yarrr, ye scurvy boy-king, halt ye whinin'

"Your Majesty, please get down," Costis said hurriedly. The king was almost at the end of the crenellation, and he dreaded what would happen when he got there.

"Why? Costis, I'm not going to fall."

"You're drunk."

"Not that drunk," said the king. "Watch." He tossed the wineskin to Costis, who caught it and clutched it in horror as the king turned himself upside down and balanced, one hand on the narrow ridge of the stone.

"Oh, my god," said Costis.

"O my god," said the king, cheerfully. "You want to call on the god appropriate to the occasion. After all, your god would probably be Miras, light and arrow and all that sort of thing, whereas my god is a god of balance and, of course, preservation of Thieves, which I suppose, technically, I am not." He straightened up. "Maybe I shouldn't push my luck," he said.

"I wish you wouldn't," Costis said faintly. "Your god might be offended."

"Costis, my god is not a ten-devotee-to-the-average-dozen, got-a-priest-on-every-corner kind of god who is always being badgered by his worshippers. He keeps a very close eye on me, and what may look completely stupid to you is merely a demonstration of my faith. Give me back my wine."

Remembering the way the king's cousin had dealt with him, Costis held out the wine. The king reached for it, but he guessed Costis's intent and pulled his hand back before Costis could catch him to yank him to safety. The king laughed like a little boy and windmilled his arms for balance.

"Costis," he said with mocking disappointment, "that's cheating."

"I don't know what you mean, sir."

"I am not sure I trust you."

"You can trust me with your life, My King."

"But not with my wine, obviously. Give it back."

"Get down and make me."

The king laughed again. "Aulus would be so proud of you, and Ornon, too. You are a quick learner."

But Costis didn't have Aulus's size, or his history with the king, and Aulus had been dealing with a very sick, bedridden Eugenides. Costis had none of his advantages.

The king chuckled in the dark, a warm sound that Costis couldn't help responding to, though he was immediately exasperated with himself as well as the king.

_____________________________________

"Oh my god," he said, "the wine isn't working, is it?"

He swung his body around and turned again toward Costis, but his momentum continued to carry him away. He took several teetering steps backward. Then his eyes widened, and Costis could see their whites in the dim light. Instead of recovering, he recoiled further. One foot stepped out over the abyss. The king reached with his hand and caught at nothing and, though it was impossible, still hung there, suspended, over the open air.

"My god," the king whispered, not in prayer.

And Costis heard, as clearly as he'd heard the king speaking, another voice. It said, "Go to bed."

Then the king was falling toward Costis, and Costis was tossing the wineskin aside in order to catch him.

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"Safety is an illusion, Costis. A Thief may fall at any time, and eventually the day must come when the god will let him. Whether I am on a rafter three stories up or on a staircase three steps up, I am in my god's hands. He will keep me safe, or he will not, here or on the stairs."

from The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner