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"All right."
Shadow pulled two coppers out of her pouch and handed it to him.
"Let's go, then, and ask for two."
The pie merchant smiled expansively at Mist as they approached; then,
when he saw Shadow, the smile wavered and his hand went reflexively to
his belt pouch.
"Good day, Guildmistress!" he boomed quickly. "What can I do for you
and your friend this fine afternoon? My pies are fresh and hot and spiced
to please a discriminating customer, and only a copper a pie!"
"We will have two," Mist said rather uncertainly, handing over the
coppers.
The merchant quickly scooped up the coppers, never taking his eye off
Shadow. Even as he scooped two pies out of the bubbling fat and onto
bark platters, he darted nervous glances over his shoulder at his
customers. Shadow smiled at him innocently, stepping around two
arguing nobles to accept her pie.
Mist looked at Shadow expectantly as they walked away, blowing on
their pies to cool them.
"Where is the pie you stole?" he said.
"Steal a pie?" Shadow said, lifting one eyebrow. "I never said I was
going to steal a pie."
"But I thought " Mist began puzzledly.
"Steal a hot pie and burn my arm off?" Shadow laughed. "Not me."
She patted a jingling bulge in her sleeve. "But I did get the purses of
both the nobles standing next to the pie cart."
Mist stopped where he was, mouth agape. Then he laughed heartily and
bit into his pie.
"As one hunter might drive the prey toward the other," he grinned.
"Rather like that," Shadow agreed. "An old trick, but a good one. I
encourage my newer thieves to work in tandem like that. It's much easier."
"But you are the Guildmistress," Mist protested. "Surely you have no
need of such ploys."
Shadow shrugged.
"I usually have a little more setup time to study my marks," she said.
"You wanted me to steal something right then.
Besides, while I might take bigger chances alone, I couldn't risk getting
caught with you there. You're new to the city and wouldn't know where to
run if someone raised a cry. Anyway, this way it's partly your theft, too."
She pulled out one of the purses and handed it to him. "Your share."
Mist looked blankly at the purse.
"I have never had coin before," he said uncertainly. "Besides, you are
the one who earned it."
"If you happened to be hunting with a friend, and he startled the stag
toward you so you could get a good shot," Shadow said practically,
"wouldn't you give him his share of the meat?"
"I suppose I would," Mist said at last, pocketing the pouch. "But I feel I
did nothing."
"If you really want to learn thievery, I'll teach you," Shadow said, "but
you have talents enough without. If you're really interested, and you stay
in town long enough, I'll set up something complex and let you see how it
works. Not take you with me, of course, but you could see the planning
and the diagrams and so forth."
"I would like that," Mist said. "Very much." He hesitated. "But should I
not be staying at the palace near the prisoner?"
"If Celene and her magic and all the Palace Guard can't keep him in,
you wouldn't be much help," Shadow said practically. "Besides, are you so
eager to be rid of me already?"
Mist smiled. "Not just yet," he said, taking her hand and placing a kiss
in the palm.
He was making a determined attempt to be cheerful, but Shadow could
see that the crowd of humanity unnerved him, and no wonder; she
doubted if he'd ever seen more than one or two humans at a time in his
life, and Inner Heart, while populous by elvan standards, was only a tiny
village next to Allanmere. Even the bustle and hurry of the festival was
nothing in comparison to the noise and crowds of the marketplace,
although the market was unusually empty today.
"We'll take a carriage the rest of the way," Shadow said, taking pity on
his confusion. It wasn't far to Guild Row, but most of the wagons came in
from the south, the direction in which they were traveling.
Mist was more comfortable viewing Allanmere from the protection of
the carriage, although both the luxury of the carriage and the entire
process of paying someone for transport mystified him. He marveled at
the shops, wagons, pushcarts, and booths selling a variety of goods he had
rarely imagined, much less seen.
"We'll stop just briefly at Aliendra's shop," Shadow said. "It'd be better
if you wait in the carriage, if you don't mind."
"Very well," Mist said, although he looked at Shadow curiously.
Aliendra's shop was much as Shadow remembered it from nearly two
years earlier. Shadow found Aliendra in the same place, behind the
counter, a dark human woman clothed in gray, with a voice as gray as her
robe.
"I once forbade you my shop," she said.
"I'd say the circumstances have changed," Shadow said. "Wouldn't you
agree? I've sent a good bit of business your way since then, at least."
"I'll grant you that," Aliendra said tonelessly. "Well, my shop has always
been at the service of the Guild of Thieves. How may I serve you,
Guildmistress?"
"Two services, for which I'll pay handsomely if you succeed," Shadow
told her. "First, a spell of translation to the common tongue. Do you need
to know the origin language?"
"It would help," Aliendra shrugged. "A broader spell is more difficult,
and will cost you more dearly."
"Then I'll pay more dearly," Shadow said. "Unfortunately we don't know [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]