tray.
'But I insist,' Bock intoned. Caledan felt the swordpoint poking into his side.
'Now that I think of it, though, I
'Which poison was in that, Bock?'
The guildmaster laughed. 'Very good, Caledan Caldorien. Yes, I know who you are, and you as well, Harper Mari Al'maren. Neither of you are very inconspicuous, after all. And might I add, Ferret, that your taste in friends has gone downhill again. I thought your grandmother Jewel told me you had outgrown this disturbing practice of befriending Harpers.'
Ferret shrugged. 'Old habits are hard to break.'
'You still haven't answered my question,' Caledan said.
'Ah, yes, the poison,' Bock replied with a smile, displaying a row of surprisingly even, white teeth. 'It's sindari, a native herb of Thay. A very unusual substance. It shows absolutely no effects for an entire day, and then, without warning, the victim lapses into violent convulsions. I'm told they're quite painful. However, they are also quite brief. Death comes within but a few minutes. But not to fear, Caldorien. It is a precaution only.' He waved a chubby hand, and the thieves sheathed their swords, retreating from the room.
'You see,' Bock went on, 'I also have the antidote. You might call the sindari a bit of insurance for my safety, that's all. Harm me, and you shall never have the antidote. Conduct yourself as civilized guests, and the antidote is yours.'
Caledan shook his head. He had to admit, it was a clever method of ensuring good behavior.
'We're looking for a thief named Tembris,' Caledan explained, deciding to lay all their cards on the table. Deception at this juncture could easily prove fatal.
'Interesting,' Bock said. He stroked his numerous chins with a pudgy hand. 'Let's see what I can extrapolate from this,' he mused. 'Tembris is one of the few thieves in the city who has done work for the Zhentarim, Lord Ravendas-though it was a mistake, to be sure. You yourself are a Harper no longer, Caldorien, but you come to me in the presence of one who is. Knowing there is little love lost between the Harpers and the Zhentarim, I can only assume you are working against Ravendas, trying to discover her weaknesses to see if she can be defeated. And what has Tembris to do with this?' A calculating expression crossed his face. 'Ah, yes, perhaps the work he did for Ravendas may shed some light on what it is she seeks deep in the heart of the Tor.'
The guildmaster's logic was flawless. Caledan flourished his road-worn cloak and bowed deeply.
'Did Ferret tell you I enjoyed flattery, Caldorien?' Bock snapped. Then he chuckled, a deep, bubbling sound. 'If he did he was correct. Very well, Caldorien. You may see Tembris. He is here in this very guildhouse. However, you may be disappointed after you meet him.'
“Thank you,' Caledan said, but the guildmaster waved the remark away.
'Don't thank me. I'm doing this purely out of my own interests. When a city falls on hard times, so do its thieves. It's difficult to rob people who are destitute, you know. I would like nothing more than to see Ravendas ousted from the tower. However, if the Harpers and the Zhentarim manage to annihilate each other in the process, that would be so much the better.'
Bock clapped his hands twice. Moments later a servant arrived bearing three small vials-the antidote to the sindari. Caledan drank his down quickly, surprised at the trembling in his hand. It figured that the antidote would taste far worse than the poison. Mari's face was pale as she glared at him. It was apparent she hadn't enjoyed this little transaction with the thieves' guild.
'Now, Ferret,' Bock said, 'won't you give up your poor taste in company and come work for me? I can always use a thief of your caliber.'
Ferret shook his head. 'I'm flattered, Guildmaster Bock, but somebody has to keep on eye on the Harpers.'
Bock nodded. 'Good lad. Give my greetings to your grandmother. And let me know if she's reconsidered my Proposal.' Ferret promised he would, and then the three followed a thief who led them out of the chamber and down a twisting corridor.
“What 'proposal' to your grandmother was Bock talking about?' Man asked Ferret.
'A marriage proposal,' he replied. 'Bock's been asking her to marry him for the last twenty years.'
'But she keeps saying no?' Mari asked.
'No,' Ferret said with a sly expression. 'She keeps saying maybe.'
Bock's servant led them to a door at the end of a narrow corridor. 'This is Tembris's room,' she said as she opened the door.
They stepped into the small, dim chamber. The room was sparsely yet comfortably furnished. On a pallet in one corner sat a thin spider of a man dressed in a simple black tunic. His skin was wrinkled with age, his long hair iron gray. The old man turned his head when they entered the room. Where his eyes should have been there were only two deep, shadowed pits bordered by loose folds of skin. The old thief was blind.
'Ravendas did this to him,' Bock's servant explained. 'I'm telling you because he can't. Tembris is also mute. He has been since birth. That was why Ravendas hired him, because he wouldn't be able to talk after the job was done. He stole something for her, and you see how Ravendas rewarded him. She had his eyes cut out.'
'But he can hear us?' Caledan asked, and the servant nodded. She left the three in the room with the old thief, shutting the door behind her.
'Greetings, old father,' Caledan said, kneeling down to touch the thief s fine, wrinkled hand.
Tembris nodded, smiling placidly.
'We need your help against Lord Cutter,' Caledan explained. Tembris clenched his jaw tightly. He was listening.
'Iriaebor is dying under her rule, Tembris. She's draining the life out of it. Even at midday the streets are filled with shadows and ghosts. The people have lost hope. You may be their last chance.' Mari gave Caledan a look of surprise, but he concentrated on Tembris. 'Will you help us?' The old thief reached out, searching until he found Caledan's hand, gripping it tightly. Tears glimmered beneath his ruined eyes. Tembris nodded.
'We need to know what it was you stole for Cutter,' Caledan said gravely. Another nod, but followed by a shrug. Tembris gestured to his mouth. He could not tell them.
Mari knelt down. 'Can you write, Tembris?' she asked. The old thief grinned then and gestured with his hand. A little, he indicated.
Mari pulled a blank sheet of parchment and a piece of charcoal from her pocket. She spread the paper before the old thief and placed the charcoal in his fingers. She guided his hand over the parchment. 'Write for us, Tembris. Write what it was Lord Cutter had you steal for her.'
The old thief nodded, biting his lip in concentration as he slowly moved the charcoal across the parchment. Caledan and Mari exchanged glances. Tembris seemed to grow confused after a minute. He scribbled fiercely at the first lines he had made, marking them out.
'It's all right, Tembris,' Mari said, reaching for the charcoal, but the old thief held on to it tightly, shaking his head. He put the charcoal to the paper again and started over. He slowly moved the charcoal over the page, concentrating as he tried to summon the letters. Finally he finished and nodded, setting the charcoal down.
Caledan picked up the parchment. Scrawled across the Page were several letters. They seemed to spell a word, but it was not one he recognized.
'Thank you, old father,' he said, gripping the thief's hand. Tembris gestured to his eyes, to the air above his head, and then made a fist. The message was clear.
'We'll do our best to stop Cutter,' Caledan told him. 'I promise.' The old thief nodded, then lay down on his pallet, weary. Caledan, Mari, and Ferret left the small chamber, shutting the door softly.
'Do you think the word he wrote means anything?' Mari asked the others.
'It has to,' Caledan replied grimly. 'It has to.'
He was having the dream again.
He moaned, a low sound of fear deep in his throat, struggling against the tangled silken sheets of his bed.
