The Yellow silk r-4

by Don Bassingthwaite

  "Look," he said to her quickly, "we're just trying to find out what happened to some gems. If you could help us out-"

  "I don't know anything about any gems."

  "They belong to Brin," Li growled. Tycho winced and shot the Shou a foul glance. Desmada just snorted again, this time with laughter.

  "You lost gems that belong to Brin? No wonder you're desperate." She eyed them both carefully. "You walk away now and I won't pass that little bit of news on around dock-side. Fair?"

  "Desmada-"

  The guard drew out a few inches of her sword. "Walk away, Tycho," she said harshly. "I don't know anything about your gems."

  Tycho sighed and shrugged. "You know, I'd like to believe you, Desmada, but you should just cooperate and answer all my questions truthfully".

  He let the command roll out of him in a baritone wave of almost-song, the music carrying the magic of a subtle spell. Desmada's face went slack for a moment as the enchantment sank into her mind. Li glanced at Tycho with an impressed expression. "Will it work?"

  Desmada glanced between them. "Will what work?" she demanded.

  "Never mind." Tycho flicked his fingers at Li, waving him to silence. The magic was potent but also delicate. Desmada would obey his suggestion, but the magic wouldn't stop her from attacking them or simply walking away. He kept on smiling at her. "Please, let me ask you again, Desmada: What do you know about the beljurils that were stolen from me at the guard station?"

  The same slack expression of a moment before rippled across Desmada's face. "Nothing," she said.

  Tycho blinked and glanced at Li. The Shou seemed startled, too. "Nothing?" Tycho asked. "You really know nothing about the stolen gems?"

  "That's what I told you, isn't it?"

  "Do you know of any other guard who would have tampered with my things while I was locked up?"

  "No," Desmada snapped irritably. Tycho sucked on his teeth. It had to be the truth-his spell compelled her. At least, it compelled her to answer with what she thought was the truth.

  "Did you see my things at all?" he asked. "Did you see a tin tube tied with green cord?"

  "Yeah, I saw them. And I saw the tube." She shrugged. "I saw it before I saw you, actually. I didn't even know you'd been arrested until Jacerryl told me."

  Tycho stiffened. "Jacerryl? Jacerryl Dantakain?" Des-mada nodded. "When did you see him?"

  "When he brought your things to the guard station. He said Mard had rushed on ahead with you two under arrest and left him to bring your belongings along afterward."

  Jacerryl.

  Tycho took a deep breath as everything came together in his mind. Unlike Desmada, Jacerryl had known there were beljurils inside the tube. And he'd already passed the tube off, so if the beljurils went missing, it wouldn't be his fault. All the gems had been accounted for when the tube left his possession. He even had the perfect cover in the form of his brother's law-abiding honesty! Tycho could almost hear Jacerryl's voice whispering in his hood-covered ear again: Mard sticks to the law like honey. They'll be safe. Why had he been so close? A second breath turned into a hiss. It had probably been Jacerryl's hands that had taken the tube in the first place!

  The perfect opportunity-all Jacerryl had needed to do was act quickly.

  Tycho squeezed his eyes shut. The white gravel that Brin had shaken out of the tin tube. He'd seen that, too. It filled the pots of evergreen branches in Mard Dantakain's entrance hall, the pots he'd stood beside while Jacerryl gave him the beljurils. He cracked his eyes open again. Desmada was staring at him. "Get out of here," he spat at her. "We're finished."

  "Lunatic. Good luck with Brin-you're going to need it." Desmada slammed her sword back into its sheath and grinned viciously. "Think maybe I'll start up a pool. How long will Tycho last after Brin gets hold of him?"

  She turned and swaggered away. Li turned red and reached out to grab her shoulder, but Tycho stopped him. "She'll tell people that you're in trouble!" the Shou protested.

  "Gossip is probably already flying," Tycho spat. "The magic will fog her mind, though. In a few minutes, Desmada will only barely remember talking to us." He curled his hands into fists and smacked them into his forehead. "Bind me! It was Jacerryl!"

  Li looked at him, puzzled. Tycho shook his head. "I'll explain on the way. Come on-we're going back to hightown." He stomped off along the street, forcing Li to scramble to catch up to him.

  It was like the goddess of fortune had stepped down from on high and kissed him.

