The King of Thieves: Read Online Free

way he had come. It was plain enough that Paolo reckoned there could be a rich reward in following
     the man.
    They were all there for profit, after all. There were men even now, arguing and fighting upstairs over some of the Pontiff’s
     richer clothing; Toscanello could hear them. In the court he could see five or six men bickering over a huge tapestry, pulling
     in all directions, until another, a red-faced Piedmontese with a jug in one fist and his sword in the other, swathed in bright
     silks stolen from some secret store, set his sword’s edge on the cloth and it ripped, the coloured threads parting all through,
     and the men falling.
    The Piedmontese laughed uproariously, but then stopped as a dagger sliced across his throat, and the fool toppled back, thrashing
     about as he died. The others laughed then.
    All about Toscanello, the place was degenerating. Someone had found the undercroft where the wine was stored, and there were
     men drinking and brawling in the dirt. From the shouts and screams inside the palace itself, others were rampaging through
     it, looting as they went. All that splendour, all the majesty of the Pope, was being systematically destroyed. It made Toscanello
     unutterably sad … There was a sudden shout from Paolo, and Toscanello turned just in time to see his quarry spring from
     the door behind which he had hidden, and set off across the court towards Toscanello. But he had onlytaken seven or eight steps when Toscanello saw Paolo lift his arm. There was a glint of steel as he brought his arm back –
     and then he let fly.
    The dagger he threw was little more than a flat, sharpened steel splinter ten inches long. There was no defined cross, only
     a rough leather grip. Now the highly polished steel flashed in the sun as it sped on towards the running man, and suddenly
     the man’s steps faltered. He looked as though he would fall, but managed to pick up his rhythm again, running harder. Toscanello
     willed him to succeed, to reach some place of safety where he might be able to escape, but even as the thought ran through
     his mind, he saw the man’s legs wobble, like a puppet whose strings were loosened. His eyes widened, and he slowed. Blood
     trickled from his lips, and he staggered, and then was suddenly still. He gazed at Toscanello with what looked like rage mingled
     with incomprehension, and then toppled to his knees, falling to rest on all fours before very gently sagging down to lie with
     his face in the dirt.
    Paolo walked to him with a beaming smile. ‘Said I could hit him, Hugues,’ he called over his shoulder to one of his men. ‘That’s
     a gold piece you and Thomas owe me!’ He pulled the dagger free, then stabbed twice, quickly into the man’s back – one to the
     kidneys, one to the heart – before wiping the blade clean on the dead man’s robes. He cast a contemptuous glance in Toscanello’s
     direction, and swaggered away.
    He was plainly dead before Toscanello reached him. Rolling the body over, he found himself staring down at a young man of
     his own age. The eyes were brown, but already fogged with death, and the splash of blood about his face made him look repugnant,
     but Toscanello forced himself to peer down at him for a few moments, reflecting that this had been a man. That it could easily
     have been him who died here.
    Just a man. A young man with a tonsure. Toscanello shookhis head. The fellow had a crucifix about his neck, and a rosary at his belt. And then he peered. There was a key, too. A
     large steel key, as though to a door or a large chest.
    That was how Toscanello became richer than any man he had ever met.
    And why he was slain.
    Monday after Nativitas, Blessed Virgin Mary, eighteenth year of the reign of King Philip IV of France
*
    Anagni
    Guillaume de Nogaret marched over to the figure lying dead on the ground. He looked at the Sergent. ‘Well?’
    ‘They killed him, took the money and bolted. They’re not the only ones though –