Bandit Trap (How to catch a thief 3/3)

Writers: Eimi, Estelle, Paula
Date Posted: 28th August 2018
Series: The Great Bandit Trial

Characters: Zandan, Raviol, Tedek, Delaire
Description: Zandan springs the trap on the thief
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 6, day 13 of Turn 9

Tedek didn't like having to return to the hold one bit. He'd lived
holdless most of his life, and being out in the open land with a
pocketful of stolen jewellery made him nervous. It seemed just as
quiet and ordinary as when he'd been there the first time, but he
still couldn't shake the feeling that being here again was a bad idea.

Not for the first time since he'd left the others that morning, he
wondered what would happen if he simply took the jewels and
disappeared. Holdless life had been hard enough before the return of
Thread, but since then, survival was a constant struggle to find
shelter during Fall and avoid the ever-present patrols and the
sweepriders who seemed to fill the sky. Perhaps it was time to stop
before his luck ran out. Tedek had been a bandit long enough to know
that the guards usually got you in the end, if disease or injury
didn't. He did _not_ want to end up in the mines again. Maybe he could
get to another Hold, far away, and sell the jewels there for the marks
he'd need to build a new life.

But if he did that, he'd spend the rest of his life looking over his
shoulder, fearing revenge. Tedek sighed, checked the jewellery was
still there in his pocket and headed for the smithy.

Delaire loved breathing the fresh air. It got so hot and stuffy in
the smithy. He had been happy when his Master had sent him out to
grab the hoof nipper he had left in the stable. No one had seemed to
be around, so in the end, while the change of scene was nice, the
solitude had lessened his enjoyment of the job. He was happy when he
rounded a corner and fell into step with someone. He didn't look
familiar. With a smile on his face, the young journeyman smiled and
asked, "You look a little out of place, sir. May I show you the way
to where you're going?"

Zandan and two of his men were hidden out of sight, ready to make the
move. He had more men hiding with in shouting distance, although the
three of them should be enough for a one man.

The man flinched, his heart starting to race. What did this crafter
want with him? Did he know? Should he flee now, while he had the
chance? Or would that only confirm his guilt? He was tired after the
long walk from camp, and there wasn't good cover for miles. The young
man might outrun him, and then he'd be caught with the jewels on him.

**Stay calm. He can't possibly know.**

He managed a weak smile. "Ah - thank you, but I can find my own way. I
have business with the smith."

"Oh? I'm heading back to my Master's smithy right now. Maybe we're
heading to the same place. Which smith do you have business with?"
Delaire shouldered the long metal tool as he fell into stride with
Tedek, looking him up and down to try to figure out why it was that he
looked different.

Zandan shifted his weight from leg to leg. It was cramped and air was
getting stale, so he hope the holdless thief would come quick to the
trade with the smith.

"Journeyman Raviol? I heard he could mend some tools for me." Tedek
didn't really want to give a name; life as a bandit made one cautious
about names. But if it was the wrong smith on duty, he'd end up having
to invent a job for him and could end up in all sorts of trouble.

"Oh yeah, Raviol. He can help you mend tools. My Master is a
farrier. He doesn't work on anyone's tools but his own. Well, now he
has _me_ take care of all his tools, but I guess that's why Masters
have apprentices. And journeymen," Dalaire said, standing a bit
straighter as he remembered he had been promoted not more than a few
weeks past. "He's been my Master since I've been out of Harper
Classes. He's been good to me. Usually. Can't complain. Raviol
would have been a good smith to apprentice too if he had been a
Master, I guess, but I don't know. Something about him always made me
a little nervous. Hey, where are these tools of yours that need
mending?"

"Uh, back at the farm," Tedek hastily improvised, cursing the fact
that he seemed to have encountered the hold's chatterbox. "There are a
lot that need work, and I couldn't carry them all." Once again, he
considered leaving while he still could. Surely this journeyman would
tell his Master, and then the Master might ask Raviol about him, or
mention it to the guards.

He took a deep breath, reminding himself that they were nearly at the
smithy and if he left now, it would only raise suspicion. **I'm just
an ordinary visitor, in need of a smith.** Hoping that rudeness would
forestall any further questions, he put on a gruff voice and did his
best imitation of an irritable, miserly holder. "Besides, I want to
see his prices first. I won't be cheated by some clever craftsman who
thinks he can outwit an honest farmer."

Dalaire bristled a bit at the hit to his pride as a craftsman.
Obviously this man was not from the area! "Emerald Falls craftsmen
are always honest with our customers, sir," he said defensively, but
his mood quickly brightened. "This is it, Journeyman Raviol's
smithy."

"Thank you, journeyman." Tedek tried to sound grudging, hoping that
the young man wouldn't take it into his head to join him in Raviol's
smithy to pass the time. He'd never get rid of the wretched jewels if
that happened, and besides he hadn't the faintest idea what sort of
tools a farmer might want fixed. "Well, I'd best not keep you from
your work. Your Master might be wanting you."

