Free The King's Assassin (Thief Takers Apprentice 3) by Stephen Deas Page A

to show that the path was good and then loped on into the woods. From the outside, in the sunlight, the leaves on the trees were a verdant green. From the gloom beneath though, they seemed nearly black, and only a little light reached through them. The ground was covered in a soft layer of moss and leaf mould and little else. The path vanished but Berren plunged on, marking as straight a line as he could. A minute later he emerged on the other side where the ridge fell sharply away again. Spread out below him, a semicircular bowl filled with trees sloped down to the water’s edge, and in the middle, close to the shore, three buildings sat in a clearing. A thin column of smoke rose from one. Out in the water a small ship lay at anchor. Everything as Talon had said. He stood still and listened. Far away someone was screaming.
    Tarn came and settled next to him, the rest of the cohort arrayed at the edge of the trees. Berren scratched at the bandages on his shoulders. The skin underneath had started to itch and now it wouldn’t stop. ‘What are we doing here?’
    More screams wafted up from below. ‘Slavers,’ said Tarn brusquely. He clenched and unclenched his fists, got up, paced for a bit and then sat down again. ‘It could be an hour before the rest of the company gets up here,’ he muttered. ‘Is there another way down?’
    ‘Not much cover on that slope,’ said someone. ‘Whole company goes down there at once, someone’s bound to see us.’
    ‘Bit steep too,’ said someone else. ‘Most likely someone will slip. Be a noise.’
    ‘Shouldn’t we wait for Talon?’ asked Berren, but the others ignored him and went on. They’d already made up their minds.
    ‘Aye. What you’d need is a small force to go in first. Can’t be too many of them down there.’
    ‘Take them by surprise before they can raise the alarm?’
    ‘Maybe get to that ship.’
    ‘About a cohort, I’d say.’
    ‘Aye.’
    Tarn cocked his head. ‘Scout a path for the main force? Deal with the sentries? Is that us? You know what? I do seem to remember Talon said something about doing just that.’
    A murmur of assent rose from the mercenaries. A moment later they were all on their feet, drawing straws to see who’d stay at the top and mark the path for Talon and the others when they came. That done, they began to pick their way down from the top of ridge. The first part was the worst, a sheet of rock a dozen feet high. Below that, a steep slope covered in springy tufts of grass fell away down towards the bottom of the bowl and more trees. Berren clambered down the rock face easily enough, while others simply jumped and then slid through the grass. From there, Tarn led them forward. The trees down here were different – the leaves lighter, sunlight streaming in through gaps in the foliage. The ground was covered with ferns and the soldiers crept among them, slow and silent.
    Screams rang out again. The trees muffled the sound but everyone heard it. As they came closer, Tarn made a sudden gesture and the soldiers dropped. Berren did the same, although he had no idea what Tarn had seen. For a minute they stayed absolutely still. Then Tarn began to move again, hunched right down into the undergrowth. There was another short pause and he waved the rest of the cohort towards him.
    ‘I can smell the smoke on the air,’ he whispered. ‘When we’re close enough to see what this place is, we stay hidden unless I say otherwise. We stay out of sight until we see what’s here.’
    More screams. This time they were sharp and clear. Tarn winced.
    ‘And once we’ve seen, then what?’ asked someone. ‘There can’t be more than a cohort here.’
    Tarn ran his thumb across his throat. The rest of the soldiers nodded and grinned. ‘But we look first. No one moves until I say.’
    At the edge of the trees Berren finally saw what the screaming was about. A crude wooden frame made from branches lashed together with ropes stood at the near end of the