Li frowned. "Why not?"
"He always wears a hood," rasped Jacerryl. Tycho and Li looked back to him, Li almost as if he'd forgotten who was on the other end of his arm. "It's why they call him the Hooded. He wears bulky robes, so the most you can tell about him is that he's a big man. And he only speaks in a murmur and never directly to you, only through an interpreter." He smiled slightly. "Could I breathe a little bit more now, please? "
"No." Tycho sat down on Jacerryl's bed. Brin and the Hooded. He hadn't thought this could get any worse! "Bind me, Li! I don't want to go up against fa/0 gang bosses!" He glanced up. Li had a distant expression on his face, his mouth narrow in thought. Tycho's heart jumped. "You have an idea. Tell me you have an idea."
Li blinked and shook his head. "Why should the Hooded hide his identity?" Tycho groaned again.
"That's not an idea, Li. He probably has a perfectly respectable identity established somewhere else in the community-they say the Lords of Waterdeep wear masks when they're ruling and move among the people unsuspected when they aren't. If you're thinking that we could find out who he really is and force him to cough up the beljurils, don't bother. No one has figured out his identity in two years. We're not likely to do it overnight." He pushed himself up off the bed. "I think the best we can do is to go back to Brin, tell him that the Hooded has his gems now and that this weasel-" He jerked his head at Jacerryl. "-was the one who betrayed him, not me. That might satisfy him."
"Brin?" Jacerryl shrank back. "Brin knows?"
"No, I snuck back into Mard Dantakain's house for the fun of it. Yes, Brin knows!" He crossed his arms and stared down at Jacerryl. "I just hope he'll take you instead of me since this was all your-"
Sudden footsteps in the corridor and an insistent knocking on the bedchamber door interrupted him. "Master Jacerryl! Master Jacerryl!"
A servant-and not the perfidious chambermaid who had let them in! Tycho flinched. "What is it?" he demanded hastily, trying to imitate Jacerryl's voice. He leaped back to the bed and began bouncing on it vigorously. "Didn't Folco tell you I was busy?" He almost had to shout over the creaking wood.
The servant didn't go away. "I'm very sorry to bother you, sir, but it's Mistress Laera. She's not in her rooms."
"Maybe she's stepped out for the evening!"
"Sir?"
As he opened his mouth, searching desperately for something to say that would get rid of the servant, Jacerryl moved. Both legs hammered out at Li. The Shou twisted, but one of Jacerryl's boots connected anyway, a solid kick to the groin. Li choked and staggered back, doubled over. Jacerryl was screaming the instant Li's hand left his throat. "Get help, you moron! I'm being attacked! Get help!"
He thrust himself up out of the chair. Tycho bounced up, jumping between him and the door. Jacerryl just turned the other way and darted for a second door. Li grabbed for him, but he dodged Li's outstretched hand. Growling, Li leaped closer-a heartbeat too late. Jacerryl, still howling for help, slammed the door in his face. Behind Tycho, the door to the corridor burst open and the servant rushed into the room. Tycho spun around, flung up a hand and sang a rough burst of song at him.
The magic caught the servant, sending him falling back in a daze. The damage had been done, though. Tycho could hear other voices out in the hall, raising the alarm. "Li!" he shouted.
The Shou wasn't listening. Shoulder leading, he hurled himself at the door through which Jacerryl had fled. Wood splintered and Li stormed through. Tycho shot a glance at the open door to the hallway, cursed, and went after him.
The chamber next door was some kind of sitting room with hunting trophies, art, and polished weapons displayed on the walls. Coals smoldered in the fireplace, shedding a thick, red light into the room. There was another door, presumably leading back out to the hallway. Li had Jacerryl down on the floor halfway to it. Jacerryl's screams had turned into broken whimpering as Li bashed his face against the rich carpet that covered the floor. "Enough, Li!" ordered Tycho. They weren't going to get any more out of Jacerryl. "We have to get out!" Li snarled and slapped Jacerryl across the back of his head one last time and jumped to his feet.
There was a window. Tycho grabbed a chair and swung it. Little panes of glass shattered. Lead bent. He swung the chair again and the window burst out entirely, letting night air swirl into the room. Tycho let the chair drop and leaned out through the wreckage. The lower roof of the library where he had given Laera her lessons sloped about six feet below; the ground was an easy drop from its lower edge. He swung his legs over the sill, ready to jump. "Follow me, Li!"
No response. He glanced over his shoulder.
The Shou was frozen, staring at something on the wall.
"Li!"
"Li!" Tycho's shout came from a distance.
Mounted on the wall of Jacerryl's sitting room, a pair of swords shone dully in the dim light. Their blades were short, only about as long as his hand and forearm, but wide. They had been sharpened only on one side, the edge curving up at the end to meet the back of the blade. Heavy guards also curved around leather-wrapped grips and extended up beside the back of the blade, a trap to catch and hold an opponent's weapon.
Delicately etched at the base of each blade was a single Shou character.
Li reached up and wrenched the swords off the wall. He whirled to stare at a cringing Jacerryl. "Where did you get these?"
"I bought them!"
"Where?"
"From the Hooded! He trades exotic weapons!"
"Li!" yelled Tycho. He was halfway out of a shattered window. "Come on!"
Servants were pouring into the recently vacated bed chamber. The door from the sitting room to the hall opened as well. More servants stood framed in the doorway. Tycho pushed off from the sill, dropping out of sight. Li slapped both swords into one hand and leaped for the window, shoving himself through and jumping down to the roof below. Slate tiles cracked and slid under his feet; he staggered and barely managed to stop himself from sliding as well. Tycho was crouched at the edge of the roof. He gestured for him to follow then turned and slithered backward over the edge, letting himself down slowly before dropping. Li scuttled carefully after him and peered over. Tycho stood in the snow below. "Hurry!"
"Catch these!" Li reached out and dropped the swords. Tycho gasped and flinched back then dodged forward again. Li didn't wait to see if he had the swords, but just slid down backward as Tycho had done. He caught a brief glimpse of servants peering out through the broken window above before he let go and dropped, rolling as he hit snow. Tycho grabbed his arm as he came to his feet and dragged him off into the shadows at a run.
They didn't stop until they were back in Spandeliyon's middle town and Tycho collapsed against a wall. "Here," he wheezed, "take your stupid knives. I hope they're worth almost getting caught!" He thrust the blades at him and bent over with his hands on his knees, sucking in deep breaths of air.
"They're not knives. They're swords. Butterfly swords. Shou weapons." Li wrapped his hands around the grips. He raised first the right then the left. "This one is Silkworm. This one is Mulberry Leaf."
Tycho looked up at him. "They have names?"
"These do." Li lowered the weapons and stared at them. "They were Yu Mao's!"
CHAPTER 7