'Heard that question already, missy, so let me put it to you simply. We've been watching you back there in the plaza. You got real good hands. Long, slim, and agile. Your body's about the same way, for that matter. And you can use them like nobody's business, too. Your hands, that is. You make stuff appear and disappear like you were a regular fire-slinging scroll-thumper. And I should know.'
The woman's silhouette leaned precariously over the edge of the rooftop. Just as Kehrsyn was sure she'd fall, the woman began to crawl headfirst down the side of the building, using her hands and bare feet. As she descended, Kehrsyn could see ghostly wisps of blue energy curling away from her extremities and rapidly fading to nothing in the steady rain.
'You're a magician,' said Kehrsyn.
The woman paused in her descent and said, 'Well, maybe I gave you too many chops for smarts, but we can work around that. Yes, some of the time I'm a sorceress, if you must know.'
Working her hands to the sides, the stranger levered her torso up until she sat on her heels. It looked much like she was kneeling on the floor-except that her feet were flat against a wet, vertical wall ten feet in the air. She pulled at her collar and tried to clear her throat, but to no particular avail.
Since the sorceress had come closer, removing herself from the backlighting of the clouds, Kehrsyn could see her more clearly. She had a squarish face, tanned, with Untheri features and the leathery wrinkles of too many seasons in the sun. Her red-rimmed eyes drooped at the outside corners, and her nose was very small. She wore several layers of nondescript traveling clothes, mostly in sun-faded browns and grays. Kehrsyn noted that the layers and loose, wrapped cut to her clothes gave her a number of great places to conceal small items. She looked a few pounds toward the heavy side, but the clothes made it impossible to tell if the extra weight was muscle or fat. Finally, Kehrsyn noticed that, while her hands and feet were bare, she had soft leather boots with thick stockings tucked carefully into her belt. It seemed only reasonable that she wouldn't habitually go barefoot in that kind of weather.
The woman sat on her heels, elbows resting easily on her lap and hands dangling between her knees. Her left thumb fiddled with a bright silver ring she wore on her left middle finger. She cocked her head to the right and studied Kehrsyn, eyes roving carefully over her body from feet to hair. The sorceress spent a fair amount of time looking right at Kehrsyn's eyes, but Kehrsyn steadfastly refused to drop her gaze. For the rest, Kehrsyn chose not to move. It was best not to upset a magician too much until one had a better idea of how capable her magic was. Novice magicians could cause someone a bit of trouble; an experienced one could leave her victim as a pile of ash in the blink of an eye.
While the two women appraised each other, the wounded man at Kehrsyn's feet managed to push himself up into a sitting position and lean against one wall. The shield on his back grated on the rough, gritty stone. With a sigh that was one part pleasure and one part pain, he set his legs straight out in front of him and put pressure on his wound with his balled-up fist. With his other hand, he tried unsuccessfully to wipe the blood from his wincing eyes, then he began to pull his healing potion from his belt.
The mysterious woman gestured to the man with a casual motion of her thumb. Without taking her eyes off the mage, Kehrsyn flicked her rapier to her right and tapped the man's cuirass twice, just as he drew forth the vial.
He sagged, and gasped, 'Oh, damn. I thought you two had left.'
The woman flipped her hands over, revealing her blue-haloed palms as if doing so might convince Kehrsyn of her sincerity.
'All right,' the sorceress said, wheezing, 'let me sing your dance for you. There's something in this town that we need, and your talents can get it for us.'
'We?' said Kehrsyn, her eyes narrowing.
The woman pursed her lips, and replied, 'Why, the guild, if you must know.' She cocked her head to the other side.
'The guild? Which guild?'
The woman shook her head in disbelief. 'Why, what guild do you think, hon?' she asked.
'I–I don't know,' stammered Kehrsyn.
The woman snorted, 'The thieves' guild, of course.'
She pulled a small, soiled kerchief from an inner pocket and blew her nose.
