Shafralain said, “Still the mistrustful swordsman, Strick?”
“Who am I to dispute the judgment of Noble Shafralain?”
Volmas and Izamel laughed aloud, in chorus.
Strick rose. “The loan will be open-ended. I wish to pay interest; one-half the going rate for such men as you. Prepare the documents. Renn: I wish one of my pearls back. The other goes to Volmas as down payment. And gentlemen, gentlemen all: I wish to see the Prince.”
Good then, Strick thought as he walked back to his shop. Now it’s time to begin work toward my true purpose in Sanctuary.
AFTERWORD
C. J. Cherryh
I have two sayings about Thieves’ World: one of which is that we live there.
It’s amazing how the writers, sitting at one restaurant table, tend to sound like the council-in-the-warehouse.
ASPRIN/JUBALYHAKIEM: Well, I think we have to get a consensus here.
CHERRYH/ISCHADE/STTLCHO: Look, I haven’t forgotten the ten bodies that got dumped on my doorstep. I can’t stand still for that. It’s a question of professional pride.
ABBEY/MOUN/ILLYRA/WALEORBM: We want the streets quiet.
MORRIS/TEMPUS/CRIT: Hell, it’s just a couple of buildings we want to take out.
OFFUTT/SHADOWSPAWN: Can I take care of Haught?
ASPRIN/JUBAL/HAKIEM/ (as appalled silence falls at nearby table) Hey, those people are looking at us.
The other maxim (one Asprin is fond of quoting) is that you write your first
Thieves’ World story for pay. You write your second for revenge.
I got into this project as a result of a panel at a convention, in which the remarks from one end and the other of the table ran: