And worst of all, Rek was far too pleased to resume our old friendship—when he wasn’t forgetting about me entirely in pursuit of his mission. It was just the combination to keep my heart confused, hopeful, and in pain.
I could see it now so clearly. Rek and I had always been the most alike. But I was a servant now. Even before, as the daughter of a junior vizier, I had qualified as a childhood playmate and nothing more. Now, we didn’t even belong in the same room.
In the one way that really mattered, Rek and I were nothing alike. Which is why my heart needed to return to its usual speed, and the flush on my cheeks needed to cool in the night wind.
My heart wasn’t listening, however, continuing to beat out its hurried rhythm. I tried to force myself to focus on Rek’s question instead.
“It is just a theory,” I said and felt his nod of agreement against the top of my head.
I drew a deep breath, trying to suppress my reaction to his nearness. Only when I was sure I could speak calmly, did I continue.
“The thieves brought what they’d stolen—or most of it—to the cave. I was assuming they used it as convenient storage, but Esai—their captain—referred tofeedingthe treasure. As if it was a living creature.”
Rek made a skeptical noise, and I hurried on.
“Obviously it’s not alive. I’m not suggesting that. But an enchantment could animate it in a way. And if the enchantment required that the treasure in the cave be continually ‘fed’new treasure, that would explain why the gang robs travelers over and over, only to deposit their stolen goods in a cave. That was the bit that had me most confused.”
“But it still doesn’t explain their motivation for doing so,” Rek said, clearly wanting to follow every twist of my reasoning. “Why not just keep what they sell and ignore the cave entirely? That was the retirement part you talked about.”
I nodded. “Esai referred to a large number of old members who had already retired, and it sounded like many of them are family to the current gang members. I think that if you serve for a certain length of time, you get to claim your share of the treasure.”
I paused, feeling the need to add a caveat. “This is the bit where it really does become guesswork. What if, in order for the enchantment to be satisfied that the treasure is being fed, they have to put in more than they take out? That would make the whole exercise worse than pointlessunlessthe enchantment has faded to the point where it only recognizes the number of items, not their value. So they feed it a continuous supply of gold coins and simple gems, things like that. But they take items of far greater value—items that, once sold, can keep the thief in question in luxury for the rest of his days.”
“Most of the chests and bags near the front seemed to hold basic coins and gems, with a few golden objects among them,” Rek agreed. “The further in you went, the more elaborate the items became. Some of them were impressive enough works of art that they would bring their owner status and acclaim, if he valued that over their monetary value.”
“Exactly! What if the items at the back are the original treasure of the fabled cave? Treasure that’s been sitting there, magically preserved, for centuries. And the chests and bags at the front are what this gang has added over the decades.”
“Hmmm.” Rek considered the point. “And you believe that if there is ever more taken from the cave than has been added, everything that has been removed turns to dust? And you think that happened? Just then?”
“Precisely. That’s why we had to hurry out of there. Combined with what the retired thieves had already taken, the six baskets of gold coins taken by Ali must have come perilously close to tipping the total the wrong way. Not knowing about those baskets, the gang thought it was safe for their retiring member to take his share, removing yet more items from the cave.”
“That would be the six baskets neither you nor Navid thought to mention earlier,” Rek said dryly.
“It wasn’t relevant before now,” I said airily. “But now it is, so we told you. I shudder to think how many individual coins were in those baskets. He must have been incredibly near the limit of dusting everything. Close enough that those hundred extra items today set the enchantment into motion. I walked into the cave with a coin in my pocket, but unlike the other coins in that cave, this one had been taken from the cave. It had been marked by the enchantment. And once the thieves rode out, it turned to golden dust. Which means so did everything Joseph took as his reward for service to the gang. It’s dark, so I don’t know how long it will take that thief to realize his tapestry is gone and his saddlebags are full of dust, but when he does…”
“They’ll ride straight back to the cave.” Rek glanced to his left where Samuel was leading my horse with its burden. “And they’ll find Kasim’s body gone. They’ll know someone else has been in there tonight.”
I grimaced. “Yes, that wasn’t ideal. But we couldn’t just leave him there! Especially since we have to find a way to conceal his identity.”
Rek didn’t say anything, but I knew he accepted my point because back in the cave he’d agreed to let us take the body home to Nyla.
“So at some point in the last few decades,” I finished up, getting the conversation back on track, “a man somehow stumbled on the secret to opening the cave, but also the details of the enchantment. So he’d found riches beyond measure, but he couldn’t take any of them. If he did, he would trigger the enchantment and need to keep continually feeding the treasure. But he’s not a principled man, so he comes up with the idea of the gang. By keeping the gang going beyond their own retirement, individual members can retire and have the chance to enjoy their wealth. And they don’t even have to worry about being discovered with stolen goods—which is the most common way thieves are caught. Because anything they steal is stashed in the cave, while the wealth they’re spending is the original treasure of the cave, not anything anyone else ever owned.”
“It’s actually a fairly ingenious idea,” Rek said with begrudging respect. “It must have taken a charismatic leader to turn it into reality, though—and to keep it functioning all this time later.”
“I suspect it was Esai’s father,” I said. “From the way the thieves responded to the suggestion he might show up, they clearly still fear him.”
“The worst of it is that we can’t make use of the treasure ourselves,” Rek said. “If we were free to take it, everyone ever robbed by the gang could be repaid, and many of the kingdom’s most urgent needs met as well. But instead it will continue to sit there gathering dust forever.”
“Well, not dust,” I said, unable to help myself. “I can only assume from its gleaming appearance that the enchantment keeps that away.”
Rek let out a reluctant chuckle. “Not literal dust, then. But it might as well be gathering it for all the good it will do anyone.”
“Perhaps we can find a way to break the enchantment? It’s getting older and older, and they were able to break the one on the cave in Ardasira.”
“I don’t know that they so much broke it as triggered it and survived the outcome,” Rek said. “But if your coin is anything to go by, there’d be no point our trying the same. We’d end up with a great deal of dust and no treasure.”
The walls of the city came into view, and disappointment washed over me. I wanted this ride to last forever—and that despite knowing the danger to my heart of indulging this particular foolishness.