Thieves World 5 – The Face of Chaos by Asprin, Robert

Synab as my agent.’

‘I … everyone said you were dead, sir. I thought the symbols were a new

extortion racket and didn’t see any harm in trying to cash in on it myself.’

‘Even if I were dead, it’s a dangerous name to be using. Weren’t you afraid of

the guardsmen? Or the Stepsons? They’re hunting hawkmasks, you know.’

‘The Stepsons,’ the boy sneered. ‘They aren’t so much. One of them had me cold

with my hand in his purse yesterday. I knocked him down and got away before he

could untangle himself enough to draw his sword.’

‘Anyone can be surprised, boy. Remember that. Those men are hardened veterans

who’ve earned their reputation as well as their

pay.’

‘They don’t scare me,’ the boy argued, more defiantly.

‘Do I?’

‘Y … Yes, sir,’ came the reply, as the youth remembered his predicament.

‘… but not enough to keep you from posing as one of my agents,’ Jubal finished

for him. ‘How much did you get from Synab, anyway?’

‘I don’t know, sir.’

The ex-crimelord raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

‘Really!’ the urchin insisted. ‘Instead of a flat fee, I demanded a portion of

his weekly sales. I told him that we … that you would be watching his shop and

would know if he tried to cheat on the figure.’ ,

‘Interesting,’ Jubal murmured. ‘How did you arrive at that system?’

‘Well, once I knew that he was scared enough to pay, I suddenly realized that I

didn’t know how much to ask for. If I asked for too little, he’d get suspicious,

but if I named a figure too high, he’d either ruin his shop, trying to pay it,