Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar

I sighed. 'What more can you tell us about salamanders?'

'A sorcerer enlists the aid of an elemental by opening a Gate to its home plane, then bartering for its services. It was probably fairly easy to recruit a salamander to start fires. They love to do it anyway. The trick will be to keep it under control, to make sure it only burns what the summoner wants it to.'

Fire is a threat to any town. In Mornedealth, built all of wood, the menace was all the greater. Remembering how the theater blaze had flowed against the wind, the beginnings of a headache tightening my brow, I wondered how our problem could get any worse. The answer was immediately forthcoming.

Pivor, Lady Elthea's grandnephew and closest living kin, sprang up from his bench. He did belong to the Fifty, and no mistaking it. He had the kind of exquisite features and supercilious carriage that only generations of controlled inbreeding can produce. 'Enough of this prattle,' he said. 'The mage has already admitted he can't aid us, so we'll have to help ourselves. We know who to blame for our troubles: the Greens.' The company murmured agreement. They'd all seen the unsigned threat, written in emerald ink, that someone had tacked to Lady Elthea's door the night before the first fire. 'So I say we strike back at them at once.'

'No,' Lady Elthea said. 'I don't want—'

Pivor ignored her. 'A lot of them drink at The Honeycomb. We can lie in wait in the alley that runs—'

'That's a bad idea,' I said. 'My gut tells me that not all the Greens are involved in this. We need to identify the ones who are. Indiscriminate slaughter would only compound our difficulties.'

'If we kill enough of them, the ones who remain will be afraid to send the spirit out again.'

'No, they won't,' I said. 'They'll merely seek to butcher you in turn.'

Pivor's lip curled 'I heard that when you founded your fencing academy, you swore your days as a hire-sword were over.'

'You heard correctly,' I said. 'Twenty-five years of soldiering was enough. Unfortunately, I have a penchant for losing horses and needy friends. When the combination depletes my coffers, I accept commissions of a certain sort. Pray tell, why are we discussing this?'

'I was just conjecturing that you gave up the mercenary life because you've turned coward. For, truly, you seem afraid to fight.'

No doubt he said it to shame me into supporting his strategy. But of course there was only one proper response to such an insult, and that wasn't it. Simply because Jarnac was near me, I turned to him. 'Sir. Would you do me the honor of acting as my second?'

One of Pivor's friends said, 'That figures. One base-born fellow looks to the other.'

Jarnac colored. 'It would be better if you asked someone else, Master Selden, because I agree with Pivor. Not in his assessment of your character,' he added hastily, 'but about what's best to do. We shouldn't waste time trying to ferret out one man from the mass of our foes. We should wage war on them all.'

Balm, one of my more promising students, said, 'I'll stand for you, Master Selden.'

'Thank you,' I said. I gave Pivor my best killer's glare. 'Then perhaps we can arrange this straightaway.'

I'll give him credit, I couldn't stare bun down, but he grew pale, no doubt in belated remembrance of my reputation. 'Verrano, will you act for me?' he stammered.

'Stop this!' Lady Elthea said. 'Didn't you all come here for the same purpose? To succor a poor old woman who needs your help desperately? Then I beg you, please, don't fight among yourselves!'

This time, Pivor chose to heed her. 'You're right, of course. Moreover, this is your affair, and if you think this man should be in charge, so be it.' He bowed to me. 'Master Selden, for my grandaunt's sake, I apologize.'

I bowed back. 'And for her sake, I accept.'

'If we aren't going to massacre the Greens, what are we going to do?' Draydech asked.

'The gentlemen of the Blues will keep guarding my lady's properties,' I said. 'Perhaps one of them will spot our human foe, lurking about the scene. You'll try to devise a magic that will locate the salamander. I'll nose around and see what I can uncover through more mundane channels. And by working together, we'll put an end to this outrage.' I wished I were as confident as I was trying to sound.

I contrived to approach the house from the rear, then hid behind the stable. After a while, a maid trudged out the back door and started tossing feed to the chickens. The birds were plump and lively; she, thin and lethargic. Their feathers shone white in the morning sunlight, while her gown was drab and threadbare. In short, they looked better cared for than she was.

Which was more or less what I'd expected. Her employer was famous for the sumptuous banquets he gave for his fellow Greens, but, provided one talked to the poor as well as the prosperous, equally notorious for his miserly treatment of his servants.

I checked the windows of the four-story dwelling, making sure no one was peering out, then stepped from concealment. 'Hello,' I said.

The girl jumped. 'Who are you?'

'A friend.' I showed her the trade-silver in my hand. 'With a proposition.'

She looked yearningly at the money, reminding me fleetingly of Draydech. But then she scowled and said, 'I'm not that kind.'

'You mistake me,' I said. 'I just want to ask you some questions, about things you may have noticed or overheard. Though I must admit, there's a chance that something you say could embarrass your master. So I'll understand if you decline.'

She glanced over her shoulder at the house, then snatched the coin. 'What do you want to know?'

The racket in The Honeycomb was deafening. The tavern was packed, most of the patrons were roaring drunk, and two lunatics were playing bagpipes. We lads at the corner table had to bellow with the rest to make ourselves heard.

'And that was that,' said one of my companions, a burly hire-sword with a forked beard, a broken nose, and a Green favor pinned to the sheepskin collar of his jacket. 'When they saw that, armed only with a soup ladle, I'd killed eight of their band in half as many seconds, the rest of the bastards turned tail.'

'Amazing,' I said. I was trying to sound admiring, and truly, I was impressed by his powers of invention. I stroked my false whiskers the way I always do when I wear them, to make sure they aren't failing off. 'Of course, if what we hear in Valdemar is true, it's no wonder you men of Mornedealth are master warriors. Folk say you keep in constant practice fighting one another. For instance, you Greens are at odds with the Silvers, isn't that so?'

'The Blues,' someone corrected.

'Pardon me, the Blues. What's that all about, anyway? And who's winning?'

Smiling slyly, the fellow with the broken nose said, 'I'm afraid that's a very long story. And my throat's already parched.'

Taking the hint, I waved for the barkeep to bring another jug.

Lithe and lightning-quick, Marissa flowed through the gloomy practice hall, a dagger flashing in either hand and her short black hair flying about her head. When she finished the exercise, I said, 'Your high guard is a hair too high.'

'Says you,' she replied. If she'd kept to her usual schedule, she'd been practicing hard for a candlemark, but she wasn't even slightly winded. 'Good evening, Sel-den. Stop by to sign up for some lessons?'

'Who could afford your rates?' I said, sauntering from the doorway into the hall. 'Well, perhaps I could if I could stay away from the hippodrome, but that's by the by. I need information about the Greens.'

A Child's Adventures

by Janni Lee Simner

Janni Lee Simner grew up in New York and has been making her way west ever since. She spent nearly a decade in the Midwest, where the recent floods formed some of the background for this story; currently she lives hi the much drier Arizona desert. She's sold stories to nearly two dozen anthologies and magazines, including Realms of Fantasy and Sisters in Fantasy 2. Her first three books, Ghost Horse, The Haunted Trail, and Ghost Vision, have been published by Scholastic.

When the Companion first appeared in the marketplace, Inya hoped it had come for one of the grandchildren. Such a thing