Thieves World 4 – Storm Season by Asprin, Robert

robe.

The assassin exploded towards him and Lalo scrambled frantically around the

table, snatching up more paint pots, brushes, anything he could throw. One of

them hit Zanderei’s forehead, and as paint sprayed across his face he hesitated

for just a moment to mop his eyes.

And in that moment Lalo kicked over the table and ran.

* * *

Lalo hugged his chest as if he could muffle the drumming of his heart and stared

around him.

He had confused memories of having fled down the corridor that edged the upper

half of the Presence Hall, towards the back of the Palace, down the stairs by

the dais, and then still farther, into a part of the Palace he did not know.

Though the floor was still marble, the slabs were cracked and discolored, and

plaster was chipping from the wall. Then he heard crockery clattering nearby and

realized he must be hard by the kitchens.

At least, he thought gratefully, Zanderei the Commissioner would be even more

out of place here than he. Cautiously he turned into another passageway and

moved forward. But as he eased open the door at the end of it, he heard once

more a faint pattering behind him-the steps of one who from long training ran so

lightly his footfalls were only a whisper of fine leather on polished stone.

Stifling a moan, Lalo burst through the door, dashed across the wooden floor and

the platform that opened out onto the kitchen courtyard, and flung himself into

the first concealment he found.

It had looked like a cart, and as Lalo sank into its contents he realized what