Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

Jubal was a merchant who dealt in human merchandise. He provided some few to

that scrawny Kurd fellow of whom even hardened Sanctuarites spoke susurrantly

and with glances cast uncomfortably this way and that.

In the barracks, Tempus had had serious trouble with Razkuli and that snarly

growly Zaibar. (Quag had mentioned that to a certain woman under the most

intimate of circumstances. A bad but common time for the imparting of

confidences.)

Stulwig Northbom had spent a shining coin bearing the Emperor’s likeness. Such

coinage was not all that common here, although it was welcome. People of the

governor’s staff occasionally spent such coins. Likely then someone had bought

something off Stulwig; someone from the palace. Stulwig dealt in potions and

drugs and worse.

Harmocohl Dripnose had most recently seen two men conveying a sizeable burden to

the lovely gardened home of Kurd. Harmocohl’s impression was that the two were

hood-cloaked Hell Hounds.

Hell Hounds were elite Imperial guardsmen and did not deal with such as Stulwig

or Kurd. Indeed, at least one of them hated Kurd. Hardly likely that Hell Hounds

would deliver a human package to him. Unless there was someone they hated more

than the dark experimenter.

Tempus was missing.

The word was out that Jubal heroically sold no more human merchandise to Kurd

the vivisectionist… a man with a Rankan accent.

Why would such as Jubal cut off such a source of revenue? For moral reasons,

because Kurd did evil things to people? Hardly. Because Jubal had made a deal