'I don't know. Murdered with magic, I think, but by whom, I've no idea-or they or I would be dead now.'
'I see. Have ye kin?'
'No. Unless my father yet lives.'
'And what know ye of him?'
The thief shrugged. 'He was a man. A powerful wizard, I was told.'
'By whom?'
'My mother's apprentices-gemcutters, all long fled. They were drunk when they said that.'
'Mother dead, apprentices fled-where d'ye live now?'
Narnra shrugged. 'The rooftops. By the warm chimneys in winter. The City of the Dead, mostly, in summer.'
'Alone?'
'Alone.'
'And ye earn coins enough to eat by-?'
'Stealing. As you know.'
'For or with anyone?'
'Alone.'
'Any friends?'
'No.'
'Folk ye sell stolen things to?'
'Many.'
'Name some of them.'
Narnra stared into the old wizard's eyes and said evenly, 'Dock Ward holds many men who ask no questions about where something came from-and take care that they know nothing about whoever's selling it. If the Watch confronts them, they always say they just found it, tossed into their yard-or window-that morning. In turn, I take care not to ask or know their names. 'Tis the accepted way of such business dealings.'
The mage nodded, as if remembering things far away and long ago. 'Truth rides on thy tongue well.'
'So reward me.'
'With?'
'My freedom. The way back.'
The old wizard smiled. 'High payment for a few civil answers. I'll have more before we advance so boldly into rewarding, hmm?'
Narnra shrugged again. 'The power to dictate,' she observed flatly, 'remains yours.'
The wizard below her grew a sudden grin, and from beyond the mists came a faint, swiftly suppressed sound that might have been a Mage Royal's chuckle.
'Are ye a member of any guild?'
'No.'
'On any rolls?'
'No.'
'Pay taxes?'
Narnra made an incredulous sound. The old wizard grinned again and asked, 'D'ye know who I am?'
'No. I can see and hear that you're an old man and a powerful mage, yes, but no more.'
The old wizard nodded, strolled a few paces away, spun around, and snapped, 'What do ye do with thy days?'
'Steal. Sleep. Spy on folk to steal from. Steal. Sell what I've gained and use the coins to buy food. Eat. Flee the Watch. Steal some more.'
'What happened to your mother's shop? House? Goods?'
'Snatched, seized, and spirited away, the moment the city knew she was dead, thank you for asking,' Narnra said coldly. 'Some slave-seeking noble sent his men after me.'
The wizard nodded slowly. 'I find myself unsurprised.'
The mists suddenly boiled up into a gigantic, looming serpentine head, all scales and great jaws, parting to menace her-
Narnra screamed-and so did the Mage Royal.
The world burst into blinding brightness in a great roaring flood of force that swept the dragon head away and the Silken Shadow after it, tumbling end over end unseeing into-surging flows of power that caught and clung and held her, drawing her down out of roiling chaos into . . . hanging upright in midair once more.
The mists churned and whirled around her with more force than before, trailing sparks here and there, but otherwise, the cellar was much as before-except that the senseless Red Wizard now floated head-downwards.
The old wizard was standing just as before, but his gaze was now bent on the cellar entrance arch. 'I did warn ye, Mage Royal,' he said quietly. 'Know ye not an illusion when ye see one?'
Narnra found that she could turn her head and did so. Caladnei was on her knees, struggling against what looked like ropes of crawling fire that held her wrists down and away from her sides, looped around her neck, and snarled around her spread knees and her ankles behind her.
'Will ye stand peaceful, and work no magic?' the old wizard demanded.
The Mage Royal of Cormyr glared up at him over the crackling flames and said flatly, 'Wo.'
The wizard shrugged and turned back to Narnra-and in a chilling, throat-choking moment the dragon head loomed in front of her once more.
She knew what it was now and managed to keep from screaming but could not help staring at it, trembling, as those great jaws yawned once more. . . .
'Lass, did ye ever see anything like this before now?' the white-bearded wizard asked gently, from below.
'N-no,' Narnra managed to hiss. 'Take it away!'
The dragon-head dwindled and backed away from her at the same time, shrinking until it was barely larger than her own head-whereupon it became frightening all over again, seeming like the head of a great serpent watching her out of the mist, a snake that could slay her at will while she hung mage-bound.
'Have ye ever seen a living beast like this before?' the old wizard asked again, sharply. The smaller dragon- head turned this way and that, displaying itself to her as a gown-merchant's model might have done . . . then sighed back down into the mists and was gone.
'N-no,' Narnra managed to say, suspicion suddenly welling up dark, hot, and choking. Was this old brute . . . ?
The mage pounced. 'But?'
'But nothing,' she flared, eyes blazing down at him.
'Truth, lass! Ye lie as badly as a wrinkled rug! Tell me truth!'
'I… Mother's apprentices used to tell me about dragons. That was a dragon, wasn't it?'
'How many apprentices?' the old wizard snapped. 'Their names?'
'Uh, five, most of the time. Goraun, Rivrel, Jonczer, and the two younger ones, Tantheld and Silen-Rorgel, who was called 'Silent' because he almost never spoke. They . . . Rivrel's dead; knifed by someone taking things from the shop after Mother died. I think Jonczer was killed too, but I saw only a lot of blood, not his body. The others . . . disappeared. They may be dead, they may've stolen things and fled; I know not.'
'Did ye ever see any of them work magic?'
'No.'
'What exactly did they tell ye about dragons?'
Narnra glared at the old wizard, her suspicions even stronger now. 'When they'd been drinking,' she said heavily, 'they'd grumble about the dirtier tasks, then wish they were rich bold adventurers and start telling tales of adventurers. Some of them had dragons in them . . . that ate folk, tore apart castles, and smashed villages flat-I'm sure you've heard better. Later, they'd always warn me I shouldn't mention anything they said to Mother.'
'And did ye?'
'Did I what?'
'Ever talk about dragons, with her?'
'No. Look, sir wizard, she's dead. Now I've told you my name, I've told you hers, I've even babbled the names
