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Den of Thieves
David Chandler
Enter a world of darkness and danger, honour, daring and destiny in David Chandler’s magnificent epic trilogy: The Ancient Blades.Croy is a knight errant, and bearer of an ancient blade with a powerful destiny. He's also kind of, well, dim. He believes in honour. He believes that people are fundamentally good, and will do the right thing if you give them a chance.Unfortunately, Croy lives in the city of Ness. A thriving medieval city of fifty thousand people, none of whom are fundamentally even decent, and who will gleefully stab you in the back. If you give them a chance.Ness is also the home to Malden. Malden is a thief. He lives by his wits, disarming cunning traps, sneaking past sleeping guards, and running away very fast whenever people are trying to kill him. Which is often. One time Malden stole a crown. And then he had to steal it back to avoid a civil war. Croy got the credit, of course, because he's a noble knight. Another time the two of them went into the tomb of an ancient warrior race, and Croy accidentally started a barbarian invasion. Guess who had to clean that up?They probably wouldn't be friends at all if it wasn't for Cythera. Cythera is a witch. A mostly-good witch. And despite herself she can't stop thieves and knights falling in love with her… At the same time.
Den of Thieves
Book One of The Ancient Blades Trilogy
David Chandler
For F.L., M.M., and R.E.H., the Grand Masters
Contents
Map
Prologue
Nearly one hundred thousand people lived in the Free City…
Part I
A Thief’s Ransom
Chapter One
There were evil little things skulking in the shadows, their…
Chapter Two
Inside the ruined building three old men dressed in rags…
Chapter Three
The darkness inside the box was a solid thing, as…
Chapter Four
Well. He knew what to do with locks.
Chapter Five
Beyond the locked door was a snug little office, heated…
Chapter Six
Neither of them spoke for a while, as the meaning…
Chapter Seven
He drank the whole bottle and got rather drunk and…
Chapter Eight
The accused was brought into the square on a hurdle,…
Chapter Nine
Malden pushed through the crowd, which tried to push back.
Chapter Ten
Approximately three hundred yards to the northwest, Market Square had…
Chapter Eleven
For a while Malden’s world was only a terrible ringing,…
Chapter Twelve
The sorcerer Aelbron Hazoth lived in an imposing four story…
Chapter Thirteen
The next day Malden spent in preparation.
Chapter Fourteen
As they hauled away from the Smoke and up the…
Chapter Fifteen
Malden had learned to climb almost from the time he…
Chapter Sixteen
Croy hated subterfuge, but sometimes the direct approach was just…
Chapter Seventeen
Malden listened to the clamor beyond the wall for only…
Chapter Eighteen
Malden found himself in a small bedroom that looked like…
Chapter Nineteen
Malden’s feet kicked wildly at nothing as his body dropped…
Chapter Twenty
“You’re—You’re mad,” Malden had said two days before, when Cythera…
Chapter Twenty-One
The crown—technically a coronet—was not a work of great art…
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bile rushed up Malden’s throat and his head swam. The…
Chapter Twenty-Three
A great crashing noise stopped Croy in his tracks. “That…
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was all Malden could do to hold on. His…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Croy’s blood thrummed with excitement, as if his veins were…
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Curse you, leave off,” Malden whimpered. His strength was nearly…
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Warm gusts of air chased up the shaft and made…
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Croy dashed into the shadows, keeping his head down as…
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As a child growing up in a brothel, Malden had…
Chapter Thirty
Malden rushed back through the arches, thinking Kemper must have…
Part II
An Unquiet Crown
Interlude
Chapter Thirty-One
Croy and Cythera spent much of the night in furtive…
Chapter Thirty-Two
It took Malden the better Part of the day to…
Chapter Thirty-Three
Finding Bikker was easily enough done, for a man with…
Chapter Thirty-Four
When the Seven Day Fire finally burned itself out, leaving…
Chapter Thirty-Five
The boy’s face was freckled and his chin weak, when…
Chapter Thirty-Six
Knightly interruptions notwithstanding, Malden’s preparations were finished long before midnight.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
An hour later Malden was fast, and finally, asleep.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The rough hands that dragged Malden inside the door threw…
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Wizardry was not technically illegal in Skrae. It was not…
Chapter Forty
“I’m half of a mind to string you up anyway,…
Chapter Forty-One
And then Cutbill was alone. For quite a while he…
Chapter Forty-Two
Sir Croy had been raised to be a knight, to…
Chapter Forty-Three
