Chapter 1: A New Life

I was a noble’s son, a bastard. Oh, I got schooling and even some training in the martial skills. One thing I learned was that any offense with an edged weapon was cause for imprisonment. As soon as I was old enough I set out on my own. I headed towards the other side of the kingdom. The large port city of Tide was a major port and trade city as well as the capital for the kingdom.

For two weeks I moved through the shadows of the night. It was the dark of the moon and the four men I had been watching would be moving. I knew where they would enter the merchants manor, just as I knew were they would come out. I knew where they would take everything they stole, now it was just a waiting game. It was right after midnight when they moved and I waited and then moved to the shadows down the street from the side door.

It was only about an hour before the side door opened and they came out. They were carrying a lot of heavy stuff and moved slowly. I waited until they were passing me before stepping out. I was carrying two thick, engraved hard wood clubs. Each was two inches thick and thirty inches long.

I slam the right one into the side of the last man’s head and the left one into the back of the next man’s head. The other two men started turning to see what was happening but it was to late. I struck sideways with the right club as I continued to walk and it cracked into the forehead of one of the other men.

My left club came straight down on the top of the last man’s head and it was over. I quickly searched them for weapons and tied their hands behind their backs and gagged them. From the amount of blood on their clothes they had probably killed the merchant.

I slapped them awake and got them onto their feet. I loaded them up with the loot and led them away. When I pulled them into the city guard building there were only a few guards there. A commander stood, “What is the meaning of this!”

I nodded to the men as I began pulling the loot away from them, “These four just robbed a merchant and from the amount of blood on them, I would say they probably killed him.”

The guards looked at each other and the commander nodded to two guards, “Take them back to the cells.”

I looked around as I pulled out two parchments. One I held out to the commander and the other I set on a nearby table. The commander grunted as he took the parchment and slowly began reading. I sat and pulled out a small bottle of ink and a metal stylist. I started writing and the commander finally looked at me, “This says you are a licensed thief taker.”

I nodded, “Licensed by the king’s court and the first year’s taxes paid.”

The commander looked at the parchment I was writing on, “What are you writing?”

I glanced at him, “The king’s law requires I give an accounting of each thief I catch.”

I gave the commander the address to the merchant’s manor and went back to writing on the parchment. When I finished the guard the commander had sent to the merchant’s manor was back. Not only was the merchant dead but everyone else in the manor. I set all the weapons I had taken from the four men on the table and moved to the pile of loot.

I loaded everything up as they watched me and turned towards the commander, “I am staying at the White Lion tavern.”

I moved slowly because of the weight and a guard by the door opened it to let me out. When I checked with the guards a week later no one had come forwards to claim the merchant’s goods so they became mine. The first thing I did was buy a very old two story house on the edge of the city. It was built from cut stone and not brick. The bottom floor held a large kitchen, a dinning room, a parlor and a living room. The second floor had four bedrooms.