admitted.
‘Sorcery?’
‘Or some more worldly form of trickery,’ One-Thumb said slowly. ‘Marype is
studying his father’s trade, but I don’t think he’s adept enough to transport
material objects … could your krrf have been an illusion?’
‘It was no illusion. I tried a pinch.’
‘Do you recall from what part of the block you took it?’
‘The bottom edge, near one corner.’
‘Well, we can settle one thing,’ he said, standing. ‘Let’s check mine in that
spot.’
She bade the bodyguards stay, and followed One-Thumb. At the door to his office,
while he was trying to make the key work, she took his arm and moved softly up
against him. ‘You never tarry at my place any more. Are you keeping your own
woman, out at the estate? Did we do something -‘
‘You can’t have all my secrets, woman.’ In fact, for more than a year he had not
taken a woman normally, but needed the starch of rape. This was the only part of
his evil life that shamed him, and certainly not because of the women he had
hurt and twice killed. He dreaded weakness more than death, and wondered which
part would fail him next.
Amoli idly looked through the one-way mirror while One-Thumb attended to the
strongbox. She turned when she heard him gasp.
‘Gods!’ The leather wrapping lay limp and empty on the floor of the box.
They both stared for a moment. ‘Does Marype have his father’s protection?’ Amoli
asked.
One-Thumb shook his head. ‘It was the father that did this.’
Sorcerers are not omnipotent. They can be bargained with. They can even be
killed, with stealth and surprise. And spells cannot normally be maintained