Honor Among Thieves

He quickened his pace and caught up to Delgar. “Itworked. You can let her down now.”

The dwarf slowed to a stop, a broad grin on his face.He gestured to the woman slung over his shoulder. “Are you sure?Because I could carry this little thing for-eeeeeOW!”

Before Delgar’s surprised yelp died away, the womanlaunched herself forward, rolled, and came up onto her feet.

Fox caught her wrist before she could flee. She triedto jerk away. The sharp movement tossed back the dark hood of hercloak.

For many moments, the world swam and spun as Foxstared into a face that was grim, beautiful, and hauntinglyfamiliar.

“She bit me!” Delgar clapped one hand to hisbackside.

She responded with a string of lilting sounds thatgave Fox the impression of summer winds and liquid gold.

Delgar rumbled something curt and angry. The elf-foran elf she undoubtedly was-responded with a sweet comment thatbrought a flush of rage to the Carmot’s face.

The brief interlude gave Fox time to gather his wits.“I know you,” he said.

The elf shrugged and started to shake her head.Something flickered in her eyes. She reached out to touch hishair.

“Fox pelt,” she said.

A smile burst over the thief’s face like sunrise. “Itis you! I wasn’t sure at first. Your hair and eyes are adifferent color. Of course, it was summer then.” He frowned as theobvious occurred to him. “Wait a minute-it’s summer now.”

“I was wounded in midwinter. Now that I am well andcan walk in the sun again, the Greening will come.”

Fox nodded and spun toward Delgar. “I grew up on themainland, on the edge of the forest. I wandered off when I wasabout nine. I spent the night in a tree, which seemed like a goodidea until I fell out of the tree and into the river. This elfpulled me out of the water, brought me home. She saved mylife.”

“And now you’ve returned the favor,” Delgar said. “Itall evens out, everyone can go home.”

The elf slipped her wrist out of Fox’s unresistinghand. “What he says is true,” she said. “Any debt between us ispaid. I have no right to ask for your help.”

It was on the tip of Fox’s tongue to offer it anyway,but the scowl on Delgar’s face stopped him.

“We should get off the street. There’s a safe placenearby where we can talk.”

“It’s safe,” the dwarf said, “because very few peopleknow how to find it. An enviable state of affairs, and one I wouldlike to preserve.”

Fox shot him a dirty look and offered his arm to theelf. She pulled up her hood and shook her head. “I do not want tocause discord among friends. It’s only. .”

“What?”

Her shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. “I knowand trust no other human.”

“To do what?” the dwarf asked.

“A priceless elven artifact was stolen: a rose ofpale crystal that opens each morning with the dawn and closes atsunset.”

Delgar folded his arms. “So? Any garden rose can doas much.”

“This is more than a pretty toy,” she said. “This isancient and powerful magic. Such magic in human hands could bringcatastrophic destruction.”

“Vague, yet ominous,” Delgar said. “I’ve knowntwo-penny fortune tellers who were more generous withdetail.”

The elf studied him for a moment. “You are a Carmot dwarf. You canstoneshift?”

“He’s very good,” Fox said.

Delgar didn’t’ acknowledge the compliment. In fact,neither elf nor dwarf seemed to notice that Fox had spoken.

“You can do this because there are traces of carmitein your blood and bone,” she said. “Imagine enough carmite tofashion a rose, then place that rose within a dagger of amplifyingcrystal. When you have that image firmly in mind, imagine what thatrose could do when fed a drop of a traitor’s blood.”

All color drained from Delgar’s face. His normal palegray tone faded almost to while.

“The Thorn,” he murmured.

The elf nodded.

Delgar passed a hand over his face and turned to Fox.“I opened a new portal last moondark, under the back stairs of thetavern in Halfpenny Wynd. We can be in the Fox Den within thehour.”

The Fox Den was hardly what Honor expected.

She’d supposed a young thief might have a cellar roomin some rough part of the city, or perhaps a hidden chamber in themanor of some wealthy patron. But this network of pristine stonepassages and ever-shifting hidden doors throughout the city wasbeyond impressive.

Strange carvings marked many of the tunnels, and thelarge and somehow airy chamber in which they now gathered wasdistinguished by elaborate carvings and a mirror that reflected notwhat was in the room, but other places and, Honor suspected, othertimes.

For a while she watched as one scene after anotherswam into focus, lingered for a few breaths, and faded. It wasoddly soothing.

Even more surprising were the thieves themselves.

While a fairy-a fairy! — regaled the others withthe story of Delgar’s rescue, Honor gathered her thoughts.

Rhendish had told her the thief would not refuse her.He had not told her why.

It seemed incredible, but apparently Rhendish knewshe’d crossed paths with this human. How had he come by thisinformation? And what was this young man to Rhendish that the adeptwould go to such extreme lengths to get him in hand?

And what use would he make of these others?

The fairy’s presence astonished Honor. Didn’t Fox andhis companions know what sort of crime resulted in banishment tothe mortal realm? Or didn’t that sort of thing matter to a band ofadmitted thieves?

Vishni was, admittedly, a fetching little thing, slimas a pixie with big dark eyes and a short mop of dark curls. Shelaughed often, but there was a flash in her eyes and a petulanttwist to her rosebud lips that warned of storms lurking behind thesunshine.

Honor suspected that might be part of her appeal.

Delgar she understood a little better. Young dwarvesoften travelled abroad to seek adventure or knowledge. Delgar’spresence in Sevrin suggested he was more ambitious than most.

Long before the seas rose and turned Sevrin into acity of islands, in a time far beyond the reach of human memory, anancient dwarven culture had thrived beneath the current sea. Muchof it had been destroyed when the long-dead volcano last stirred.This much was known to all of the old races, but as history ancienteven by the measure of their kind.

The stone chambers of the “Fox Den” gave Honorinsight into Delgar’s quest: searching out the old passages,opening and restoring them.

She wondered what drove the dwarf. Was he a treasurehunter hoping to plunder the tombs of his ancestors? A scholarseeking to uncover ancient glories? Or something far more?

A Carmot settlement beneath Sevrin could be apowerful check on the growing power of the adepts. If Delgar hadambitions along those lines, he presented Rhendish with alegitimate concern.

But if that was the case, why would Rhendish permitDelgar’s escape?

The man they called Avidan was also complicated. Hewas not, Honor thought, a native of Sevrin. His aquiline featuresand swarthy skin suggested southern lands, and he spoke with thedeliberation of someone translating his thoughts from a morefamiliar tongue. He followed the fashion of the city, though,wearing his dark hair long and tied back and dressing in the simpletrousers and tunic of a master alchemist. But unlike Rhendish, hewore the soft