From the other end of the table Ymor watched with mild amusement, occasionally feeding one of his ravens with scraps from his plate. Beside him Withel paced up and down.
‘You fret too much,’ said Ymor, without taking his eyes from the two men opposite him. ‘I can feel it, Stren. Who would dare attack us here? And the gutter wizard will come. He’s too much of a coward not to. And he’ll try to bargain. And we shall have him. And the gold. And the chest.’
Withel’s one eye glared, and he smacked a fist into the palm of a black-gloved hand.
‘Who would have thought there was so much sapient pearwood in the whole of the disc?’ he said. ‘How could we have known?’
‘You fret too much, Stren. I’m sure you can do better this time,’ said Ymor pleasantly.
The lieutenant snorted in disgust, and strode off around the room to bully his men. Ymor carried on watching the tourist.
It was strange, but the little man didn’t seem to realise the seriousness of his position. Ymor had on several occasions seen him look around the room with an expression of deep satisfaction. He had also been talking for ages to Broadman, and Ymor had seen a piece of paper change hands. And Broadman had given the foreigner some coins. It was strange.
When Broadman got up and waddled past Ymor’s chair the thiefmaster’s arm shot out like a steel spring and grabbed the fat man by his apron.
‘What was that all about, friend?’ asked Ymor quietly.
‘N-nothing, Ymor. Just private business, like.’
‘There are no secrets between friends, Broadman.’
‘Yar. Well, I’m not sure about it myself, really. It’s a sort of bet, see?’ said the innkeeper nervously. ‘
Ymor held the man’s gaze until Broadman twitched in fear and embarrassment. Then the thiefmaster laughed.
‘This worm-eaten old tinder pile?’ he said. ‘The man must be mad!’
‘Yes, but mad with money. He says now he’s got the—can’t remember the word, begins with a P, it’s what you might call the stake money—the people he works for in the Agatean Empire will pay up. If the Broken Drum burns down. Not that I hope it does. Burn down. The Broken Drum, I mean. I mean, it’s like a home to me, is the Drum …’
‘Not entirely stupid, are you?’ said Ymor, and pushed the innkeeper away.
The door slammed back on its hinges and thudded into the wall.
‘Hey, that’s my door,’ screamed Broadman. Then he realised who was standing at the top of the steps, and ducked behind the table a mere shaving of time before a short black dart sped across the room and thunked into the woodwork.
Ymor moved his hand carefully, and poured out another flagon of beer.
‘Won’t you join me, Zlorf?’ he said levelly. ‘And put that sword away, Stren. Zlorf Flannelfoot is our friend.’
The president of the Assassins’ Guild spun his short blowgun dexterously and slotted it into its holster in one smooth movement.
‘Stren!’ said Ymor.
The black-clad thief hissed, and sheathed his sword. But he kept his hand on the hilt, and his eyes on the assassin.
That wasn’t easy. Promotion in the Assassins Guild was by competitive examination, the Practical being the most important—indeed, the only—part. Thus Zlorf’s broad, honest face was a welter of scar tissue, the result of many a close encounter. It probably hadn’t been all that good-looking in any case—it was said that Zlorf had chosen a profession in which dark hoods, cloaks and nocturnal prowlings figured largely because there was a day-fearing trollish streak in his parentage. People who said this in earshot of Zlorf tended to carry their ears home in their hats.
He strolled down the stairs, followed by a number of assassins. When he was directly in front of Ymor he said: ‘I’ve come for the tourist.’
‘Is it any of your business, Zlorf?’
‘Yes. Grinjo, Urmond—take him.’
Two of the assassins stepped forward. Then Stren was in front of them, his sword appearing to materialise an inch from their throats without having to pass through the intervening air.
‘Possibly I could only kill one of you,’ he murmured, ‘but I suggest you ask yourselves—which one?’
‘Look up, Zlorf,’ said Ymor.
A row of yellow, baleful eyes looked down from the darkness among the rafters.
‘One step more and you’ll leave here with fewer eyeballs than you came with,’ said the thiefmaster. ‘So sit down and have a drink, Zlorf, and let’s talk about this sensibly.
Zlorf took the proferred beer.
‘So?’ he said. ‘I’ll kill him. Then you rob him. Is he that funny looking one over there?’
‘Yes.’
Zlorf stared at Twoflower, who grinned at him. He shrugged. He seldom wasted time wondering why people wanted other people dead. It was just a living.
‘Who is your client, may I ask?’ said Ymor.
Zlorf held up a hand. ‘Please!’ he protested. ‘Professional etiquette.’
‘Of course. By the way—’
‘Yes?’
‘I believe I have a couple of guards outside—’
‘Had.’
‘And some others in the doorway across the street—’
‘Formerly.’
‘And two bowmen on the roof.’
A flicker of doubt passed across Zlorf’s face, like the last shaft of sunlight over a badly ploughed field.
The door flew open, badly damaging the assassin who was standing beside it.
‘Stop doing that!’ shrieked Broadman, from under his table.
Zlorf and Ymor stared up at the figure on the threshold. It was short, fat and richly dressed. Very richly dressed. There were a number of tall, big shapes looming behind it. Very big,
‘Who’s that?’ said Zlorf.
‘I know him,’ said Ymor. ‘His name’s Rerpf. He runs the Groaning Platter tavern down by Brass Bridge. Stren—remove him.’
Rerpf held up a beringed hand. Stren Withel hesitated halfway to the door as several very large trolls ducked under the doorway and stood on either side of the fat man, blinking in the light. Muscles the size of melons bulged in forearms like floursacks. Each troll held a double-headed axe. Between thumb and forefinger.
Broadman erupted from cover, his face suffused with rage.
‘Out!’ he screamed. ‘Get those trolls out of here!’
No-one moved. The room was suddenly quiet. Broadman looked around quickly. It began to dawn on him just what he had said, and to whom. A whimper escaped from his lips, glad to be free.
He reached the doorway to his cellars just as one of the trolls, with a lazy flick of one ham-sized hand, sent his axe whirling across the room. The slam of the door and its subsequent splitting as the axe hit it merged into one sound.
‘Bloody hell!’ exclaimed Zlorf Flannelfoot.
‘What do you want?’ said Ymor.
‘I am here on behalf of the Guild of Merchants and Traders,’ said Rerpf evenly. ‘To protect our interests, you