  Lander stepped out of his hiding place at the top of the street and watched the pair vanish into the gloom. Unbelievable! After a long while tracking Desmada down, he had been just about to hail her when a call from the other end of the street had drawn her attention. Tycho's voice, but it was the sight of the tall man with him that had made Lander's jaw drop. He had ducked into a doorway and watched as Tycho and Li Chien-alive after all-spoke with Desmada. The bard and the Shou were working together!

  He couldn't be sure what they had said-he was too far away to catch anything other than the occasional word when voices rose-but Tycho was after Brin's beljurils, that much was clear. What Kuang Li Chien was doing with him… He cursed under his breath. The alley off Gold Lane where he had left the Shou lay between the Wench's Ease and the building on Bakers Way where Tycho lived with his doddering old teacher! Tycho must have found Li Chien last night and rescued him.

  What now? Lander bit his lip. They were going somewhere-should he follow them? His hand dropped to the handle of the stolen saber, but he hesitated. Two of them, one of him, and Li Chien fought like a demon. The Shou had managed to get some of his clothes back-Tycho must have guided him to Giras. He had a weapon, too. Lander let go of the saber. It would be safer to catch up with Des-mada and ask her what had happened. Safer, but probably unnecessary. He could talk to her any time.

  Li Chien was the one he wanted. Searching Spandeli-yon for him without any clues to his whereabouts had been like gambling at a crooked table. But knowing he was with Tycho… that changed the game. Lander knew Tycho. He knew the places the bard frequented and where he slept at night. Lander cracked his knuckles and turned back toward the Eel. Brin was finally going to get some good news today.

  There was a knocking on the other side of the door. "Natala?" called Jacerryl sweetly. "Folco tells me you've come to see me." The latch jiggled and rose and the door opened a narrow crack. Light speared the darkness. Jacerryl's head followed, turning from side to side as he looked around. "No lights? What are you up to, my saucy little minx?" He stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. "A little game of wolf and rabbit? Or is it blind man's bluff?" Footsteps and the rustle of clothing being shed. "Give me a hint, darling-hot or cold?"

  "Oh, very cold." Tycho unclenched his fist and let the light of a glowing coin shine out. Jacerryl, doublet off and caught in the act of pulling open his shirt, froze. His mouth dropped open. He stumbled back. Li stepped out from where he had hidden behind the door and gave him a firm push forward. Tycho, perched on the foot of the man's bedstead, smiled down at him. "Olore, Jacerryl. Expecting someone else?"

  "You!" Jacerryl stood straight, trying to act firm and dignified as he hastily began to rebutton his shirt. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

  He shot a glance toward the door. Tycho gestured and Li moved to stand between him and it. "You're not the only one I know in this house, Jacerryl. One of your servants-and I'm not saying which one, so don't ask-owed me a favor." He tossed the glowing coin to Li and shifted his strilling around on its strap, positioning the instrument against his arm. "We need to have a little chat about Brin's beljurils."

  "Why? They were just fine when I gave them to you, weren't they?"

  The response was a little too fast, a little practiced. "Did I say there was something wrong with them?" Tycho set his bow against the strings of the strilling and began to play a soft, droning melody. "What would make you think that there was?"

  "N-nothing," Jacerryl stammere
d. He swallowed and seemed to summon up a bit of courage. "Neither of you are particularly welcome around here," he said. "All I have to do is yell, and Mard will be in here with a squad of guards instantly."

  Tycho kept playing. "Mard isn't home right now. And there is exactly one guard in the house."

  "The servants will come! You might have conned one of them into letting you in-"

  "— and getting you up here," Tycho reminded him.

  "— and tricking me," Jacerryl agreed between gritted teeth, "but one treacherous servant won't be able to help you when you're found assaulting me in my own chambers. You've already been arrested in this house once today!"

  "Stop posturing, Jacerryl." Tycho gathered his concentration, focusing on the music. "Tell me what you did with the beljurils!"

  It was the same spell he had worked on Desmada, backed up this time with the music of the strilling as well as the song of his voice. He focused his will as the magic washed through him, bending the enchantment toward Jacerryl.

  The other man just tensed, his face screwed up. "I won't tell you anything!"

