Steven Brust - Hawk

But it was a lot of money.

I slowly eased my cloak aside, set my hand on the hilt of Lady Teldra, and raised her about a quarter of an inch, then slid her back in. He got enough of a taste of Lady Teldra to help him make up his mind. A fraction of a smile quirked his lip for a fraction of a second, then he said, “Your message is delivered,” and about the time he had finished speaking, there were four more of them there.

I acted like it was no big deal, and I waited.

It was natural that they’d get the forces out, whether their boss agreed to see me or not. It was just a question of protecting him while he decided if he wanted to see me.

“Boss? This is making me uncomfortable.”

“Me too. But I need to see this guy. They’re just making sure. They’re afraid of me.”

“I know, but-”

“But you’re right. Scout the area.”

Loiosh stayed where he was, but Rocza launched herself into the air. The guys around me let their eyes flick to her, then come back to me. Still, none of them had drawn a weapon.

“Three more coming toward us, Boss. No, make that five. From the back side of the house.”

“Shit,” I suggested.

“Half a minute,” he added.

Aloud, I said, “Tell the ones who are approaching to stop, or I’ll get nervous. Your boss will either see me, or not. You don’t need any more protection.”

He looked at me.

“Boss, they’re still coming.”

“Last chance,” I told the guy.

The guy in front of me reached for a dagger.

“Morganti!” Loiosh screamed into my mind, but he needn’t have bothered; that’s a feeling you can’t miss. Then things happened fast.

My first thought was, Dammit, this isn’t how I wanted it to go down ; my second thought was, Just how many of those things are there in this town? After that I was too busy to think.

Loiosh was in someone’s face, and I threw a knife in the general direction of another, and, I remember clearly, there was a horrible fraction of a second when I reached into my cloak for a shuriken that wasn’t there.

In the back of my mind, I realized I wasn’t in shape for this, either physically or mentally. I had no time to indulge the feeling, so ignoring it was easy.

I know I was rolling on the ground, and then I was on my feet, and since my cloak wasn’t good for anything else I undid the clasp with one hand and threw it into a face. I turned quickly and one of them was coming at me with a sword, so I moved in on him to throw off his distance and he cut my left arm below the elbow but I put my dagger into his throat, then Loiosh yelled for me to duck to the side, and I did and something missed me. I drew my rapier, and took a step backward toward the street.

Three of them were still up. One of them was bleeding badly from two different wounds on the same arm, and the other two were swinging wildly at Loiosh and Rocza, who were darting just into range then back out again. It’s hard to fight flying things; I like to have them on my side.

I drew Lady Teldra with my left hand. The presence of a Morganti weapon that powerful instantly spread out and assaulted the mind of anyone in the area who had one. A mind, I mean. She took the form of a wide-bladed, leaf-shaped fighting knife, and she felt very good in my hand.

“Facedown on the ground,” I said, “or I start using this.”

Loiosh and Rocza backed off to give them time to decide. I tried very hard to hide how much my hands were shaking. And my knees. My side, which I’d thought Lady Teldra had completely healed, was aching in a bad way.

“Now,” I explained. I sincerely hoped they understood the explanation, because if they didn’t it would be bad for them, and very likely worse for me.

They dropped their weapons and dropped to the ground as the reinforcements arrived. The Morganti dagger was lying on the ground; I kicked it away. Loiosh and Rocza landed on my shoulder and I said, “I just want to talk to your boss. If he doesn’t want to see me, I’ll go away,” I added. “And let him know that if lets me in, he’ll have a lot of chances to ambush me inside the house.”

They looked at me.

“Please?” I said. And gave them my warmest smile. I’ve learned that it doesn’t show weakness to be polite when you are holding a Great Weapon.

One of the new arrivals-a pale man with almost no neck-seemed to be in charge. After a long enough pause for messages to go back and forth between a couple of minds, he said, “All right, you can come in.”

I hesitated. Did I dare trust him? The reinforcements were still standing and there were a lot of them. As if on cue, a bunch of them turned and walked away. All right, then. I sheathed Lady Teldra and my rapier, and retrieved my cloak. “Thanks,” I said.

Two of them led the way for me, and the rest went back to their positions. The ones who’d been on the ground got up, and, without even wasting a dirty look on me, started to help the ones who were injured. The one I’d gotten in the throat looked like he might not make it.

The door opened and I was met by an enforcer dressed as a butler. He acted like a butler, too. I’d have believed that’s all he was if it weren’t for his eyes.

It was a very impressive home. I’d been there before, and I’d been impressed then, too. I was escorted up a long, white, curving stairway to what I’d think of as a study-a few books, a desk, a pair of chairs, some small sculptures and expensive paintings and psiprints-except that it was closer to the size of a ballroom than a study. Okay, I’m exaggerating. The chairs looked comfortable enough. I picked the one that didn’t go with the desk and stood next to it, waiting. The butler left, the two-man escort remained; not exactly watching me, but not exactly not watching me.

All together, like old friends, we stood there and waited for the guy generally known as the Demon. My left arm dripped blood on his floor, and it served him right as far as I was concerned. I studied his desk. It was pretty clean. There were a few papers on it, a quill pen, and what looked like a pile of handkerchiefs. Maybe he perspired a lot? There were a couple off to the side that seemed to have been used. I wondered if I could steal one without either of the guards noticing. I leaned over the desk.

“Back away, please,” said one.

I stuffed the handkerchief in my sleeve as I backed away.

At a meeting like this, the time you’re kept waiting is a good indicator of where you stand. In this case, it was less than two minutes. He came in briskly, as if he had not the least worry that I might be there to kill him. He sat down in the chair next to the desk, not behind it, and nodded toward another. I sat in it, and he made a gesture to the two enforcers; they stepped back until they were out of earshot, but close enough to watch me. Which is probably why he had such a big study.

“Lord Taltos,” he said.

“Demon.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks.”

“How did I get to be the guy you always come to?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t try to have me killed.”

“Is that it?”

I smiled.

He shrugged. “Seemed worth the shot. Did you kill any of them?”

“Not sure. Maybe one.”

He swore softly and without much conviction.

“I was trying not to, but I was also kind of busy staying alive. That seemed the higher priority.”

“People do underestimate you, Taltos.”

“I know.”

“All right. I have tickets for a concert tonight, so let’s get to it.”

“I want to propose a business venture.”

“Uh-huh.”

“For you, and for the Jhereg.”