Read Online Jhereg by Steven Brust - Free Book Online

slip that we've been lovers for years." She laughed. "Now there's an idea, Vlad! We should have thought of that cycles ago!" This time I laughed. "Then what would your friends say? Kiera the Thief, consorting with an Easterner? Tut, tut."
    "They won't say anything," she said flatly. "I have a friend who does 'work.' "
    "Speaking of which--"
    "Right. To business. I take it you want something stolen." I nodded. "Do you know of a certain Lord Mellar, House Jhereg? I think he's officially a count, or a duke, or some such."
    Her eyes widened, slightly. "Going after big game, aren't you, Vlad? You certainly are in over your head. I know him, all right. I've helped him out a couple of times."
    "Not recently!" I said, with a sudden sinking feeling.
    She looked at me quizzically, but didn't ask what I meant. "No, not in the last few months. It wasn't anything big, any of the times. Just sort of an exchange of favors; you know how it goes."
    I nodded, quite relieved. "He isn't a friend, or anything, is he?" She shook her head. "No. We just did a few things for each other. I don't owe him."
    "Good. And speaking of owing, by the way ..." I placed a purse on my desk in front of her. It held five hundred gold Imperials. She didn't touch it yet, of course.
    "How would you like to have me owe you still another favor?"
    "I'm always happy to have you in my debt," she said lightly. "What does he have that you want?"
    "Any of a number of things. A piece of clothing would be good. Hair would be excellent. Anything that has a long association with him."
    She shook her head once more, in mock sadness. "More of your Eastern witchcraft, Vlad?"
    "I'm afraid so," I admitted. "You know how we are, always like to keep our hand in, and all."
    "I'll bet." She took the purse and stood up. "Okay, you're on. It shouldn't take more than a day or two."
    "No hurry," I lied politely. I stood as she left, and bowed her out.
    "How long do you think it will actually take her?" asked Kragar.
    "How long have you been sitting there?"
    "Not too long."
    I shook my head in disgust. "I wouldn't be surprised if we had it tomorrow."
    "Not bad," he said. "Did you talk to Daymar?"
    "Yes."
    "And?"
    I explained the outcome of our conversation. He shrugged over the technical details of the witchcraft, but caught the gist of it. He laughed a bit when I explained that Daymar had managed to include himself in the spell.
    "Well, do you think it will work?" he asked.
    "Daymar thinks it will work; I think it will work."
    He seemed satisfied with this answer. "So nothing happens until we hear from Kiera, right?"
    "Right."
    "Good. I think I'll go catch up on my sleep."
    "Wrong."
    "What now, Oh Master?"
    "You're getting as bad as Loiosh."
    " What's that supposed to mean, boss? "
    " Shut up, Loiosh. "
    " Right, boss. "
    I picked up the notes on Mellar that I'd been reading and handed them to Kragar.
    "Read," I said. "Let me know what you think."
    He ruffled through them briefly. "There's a lot here."
    "Yeah."
    "Look, Vlad, my eyes are sore. How about tomorrow?"
    "Read."
    He sighed and started reading.
    "You know what strikes me, Vlad?" he asked a bit later.
    "What?"
    "There's been something funny about this guy since he first showed up in the organization."
    "What do you mean?"
    He paged through the notes quickly and continued. "He moved too fast. He made it from nowhere to the top in just over ten years. That's damned quick. I've never heard of anyone except you moving that quickly, and you have the excuse of being an Easterner."
    "I mean, look," he went on. "He starts out protecting a little brothel, right? A muscle. A year later he's running the place; a year after that he has ten more. In eight years he's got a territory bigger than you have now. A year after that, he wipes out Terion and takes his place on the council. And a year after that, he grabs up the council funds and vanishes. It's almost as if he had the whole thing figured out when he started."
    "Hmmm. I see what you're