  The carefully woven magic faltered, frayed, and fell apart. Tycho struck a discordant note on his strilling in surprise. Jacerryl cracked open one eye then the other. "Ha! Was that the best you could do? I passed the beljurils on to you and that's all! Now get-"

  With a muted growl, Li reached out, spun him around, and hit him hard with a backhanded blow. Jacerryl swayed once and slipped to the ground.

  Tycho stared at him then glowered at Li. "I know we had a plan worked out this time!" he said in Shou. Li shrugged.

  "He resisted your magic. Were you just going to keep playing until he gave up?" He grunted. "Besides, he was annoying me."

  Tycho sighed. "I guess I should be glad you didn't kill him, then. You've got a temper on you, you know." Li snorted.

  "I have a temper? "

  "J am the essence of calm!" Tycho slid his strilling around to his back, hopped down off the bed, and nodded to a high, well-stuffed chair. "Help me get him up in that."

  Jacerryl moaned and stirred as they heaved him up off the floor and deposited him in the chair. His eyes opened and focused on them. Abruptly he stiffened, sucking in a lungful of air. His mouth opened wide, but Li's hand shot out fast and wrapped around his neck, pinning him to the back of the chair. Jacerryl's shout emerged as a strained gurgle. Li glanced at Tycho. "Maybe we need to try a more physical form of persuasion?" he suggested in Shou.

  Tycho threw up his hands. "Fine. I give up." He leaned forward and met Jacerryl's gaze. "Jacerryl," he said bluntly in Common, "my friend here thinks we should just twist off your head right now."

  Li gave him a look of disgust, but their captive's eyes went wide. He flailed out suddenly, arms and legs lashing at Li. The Shou batted them away and poked him sharply in the abdomen. Jacerryl let out a pained squeak. He stopped struggling. Tycho squatted down to face him. "Don't worry," he said soothingly. "I think I can persuade him to just dislocate your shoulders instead. I might even be able to get him to let you go if you come clean with me on the beljurils. You took them out of the tube and replaced them with gravel after I was arrested. Then you took the tube down to the guard station with my other belongings. Am I right?"

  Jacerryl's eyes rolled. Tycho tapped Li's arm and Li eased the pressure on Jacerryl's throat, letting him draw a shallow breath. "Well?" asked Tycho.

  "Yes," Jacerryl gasped.

  "Wonderful." Tycho stood up. "Why don't you just tell me where they are and we'll be on our way."

  Jacerryl closed his eyes. "I don't have them anymore," he gulped. "I sold them already." Tycho hissed.

  "Who did you sell them to?"

  "The Hooded."

  Tycho yelped sharply and grabbed his head. "No," he groaned. "You didn't." Jacerryl nodded. Tycho slid his hands down his face and looked at Jacerryl over his fingertips. "You idiot." He stepped forward and stomped down hard on Jacerryl's foot. Jacerryl yelped, too, and cringed. "You idiot!"

  Li's other arm came up quickly and pushed him back, holding him at arm's length from Jacerryl. "Tycho! Stop that!" Li snapped. "Who's the Hooded?"

  "One of Brin's rivals, another gang boss of dockside. He's bad. Not as outright nasty as Brin, but still not someone you want to sit down to dinner with." Tycho ran his fingers through his hair and paced around the room. "He's smart, though. He hasn't been in Spandeliyon much longer than Brin, a season at most, but he's coming up strong. Where Brin seized control through sheer ruthlessness, the Hooded is building himself up slowly. Slow and strong, very patient. And mysterious-no one knows who he is."

  Li frowned. "Why not?"

  "He always wears a hood," rasped Jacerryl. Tycho and Li looked back to him, Li almost as if he'd forgotten who was on the other end of his arm. "It's why they call him the Hooded. He wears bulky robes, so the most you can tell about him is that he's a big man. And he only speaks in a murmur and never directly to you, only through an interpreter." He smiled slightly. "Could I breathe a little bit more now, please? "

  "No." Tycho sat down on Jacerryl's bed. Brin and the Hooded. He hadn't thought this could get any worse! "Bind me, Li! I don't want to go up against fa/0 gang bosses!" He glanced up. Li had a distant expression on his face, his mouth narrow in thought. Tycho's heart jumped. "You have an idea. Tell me you have an idea."

  Li blinked and shook his head. "Why should the Hooded hide his identity?" Tycho groaned again.