'But there's no thieves' guild in Messemprar,' objected Kehrsyn. 'They wouldn't dare make one.'
'If only your mind were as nimble as your vixen hands, hon,' said the sorceress with a rattling sigh of exasperation. She returned the kerchief and clasped her hands together. 'You got to keep up with the times, especially here. The Northern Wizards don't have the control everyone thinks they do. The ex-Gilgeamite priests don't have the control they wish they had. And no one trusts the church of Tiamat, or the army, or the Banites, or- or the followers of Furifax, or anyone. So when the Mulhorandi army starts looking like a good option, well, that's when there's cracks large enough for a guild to move in, and with this many people packed into the streets, we got ourselves a good set of targets.'
'Move in?' asked Kehrsyn
'Yeah, we've been operating elsewhere for a while, so it's nice to be home again.'
Kehrsyn paused and considered what she knew. If the sorceress was powerful, she could have laid a geas upon her to do whatsoever work she had in mind. If, as the sorceress had implied, the guild was new in town, its members might not know their way around too well.
Kehrsyn studied the gloating eyes of the sorceress for another breath and said, 'Well, welcome back to Messemprar. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't steal. Olare.' She tapped the guard on the shoulder with her rapier to get his attention and added, 'I'm leaving now, but you're still not alone. Good luck.'
So saying, she started to back away. The sorceress cleared her throat again, snuffled, and spat.
'Don't do something you might regret, hon,' she said, waggling her fingers.
'Life is full of regrets,' said Kehrsyn, 'and mine has been full of threats far more intimidating than yours.'
'Why, I'm not threatening you, hon,' said the woman, as more wisps of bluish energy coalesced around her hands. 'I'm offering you protection. Assistance. Help, you know.'
'Help? Sounds to me like you're trying to bully me into doing your dirty work. Pretend I'm in danger, then offer me an imaginary way out.'
'Imaginary? Far from it. Seems a fair trade to me: you do us a favor and we help you avoid your due punishment for killing this here guard,' said the woman, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.
'What?' asked Kehrsyn. 'What are you talking about?'
'I tell ya, hon,' said the woman, a catch in her throat adding gravel to her tone, 'you got to keep up with the times. If you don't keep up, it'll do you in.' She paused to hack a few times, then spit a large wad at the ground at the guard's feet. 'That there guard, he's a member of the Zhentarim. You heard him say that, didn't you? Or weren't you paying attention? Anyway, those Zhents, they look after their own. They don't take kindly to sleek little thieves like you killing one of them.'
'But I didn't,' said Kehrsyn.
'Your nut might be a little slow, but your eyes are fast enough,' the sorceress said, pointing her finger at Kehrsyn's bag.
Kehrsyn looked down just in time to see her dagger slide from its hiding place, a slight blue aura shining around it. She gasped in surprise and started to reach for it, but as it flew away she stayed her hand, lest she slice her own fingers off trying to grab the wicked blade. Kehrsyn glanced up at the sorceress, who was gazing at the guard with a cold, passive stare. The woman swept her finger with an efficient gesture. Kehrsyn looked back down just in time to see the dagger plunge itself into the guard's throat, lodging just between the collarbones. The mortally wounded guard coughed in pain and surprise. Even as he reached for his throat, the dagger flew back to the sorceress's hands. She caught it by the pommel and held the blade down. Blood dripped into the alley, where it feathered itself apart in the cold puddles.
Gurgling and choking, blood welling from his neck, the guard tried to unseal his healing potion with his right hand. The left he kept pressed to his leg, until his cold, desperate fingers fumbled the precious blue vial. Feeling the vial slip from his fingers, he scrabbled for it with both hands, letting more blood flow from his leg wound.
Kehrsyn glanced once more at the sorceress, who watched the proceedings with a thin, lopsided smirk. Kehrsyn dropped her rapier with a clatter and dived for the elusive vial.
'Got it!' she said as she broke the seal.
