The price of victory- - Thieves World 13

AFTERMATH Copyright © 1987 by Robert Lynn Aspnn and Lynn Abbey

Dramatis Personae copynght © 1987 by Face of Chaos, Inc

Introduction copynght © 1987 by Robert Lynn Aspnn

"Cade" copyright © 1987 by Mark C Perry

"Wake of the Riddler" copyright © 1987 by Paradise

"Inheritor" copynght © 1987 by David A Drake

"Mercy Worse Than None" copyright © 1987 by Brunner Fact and Fiction Limited

"Seeing is Believing (But Love is Blind)" copyright © 1987 by Face of Chaos, Inc

"Homecoming" copyright © 1987 by Andrew J Orfiilt

UNEASY ALLIANCES Copyright © 1988 by Robert Lynn Aspnn and Lynn Abbey

Dramatis Personae copyright © 1988 by Face of Chaos, Inc Introduction copyright © 1988 by Face of Chaos, Inc

"Slave Trade" copyright © 1988 by Robert Lynn Aspnn

"The Best of Fnends" copynght © 1988 by C J Cherryh

"The Power of Kings" copynght © 1988 by Jon DeCles
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"Red Light, Love Light" copyright © 1988 by Paradise, Inc

"A Sticky Business" copyright © 1988 by C S Williams

"The Promise of Heaven" copynght © 1988 by Robin W Bailey

"The Vision of Lalo" copyright © 1988 by Diana L Paxson

STEALERS' SKY Copyright © 1989 by Robert Lynn Aspnn and Lynn Abbey

Dramatis Personae copynght © 1989 by Face of Chaos, Inc

Introduction copyright © 1989 by Robert Lynn Aspnn

"Night Work" copyright © 1989 by Andrew J Offutt

"The Incompetent Audience" copynght © 1989 by Jon DeCles

"Our Vintage Years" copyright © 1989 by Duane McGowen

"Quicksilver Dreams" copynght © 1989 by Diana L Paxson

"Winds of Fortune" copynght © 1989 by C J Cherryh

"The Fire in a God's Eye" copyright © 1989 by Robin W Bailey

"Web Weavers" copynght © 1989 by Face of Chaos, Inc

"To Begin Again" copynght © 1989 by Robert Lynn Aspnn
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All rights reserved

"THIEVES' WORLD" and "SANCTUARY" are trademarks belonging to Robert Lynn Aspnn and Lynn Abbey

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission For information, address the Berkley Publishing Group

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

Endpaper maps by James R Odbert

Published by arrangement with

The Berkley Publishing Group

200 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10016

Printed in the United States of America

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207

STEALERS' SKY

385

Quality Printing and Binding by

R R Donnelley & Sons Company

1009 Stoan Street

Crawfordsville, IN 47933 USA

Dramatis Personae, Lynn Abbey ..................... 5

Introduction, Robert Lynn Asprin .................... 11

Cade, Mark C. Perry ............................ 14

Wake of the Riddler, Janet Morris .................... 49

Inheritor, David Drake ........................... 79

A Mercy Worse Than None, John Brunner .............. 131

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Seeing Is Believing (But Love Is Blind),

Lynn Abbey ................................. 153

Homecoming, Andrew Ojfutt ....................... 177

Dramatis Personae

The Townspeople

AHDIOVIZUN; AHDIOMERVIZ; AHDIO—Proprietor ofSly's Place, a legend ary dive within the Maze.

AYE-GOPHLAN—Captain of the palace guard before the arrival of Prince Kadakithis. Now he is one of three men charged with keeping the peace in Sanctuary.

LALO THE LIMNER—Street artist gifted with magic he does not fully un derstand.

GILLA—His indomitable wife.

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GANNER—Their middle son, slain during the False Plague riots of the previous winter which signaled the end of severe civil unrest in Sanctuary.

VANDA—Their daughter, employed as nursemaid to the Beysib at the palace.

HAKIEM—Storyteller and confidant extraordinaire.

HORT—Son of a fisherman and now Hakiem's sometime apprentice.

