peddlers spilling over from the main trading areas, and no pedestrians taking a short cut from one market to another. Lucius' only worry was that they themselves might get robbed here by some desperate footpad, though he trusted in his own abilities to protect the kids.
Markel was already waiting for him when he arrived, perched on top of a stack of wooden boxes. He smiled as Lucius approached.
'Seen Treal yet?' Lucius asked.
'Nah. She'll be here soon. Good mark that one, I'll bet,' Markel said by way of compliment.
Lucius shrugged. 'Didn't go so well. Sorry about fingering you like that — I thought the woman had made me, couldn't think what else to do.'
The fact he was making a heartfelt apology to a twelve year old boy did not strike Lucius as being odd in the least. After having worked alongside the two kids for the past few days, he had begun to treat them as equally as they had treated him from the start.
Markel shrugged the apology away. 'Not the first time I've been collared — hazard of the job. Anyway, you did the right thing, throwing suspicion away from yourself. You have to trust in the other guy getting away — that's
'And you made the switch?'
'Easy. Treal snuck in and took it just before they grabbed me.'
Lucius looked at the boy, with a quizzical expression, prompting Markel to ask him what he was thinking.
'I've been wondering,' Lucius said. 'You earn good money doing this, and have been doing it for a while. What do you spend it on?'
'Oh, you think that kids can't spend money wisely,' Markel said, mocking him. 'Most of it goes to our parents right now. Doing this beats working at some butchers or tanners, and they don't complain when they see how much we bring in. The rest we mostly give to Caradoc for keeping.'
'Caradoc?' Lucius asked.
'He's the lieutenant of the Night Hands. You'll meet him soon, I guess. He takes a special interest in kids who join the Hands, says they are the future. It was him who got Ambrose to start watching the teams in the markets.'
'So what does he do with your money?'
'Holds it for us. Says we would just spend it on beer, and he's probably right. When we leave the teams and become proper thieves, we get the money. Spend it on the gear we'll need — lockpicks, a decent blade, silk rope. That stuff's expensive.'
'When do you think you'll get accepted?'
Markel pursed his lips in thought. 'A year maybe. If we carry on doing well. I'll probably see you in the guildhouse then.'
'You think?'
'You won't be with us long. You're too good. They're just testing you, seeing how you work, and whether you can be trusted.'
Lucius sighed. 'Tell you the truth, wasn't planning to stay around long. Just wanted to earn some money, then leave.'
'You mean leave the city?'
Lucius nodded.
'Nah, you'll stay.'
'Oh, yes?'
'The money's too good. If you can avoid getting caught, that is, and I don't think you are planning on that any time soon.'
Leaning back against the wall, Markel closed his eyes and dozed while he waited, leaving Lucius to his thoughts. Lucius marvelled in the kid's ability to switch off so quickly. He was hard to restrain at times but whenever there was nothing to do, he could fall into a light sleep almost on command.
Stifling a yawn himself, Lucius was surprised to find how weary he could become after a few marks had been worked. He started to chuckle as he considered the idea that thieving for a living could actually be hard work, but was distracted by a flash of movement within the alley beyond. Treal came tearing round the corner, skidding to a halt in front of them.
'Took your time,' Markel said without opening an eye.
'Just met up with Ambrose,' Treal said breathlessly, and she put a hand on Lucius' shoulder to steady herself as she panted. With her hair cut short and clothes carelessly chosen, she looked much like her brother, though Lucius thought she might become quite attractive in a few years.
'And?' he prompted.
'Just a few silver coins,' Treal said, pausing as she savoured the disappointment in Lucius' eyes, before adding, 'and a handful of emeralds and sapphires!'
Lucius smiled. Any cut stone that was green or blue was an emerald or sapphire to Treal, for she had yet to develop a thief's keen eye for detail. However, it would be a good haul nonetheless, and he looked forward to their meeting later with Ambrose when they would learn how much the stones had been fenced for.
'We're to move to the northern markets,' Treal continued. 'Ambrose saw what happened with Markel, and says there is no reason to push our luck. Vern's guys will take over this patch.'
'We'd better get going then.'
'Yeah — wake my brother up.'
They switched roles in the afternoon, and it was Lucius' turn to be handed stolen goods, this time by Treal who would make the grab while her brother distracted the mark. The twins looked to Lucius to pick almost all their marks now, buoyed by their success earlier. They all smelled a good day's takings, and were eager to capitalise on their previous trade.
As the day wore on, the crowds thronging the Five Markets peaked, and then started to recede. There was still enough cover for the team to operate, with the ability to lose oneself among people paramount, and Lucius casually leaned against a plinth missing a statue, the original having been torn down during the city's fall. Treal was close by, while Markel sat by the market's edge a little further off, watching for the signal to move in on a mark.
Treal had been outlying a not entirely serious plan on how they could gain fame by being the first team to treat a guard patrol as a mark, perhaps lifting the sergeant's sword, when Lucius hushed for her attention. Nodding into the crowd, he indicated the unmistakable signs, to the trained eye at least, of a team closing in on a mark. They watched as a young lad purposefully tripped in front of an elderly man. Pretending to be in some distress, the boy persuaded the man to bend down to help him back up, even as one of the boy's friends quickly stepped up behind to lift the man's money.
'I thought Vern and his team were moved to our patch,' he said.
'They were,' said Treal. 'That's not Vern. Damn them!'
Her exclamation caught Lucius by surprise, and he was mystified as Treal caught her brother's attention and directed it to the other pickpockets. Markel frowned angrily when he saw what was going on, and he nodded back to his sister.
'Go and get Ambrose,' Treal said to Lucius. 'We'll keep watch here and make sure they don't get far. Tell him that the Guild has moved into the markets.'
Lucius was thoroughly confused. 'Guild? I thought we were the guild?'
'Not this one, we're not. Quickly, get Ambrose,' she said, shooing him away.
No wiser, Lucius did as instructed, pushing his way through the crowds to Ring Street, which was the quickest route to the knick-knack stall by the fountain. He began to hurry, not knowing what was going on, but driven by Treal's sense of urgency.
It was with some relief that Lucius saw Ambrose in his usual spot, talking to a young boy who he presumed was another pickpocket from a different team. Lucius paused, unsure of whether he should interrupt another team's business, but his seniority in years got the better of him and he marched up to Ambrose.
The veteran thief looked up in surprise, a querying look on his face.
