Now I looked at him. “If you don’t trust me, how will you convince them to?”
Erick’s face reddened. “Maybe I shouldn’t trust you.” He motioned with his arm and a man with a long scar on his right cheek entered the tent. I closed my eyes a moment, certain that if I listened carefully enough I’d hear the devils laughing at this new joke on me. He was the man who’d held the torch the night I fought to rescue Nila, and he clearly recognized me. I reluctantly stood to acknowledge him. His shoulder was visibly bandaged, which gave me some pleasure. So that’s where I got him.
“Fendon returned to us last night,” Erick said. “One of the men we played Queen’s Cross with thought something was suspicious about you, so he asked Fendon to come see. Fendon said your horse looked familiar. Thinks you do too.”
Fendon swaggered forward. Before I could stop him, he lifted up my shirt and showed the cut to Erick. “Yep, this is the boy I told you about. That’s where I stabbed him.”
“Stabbed?” I snorted at that. “You couldn’t control your sword to do worse than scratch me.”
“You forgot to tell me about attacking members of my family,” Erick accused.
I quietly put a hand on my knife. “You forgot to ask.”
Fendon reared back and hit me in the jaw. I tumbled to the ground but grabbed his shirt on the way and pulled him down with me. He landed on his wounded shoulder and grunted in pain. Then I withdrew my knife, putting it at Fendon’s throat. “Maybe you should ask why they killed an innocent woman and nearly killed her young daughter?”
Erick’s eyes widened. “They did what?”
“It’s been too long since you participated in those Carthyan raids.” Then I leaned in closer to Fendon. “And if you participate in any again, I’ll find you.”
Erick grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me off the thief, then put a foot on his chest to keep him from coming after me. When Fendon signaled that he had calmed down, Erick told him to sit up. He kept his seat, but his glare was fierce and his fists remained tightly balled.
“We have rules here!” Erick said. “We’re thieves, not murderers.”
“Isn’t that what he did in the noble’s house last night, to that man?” Fendon pointed a stubby finger at me.
“If that man had escaped, he’d have called others to capture us,” Erick said. “Sage saved all of us — twice — and he netted a fine profit besides. But what you did, that is inexcusable.”
o;No, seriously, Sage. I don’t use it often but when I do, it works.”
“Then may your talent for spontaneous tantrums earn you great glory and honor.”
Fink knew I’d insulted him but didn’t seem to care. Instead, he stirred his spoon around his bowl as he mumbled, “Erick said when you went to Libeth you killed a man. Is that true?”
“Whatever I did, he got a lot worse than he deserved,” I said softly. In my mind, I pictured Mott’s strained expression as I left. Not being able to follow me had to be torturing him.
“I didn’t think you were capable of something like that.”
“I’m not.” And yet it was inevitable that I’d have to destroy the pirates.
Fink slowly exhaled. “Do you want to go to the pirates?”
I glanced over at him. “I have to go. That’s different.”
“You seem scared.”
“Everyone gets scared at times. It’s only the fools who won’t admit it.”
We were interrupted by Erick coming back over to join us. He crouched near me and said, “Will you join us around the fire, Sage? Everyone wants to hear your story about our adventures in Libeth.”
I ignored his question and asked my own. “When do we go to the pirates?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. If I had time to know you better —”
“If time is what you need, then I’ll leave tonight and find another way there,” I said without batting an eye. “Time is a luxury I don’t have.”
He massaged his jaw. “Will you promise to give them the location of the cave? Because if I bring you there and you refuse to tell them, both our heads will roll.”
I couldn’t promise that, but with total sincerity I said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my head from rolling. And I’ll try not to do anything that will cause them to detach yours.”