Thieves World 7 – The Dead of Winter by Asprin, Robert

goat’s blood and, beside, cheese and barley and nuts for men who needed possets

in the morning to brace them for hard work to come.

These days, in Sanctuary, the meres were eating better -a function, Niko

determined from the talk around him as he filled a bowl, of their new regard and

esteem in a town coming apart at its seams, a town where personal protection was

a commodity at an all-time high. There was lamb on the sideboard this morning, a

whole pig with an apple in its mouth, and fish stuffed with savory. It hadn’t

been this way when last Niko’d worked here-then the meres were tolerated, but

not sent goodies from the Palace and from the fisherfolk or from the merchants.

It hadn’t been this way, before…. He ate his fill and got his brief from the

dispatching agent, who sketched a map of faction lines which divided up the

town.

“Look here. Stealth, I’ll only tell you once,” the dispatching agent said

intently. “The Green Line runs along Palace Park; above it are your patrons-the

Palace types, the merchant class, and the Beysibs … don’t tell me what you

think of that. The Maze’s surrounded by Jubal’s Blue Line; you’ll need this pass

to get in there.” The dispatcher, who’d lost one eye before Niko had ever set

foot in Sanctuary, pulled an armband from his hip pocket and handed it to Niko.

The band was sewn from parallel strips of colored cloth: green, red, black,

blue, and yellow. Niko fingered it, said, “Fine, just don’t call me Stealth in

here-or anywhere. I need to sniff around before I make my presence known,” and