Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan (3 page)

The boy didn’t find it strange that they were
already looking at him both suspiciously and disdainfully; that is,
until Lady Lydia explained with a nonchalant wave of the hand that
she had just bought him at the slave market and that he would be
getting his ID that very afternoon—slavery was both legal and very
profitable in Pavelus.

They let him pass.

Approximately an hour later, now traveling
through an upper-class neighborhood, the two made a right at a
four-way cobblestone intersection and traveled down yet another
road with concrete sidewalks on both sides. Most of the people
around here traveled around in horse-drawn carriages, everybody and
everything looking unique yet very, very expensive. Inevitably,
Lydia and Baltor made their way onto the sidewalk on the far
side.

Just beyond the sidewalk, there stood a
thirty-foot wall made of polished granite, spanning as far as
Baltor’s eyes could see—painstakingly carved into it were the
detailed images of heroes battling dragons, as well other beastly
monsters. A massive black palace existed far in the distance on the
other side of this wall.

On the other side of the road, there stood a
simple black-gated fence, which revealed a very lush and colorful
garden inside. This property ended about a thousand feet down, as
there was a three-way intersection going to the right.

After walking nearly a half of a mile down
this same road, and passing three more three-way intersections on
the right, he saw a pair of iron-plated gates separating the wall
on the left, which wall continued on for at least another
half-mile.

On each side of this closed gate stood an
armed guard equipped with a sword notched on his belt. Their yellow
uniforms were different from any of the uniforms that the Sultan’s
forces wore.

Upon Lydia’s approach, the guards opened the
gates in unison, and without as much as a word spoken to either she
or the boy.

Baltor became utterly amazed as they passed
through those gates and into a luscious tropical paradise. His
mouth dropped open in astonishment, as he had never before seen a
place like this!

After all, this huger-than-huge oasis
possessed a small cobblestone path, wide enough for a carriage,
that gently wound itself around all of the clustered groups of
exotic flowers and palm trees, and led up to a wooden bridge that
arched over a small stream.

The stream of water wound around back and
forth, until depositing itself into a small lagoon nearby, also
contained within the confines of this magnificent property. Small
groups of people walked here and there, mindful only of their
surroundings.

A smile finally crossed the boy’s face as
soon as he stood on top of the bridge, looked over its side, and
discovered the schools of multi-colored fish that playfully swam
below.

Lying just ahead at the far end of the path,
just beyond the empty parking lot, his eyes had never stopped
seeing that five-story palace, sculpted from black marble. Four
enormous cylindrical pillars—white marble—held up the front
balcony. Located on both sides of the building, there was an
outdoor room.

Both rooms had been constructed from four
narrow white pillars that rose from the white-and-black-checkered
tile floors at each corner, and each pillar held up a corner of a
white marble ceiling. No walls. Perhaps an eighth of this ceiling
had been artistically chiseled out, allowing that same portion of
sunlight to shed in hundreds of swirly patterns throughout the
shaded area.

In the very center of both outdoor rooms was
a large square pool that had thousands of reeds jutting out of the
waters. Exotic and colorful birds chirped noisily away from inside
wooden cages, which hung over each pool within a small marble
gazebo. Baltor bet to himself that there were colorful fish in
those pools too…

All the while, Lydia casually led him down
the path and toward the palace’s main entrance—fifteen-foot tall
mahogany doors with doorknobs made of polished gold. An armed guard
stood on each side, and upon their approach, each opened his
door.

Inside was an enormous chamber—bearing an
octagonal shape and made entirely of white marble—that contained a
set of mahogany doors at each of the three other main quadrants, as
well two guards at each exit. Hanging on the walls in between each
exit was a large and beautiful tapestry, each revealing a different
scene of nature.

In the smack center of the room, eight black
leather couches had been placed loosely together, also forming the
shape of an octagon. Sitting or standing around these couches were
twelve attractive and richly dressed young adults, seven males and
five females. All were engaged in some type of social
chitter-chatter.

As Lydia and Baltor passed by the group, most
bowed their head in recognition and greeting toward Lydia. A few of
them, however, stared at the boy with a snobby expression.

Upon the two nearing the entryway on the left
side of the room, the pair of posted guards there simultaneously
opened his door, yet again without a word spoken.

As Baltor entered the long hallway—mainly
made of gray marble except for the black-and-gold carpeting—he saw
that there were six doors to the left and six to the right. In
addition, hanging in between each unguarded door was either a
beautiful scenic painting or a mirror—there were two crystal
chandeliers with dozens of burning candles in each. At the far end
of the hallway, which traversed for approximately a thousand feet
or so, there existed another set of double doors and two more
posted guards.

Halfway down this hallway, she cocked her
head to look at Baltor, noted the bewildered expression on the
boy’s face, and hinted with a slightly mischievous smile, “There
are many more surprises waiting to be discovered.”

Only seconds before their arrival at this set
of double doors, the two guards opened them—only a second after
Lydia and Baltor had passed, the guards closed them.

It was then that she stopped in her tracks,
turned around, and gestured with her arms for the boy to take a
good look around.

Of course, he couldn’t help but gape in shock
and awe at the fifty-foot tall brass statue of a beautiful woman
who stood upright in the very middle of this enormous and
aesthetically pleasing chamber, filled with artworks of all types
just about everywhere.

Upon closer examination of the statue itself,
he not only observed that she wore a bikini that revealed most of
her beautiful figure, yet she stood on a blue marble pedestal that
rose three feet over the top of a blue marble pool. A very large,
square pool filled with water on the inside, and tons of imbedded
“sparkling jewels” on the outside.

Only a few seconds later, he observed that
this statue’s right hand held a marble seashell that continuously,
and mysteriously, poured water into that pool. His immediate
opinion was that this artistic masterpiece’s monetary value had to
be “priceless!”

