Yendi Read Online Free Page B

me, and was refusing to pay it back. Now this Dzurlord was what you call "established"; that is, he was considered a hero by the House of the Dzur, and had earned it several times over. He was a wizard (which is like a sorcerer, only more so), and more than just a little bit good with a blade. So he figured that there was nothing we could do if he decided not to pay us. We sent people over to plead with him to be reasonable, but he was rude enough to kill them. This cost me fifteen hundred gold for my half of the revivification on one of them (the moneylender, of course, paid the other half), and five thousand gold to the family of the second, who couldn't be revivified.
    Now I did not consider these sums to be trifling. Also, the guy we'd lost had been a friend at one time. All in all, I was irritated. I told Kragar, "I do not want this individual to pollute the world any longer. See that this is attended to." Kragar told me that he'd hired Temek and paid him thirty-six hundred gold--not unreasonable for a target as formidable as this Dzur was. Well, four days later--four days, mark you, not four weeks--someone stuck a javelin through the back of Lord Hero's head and pinned his face to a wall with it. Also, his left hand was missing. When the Empire investigated, all they learned was that his hand had been blown off by his own wizard staff exploding, which also accounted for the failure of all his defensive spells. The investigators shrugged and said, "Mario did it." Temek was never even questioned...
    So I brought Temek and Varg in the next morning and had them close the door and sit down.
    "Gentlemen," I explained, "I am going to a restaurant called 'The Terrace' in a few hours. I am going to have a meal with a certain man and speak to him. There is a chance that he will wish to do me bodily harm. You are to prevent this from happening. Clear?"
    "Yes," said Varg.
    "No problem, boss," said Temek. "If he tries anything, we'll make pieces out of him."
    "Good." This was the kind of talk I liked. "I want an escort there and back, too."
    "Yes," said Varg.
    "No extra charge," said Temek.
    "We leave here fifteen minutes before noon."
    "We'll be here," said Temek. He turned to Varg. "Wanna look the place over first?"
    "Yes," said Varg.
    Temek turned back to me. "If we aren't back on time, boss, my woman lives above Cabron and Sons, and she's got a thing for Easterners."
    "That's kind of you," I told him. "Scatter."
    He left. Varg dropped his eyes to the floor briefly, which is what he used for a bow, and followed him. When the door had closed, I counted to thirty, slowly, then went past my secretary, and out into the street. I saw their retreating backs.
    " Follow them, Loiosh. Make sure they do what they said they were going to. "
    " Suspicious, aren't you? "
    " Not suspicious; paranoid. Go. "
    He went. I followed his progress for a ways, then went back inside. I sat down in my chair and got out a brace of throwing knives that I keep in my desk. I swiveled left to face the target, and started throwing them.
    Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

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    "This Laris teckla is no teckla."
    " Hey, boss! Let me in. "
    " Coming, Loiosh. "
    I wandered out of the office, into the shop, and opened the door. Loiosh landed on my shoulder.
    " Well? "
    " Just like they said, boss. They went in, and I watched through the doorway. Varg stood and looked around, Temek got a glass of water. That's all. They didn't talk to anyone, and it didn't look like they were in psionic communication. "
    " Okay. Good. "
    By then I was back in the office. I consulted the Imperial Clock through my link and found that I still had over an hour. It's the waiting that really gets to you in this business. I leaned back, put my feet up on the desk, and stared at the ceiling. It was made of wooden slats that used to be painted. A preservation spell would have cost about thirty gold, and would have kept the paint fresh for at least twenty years. But