Page 1 of The Cost of Blood and Bonds

Chapter 1

Gemira

Idrop from the roof into the alley, landing softly on the balls of my feet, just as the patrol rounds the corner. Their laughter fades into the night as they disappear from view.

The Davrik warehouse has more guards than the briefing suggested. Four instead of two, which means either Fletcher’s information is old or someone got nervous. Either way, it’s annoying but manageable.

The other two linger at the front entrance, arguing over last night’s dice game and who’s buying first round. They’re laughing and not watching, but not watching isn’t the same as not there.

I toss a few coppers from my pocket, and they skitter down the alley, clattering loudly against the cobblestone.

Both guards turn, and I’m already moving, slipping through the front door while they’re still chasing coins.

The air inside is thick with dust and grain, heavy enough to taste. Rows of grain sacks stretch into the dark, stacked twice my height on wooden pallets.

This isn’t storage. It’s a chokehold, waiting for hunger to make it worth more.

Windows line both walls. They’re high but reachable from the top of the stacks, with a short jump to the sill.

It would be so easy to take half the grain stock in one night, maybe more. It’d be enough to keep the north fed through winter. In and out, clean and fast.

But not tonight. Tonight, I’m here for the girls.

I keep to the wall, outside the lantern’s reach, quiet and invisible.

Grain rows give way to the loading dock, with a tall silo beside it. And tucked back in the corner is an office.

They have to be there. The lock all but confirms it with six pins, a false gate, and a warded keyhole. This is the kind of security you don’t waste on grain.

The first pin gives and the ward hums, irritated but harmless. I ease past the false gate and work through the next four in quick succession. The sixth resists stubbornly, but then the whole thing gives with a click.

I push the door open and light spills in. The two girls are so young. They sit on the floor, tied to a chair. They’re pressed so close together they could be one person, like they’re trying to disappear into each other.

My stomach twists, making my vision narrow and the edges going dark the way they always do when I see something that reminds me of⁠—

I force my vision wide again; I can panic later. Right now, there’s only the girls.

“Shh.” I press a finger to my lips and crouch in front of them. I pull a blade from my belt, and one of them jerks at the sight of it and squeezes her sister’s hand hard enough to blanch the knuckles.

“I’m cutting you loose. It’s going to feel close, but don’t scream.”

She whimpers as I cut, but the sound barely escapes her throat.

“Breathe. I’ve got you.”

I finish and step back. They have similar coloring, with the same brown hair and green eyes, but one’s clearly older by a year or two. They’re close enough to be sisters, but definitely not twins.

The king won’t buy this. So why take them?

“Listen…” I keep my voice low. “If anything goes wrong or if we get separated, go to the boarding house on Miller’s Row, by The Mossy Barrel. Say Fletcher sent you.”

They nod, and we start to move low and quiet. The guards haven’t budged, still oblivious.

I lead them to the nearest stack of grain sacks.

“You first.” I crouch and lace my fingers together. She plants her foot in my hands, and I boost her up onto the grain sacks.

I boost the smaller one next, and between my lift and her sister’s grip from above, she makes it. I pull myself up after them, and the cold spring air from the open window bites at my skin.