Dzur by Steven Brust Page A

from one direction, and wait. I could gamble that I could remove the amulet and complete a teleport before they showed up. Or I could keep moving until I thought of something else.
    I went for option three.
    I took another street to the left, and wished I still had Spellbreaker. Well, that was silly. I did still have Spellbreaker.
    I reached past my rapier, gripped Lady Teldra, and drew her. Then I stared at her.
    Like me, she had changed.

    3
SHAMY
    I slipped Loiosh and Rocza the remains of the bread (neither expressed any interest in the garlic) as Mihi brought the shamy. I've never come across shamy anywhere butValabar's, and I have no clue how it is made. It is mostly ice, crushed or chopped very fine, flavored, and with, well, with something else in there so it holds together. Maybe a cream of some kind, maybe egg. The flavor is very subtle, but reminds me of certain wines that Morrolan favors-wines that tingle on your tongue. Shamy has no such tingle, but it does have just a bit of the flavor.
    "Who was that fellow, Vlad?"
    "Hmmm?"
    "That fellow who came in before and sat with us."
    "Oh. That was Mario."
    "I got his name, but who is he?"
    "Mario Greymist. You never heard of him?"
    He shook his head.
    "He, uh . . . he's a Jhereg."
    "I saw that. But I was polite to him. Did you notice?"
    "Yes. It showed great restraint?'
    Telnan smiled.
    "You notice I kept my face straight, Loiosh?"
    "Yeah, Boss. It showed great restraint."
    "So, why would I have heard of him?"
    "The story is, he assassinated the Emperor right before the Interregnum."
    "Oh! That Mario." He frowned. "I thought he'd been killed."
    "I guess not. Or else it didn't take."
    He nodded.
    The shamy melted on my tongue, taking with it the taste of the garlic, but not the memory.
    The idea, as Vili explained it to me long ago, is to keep your mouth from lingering too long on what has just happened; to prepare your senses for what comes next.
    Telnan seemed to like it. I know I did.
    A good meal, you see, is all about unexpected delight: it's one thing for food to simply "taste good," but a real master can make it taste good in a way that surprises you. And for that to work, you have to start from a place where you can permit yourself to be surprised. And, interestingly enough, the person eating has to cooperate for that to really be successful.
    I'm a decent cook. I'm an outstanding eater.

    For a long time-say, three or four seconds-I forgot that I was being pursued, and just stared at Lady Teldra; even the sensations that rushed through me from having her in my hand took second place to looking at her.
    A long, long time ago-about thirteen hours, more or less-I had held in my hand a long, slim Morganti knife, and with it, I had undergone, uh, certain experiences that had transformed it into what those with a flair for the over-dramatic called God-slayer and I called Lady Teldra. But it had been a long, slim Morganti dagger.
    She didn't feel any different; she still caressed my hand the way shamy caressed my tongue. But she was no longer a long
    knife; now she was a smaller knife, about ten inches of blade, wide, with a slight curve to her; a knife-fighter's weapon. I'm no knife-fighter. Well, I mean, I can defend myself with one if I have to, but-"Boss!" Someone was standing about thirty yards in front of me. How she'd gotten there, I don't know; there is slight shimmering in the air the instant before an individual arrives from a teleport, and a sort of aura effect for a second or two afterward. I didn't see any-thing like that. Maybe I was distracted by staring at Lady Teldra. But there she was, in Jhereg gray, and she was pointing a finger at me, as if accusing me of something.
    There was this knife in my hand. I couldn't reach her from here, and if there was ever a knife that wasn't designed to be thrown, this curving thing was it. So I spun it in my hand, which I'd learned as a trick for impressing girls back when impressing girls was the entire goal of my