Thief

By Steve K Smy

Tirnam, a young thief, lives in a city under the iron rule of conquerors. Devoted to the man who saved his life, he must choose: risk trying to escape with the crippled old man, or defy the conquerors?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve K Smy
• Release date: Feb 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301745470

Steve K Smy

Steve K Smy was born in Ipswich, Suffolk - a picturesque part of England famed for being part of Constable Country, where the renowned artist John Constable worked and produced many of his finest paintings. He has lived virtually his whole life there. He started writing for pleasure when he was 13 years old, with a science fiction novel! Naturally, his writing was less dominant for many years, as he and his wife Jenny raised their three children to adulthood and independence. He returned to writing seriously in February 2012, following a long illness. Since then, he has written and published, in ebook format, several short stories and, in ebook and paperback formats, four novelettes and a novella, and has been working on a major fantasy novel. His published stories include tales in three series: the Thief series of fantasy short stories, the mixed genre G1: The Guardians series (two novelettes and a novella, to date) and the science fiction Captain Henri Duschelle Stories (a short story and two novelettes, so far). The novelettes and novella have now been published in paperback. Fans of the G1: The Guardians series should be aware that a novel (part four of the series) is going to be published very soon! Mr Smy is also a blogger with a growing readership for his blog Imagineer-ing, Again, fans of the G1: The Guardians series will be happy to hear that they can find background information on the stories, especially the political shape of the world, in a special section of the blog site! Steve passed away on November 22nd 2013 after long periods of illness. His novels are being typed up and published by his son, Damien. Any profits are to be donated to Help for Heroes, a charity that Steve supported.

Book preview

Thief

by

Steve K Smy

Copyright © Steve K Smy, 2013. All rights reserved.

Published by Steve K Smy at Smashwords

No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without the prior written consent of the author, who retains all rights to this work.

This is a work of fiction, suitable for all ages. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Contents

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1

The streets were silent, once more trapped in the grip of curfew. The only figures to be seen were those of the Nightwatch, armed men who were as likely to kill as to arrest anybody foolish enough to break the curfew. They moved in pairs, roaming the streets of the ancient city, ever alert. Tirnam crouched in the deepest shadows of an alleyway, watching two of the men pacing from the edge of the market towards the slums of the poor quarter. He breathed slowly, silently, his bright amber eyes betraying the amusement he felt. A professional thief, he regarded the men of the Nightwatch as amateurs, as far as understanding the city at night was concerned.

As the pair vanished into the darkness of the poor quarter, Tirnam slipped out of his hiding place. Moving silently, he raced across the street and scaled a wall as if it had a ladder against it. He paused on the top of the wall, glancing back in the