The implicit threat behind those words was not lost on Chalsee. If Dog Perry meant to have any chance against Entreri, there could be no neutral parties. When he proclaimed his intentions to Chalsee, he was bluntly inferring that Chalsee had to either stand with him or against him, to stand in his court or in Entreri's. Considering that Chalsee didn't even know Entreri and feared the man as much as an ally as an enemy, it didn't seem much of a choice.
The two began their planning immediately. Dog Perry insisted that Artemis Entreri would be dead within two days.
'The man is no enemy,' LaValle assured Quentin later that same night as the two walked the corridors leading to the guildmaster's private dining hall. 'His return to Calimport was not predicated by any desire to reclaim the guild.'
'How can you know?' the obviously nervous leader asked. 'How can anyone know the mind-set of that one? Ever has he survived through unpredictability.'
'There you are wrong,' LaValle replied. 'Entreri has ever been predictable because he makes no pretense of that which he desires. I have spoken to him.'
The admission had Quentin Bodeau spinning about to face the wizard directly. 'When?' he stuttered. 'Where? You have not left the guild house all this day.'
LaValle smiled and tilted his head as he regarded the man-the man who had just foolishly admitted that he was monitoring LaValle's movements. How frightened Quentin must be to go to such lengths. Still, the wizard knew, Quentin realized that LaValle and Entreri were old companions and that if Entreri did desire a return to power in the guild, he would likely enlist LaValle.
'You have no reason not to trust me,' LaValle said calmly. 'If Entreri wanted the guild back, I would tell you forthwith, that you might surrender leadership and still retain some high-ranking position.'
Quentin Bodeau's gray eyes flared dangerously. 'Surrender?' he echoed.
'If I led a guild and heard that Artemis Entreri desired my position, I would surely do that!' LaValle said with a laugh that somewhat dispelled the tension. 'But have no such fears. Entreri is back in Calimport, 'tis true, but he is no enemy to you.'
'Who can tell?' Bodeau replied, starting back down the corridor. LaValle fell into step beside him. 'But understand that you are to have no further contacts with the man.'
'That hardly seems prudent. Are we not better off understanding his movements?'
'No further contacts,' Quentin Bodeau said more forcefully, grabbing LaValle by the shoulder and turning him so he could look directly into the wizard's eyes. 'None, and that is not my choice.'
'You miss an opportunity, I fear,' LaValle started to argue. 'Entreri is a friend, a very valuable-'
'None!' Quentin insisted, coming to an abrupt halt to accentuate his point. 'Believe me when I say that it would please me greatly to hire the assassin to take care of a few troublemakers among the sewer wererat guild. I have heard that Entreri particularly dislikes the distasteful creatures and that they hold little love for him.'
LaValle smiled at the memory. Pasha Pook had been heavily connected with a nasty wererat leader by the name of Rassiter. After Pook's fall, Rassiter had tried to enlist Entreri into a mutually beneficial alliance. Unfortunately for Rassiter, a very angry Entreri hadn't seen things quite that way.
'But we cannot enlist him,' Quentin Bodeau went on. 'Nor are we … are you, to have any further contact with him. These orders have come down to me from the Basadoni Guild, the Rakers' Guild, and Pasha Wroning himself.'
LaValle paused, caught off guard by the stunning news. Bodeau had just listed the three most powerful guilds of Calimport's streets.
Quentin paused at the dining room door, knowing that there were attendants inside, wanting to get this settled privately with the wizard. 'They have declared Entreri an untouchable,' he went on, meaning that no guildmaster, at the risk of street war, was to even speak with the man, let alone have any professional dealings with him.
LaValle nodded, understanding but none too happy about the prospects. It made perfect sense, of course, as would any joint action the three rival guilds could agree upon. They had iced Entreri out of the system for fear that a minor guildmaster might empty his coffers and hire the assassin to kill one of the more prominent leaders. Those in the strongest positions of power preferred the status quo, and they all feared Entreri enough to recognize that he alone might upset that balance. What a testament to the man's reputation! And LaValle, above all others, understood it to be rightly given.
'I understand,' he said to Quentin, bowing to show his obedience. 'Perhaps when the situation is better clarified we will find our opportunity to exploit my friendship with this
very valuable man.'
Bodeau managed his first smile in several days, feeling assured by LaValle's seemingly sincere declarations. He was indeed far more at ease as they continued on their way to share an evening meal.
But LaValle was not. He could hardly believe that the other guilds had moved so quickly to isolate Entreri. If that was the case, then he understood that they would be watching the assassin closely-close enough to learn of any attempts against Entreri and to bring about retaliation on any guild so foolish as to try to kill the man.
LaValle ate quickly, then dismissed himself, explaining that he was in the middle of penning a particularly difficult scroll he hoped to finish that night.
He went immediately to his crystal ball, hoping to locate Dog Perry, and was pleased indeed to learn that the fiery man and Chalsee Anguaine were both still within the guild house. He caught up to them on the street level in the main armory. He could guess easily enough why they might be in that particular room.
'You plan to go out this evening?' the wizard calmly asked as he entered.
'We go out every evening,' Dog Perry replied. 'It is our job, is it not?'
'A few extra weapons?' LaValle asked suspiciously, noting that both men had daggers strapped to every conceivable retrievable position.
'The guild lieutenant who is not careful is usually dead,' Dog Perry replied dryly.
'Indeed,' LaValle conceded with a bow. 'And, by word of the Basadoni, Wroning, and Rakers' guilds, the guild lieutenant who goes after Artemis Entreri is doing no favors for his master.'
The blunt declaration gave both men pause. Dog Perry worked through it quickly and calmly, getting back to his preparations with no discernible trace of guilt upon his blank expression. But Chalsee, less experienced by far, showed some clear signs of distress. LaValle knew he had hit the target directly. They were going after Entreri this very night.
'I would have thought you would consult with me first,' the wizard remarked, 'to learn his whereabouts, of course, and perhaps see some of the defenses he obviously has set in place.'
'You babble, wizard,' Dog Perry insisted. 'I have many duties to attend and have no time for your foolishness.' He slammed the door of the weapons locker as he finished, then walked right past LaValle. A nervous Chalsee Anguaine fell into step behind him, glancing back many times.
LaValle considered the cold treatment and recognized that Dog Perry had indeed decided to go after Entreri and had also decided that LaValle could not be trusted as far as the dangerous assassin was concerned. Now the wizard, in considering all the possibilities, found his own dilemma. If Dog Perry succeeded in killing Entreri the dangerous young man who had just pointedly declared himself no friend of LaValle's would gain immensely in stature and power (if the
other guilds did not decide to kill him for his rash actions). But if Entreri won, which LaValle deemed most likely, then he might not appreciate the fact that LaValle had not contacted him with any warning, as they had agreed.
And yet LaValle could not dare to use his magics and contact Entreri. If the other guilds were watching the assassin, such forms of contact would be easily detected and traced.
A very distressed LaValle went back to his room and sat for a long while in the darkness. In either scenario, whether Dog Perry or Entreri proved victorious, the guild might be in for more than a little trouble. Should he go to Quentin Bodeau? he wondered, but then he dismissed the thought, realizing that Quentin would do little more than pace the floor and chew his fingernails. Dog Perry was out in the streets now, and Quentin had no means to recall him.
Should he gaze into his crystal ball and try to learn of the battle? Again, LaValle had to consider that any magical contact, even if it was no more than silent scrying, might be detected by the wizards hired by the more