"Probably," Dalaire said with a roll of his eyes. Now that he was a
journeyman, much more was certainly expected of him. "Good day to
you, sir. My best regards to Journeyman Raviol."

Tedek watched the young man go, thinking on the chances that he would
tell someone about the stranger in the hold. He could still turn back.
He could tell the others it had been too risky, that the holders had
asked questions, that there was something about this that didn't feel
right...but after so many Turns living holdless, was he really going
to be spooked by a garrulous boy?

Shaking his head, he stepped into the smithy. "Journeyman Raviol?"

"Shut the door," Raviol said with a nod. He set aside the freshly
oiled piece that he had been polishing with a dirty rag before
standing up and wiping his hands on his apron. "Any trouble along the way?"

"Nothing important. I met one of your fellow crafters as I arrived." The
holdless man glanced warily around the smithy, but everything seemed
normal, just as it had been on his first visit. "Talkative fellow, but
I don't think he suspected anything. I told him I was here to get some
tools mended, in case anyone asks."

"Hmm." The smith turned towards his work desk to find the small bag
of marks that had been promised as payment. "You don't have any
companions with you out there bumping into locals, do you?"

"No, I came alone. The others are...elsewhere." He felt in his pocket
for the necklace, hoping to complete the transaction and get away from
this hold as swiftly as possible. The young journeyman had been right;
there was something unsettling about this smith. But after all, what
could you expect, from a man who dealt in stolen goods? "Do you have
the marks?"

Raviol poured the coins out onto the table. He reached for his
monocular. "Can I see the necklace again?" The smith knew better
than just to assume Tedek hadn't tried to switch the necklace with
something of less value. He was a thief, after all.

"Here it is." He brought out the handful of glittering jewels and
handed it over. As pretty as it was, the bandit was anxious to see the
last of it. It was too valuable, and too dangerous. "Be quick. I don't
want to be here for long. That other journeyman might come back."

Under the journeyman's trained eye, it took only a moment to see all
the small details that made the necklace unique. "This is it," he
said with a nod as he pulled the monocular from his eye. "The marks
are there. Do you agree to the price?"

Tedek counted the marks back into the bag. It was far less than the
necklace was worth, of course, but it was a decent enough price that
the others wouldn't think he'd skimmed off a share, and he was in no
mood to haggle. "I agree. It's yours."

That was the cue. Zandan and his men busted out of their hidey-hole.
For a big man, he moved quickly and silently.
"In Lord Corowal's name, you're under arrest!" he declared when his
men moved to surround the holdless. He almost hoped the man would try
to bolt or resist. Give him a reason to rough him up a little.

The thief froze in sheer panic at hearing the Lord Holder's name. He
should have known! Hulking guardsmen were crowding into the smithy,
and there was nowhere to run - but Tedek was desperate. Acting on
instinct, he flung the bag of marks he was holding at the guard
nearest the exit and, more by luck than skill, managed to aim straight
at his face, so the man had to raise an arm to protect himself. Taking
advantage of the distraction, he lunged for the doorway. Someone
grabbed at the sleeve of his jacket, but he managed to slip out of it,
made it outside and fled towards the road, terror giving him
unexpected speed.

Zandan let out a shrill whistle when he saw their prey bolt out of the
door. That would alert the men hiding outside. The thief was not going
to get away from them. He ran after him, just to see Vargol's warning
arrow zip past the running man's nose. "Stop, or the next arrow will
be inbedded to your back!"

Gasping for breath, Tedek skidded to a halt, turned and made for one
of the nearby buildings. He hadn't any clear plan in mind, only a
vague
thought that he might hide, or even find a runnerbeast and escape, but
mainly he just wanted to get under cover so the archer couldn't shoot
him. He wasn't aware that the big guard was so close on his heels,
though - not until it was too late.

The guard stepped out behind the corner of a house and simply pushed
his spear's shaft between the running man's legs.

He tripped and fell headlong, the fall knocking the breath out of him.
The stony ground scored deep, painful grazes into his hands, knees and
face and he nearly choked in the dust kicked up by the chase. Even so,
he was so frantic to get away that he tried to scramble to his feet
and run again, but someone hit him on the back with what felt like the
end of a staff or a spear, and he collapsed, gasping in agony.

"Gotcha!" the guard said jubilantly. Zandan arrived, the thief's arms
were twisted behind his back, he was pulled to his feet and tied.

"Thought you could make a run for it, eh?" Zandan asked and almost
causually, sink his fist to his stomach.

Tedek doubled over in pain, and if the other guard hadn't been holding
him up, he would have collapsed. All the fight had gone out of him,
and he gave in to the inevitable. The guards had got him, and he was
going back to the mines, just as he'd feared.

"Take him away, " Zandan told his men. "Good work, lads."

Last updated on the October 1st 2018

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