like creakings from the dike holding back flood waters.
"Well," the Napatan said cautiously. "I suppose the situation may change for the better by daylight. Though of course neither of us were considering theft. I want to look at a slab of engraved stone, and you simply wish to retrieve your niece's legacy from its caretaker
who seems to be absent."
"We don't know what it is," said Star. "My gift."
"Ah," said Khamwas, speaking to the girl but with an eye cocked toward her uncle. "That shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. If we're inside
" he nodded
toward the door "
and the object is there also, I should be able to locate it for you."
"Will you show me how?" Star begged, clasping her hands together in a mixture of pleading and premature delight.
"Ah. . . ," repeated the Napatan scholar. "I think that depends on what your uncle says, my dear."
"Her uncle says that we're not inside yet," Samlor stated without particular emphasis. "And he'll see about getting there."
Without speaking further to his companions, the Cirdonian walked to the corner of the building.
The sidewall of Setios' house was not common to the building beside it. Each was a self-standing structure set back a foot from the property line between them. That air space provided insulation in event of a fire and prevented the occupants of one house from invading their neighbors after tunneling at leisure through a common wall.
In Sanctuary, the second was apt to be a greater threat than the first. There were no ground-floor windows in the sidewall, but the second story was ventilated by barred openings. Samlor stepped through the gap, too narrow to be called an alley anywhere but in the Maze. He ignored his companions, though they followed him gingerly in lieu of any other directions.
The vertical bars of the window above him were thumb-thick and set with scarcely more room between them. Star might have been able to reach through one of the spaces, but the caravan master was quite certain that his own big hands would not fit.
"Are there going to be things like that door-monkey waiting by the windows?" Samlor asked the other man
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46
David Drake
quietly. He nodded upward to indicate the opening he had studied. Khamwas shrugged in darkness relieved only by the strip of clouded sky above them. "I would expect human servants if anything," he said. "They're
more
trustworthy, in many ways. And from what I've gathered, Setios is a collector the way I'm a scholar. Neither of us, you understand, are magicians of real power."
He paused and tucked his lip under his front teeth in doubt, then added, "The way your niece here appears to be, Master Samlor."
"Yeah," said the caravan master without emotion. His left hand tousled Star's hair gently, but he did not look down at the child. "And he collected a demon in a bottle, among other things."
Samlor grimaced, then went on. "Let's get out t' the, street again. You wait, and I'll go talk to the fellow across the way there."
CHAPTER 5
WITH HIS COMPANIONS shuffling ahead because the passageway was too strait to let him by, Samlor returned to the front of the house. The two adjacent buildings, Setios' and the one beside it, were of similar construction, but they felt radically different to the Cirdonian as he stood between them. Neither showed signs of life or activity at the moment, but a hand on the other building's stonework transmitted hints of movement. Something was alive there. But not in Setios' house.
"If he thinks," said the caravan master in a conversational tone, "that he can skip to avoid paying over Star's legacy, then that's something we'll discuss when I find the gentleman.
"Which I will."
Samlor shrugged, settling his cloak and disengaging his mind from a doubtful future. There was the present to deal with, and that was quite enough.
"Ah, Samlor . . . ?" Khamwas said.
"Just wait here," the Cirdonian repeated. "I'm going across the street to talk with the watchman there." He
"Well," the Napatan said cautiously. "I suppose the situation may change for the better by daylight. Though of course neither of us were considering theft. I want to look at a slab of engraved stone, and you simply wish to retrieve your niece's legacy from its caretaker
who seems to be absent."
"We don't know what it is," said Star. "My gift."
"Ah," said Khamwas, speaking to the girl but with an eye cocked toward her uncle. "That shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. If we're inside
" he nodded
toward the door "
and the object is there also, I should be able to locate it for you."
"Will you show me how?" Star begged, clasping her hands together in a mixture of pleading and premature delight.
"Ah. . . ," repeated the Napatan scholar. "I think that depends on what your uncle says, my dear."
"Her uncle says that we're not inside yet," Samlor stated without particular emphasis. "And he'll see about getting there."
Without speaking further to his companions, the Cirdonian walked to the corner of the building.
The sidewall of Setios' house was not common to the building beside it. Each was a self-standing structure set back a foot from the property line between them. That air space provided insulation in event of a fire and prevented the occupants of one house from invading their neighbors after tunneling at leisure through a common wall.
In Sanctuary, the second was apt to be a greater threat than the first. There were no ground-floor windows in the sidewall, but the second story was ventilated by barred openings. Samlor stepped through the gap, too narrow to be called an alley anywhere but in the Maze. He ignored his companions, though they followed him gingerly in lieu of any other directions.
The vertical bars of the window above him were thumb-thick and set with scarcely more room between them. Star might have been able to reach through one of the spaces, but the caravan master was quite certain that his own big hands would not fit.
"Are there going to be things like that door-monkey waiting by the windows?" Samlor asked the other man
J
46
David Drake
quietly. He nodded upward to indicate the opening he had studied. Khamwas shrugged in darkness relieved only by the strip of clouded sky above them. "I would expect human servants if anything," he said. "They're
more
trustworthy, in many ways. And from what I've gathered, Setios is a collector the way I'm a scholar. Neither of us, you understand, are magicians of real power."
He paused and tucked his lip under his front teeth in doubt, then added, "The way your niece here appears to be, Master Samlor."
"Yeah," said the caravan master without emotion. His left hand tousled Star's hair gently, but he did not look down at the child. "And he collected a demon in a bottle, among other things."
Samlor grimaced, then went on. "Let's get out t' the, street again. You wait, and I'll go talk to the fellow across the way there."
CHAPTER 5
WITH HIS COMPANIONS shuffling ahead because the passageway was too strait to let him by, Samlor returned to the front of the house. The two adjacent buildings, Setios' and the one beside it, were of similar construction, but they felt radically different to the Cirdonian as he stood between them. Neither showed signs of life or activity at the moment, but a hand on the other building's stonework transmitted hints of movement. Something was alive there. But not in Setios' house.
"If he thinks," said the caravan master in a conversational tone, "that he can skip to avoid paying over Star's legacy, then that's something we'll discuss when I find the gentleman.
"Which I will."
Samlor shrugged, settling his cloak and disengaging his mind from a doubtful future. There was the present to deal with, and that was quite enough.
"Ah, Samlor . . . ?" Khamwas said.
"Just wait here," the Cirdonian repeated. "I'm going across the street to talk with the watchman there." He
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