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

‘No, not the rulers,’ Illyra said positively. ‘Not the Burek clan at all, the

horsemen. But the fisher-folk and boatwrights who brought the Burek here, the

Setmur – and not all of them.’ The woman smiled at the trace of a memory so grim

that its fullness wiped her face with loathing an instant later. ‘There was,’

she explained, looking away from the caravan-master, ‘a cult of Dyareela in

Sanctuary in the – recent past. The Porta cult is like that. Only a few, and

those hidden because it’s sacrilege and treason to worship other than the

Imperial gods.’

‘The Beysib have closed the temples here?’ Samlor asked. Her last statement had

jarred him into the interjection.

‘Only to human beings,’ Illyra said. ‘And the Setmur are human, even to the

Burek.’ She smiled again and this time held the expression. ‘We S’danzo are

accustomed to being animals, master. Even in cities Ranke conquered as long ago

as she did Cirdon.’

‘Go on,’ said Samlor evenly. ‘Do these Beysib think to sacrifice Star to their ‘

he shrugged ‘- octopus, their squid?’

The S’danzo woman laughed. ‘Master – Samlor,’ she demanded, ‘is Heqt a giant

toad that you might find near the right pond?’ The man touched his medallion,

and his eyes narrowed at the blasphemy. Illyra went on, ‘Porta is a god, or an

idea – if there’s a difference. A fisher-folk idea. Some of them have always had

images, little carvings on stone or shells, hidden deep in their ships where the

nobles never venture for the stink … And now they have something else to bring

them closer to their god. They have -‘ and she looked from the child’s medal,