  "That's not an idea, Li. He probably has a perfectly respectable identity established somewhere else in the community-they say the Lords of Waterdeep wear masks when they're ruling and move among the people unsuspected when they aren't. If you're thinking that we could find out who he really is and force him to cough up the beljurils, don't bother. No one has figured out his identity in two years. We're not likely to do it overnight." He pushed himself up off the bed. "I think the best we can do is to go back to Brin, tell him that the Hooded has his gems now and that this weasel-" He jerked his head at Jacerryl. "-was the one who betrayed him, not me. That might satisfy him."

  "Brin?" Jacerryl shrank back. "Brin knows?"

  "No, I snuck back into Mard Dantakain's house for the fun of it. Yes, Brin knows!" He crossed his arms and stared down at Jacerryl. "I just hope he'll take you instead of me since this was all your-"

  Sudden footsteps in the corridor and an insistent knocking on the bedchamber door interrupted him. "Master Jacerryl! Master Jacerryl!"

  A servant-and not the perfidious chambermaid who had let them in! Tycho flinched. "What is it?" he demanded hastily, trying to imitate Jacerryl's voice. He leaped back to the bed and began bouncing on it vigorously. "Didn't Folco tell you I was busy?" He almost had to shout over the creaking wood.

  The servant didn't go away. "I'm very sorry to bother you, sir, but it's Mistress Laera. She's not in her rooms."

  "Maybe she's stepped out for the evening!"

  "Sir?"

  As he opened his mouth, searching desperately for something to say that would get rid of the servant, Jacerryl moved. Both legs hammered out at Li. The Shou twisted, but one of Jacerryl's boots connected anyway, a solid kick to the groin. Li choked and staggered back, doubled over. Jacerryl was screaming the instant Li's hand left his throat. "Get help, you moron! I'm being attacked! Get help!"

  He thrust himself up out of the chair. Tycho bounced up, jumping between him and the door. Jacerryl just turned the other way and darted for a second door. Li grabbed for him, but he dodged Li's outstretched hand. Growling, Li leaped closer-a heartbeat too late. Jacerryl, still howling for help, slammed the door in his face. Behind Tycho, the door to the corridor burst open and the servant rushed into the room. Tycho spun around, flung up a hand and sang a rough burst of song at him.

  The magic caught the servant, sending him falling back in a daze. The damage had been done, though. Tycho could hear other voices out in the hall, raising the alarm. "Li!" he shouted.

  The Shou wasn't listening. Shoulder leading, he
hurled himself at the door through which Jacerryl had fled. Wood splintered and Li stormed through. Tycho shot a glance at the open door to the hallway, cursed, and went after him.

  The chamber next door was some kind of sitting room with hunting trophies, art, and polished weapons displayed on the walls. Coals smoldered in the fireplace, shedding a thick, red light into the room. There was another door, presumably leading back out to the hallway. Li had Jacerryl down on the floor halfway to it. Jacerryl's screams had turned into broken whimpering as Li bashed his face against the rich carpet that covered the floor. "Enough, Li!" ordered Tycho. They weren't going to get any more out of Jacerryl. "We have to get out!" Li snarled and slapped Jacerryl across the back of his head one last time and jumped to his feet.

  There was a window. Tycho grabbed a chair and swung it. Little panes of glass shattered. Lead bent. He swung the chair again and the window burst out entirely, letting night air swirl into the room. Tycho let the chair drop and leaned out through the wreckage. The lower roof of the library where he had given Laera her lessons sloped about six feet below; the ground was an easy drop from its lower edge. He swung his legs over the sill, ready to jump. "Follow me, Li!"

  No response. He glanced over his shoulder.

  The Shou was frozen, staring at something on the wall.

  "Li!"

  "Li!" Tycho's shout came from a distance.

  Mounted on the wall of Jacerryl's sitting room, a pair of swords shone dully in the dim light. Their blades were short, only about as long as his hand and forearm, but wide. They had been sharpened only on one side, the edge curving up at the end to meet the back of the blade. Heavy guards also curved around leather-wrapped grips and extended up beside the back of the blade, a trap to catch and hold an opponent's weapon.

  Delicately etched at the base of each blade was a single Shou character.

  Li reached up and wrenched the swords off the wall. He whirled to stare at a cringing Jacerryl. "Where did you get these?"