Thieves World 01 – Thieves World by Asprin, Robert

‘Half?’

‘And half again of that. I will get it back, One-Thumb!’ She selected a glass

and drank.

‘I hope you do. But it can’t be the same block.’

‘Let me judge that – have you had it for more than two days?’

‘No, but it must have left Ranke more than a week ago. It came on the Anenday

caravan. Hidden inside a cheese.’

‘You can’t know for sure that it was on the caravan all the time. It could have

been waiting here until the caravan came.’

‘I can hear your logic straining, Amoli.’

‘But not without reason. How often have you seen a block as large as twenty

grimales!’

‘Only this time,’ he admitted.

‘And is a pressed design stamped all over it uniformly, an eagle within a

circle?’

‘It is. But that only means a common supplier, his mark.’

‘Still, I think you owe me information.’

One-Thumb sipped his wine. ‘All right. I know I can trust the eunuch. What about

the other?’

‘I had a vassal spell laid on him when I bought him. Besides … show him your

tongue, Gage.’ The slave opened his mouth and showed pink scar tissue nested in

bad teeth. ‘He can neither speak nor write.’

‘We make an interesting table,’ he said. ‘Missing thumb, tongue, and tamale.

What are you missing, Amoli?’

‘Heart. And a block of krrf.’

‘All right.’ He drank off the rest of his small glass and refilled it. ‘There is

a man high in the court of Ranke, old and soon to die. His son, who would

inherit his title, is slothful, incompetent, dishonest. The old man’s

counsellors would rather the daughter succeed; she is not only more able, but

easier for them to control.’