear so at ease.
    I vented my annoyance on the men I considered most
responsible for bringing this situation about. “If you’d only had the sense to
follow him instead of attacking him,” I snapped at the men who had made the
capture, “we might have learned something useful. We could have seen where he
was going, if he was meeting others, and discerned something of their plans.”
    The outlaw pair shifted nervously. “We didn’t want to risk the
savage escaping,” one of them explained nervously.
    I said, “The only danger of his escaping would have been if
he’d magicked a circle into the ground beneath his feet to drop into!”
    They exchanged uneasy glances and I realized that was
exactly what they had feared he might do. And who was I to say he couldn’t. How
much did we really know about these people anyway? Ada was our only source of
knowledge on Skeltai magic, and even she admitted herself to be of little use,
since she didn’t possess the skill.
    I frowned at the bound Skeltai warrior heaped in the corner
and wondered if he was likely to disappear in a poof of smoke at any moment. It
was an unnerving thought.
    “Get yourselves cleaned up,” I told the two outlaws. “Hide
your injuries or invent a likely story as to how you came by them.”
    They had taken a few cuts and bruises in their skirmish with
the Skeltai. We would just have to hope nobody decided to be overly curious
about how they’d acquired them.
    Their footsteps moved away, and already I forgot them. I
moved to stand over the Skeltai in the corner, and he gave a little start at my
approach. Maybe it was crazy, but I had the brief impression there was
recognition in his eyes.
    “Take the rags out of his mouth,” I told Nib.
    Nearby, Dradac frowned and said, “We’ve already questioned
him. He doesn’t speak the civilized tongue, and even if he did, I got the firm
impression he wouldn’t tell us anything.”
    I noticed he had helped the prisoner into a sitting position
that was probably more comfortable than the one we had dumped him in.
    “Dradac, why don’t you go looking for Ada again?” I
suggested.
    “I just got back from searching for her not an hour ago. I
told you, she’s not to be found.
    My gaze didn’t leave the prisoner. “So go out and make a
long circuit of the perimeter. We don’t want unwelcome folk stumbling in on
us.”
    I thought he would protest, but he must have realized then
why I wanted to be rid of him. I had a