Elaine Cunningham - Honor Among Thieves

The guard waved them through and pointed them to thevisitor’s entrance.

As they walked through the bailey, Fox kept up asteady stream of last-minute instructions.

“You’re sure you remember the signs.”

“Do not concern yourself. My memory has been trainedto retain copious amounts of information.”

“Copious. That’s good,” Fox murmured as he scannedthe courtyard. “What do you do if I scratch my ear?”

Avidan sighed. “I stop talking about the subjectcurrently under discussion.”

“What if I touch my mouth?”

“Then I am to echo what the speaker said, in a mannerlikely to encourage him to continue in that vein. In short, I am toelicit more information.”

Fox nodded. “The host gift is offered after you’vehad the wine or tea or whatever Muldonny offers. Not before.”

“And if I find the refreshments insufficientrecompense for the gifts?”

To Fox’s astonishment, the alchemist wore a wrysmile.

“Was that a joke?”

“Not a successful one, apparently.”

“Huh.” Fox studied the alchemist. “You look. .better.”

“Than what?”

“Usual.”

Avidan shrugged. “It is good from time to time toremember who you once were.”

Thanks to his resemblance to the Veldooni alchemist,Fox had a pretty good idea what that was. It shamed him a littlethat he’d never thought to inquire into Avidan’s history. He’dassumed that the alchemist was one of many students driven mad bythe study, and that he’d found his way into the tunnels fleeing theinevitable result of not conforming to the adept’s vision ofSevrin. That, in and of itself, had been reason enough for Fox toaccept Avidan into his inner circle.

But now his curiosity was aroused.

“As for protocol,” he said in a casual tone, “justfollow whatever rules the Veldooni go by. Do you rememberthese?”

“Yes.”

An unspoken “Of course!” resounded through thealchemist’s terse response.

“You looking so much like this Shavin Insa’amid is afortunate coincidence.”

“Fortunate, perhaps. A coincidence, almost certainlynot.”

They came to a stop before the second gate. Anotherhuman guard checked Avidan’s papers and his letter of invitationbefore unlocking the gate and turning them over to the clockworkguard.

To Fox’s eyes, the design of Muldonny’s guardsrecalled an earlier era. Unlike Rhendish, whose clockworkconstructs looked more and more like humans with each newinnovation, the Adept of Stormwall Island surrounded himself withmachines that resembled armored knights of centuries past.

They followed the animated knight into the fortressand down a corridor that opened into a grand hall. Muldonny bustledforward to meet them.

Vishni’s description of Muldonny as a human squirrelhit very near the mark. His gray robe draped his pot belly andequally broad posterior. It reached below his knees, making hisshort legs appear even shorter. A jittery energy surrounded thelittle man, and his large dark eyes darted here and there as ifexpecting to see a lurking cat or the shadow of a giant raptor.

The man lacked only a fluffy gray tail to completethe picture.

Fox raised one hand to his mouth and coughed todisguise a smile.

He stood back and looked appropriately servile as thetwo alchemists went through the formalities. Avidan handled himselfsurprisingly well. By the time they arrived in Muldonny’s workroom,Fox’s worry began to ebb.

The room was like most of the alchemist shops Fox hadinfiltrated, cluttered with books and bottles and metal and leatherand a dozen projects in various stages of completion. Of particularinterest to him was the shell of a clockwork knight, identical tothe one that stood outside the workshop door, lying on aworktable.

Muldonny gestured to a trio of large vats in an lcoveoff the main workroom.

“These are some of my more effective solvents. Theyare not alkahest, not by any means, but they have provenuseful.”

Avidan walked closer to the nearest vat. He inhaleddeeply, closed his eyes, and stood as if listening.

“It’s a foul stench, I’ll grant you, but the solventis quite effective,” Muldonny said. “This dissolves metal, veryuseful in combat.”

“A strange weapon for someone who works with metal,”Avidan said.

The adept reached into a pocket over one massive hipand produced a small glass orb.

“It is because I work with metal that I still keepthe solvent in quantity. Should one of my servants malfunction, itcan be stopped quickly.”

“Very prudent, I’m sure.” Avidan shrugged off hiscloak and handed it to Fox. “I see you are building yet anotherservant.”

“My standard model,” the adept said dismissively.“Useful, but nothing innovative. But come-let me show you mygarden.”

Fox followed them out of the workshop, droppingAvidan’s cloak to the floor before he closed the door behindthem.

A small table had been set up in the courtyardgardens. The refreshments were not lavish-a tall samovar of tea anda plate of small biscuits.

Fox hoped the alchemist did not remember his commentabout fair reimbursement for the host gifts. Or if he did, thathe’d recall it was only a jest.

A clockwork servant poured out tea and then fell backseveral paces. Fox took his cue from the machine and measured hisown distance.

For a while, he listened while the men talked abouttheir work. Fox had little use for alchemy, so he learned for thefirst time that it arose in Veldoon in past centuries and onlyrecently spread to the northlands. Interesting, he supposed, but itwas time to move things forward.

He caught Avidan’s eye and tapped a hand to hischest. The alchemist acknowledged him with a barely perceptiblenod.

“I have heard that Sevrin is preoccupied withcollecting curiosities. Is this an interest you share?”

Muldonny gestured for more tea. “I have been to themuseums, of course, but not for several years. You may wish tovisit them, if your time in Sevrin permits.”

Avidan glanced at Fox for a prompt. The thief touchedhis left shoulder.

“So you are not a collector, then.”

“That would depend upon your definition of the term.Alchemists collect all manner of things. We must do so for ourwork, is that not so? But amassing a display of quaint objectsmerely to say you possess them?” He shook his head. “No, I am a manof singular focus.”

Fox touched his mouth. Echo him, keep himtalking .

“And what is that focus?” Avidan asked.

The adept smiled. “I admire your devotion to yourgreat-grandsire’s art. Like you, I believe there is much to learnfrom the past. Sevrin is not wise to cut ties to the old ways.Perhaps not even the old races.”

This was not something Fox had ever expected to hearan adept say. He touched his mouth again, urging Avidan to pursuethis.

Before he could speak, a metal servant approachedwith a silver tray. A single calling card lay on the tray. Fox’seyes widened as he recognized Rhendish’s seal.

Muldonny did not look much happier than Fox aboutthis development. “This is an unexpected pleasure,” he said in aflat tone. “It would appear that one of my brother adepts has cometo call.”

Avidan rose. “Then I will leave you to confer.”

“Oh, you must meet Rhendish. It will do him good toconverse with a man more learned than himself.”

Fox flashed the symbol for Lie.Graciously .

“You do me too much honor.” The alchemist resumed hisseat. “It will be my pleasure. I had hoped to gain an audience withsome of your fellow adepts. I have brought samples of my work withalkahest, if you think he might be interested.”

Muldonny’s eyebrows rose. “I am never quite certainabout Rhendish, but I’m certainly interested.”