The Vengekeep Prophecies Read Online Free Page B

and I cooked up just over a year ago.”
    â€œInsurance policy?” I asked.
    Da nodded. “This is the year, Jaxter. The Big Job.”
    The Big Job. Ever since I was little, Ma and Da had been planning the most ambitious heist of their joint careers. They talked about it all the time, but I didn’t think they’d ever get to it in my lifetime. But now they were going ahead with it: a raid on Ullin Lek’s vaults.
    Ullin Lek was the wealthiest man in Vengekeep, and possibly the entire Province. To my parents, he represented the highest prize imaginable. The vaults beneath his house were legendary, said to be loaded with barrels filled with silvernibs, precious gems of immeasurable value, and rare works of art that rivaled the High Laird’s own collection. They’d spent years following Lek, learning everything they could that would help them with the break-in. Now it seemed they were ready.
    â€œThere’s no telling what we’ll face once we get into the vaults,” Ma said.
    Da nodded. “Lek can afford much more powerful magical protections than simple yellstop charms. Our chance of getting caught is a mite higher than usual.”
    â€œSo we needed a contingency plan, something that would keep the Castellan from sending us to prison … or worse … if we fail.”
    I got the idea. “So you wove a fake tapestry, predicting doom and gloom for Vengekeep, and swapped it out for the real one. And if you get caught, they can’t touch the ‘saviors of Vengekeep.’” I could hardly contain a smile. “Brilliant!”
    Ma had folded her arms across her chest to keep from laughing. “Can’t take all the credit. It was your da who dreamed up the Fire Men. Flying creatures were mine, though. Wanted to keep it plenty scary.” She took a step back, giving the tapestry an admiring look. “You know, it didn’t net us a single copperbit, but I’d have to say that this was our finest con ever.”
    Later, on our way out, we all joined arms and bowed respectfully to the Castellan and the scholars.
    â€œPlease know,” Ma said, as seriously as she could muster, “that Vengekeep can rely on the Grimjinxes to stare down any disasters that may befall the city in the coming year.”
    The five of us made it only ten steps from the front door of the hall before we couldn’t hold it in anymore. We laughed all the way home.

3
Apprentice Day
    â€œThere is no punishment harsh enough for the crime of stupidity.”
    â€” Baloras Grimjinx, architect of the First Aviard Nestvault Pillage
    T o say that the people of Vengekeep immediately embraced the idea that my family was destined to save them from unimaginable catastrophes would be like saying the Castellan didn’t almost swallow his tongue when he signed the order granting us immunity from prosecution.
    In other words, it would be a complete lie.
    Everyone in the family was used to drawing suspicious stares wherever we went in town. Now, those stares seemed even more incredulous … but decidedly less hostile. No one—from Tresdin Nahr, the town-state treasurer, to Chodrin Benrick, the cobbler’s snooty son—wanted to believe the Grimjinx clan was destined to save Vengekeep.
    We could hardly believe how well the con had worked. We had a year. A whole year to plunder without fear of charges, search warrants, or grumpy magistrates. If we planned it right, the whole family could retire by the next Festival.
    Retiring at age twelve. Let’s see the cobbler’s son try that.
    As was tradition, Apprentice Day came to Vengekeep exactly two weeks after the Unveiling. Merchants and business owners set up tables around the edge of Cloudburn Park in the north of town. Anyone who’d turned twelve since the last Apprentice Day was required to go from table to table and apply for an apprenticeship at any number of mind-numbing jobs. Blacksmith. Carpenter.