Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

you. I am the one. Now show your gratitude.’ But he knew very well that someday

soon, someone would. He did not let this irritation besmirch his happiness. He

had got a new shipment of Caronne krrf (black, pure drug, foil stamped, a full

weight of it, enough to set every mercenary in Sanctuary at the kill) and it was

so good that he considered refraining from offering it on the market. Having

considered, he decided to keep it all for himself, and so was very happy

indeed, no matter how many fistfights broke out in the bar, or how high the

sun was, these days, before he got to bed …

Tempus, too, was happy that morning, with the magnificent Tros horse under him

and signs of war all around him. Despite the hour, he saw enough rough hoplites

and dour artillery fighters with their crank-bows (whose springs were plaited

from women’s hair) and their quarrels (barbed and poisoned) to let him know he

was not dreaming: these did not bestir themselves from daydreams! The war was

real to them. And any one of them could be his. He felt his troop-levy money

cuddled tight against his groin, and he whistled tunelessly as the Tros horse

threaded his way towards the Vulgar Unicorn. One-Thumb was not going to be happy

much longer. Tempus left the Tros horse on its own recognizance, dropping the

reins and telling it, ‘Stay.’ Anyone who thought it merely ripe for stealing

would learn a lesson about the strain which is bred only in Syr from the

original line ofTros’s.

There were a few locals in the Unicorn, most snoring over tables along with