Robert Asprin – Thieves World 09 – Blood Ties

Chenaya bit her lip but nodded.

“I thought I had learned my lesson. When I rebuilt my force, I contented myself with covert operations and maintained a low profile to avoid attention. To a large extent it worked, and the various factions in town turned their energies on each other. I watched them stacking bodies and licked my lips… yes, and even worked to keep them at each others’ throats. It was my thought that eventually they would grow so weak that I could again rule Sanctuary.”

He paused to take another sip of wine, a part of him wondering what there was about this girl that led him to confide his thoughts and plans to her.

“It wasn’t until I was criticized by someone, an old man whose opinions I’ve grown to respect, that I realized that I had again fallen into the trap of arrogance. The Empire has changed and Sanctuary has changed. Things will never be as they were, and I was foolish to think otherwise. I will never again control this town, and all my machinations to weaken my rivals have only made it more vulnerable in its inevitable confrontation with Theron. That’s why I was willing to go along with Tempus’s plan to negotiate a truce among the warring factions. There is more at stake here than personal vengeance or ambition.”

He noticed Chenaya was looking at him strangely. “You really care for this town, don’t you?”

“It’s a hellhole, or a thieves’ world if you listen to the storytellers, but I’m used to it the way it is. I wouldn’t like to see it changed at the whim of a new emperor. To that extent, I’m willing to put my personal ambition and pride aside for a moment, for the good of the town.”