Prince Thief Read Online Free Page B

violence. The giants had already done more than enough for Altapasaeda, more than enough for Alvantes and Estrada.
    I thought of pointing out as much, but I’d missed my moment: Estrada was already leading Saltlick to one side, while he hunched to catch her low-spoken words. Well, he was an adult, wasn’t he? More than that, Saltlick was the closest thing the giants had to a chief now; all that kept him from the post was the absurdities of giant custom. If he couldn’t be trusted to stand up for his people, who could?
    So instead of trying to contribute my twelfth onyx-worth, I went to wait outside, where there was something at least approaching fresh air to be breathed. I watched the traffic of desperate people, the overladen carts and bickering families, and marvelled at how – even in Altapasaeda, where rumour was lifeblood – word of the King’s approach could have spread so very quickly.
    A few minutes had passed before Estrada called me back in. She looked paler than before, and shaken. It was there in her voice, too, as she said, “Saltlick’s agreed to accompany me northward himself.”
    “Protect Marina,” agreed Saltlick.
    “He needs to be here,” I said. There had been something in his tone as well – weariness, a hint of resignation – that had resuscitated my anger. “Can’t you see that? He’s their leader. How can you even consider dragging him off on this madman’s errand?”
    Estrada gave a half shrug, obviously uncomfortable. “Because he insists.”
    “Protect Marina,” repeated Saltlick, more certainly this time.
    It struck me then that he might not like being discussed as though he weren’t towering right before us. “Saltlick,” I said, “your people need you.”
    Saltlick motioned, picking out one giant who looked, to me, much like the rest. “Shai Mek will lead. Take people home.”
    “ Without you ?”
    “Not for long,” he said.
    “Not unless...”
    Not unless you die out there. But I didn’t finish putting the thought into words; I knew better than to assume Saltlick hadn’t thought through the ramifications of what he was about to do. Instead, I looked to Estrada, struggling for some appeal to her decency. Seeing her expression, though, I realised she was far from oblivious. Perhaps she’d have taken her request back if she could have.
    She couldn’t. Saltlick’s mind was made up, and the damage done.
    “You needn’t worry,” Estrada told him. “I’ll make sure you get back in one piece.”
    Saltlick smiled, perfectly trusting. It would never have occurred to him she might do otherwise.
    If anything, his faith only added to her obvious discomfort. “Well,” she said, “we’d best start preparing.”
    Saltlick, taking her hint, started towards the giant he’d indicated earlier – and as he did so, looped a finger into the crown he wore at his neck, ready to tear it loose.
    “Wait!” Mounteban, who’d hardly seemed to have been paying attention until then, took a quick a step forward.
    Everyone, myself included, turned to look at him, expressions ranging from curiosity to Alvantes’s outright suspicion.
    “Saltlick, perhaps it’s not my place,” Mounteban said, “but should you really give up the crown? Won’t it confuse your people, when it’s taken them so long to accept the notion of having a new leader at all? Better, surely, if this Shai Mek simply acts on your behalf.”
    I wondered briefly how Mounteban knew the recent history of the crown – how I’d used it as a replacement for the giants’ lost stone of leadership to trick them into following Saltlick. But of course he would know. Mounteban made it his business to know everything that might possibly be of use to him. And what he knew, he used. So what was his angle this time?
    The worst of it was, I agreed with him. To say the giants weren’t amenable to change was like saying mountains weren’t amenable to change. It had taken little short of an earthquake to get them moving; if