Elaine Cunningham - Honor Among Thieves

“The vials are in my cloak.” Avidan snapped hisfingers as a signal for Fox to produce them.

The thief stepped forward and dipped into a low bow.“A thousand pardons, my lord. I left your cloak in Muldonny’sworkroom.”

“Fetch it immediately.” Avidan looked to Muldonny.“With your permission?”

As Fox expected, Muldonny turned to the clockworkknight.

“See Master Insa’amid’s man to the workroom andreturn with him.”

Fox bowed low to each alchemist in turn, and he leftwith the adept’s globe of solvent tucked into his sleeve. It was,if he did say so himself, a pretty bit of pocket-mining.

He retrieved Avidan’s cloak from the floor of theworkroom and patted it down. The lining held several pockets.Avidan had tucked into them four small ivory vials, all of themcarved from dragon’s teeth Fox had liberated from several privatecollections.

He grimaced at the sight of the scrimshaw carvings onone of the teeth. The vial would be too easily traced. He tucked itinto his pocket.

The clockwork servant gestured to the door. “Returnnow.”

Fox jumped, startled by the hollow, metallic voice.“These things are talking now?”

“Talking now.”

“Empty night,” Fox muttered. “The adepts are gettingtoo good at their work.”

“Return now,” the construct said.

“If you’re in a hurry, feel free to go on without me.In fact, if you would take these vials to my master, I’d appreciateit.”

“Take vials.”

“That’s right,” Fox said. He held out two of thedragon tooth vials.

The clockwork servant stood motionless. Apparently ittook instructions from no one but Muldonny.

Another idea came to Fox. He wandered over to theworktable and picked up a handful of tiny gears.

“Thief take clockwork!”

“No, just exploring your ability to assesssituations.” He dropped the handful of metal onto the table. “Outof curiosity, what would you do if I did steal somethingfrom the workshop?”

The clockwork servant spun toward the alcove wherethe vats of solvent stood. On the floor just in front was a roundmetal grate. The construct bent down and lifted the cover withabout as much effort as Fox might require to pick up his boots.

“Thief disappears.”

“That’s what I thought.” Fox hefted Muldonny’s globeof solvent. “You go first.”

He hurled the little sphere at the construct. Glassshattered against its plate-armor chest.

Fetid steam surrounded the clockwork knight. When itcleared, no more than three heartbeats later, Fox could see thesolvent vats through a gaping hole in the construct’s chest.

The clockwork servant stumbled forward and fell intothe shaft.

Several moments passed before a distant clatter andthud sounded from below.

No splash.

A triumphant smile spread across Fox’s face. He mightnot be able to make the dagger switch today, but at least he’dfound a way into Muldonny’s manor.

Now, to find a way to get himself and Avidan out .

He shoved the grate back into place and looked aroundfor some sort of disguise.

His gaze fell on the half-finished servant on theworktable. The shell really did look like a suit of armor.

He went over for a closer look. The torso was emptyexcept for a few handfuls of tightly assembled machinery. Foxpulled them out and fed them to the vat of metal solvent.

Fox climbed onto the table and worked his way intothe armor suit. He swung his legs over the side of the table andfound the metal was surprisingly light. Gripping the edge of thetable, he pulled himself upright.

So far, so good.

The helmet was another concern. To his relief hecould see through the hard silver substance covering the eyesockets. He worked his hands into the articulated gloves, flexedhis fingers several times. He hopped off the table and took anexperimental step. The armor was a little too big, but it felt wellbalanced. After two circuits of the workroom, he figured he was asready as he was likely to get. He clanked down the narrow stairsleading to the courtyard.

His heart quickened at the sight of Rhendish sittingnext to Avidan. The two adepts played some sort of card game, whichAvidan had prudently chosen to observe.

Muldonny’s eyes narrowed as he took in the metal-cladFox. “And where is Master Insa’amid’s servant?”

“Thief take clockwork,” Fox said, making his voicelow and grating.

It was, in his opinion, an excellent approximation ofthe servant’s voice. The slight tick at one corner of Avidan’smouth indicated that the alchemist thought otherwise.

“My most abject apologies,” Avidan murmured. “Theservant came highly recommended. I will recompense you for any lossand shall deal most harshly with him.”

“You needn’t trouble yourself on either account,” theadept said. “I’m certain he has already been dealt with.”

“Servants,” said Rhendish, shaking his head incommiseration. “You treat them well, pay them fairly, and stillthey rob you.”

Muldonny drew a card from the deck and scowled at hishand. “So I am told.”

Fox raised a metal hand to his mouth, the signal forAvidan to press for information.

“One of your servants has been caught stealing?”

“He was caught, yes, but unfortunately long after thetheft,” Rhendish said. “He sold the item before we could recoverit.”

A muscle twitched near Muldonny’s left eye. “Nothingof great value, I trust.”

Rhendish waved one hand dismissively. “A curiosity,nothing more.”

They played several hands in silence. At lastRhendish threw down his cards.

“My luck is singularly bad today. It would appearthat your winnings exceed my purse. I’ll send my steward firstthing tomorrow to settle up.”

“There is no need,” Muldonny said. “This was afriendly game, nothing more.”

Rhendish’s sardonic smile fell just short of insult.He removed a ring and handed it to Muldonny.

“But I insist. Perhaps you will take this as payment,or at least as a surety of payment to come.”

Muldonny’s eyes widened as he took in the pale pinkcrystal and the tiny, intricate runes encircling the silver band.“This is elf-crafted! It’s far too valuable.”

“Not to me,” Rhendish said. “I have more than enoughelven trinkets in my collection of curiosities and, truth be told,I don’t particularly fancy wearing pink.”

The adept slipped the ring onto his small finger andadmired his plump hand. “In that case, I accept with pleasure.Please send word any time you feel the urge to gamble.”

“I have several other elf-crafted items that might beof interest to you,” Rhendish said. “It’s a shame about the theft,though. I suspect you would have risked a great deal to possessthat dagger.”

The adept’s studiously casual tone set off alarms inFox’s mind.

According to Honor, Muldonny possessed a stolen elvendagger. According to Rhendish, an elven dagger was recently stolenfrom him. Rhendish was clearly putting Muldonny on notice. Andelven daggers were not exactly plentiful in Sevrin. Fox did notrequire an abacus to add these pieces of information into adisturbing total.

Why hadn’t Honor mentioned that Rhendish oncepossessed the Thorn?

On second thought, he realized there was no reasonwhy she should. She knew nothing of the enmity between him and theadept.

Still, the fact remained that if Rhendish had aninterest in the dagger, their task had just become much morecomplicated.

“It seems that we are both unfortunate in our choiceof servants,” Avidan said. He lifted his cup in salute to his host.“It would appear that Muldonny has the right idea.”

Rhendish shrugged. “Clockwork servants might beimpervious to greed, but they do wear out rather quickly. You mustgo through dozens each year.”