Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

Lately someone had been stalking wizards, slaying them in their own beds.

Apparently the hunter’s knife had struck down the spell-weaver who was holding

One-Thumb in painful thrall, freeing him suddenly to his normal life. An

interesting story, but totally useless to Hakiem.

First: One-Thumb was obviously willing to spill the tale to anyone who would

stand still long enough to listen, ruining the market for second-hand

renditions. Second, and more important: it was a bad story. Its motive was

unclear; the ending hazy and inactive; there was no real interplay between

the characters. The only real meat was the uniqueness of One-Thumb’s ability

to tell the tale in the first person and even that weakened through repetition.

In short, it was boring.

It didn’t take a master storyteller to reach this conclusion. It was obvious. In

fact, Hakiem was already growing weary listening to the whine and prattle.

‘You must be tired,’ he interrupted. ‘It’s wrong of me to keep you. Maybe we can

talk again after you’ve rested.’ He turned to leave the Unicorn.

‘What about the wine?’ One-Thumb called angrily. ‘You haven’t paid yet.’

Hakiem’s response was habitual: ‘Pay? I didn’t order it. It was you who filled

the cup. Pay for it yourself.’ He regretted the words immediately. One-Thumb’s

treatment of drinkers who refused to pay was legendary throughout the Maze. To

his surprise, then, it was One-Thumb who gave ground.

‘Well, all right,’ the big man grumbled. ‘Just don’t make a habit of it.’

The old storyteller felt a rare twinge of remorse as he left the Unicorn. While