Soon after, he began to look at all the other
very beautiful, yet much smaller statues or sculptures—made of all
types of expensive metals or woods and bearing a wide variety of
poses. Some statues were resting upon black or white marble
pedestals.

A minute or two afterward, he began to look
at the hundreds of beautiful scenic paintings of all shapes and
sizes hanging on the black marble walls—there were no other exits
anywhere he looked, nor were there any other living occupants
besides he and Lydia.

Perhaps as long as five minutes after their
arrival, the boy double-checked to make sure no one else was
around. There still wasn’t, and so he whispered, “With all of this
wealth you already possess, why do you need to be a thief?”

Lydia smiled and answered in a normal tone of
voice, “Everything will be explained when the time is right, and
you are ready to understand.”

She walked up to the front of the fountain
and reached out her hand. Grabbing a hold of an emerald that jutted
out, she twisted it.

A black marble tile on the floor slowly
tilted upward, revealing a hole underneath. Just below the hole, a
ladder led down into the darkness.

As she began to descend, her left eye winked
before she hinted, “Follow me… if you want to learn more.”

Only a few seconds later, he was already
climbing down the ladder. Upon reaching the floor of this
underground tunnel, he observed that there was only one burning
torch nearby, providing a bit of additional light. It was hanging
in a post fastened to the wall.

As he glanced back up to the top of the
thirty-foot ladder, the light from the entrance slowly disappeared
as the lid shut. Now this torch was the sole source of light,
providing just enough to see.

After waving for the boy to follow, she
walked down a very long and zigzagging tunnel, where more flaming
torches sat in posts at every corner in this quarter-mile-long
passage. From somewhere ahead, they could hear a multitude of
echoing noises, ranging from the clanging of metals and other
objects, to people yelling.

This tunnel inevitably opened up into a
gargantuan underground cavern that contained tens of thousands of
stalagmites and stalactites spread all about in various-sized and
-shaped clusters, as well nearly a dozen other tunnels that Baltor
could see, thanks to all the lit torches posted on all three
levels.

Also spread all about this rather noisy
cavern were dozens of people engaged in hardcore training—most
looked to be teenagers or older. A few raced through obstacle
courses, while some taught others how to fight or wrestle. The
remainder of the people sparred ferociously with other opponents,
some using weapons of wood, or steel!

As for Lydia, she stood quietly by and
allowed the boy his time to explore his new surroundings.

Finally, he walked right up next to Lydia and
whispered so no one else could hear, “Would you now please answer
my question?”

“We are thieves,” she began, “but not the
conventional type. For all around this world are priceless
treasures and artifacts waiting for the properly trained thief to
discover and steal. Most are not only heavily guarded, but also
booby-trapped!”

After taking a deep breath through her nose,
she added, “We never steal from the poor, and quite often, we give
them a portion of our wealth. Still, good and honest thieves are
hard to come by, especially these days. Therefore, we have certain
secret oaths that a prospect must swear to before that person can
join our very special thieves’ guild—what we simply call ‘The
Guild.’”

Once she had given the boy about five seconds
to digest this information, she continued, “Before I go on any
further, I should inform you that if this place was to be
discovered, the Sultan would not only plunder our rich treasures,
but have us all executed.”

“So why are you showing all of this to me?”
he asked. Without waiting for the answer, he asked another
question, “How do you know that I will not spill my guts out to the
Sultan once I’m gone?”

She laughed for a few moments, but did not
answer his questions—his facial expression instantly turned
suspicious.

Once she had stopped laughing a few moments
later, she answered quite seriously, “Well, Baltor, I’m showing all
of this to you because I’m about to give you the opportunity you
never had. However, should you try to leave now; you’ll have your
guts spilled out before you even make it to the ladder, as this
place must remain
top secret
.” She whispered those last two
words.

The boy gulped.

She laughed yet again for a couple seconds,
before she sighed and said, “Relax—if I didn’t think I could trust
you, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”

“I see,” he answered. “I won’t tell
anyone.”

“Great,” she said with an elated smile. She
then said, “I have a couple questions for you, Baltor. First
question—would you like to become powerful, get rich and become a
master thief? Second—are you ready to begin your training?”

Without hesitation, the boy answered, “Yes to
both questions. Are you going to train me?”

She shook her head twice, before answering,
“No, not right now….perhaps later. I only train those who have
completed all their student training, completed their quest,
achieved the official rank of Thief, spent at least five years of
loyal service with us, spent an additional six years successfully
training students as a Drill Instructor, spent five more years
successfully training Drill Instructors, and passed all the
pretests to be trained as an Officer of the Guild. Even though
there are many higher grades before one can become a ruling member
of the High Council like me, it is obviously possible, even at my
young age. Finally, the last thing I do, though in very rare
circumstances like yours, I recruit.”

He asked, “What do ‘circumstances’ and
‘recruit’ mean?”

She answered, “A more common word for
circumstances is ‘situations.’ And recruit means ‘find new talents
like you.’”

“Oh,” he said. Once again very curious about
all that there was to see in this room, he began to look
around.

She had already begun to scan throughout the
room herself. About thirty seconds later, after having found who
she was looking for, she called out loudly, “Drill Instructor
Humonus!”

Having heard his name, a man—who had been
watching two women viciously fight with quarterstaffs—turned around
and began to approach at a quick and steady gait. Even from this
distance of two hundred feet away, Baltor saw that he was packed
with lean muscles.

His simple attire consisted of a
short-sleeved green tunic, black breeches and boots, and his
rugged-good looks consisted of shoulder-length brown hair that was
slightly wavy, a five o’clock shadow and brown eyes. As he drew
closer, Baltor observed a thin scar that ran up and down the left
cheek on his mocha-colored face.