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…
