Thieves World 01 – Thieves World by Asprin, Robert

The youth, who would henceforth be known as Terapis within the walls of the

Aphrodisia House, searched his purse to find a single gold piece. He stood

arrogant and obviously well-rehearsed while Myrtis counted out his change. The

young girl took his hand to lead him to Cylene for two hours of unimaginable

bliss.

‘Children!’ Myrtis mumbled to herself when she was alone in her parlour again.

Four of the nine knobs on the night-candle had melted away. She opened a great

leatherbound ledger and entered the youth’s true name as well as the one she had

just given him, his choice for the evening, and that he had paid in gold. It had

been fifteen years or more since she had given the nom-de-guerre of Terapis to

one of the house’s gentlemen. She had a good memory for all those who lingered

in the sybaritic luxury of the Aphrodisia House.

A gentle knocking on the parlour door awoke Myrtis late the next morning.

‘Your breakfast is ready, madame.’

‘Thank you, child. I’ll be down for it.’

She lay still for a few moments in the semi-darkness. Lythande had used careful

spells to preserve her beauty and give her the longevity of a magician, but

there were no spells to numb the memory. The girls, their gentlemen, all passed

through Myrtis’s mind in a blurred unchanging parade which trapped her beneath

the silken bed-clothes.

‘Flowers for you, madame.’

The young girl who had sat quietly on the cushion on the previous evening walked

nonchalantly into the boudoir bearing a large bouquet of white flowers which she

began arranging in a crystal vase.