Ritual Evolution: Kadasah and Kaytin Are the Best Worst Duo in Thieves' World

Book: Thieves’ World: Turning Points edited by Lynn Abbey (Tor Books, 2002)

Previous: The Prisoner in the Jewel | Next: Duel - Honor and Steel in Sanctuary

After the quiet heartbreak of the previous story, Selina Rosen throws us a completely different vibe. “Ritual Evolution” is loud, funny, violent, and surprisingly warm. It’s basically a buddy comedy set in the worst neighborhood in Sanctuary. With cult members trying to kill everyone.

I loved it.

Meet Kadasah

Kadasah is an Irrune mercenary. She’s tall, blonde, good with a bastard sword, and claims she once killed three men with a single axe swing. She’s on her fourth ale at the Vulgar Unicorn when we meet her. This is apparently her Tuesday night ritual.

She works as a bounty hunter of sorts. Someone mysterious and hooded pays her to track down and kill Dyareelan cultists. The Dyareelans are basically a murder cult that worships a goddess of blood and destruction. They hide in tunnels under Sanctuary and come out at night to do terrible things. Kadasah kills them, cuts off their identifying tattoos or scars as proof, leaves the trophies at a drop point, and picks up her payment the next day.

It’s a good gig. She’d kill the cultists for free anyway. Getting paid is just a bonus.

And Then There’s Kaytin

Kaytin is her sidekick. Or her stalker. Or her future husband, if you ask him. He’s a S’danzo man (or claims to be) who is hopelessly, relentlessly in love with Kadasah. Every single scene between them is comedy gold.

He opens with pickup lines like “Your eyes are as dark as the blackest night, your lips like the reddest cherries, your hair like golden, liquid moonlight.”

Kadasah’s response: “Your back teeth are brown. And my eyes are blue.”

He keeps going. He always keeps going. His mother has told him through her Sight that Kadasah is bad news. He knows this. He agrees with this. He shows up at the bar every week anyway.

And Kadasah keeps him around because, honestly? He’s her only friend. Besides her horse Vagrant, who is a terrible conversationalist.

The Night Everything Goes Wrong

So here’s the thing about Kadasah. She has a very specific routine. Drink at the Vulgar Unicorn. Try to sneak out without paying. Get caught by Pegrin the bartender. Pay grudgingly. Go hunt cultists. Come back and do it again next week.

But tonight, a creepy undead-looking guy walks into the bar. This is Halott, the necromancer from the previous story (and the next one). He’s got sewn-shut eyes with fake eyes painted on the lids. He’s clearly bad news. His presence throws off Kadasah’s whole vibe, and she decides to leave early and go straight to hunting.

She convinces Kaytin to come along. This takes zero effort despite his loud protests, because Kaytin will follow her anywhere. She sets up a trap using broken glass that looks like gems in the dark and a stolen measuring rope as a snare. Then they wait.

Nothing happens. Kaytin starts whispering about going back to her place. She shoves him away. Then she hears something. She throws her axe and drops the nearest attacker. But there are dozens of them. Actual Dyareelan cultists. Not the two or three she usually handles. A whole swarm.

She steps into her own trap. Someone shoves a drug-soaked rag over her face. Lights out.

Tied Up Underground

She wakes up in the tunnels under the Street of Red Lanterns. Tied back-to-back with Kaytin. Who is, naturally, still complaining.

“Safe as in your mother’s womb, she says! Greatest fighter of all times, she says!”

Even facing certain torture and death, Kaytin is still mad she won’t sleep with him. The man has priorities.

Kadasah, figuring they’re about to die anyway, drops a bombshell. She tells Kaytin that the reason he finds her irresistible is because she wears a stolen charisma talisman. It’s a magic charm that makes men find her beautiful. Their whole dynamic has been a spell this entire time.

Kaytin’s response? “I know what is in my heart. I love you and only you.” Then immediately: “You treacherous, lying, deceitful harpy who is getting me tortured to death!”

This is peak Kaytin.

The Great Escape

They manage to stand up while still tied together. Find a candle. Burn through their ropes. It takes several tries and some scorched fingers. They smash a table for weapons and start navigating the tunnels in the dark.

They overhear two cultists talking. The cultists didn’t target Kadasah specifically. They just picked up her and Kaytin as random sacrifices. This is embarrassing for a professional mercenary. She’d assumed they were after her. Nope. Wrong place, wrong time.

She kills both cultists with a table leg. Takes a knife from one of them. Collects her trophies. And then figures out there must be a side tunnel they missed. Going back, they find it. They run. The cultists discover they’re gone and give chase. But Kadasah whistles for Vagrant, her horse appears, they jump on, and they ride away.

It takes an hour to find Kaytin’s mule. And another hour to catch it. Because of course it does.

The Punchline

Here’s the best part. After the escape, Kaytin asks to see the famous charisma talisman. Kadasah reaches for it. It’s gone. The cultists must have taken it when they stripped her weapons.

So the whole time, the magic charm wasn’t even there. Whatever Kaytin felt wasn’t magic. It was just… Kaytin.

“And yet you look no different to me, and I feel the same way about you,” he says. Kisses her cheek. Gets on his mule. Rides away.

Kadasah’s reaction: “That wizard cheated me.”

She can’t even process the idea that someone might genuinely like her without magic involved. That’s her real armor, thicker than any charisma spell.

Why This Story Works

Rosen does something clever here. On the surface, this is a fun action romp with sharp dialogue and good laughs. But underneath, there’s a real portrait of two broken people.

Kadasah was taken from her mother at age nine. Her father dragged her to the palace and used her as a servant. She grew up around fighters, learned to fight, and learned to trust nobody. The talisman isn’t just vanity. It’s control. In a life where she had none, being able to manipulate how people see her is power.

And Kaytin? He lies when the truth would be easier. He hides his real heritage. He performs this exaggerated lover act so constantly that nobody can tell what’s real underneath.

But when the charm is gone and nothing changes between them, the masks slip just a little. Not enough for a big emotional moment. Rosen is smarter than that. Just enough for you to see it.

The story ends with Kadasah back at the Vulgar Unicorn. Kaytin shows up. She actually pays him his cut. He’s shocked. The creepy undead guy walks in again. Kadasah looks at Kaytin and says, “All right, let’s go make love.” And leaves without paying her tab.

Some rituals evolve. Some stay exactly the same.

This is part 7 of a 14-part series on Thieves’ World: Turning Points. More Sanctuary chaos ahead.

Previous: The Prisoner in the Jewel | Next: Duel - Honor and Steel in Sanctuary