Read Online Yendi by Steven Brust - Free Book Online

found a sorcerer who could break through my sorcery protection spells. A week after my raid, my cleaner's shop went up in flames, along with the cleaner and most of his merchandise. I doubled the protection everywhere else. Two days later, Narvane and Chimov were caught on their way to escort H'noc in to me with his payment. Chimov was quick and lucky, so he was revivifiable; Narvane was not so quick but much luckier, and managed to teleport to a healer. The assassins escaped. Eight days later, two things happened on the same evening, at nearly the same moment.
    First, a wizard sneaked into a building housing a brothel run by Laris, carefully spread more than forty gallons of kerosene, and lit it. The place burned to the ground. The fires were set in front on the second story and in back on the first; no one was even scorched.
    Second, Varg came to see me about something important. Melestav informed me; I told him to send Varg in. As Varg opened the door, Melestav noticed something--he still doesn't know what--and yelled for him to stop. He didn't, so Melestav put a dagger into his back and Varg fell at my feet. We checked, and found that it wasn't Varg at all. I gave Melestav a bonus, then went into my office, shut the door, and shook. Two days later, Laris's people staged a full-scale raid on my office, complete with burning out the shop. We held them off without losing anyone permanently, but the cost was heavy.
    Narvane, who'd taken over from Temek, found one more source of Laris's income. Four days after the raid on me, we hit it--beat up some customers, hurt some of his protection people, and set fire to the place.
    By which time certain parties had had enough of the whole thing.
    That day, I was standing in the rubble in front of my office, trying to decide if I needed a new place. Wyrn, Miraf'n, Glowbug, and Chimov surrounded me. Kragar and Melestav were there, too. Glowbug said, "Trouble, boss."
    Miraf'n immediately stepped in front of me, but I had time to catch sight of four Jhereg walking toward the ruined building. It appeared that there was someone in the middle, but I couldn't be sure.
    They reached the place and the four of them stood facing my bodyguards. Then a voice I recognized called out from among them, "Taltos!"
    I swallowed, and stepped forward. I bowed. "Greetings, Lord Toronnan."
    "They stay. You come."
    "Come, Lord Toronnan? Where--"
    "Shut up."
    "Yes, my lord." One of these days, bastard, I'm going to do you. He turned and I began following. He looked back and said, "No. That thing stays, too." It took me a moment to figure out what he was saying, then: " Get ready, Kragar. "
    " Ready, boss. "
    Out loud, I said, "No. The jhereg stays with me."
    His eyes narrowed and we matched stares. Then he said, "All right." I relaxed. We went north to Malak Circle, then headed east on Pier Street. Eventually we came to what had once been an inn, but was now empty, and went inside. Two of his people stopped by the door. Another was waiting inside. He carried a sorcery staff. We stood before him, and Toronnan said, "Do it."
    There was a twisting in my bowels, and I found myself with Toronnan and two of his bodyguards in an area I recognized as Northwest Adrilankha. We were in the hills, where the houses were damn near castles. About twenty yards in front of us was the entrance to a pure white one, the great double doors inlaid with gold. A real pretty place.
    "Inside," said Toronnan.
    We walked up the steps. A manservant opened the door. Two Jhereg were just inside, their gray cloaks looking new and well cut. One of them nodded at Toronnan's enforcers and said, "They can wait here."
    My boss nodded. We proceeded inward. The hall was bigger than the apartment I'd lived in after selling the restaurant. The room it emptied into, like a sewer into a cesspool, was bigger than the apartment I was living in. I saw more gold invested in knickknacks around the place than I'd earned in the last year. None of this went very