Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

of vile rumour; a wizardous thief, a preyer upon wizards, a conniver in shadows

and dark secrets, this Ischade, with reason to hate the prey she chose.

And all her lovers died, softly, gently for the most part; but Enas Yorl was not

particular in that regard.

He paused a moment, hearing the great outer doors boom shut. The thief was on

his way, thief to take a thief. And Enas Yorl felt a sudden cold. Wizards died,

in Sanctuary, and this possibility fascinated him, taunted him with hope and

fear: with fear -because shapes like this he wore turned him coward, reminding

him there were pleasures to be had. He feared death at such times … while the

thief he had sent out went to find it for him.

Darous came back, softly stopped on the marble paving. ‘Well done,’ Enas Yorl

said.

‘Follow him, master?’

‘No,’ Enas Yorl said. ‘No need. None at all.’ He looked distractedly about

again, with the queasiness of impending change upon him. He fled suddenly, his

steps quicker and quicker on the pavings. Darous could see nothing – Darous

sensed, but that was another matter. There was, however, pride.

And within the hour, in a dark recess of the house with the basilisks prowling

the halls unchecked, something gibbered within a pile of midnight robes, and

with keen sense of beauty imprisoned in that moaning heap, longed towards

oblivion.

Darous, who saw nothing, sensed the essence of this change and kept himself to

other halls.

The basilisks, whose cold eyes saw very well, writhed scaly-lithe away in haste,

outstared and overwhelmed.