might as well
might as well go out fighting. Even if you get lucky, at least twelve of you are not going to make it. So . . . who’ll be the first to move . . . and get killed? Maybe you should try another time instead, when the odds aren’t stacked against you.”
There was a long silence. Keilin was just beginning to hope when the Amphirian officer Cap had interrupted shook his head. “No.” His voice was hard, flat and final.
He continued. “Your theft was the worst incident in Amphir’s history as a safe-city. We cannot back off. It would cost all of us our jobs, and our city its reputation. You will return the black opal, and we will have ten times its weight of the thief’s flesh. Then you can walk away from here.”
Cap stood silent for a minute. Then: “We don’t have the jewel any more.”
The Amphirian officer shrugged. “Then it is twenty times its weight. And the name of the man who purchased it. He will return it, and be refunded. If he should refuse . . . then we count him as a thief, too. Come. The thief. It is one of those three, who actually took the stone. Then the rest of you can go.” He pointed to Keilin, Bey and S’kith
Cap shrugged. “Keilin. You wanted to do it this way.” Keilin felt his jaw dropping. Cap continued. “Twenty times the weight in flesh. See you don’t take a drop of blood in the process.”
The Amphirian laughed humorlessly. “We’ve heard that one before. The courts of Amphir were kind enough to pass a waiver, exempting us from all claims for damages caused in the execution of our duty. Now, to whom was the jewel sold, and for what price?”
“To the Tyrant. Twenty thousand in gold. Far more than it’s worth, really. He wanted a jewel that had successfully been stolen from Amphir,” Cap continued blandly, pushing Keilin forward.
“Hang on, Cap. You can’t let the boy take the rap alone,” said Beywulf, stepping forward. “You lot. I’m bigger than him, and it was only a little bitty stone anyway. Take your flesh out of me.”
“No.” S’kith too had stepped forward, his voice, as usual, terrifyingly flat. “You can take the flesh from my body. I am not so fat, and will eat better anyway. But try to take it from my friend here, and I will kill many of you first. Keilin, you let them take it from me. I will not feel the pain.”
A snort came from behind them. It was Leyla. “Oh, that’s enough, Captain Wickus. Yes, I recognize you, even if you don’t remember