Thieves World 01 – Thieves World by Asprin, Robert

safe, and perhaps Ambutta no longer seemed as childlike to all eyes. There was

always an element of risk. Twice before girls had been lost in the streets, and

not even Lythande’s magic could find them again.

Myrtis put such thoughts aside and ate dinner alone in her parlour. She had

thought a bribe or offer of free privileges might still be the way out of her

problem with the taxes. Prince Kada-kithis was probably sincere, though, in his

determination to make Sanctuary the ideal city of his adviser’s philosophies

while the capital city of the empire displayed many of the same excesses that

Sanctuary did. The young prince had a wife and concubines with whom he was

supposedly well pleased. There had never been any suspicion that he might

partake of the delights of the Street himself. And as for the Hell Hounds, their

first visit had been to announce the taxes.

The elite guard were men made of a finer fibre than most of the soldiers or

fighters Sanctuary had known. On reflection, Myrtis doubted that they could be

bought or bribed, and knew for certain that they would never relent in their

persecution of the Street if the first offer did not succeed in converting them.

It was gathering dusk. The girls could be heard throughout the house, giggling

as they prepared for the evening. Myrtis kept no one who showed no aptitude or

enjoyment of the profession. Let the other houses bind their girls with poverty

or drugs; the Aphrodisia House was the pinnacle of ambition for the working

girls of the Street.

‘I got your message.’ A soft voice called from the drapery-hung doorway near her