The bounty hunter grunted. "Years o' practice," he said and proceeded to down the rest of his wine.
Gaveley turned to the small, nondescript man. "Snoop?"
The spy shrugged. "Still looking. I know there's some shy;thing up between the young lady in question and the head of the weavers' guild, but proving it …" He shrugged again.
"Keep at it," Gaveley said. "It could mean hundreds of steel in blackmail-from each of them. If you can't come up with something solid, we can always bluff our way along, but blackmail always has more teeth when you can offer a bit of irrefutable evidence."
Gaveley's gaze fell on Mynx. "And you?"
She smiled lazily at him. There was a casualness between the two that suggested to Tarscenian that they'd once been much more than colleagues.
"I fulfilled my assignment, Gav," she said archly, "as you well know. And …" She unfastened a pouch from her waistband and spilled its contents onto the shelf. "And I have two purses, a copper bracelet decorated with what seem to be amethysts, three rings-including the high priest's, but I suppose I really can't take credit for that-and a hair clasp made of polished steel. Very pretty." She fondled the last-named item. "Can I keep it, Gav?"
"And risk running into the owner?" Gaveley laughed gruffly and extended his goblet for a refill. "Besides, Mynx, nothing could tame that lion's mane of yours."
"Coupla hours with a comb wouldn't hurt," the spy Snoop cracked. Mynx socked him in the arm with her fist, then turned back to Gaveley, who shook his head.
"You know the rules, Mynx. Everything to the fence. We can't risk having our goods surface in Solace. Better Haven or Gateway or Caergoth."
She accepted Gaveley's mandate without protest, and Tarscenian realized the banter between the two was a longstanding routine.
Then the leader was addressing Tarscenian. "And you, old man? Now is your turn. Why are you here?"
"I want help stealing something," was Tarscenian's curt reply.
The half-elf leaned forward. The movement parted his dark hair, revealing the pointed ears that proclaimed that his mother or father was a Qualinesti. Gaveley licked his lips like a man about to set upon a fine supper. "Something valuable?" he asked
"Quite." Tarscenian spoke tersely. He had no money to offer the group. They'd not help him unless they knew the artifact was worth something, but he had no inten shy;tion of revealing just how valuable the Diamond Dragon was magically. He described the artifact in more mun shy;dane, but financially attractive, terms.
"Steel, you say," Gaveley murmured.
"With dozens of diamonds," Tarscenian added. "And ruby eyes."
"Too distinctive," Mynx said.
The half-elf nodded. "It would have to be melted down. The diamonds alone would be worth a fortune, though."
Tarscenian said nothing. He would have to find some way to prevent the thieves from keeping the dragon arti shy;fact, but at this point he was better off pretending his motive was the same as theirs-pure greed.
"What do you want out of this, Tarscenian?"
"My share of the take."
Gaveley regarded him dubiously. "And where is this marvelous piece of jewelry?" he asked.
"Around Hederick's neck." Tarscenian held his breath, expecting some explosive reaction.
He was wrong. Gaveley, Xam, and Snoop continued to sit stoically. Only Mynx perked up, her eyes sparkling. "What a chance to get even with the old goat!" she crowed. "You say this piece of jewelry is especially important to the High Theocrat?"
Perhaps revenge, rather than greed, was the tack to take, Tarscenian thought. "Tremendously so," he said. "He's had the Diamond Dragon with him for decades. He believes it's a gift from his gods."
Mynx turned to the others. "Here's our chance to avenge the kender," she said excitedly.
"But to steal something the High Theocrat always keeps on his person?" Snoop protested. "With all those guards and goblins around? Mynx, you've got talent enough to do it, but…"
"Let me try, Gav," Mynx pleaded.
"Well…" Gaveley paused. Several emotions seemed to be warring in his contorted expression. Finally, a bland mask dropped over his features. "I need time to consider this. Mynx, escort the old man to his lodgings."
Mynx looked at Tarscenian. He shrugged. "I just arrived in Solace. I have no lodgings. I'll sleep in the woods."
"You can't do that," Mynx objected. "The goblins can espy things in the dark. And they'll be looking all over for you. I know where to hide you."
Kifflewit Burrthistle leaned away from the back door of the thieves' den and considered. First the kender had had to evade the huge man and the tiny, ferretlike one when they'd come out in search of spies-as if Kifflewit would allow any spies nearby! Then he'd had to pick a lock specially created by thieves to keep out other thieves. They'd set it up with a latch-pin keyed to a needle, daubed with poison that the kender was sure was fast and deadly.
But kender grew up learning how to pick locks. One of the first sayings a young kender learned was: "The most interesting things are behind locked doors. So get mov shy;ing." If one thing set off kender from the rest of Krynn's creatures, it was their overwhelming curiosity. That and a total absence of fear.
So there was never any question that Kifflewit Burr-thistle would do a little eavesdropping on the thieves.
But Mynx and Tarscenian were coming out now. Kifflewit was torn between staying at the den and hearing some more tantalizing talk or dogging the steps of his earlier acquain shy;tances. Excitement had followed Mynx and Tarsceniari once before, and it might again. He'd not had as much fun in a long time as he'd had shinnying up that rope in the refugee section.
Besides, Tarscenian might spill a little more informa shy;tion about that Diamond Dragon. The desirable object certainly seemed as though it would be worth a closer look!
He decided, and let the door swing shut. Absolutely silently, of course.
Few creatures can be as stealthy as a kender.
"So why don't we grab the old man now? And turn him right over to Hederick?" Snoop demanded as soon as Mynx and Tarscenian were out of sight. "Five hun shy;dred steel for a bounty! That's not someone I'd like to leave walking around loose. Not with plenty of other people willing to collect that kind of money."
"Mynx'll hide him well enough."
Snoop rolled his eyes. "But when do we turn him over and collect, Gaveley?"
The half-elf didn't answer right away. "Maybe we won't," he finally said.
"What?" Xam and Snoop erupted at the same time.
Gaveley swirled his wine in his goblet, watching the
pattern form on the chalice in the rosy light. "Not right away, at least," he whispered. "I want to learn more about this Diamond Dragon."
"But…"
He cut them off. "We've got to be flexible to get by. You know that."
Xam and Snoop exchanged glances. Then they shrugged. "You're the leader," Snoop said, and smiled ingratiatingly. "And what's more, you're usually right."
"What about Mynx?" Xam asked. "Are you still going to hand her over, too? She's a good thief, one of the best we've had."
"She made her choice," Gaveley shot back. "She could have accepted Hederick's offer, but she turned him down flat."
"She can't forgive him for killing the kender," Xam said softly.
Gaveley fixed a hard glare on the big man. "He was a kender. And Hederick caught him sneaking into his temple, remember. If Hederick thinks kender don't belong in Erolydon, I'm not one to argue. The High Theocrat offered us a lot of steel to bring in Tarscenian." He placed his wine glass on the shelf next to the little statue that operated the door mechanism. "Mynx refused to help out of stupid sentiment. There's no room for emotion in this business."
Snoop spoke up. "But she's been with us for a long time___"