accepting, of course. You know I have a considerable fraction of the city watch on my payroll, and more than one noble in the palace as well. Right now if you are caught stealing so much as one penny from a church collection box, youâll be hanged for your trouble. Under my wing, you will have some measure of safety from that fate. Furthermore youâll be allowed the services of my dwarf, Slag, who can provide tools of a fineness and quality youâll never gain from any human blacksmith. You can continue to pick your own jobs, though of course you must abstain from burgling any of my clients. And I have something else to offer you.â
âOh?â
âYour heartâs desire. The thing you truly covet. I can offer you freedom.â
âEvery man in Ness is free. There are no slaves here,â Malden pointed out. It was what made Ness a Free City. Outside of its walls most men and women were villeins, peasants, cottersâlittle more than slaves. They owned neither land nor livestock nor the clothes on their backs. They could not be married without the approval of their lord, nor could they move away from their farms unless they were sold to some other liegeâand even then they could take nothing with them but their children.
But in Ness a man was his own. He could work to make a life for himself and his family, or he could laze about and eventually starve in the street. But it was his own choice. The cityâs charter guaranteed the right of a man to do either.
âI didnât say you were a slave. Rather, youâre a prisoner. You have no family, no birthright. You dress like a common laborer and you have the accent of a peasant. If you tried to leave this cityâif you stepped outside its wallsâyou would be scooped up by the first reeve who saw you. He would sell you to some petty baron and youâd spend the rest of your days tilling some field. Ness is a very large prison, Malden, and the door of your cell is wide open. But only because the powers that be know youâll never leave.â
âIf I had enough moneyââ
âBut you donât, and living the life you do, you never will. If you keep operating independently youâll end up swinging from a rope or, if youâre lucky, dying in poverty in some hovel. Come work for me and weâll change that. It will take time. You will work harder for me than you ever would for some shopkeeper. But your money will be your own. And with enough money, even the son of a whore can be a man of importance. He can go where he likes and live as he chooses. Freedom, Malden, is what I offer. True freedom.â
Malden found his heart was racing. Cutbill did know him, heart and soul. How many times had he thought the same thing? How many times had he cursed fate for making him his motherâs son?
âI will admit,â he said, choosing his words carefully, âthat is a strong incentive. May I ask what you get out of this arrangement?â
âIâll take a cut of everything you earn for my trouble. Let us say, nine parts of every ten.â
Malden gaped in surprise. That deal was shameless robberyâworse than any demand a pander would make. But of course he must consider its author. There was in Cutbillâs face a certain hardness of line that told Malden the numbers were non-negotiable. âAnd if I refuse your offer?â
âThen you are free to go, to walk out the door you came in by. Of course, in my disappointment I might forget to give Bellard the all-clear sign, and he may think you are trying to flee against my wishes.â
âOf course,â Malden said. âWell, in that case, I suppose my answer must beââ
Cutbill interrupted him. âYouâre probably thinking, right now, that you can rob me in some way. That you can short the money you turn over to me. Find some way to make my terms more agreeable. Youâve proved youâre clever. Perhaps
Lady Reggieand the Viscount