6 AFTERMATH

JUBAL—Prematurely aged former gladiator. Once he openly ran Sanc tuary's most visible criminal organization, the hawkmasks; now he works behind the scenes.

MASHA ZIL-INEEL—Midwife whose involvement in the destruction of the Purple Mage enabled her to move from the Maze to respectability up town.

MELILOT—Owner of a scriptorium where letters can be written or trans lated.

MRADHON vis—Nisibisi adventurer and sometime spy. He has betrayed almost everyone and been betrayed in return, but he is a consummate

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survivor.

MYRTIS—Madam of the Aphrodisia House.

SHAFRALAIN—Sanctuary nobleman who can trace his lineage and his money back to the days ofllsig's glory.

ESARIA—His nubile daughter.

EXPIMILIA—His wife.

CUSHARLAIN—His cousin. A customs inspector and investigator.

SNAPPER JO—A friend who survived the destruction of magic in Sanctu ary. Now employed as a bartender in the Vulgar Unicorn.

ZIP—Bitter young terrorist. Leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Sanctuary (PFLS). Now he and his remaining fighters have been designated as officials responsible for peace in the city.

The S*danzo

ILLYRA—Half-blood S'danzo seeress with True Sight. Wounded by PFLS

in the False Plague Riots.

DUBRO—Bazaar blacksmith and husband to Illyra.

ARTON—Their son, marked by the gods as part of the emerging
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diety known as the Stormchildren. He was sent to the Bandaran

Islands for his education and safety—and to remove him from

Sanctuary.

LILLIS—Their daughter, slain in the False Plague riots. TREVYA—A newborn orphan girl placed in their care by Walegrin.

MOONFLOWER—S'danzo seeress of remarkable obesity who was slain by Beysib guards who had mistakenly attacked her husband.

THE TERMAGANT—Oldest of the S'danzo women practicing her craft in Sanctuary.

The Magicians

ENAS YORL—Quasi-immortal mage cursed with eternal life and a con stantly changing physical form.

ISCHADE—Necromancer and thief. Her curse is passed to her lovers who die from it. Her rivalry with Roxane drew her into the murky realm of Sanctuary's politics from which she has yet to extricate herself.

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ROXANE; DEATH'S QUEEN—Nisibisi witch. Nearly destroyed when Storm bringer purged magic from Sanctuary, she is trapped inside a warded house and a dead man's body.

HAUGHT—One-time apprentice oflschade who betrayed her and is

now trapped with Roxane.

TASFALEN—The dissolute Rankan nobleman, one oflschade's lov ers, whose body has become Roxane's prison.

STRICK; TORAZELAN STRICK TIFIRAQA— White Mage who has made Sanctuary his home. He will help anyone who comes to him, but there is always a Price, sometimes trivial and sometimes not, for his aid.

AVENESTRA; AVNEH—Once a preteen prealcoholic barfly at Sly's

Place. Now Strick's very young receptionist with a sweet tooth. FRAX—Former palace guardsman, now Strick's fiercely loyal

guard.

WINTSENAY; WINTS—A down-and-out young Ilsig whose life has improved immeasurably since he began working for Strick.

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Visitors in Sanctuary

JARVEENA—A woman, once Melilot's apprentice, who. with Enas Tori's help, unveiled a plot to assassinate Prince Kadakithis shortly after his arrival in Sanctuary. In the intervening years she has been employed as Melilot's trading agent, and her many hideous scars have been slowly

fading.

SAMLOR HIL SAMT, Trader from the north. His sister died in Sanctuary and his business sometimes brings him back to the city.

STAR—His seven-year-old niece. A single lock of white grows amid her black hair. The Beysibs claim this is the mark of the favor of their gods and the child does seem to have some strange abilities.

The Rankans Living in Sanctuary

CHENAYA; DAUGHTER OF THE SUN—^ beautiful and powerful young woman who is fated never to lose a fight. She is the prince's cousin and is working to raise an army of gladiators which will place him on the

imperial throne.

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PRINCE KADAKITHIS—Charismatic but somewhat naive half-brother of the assassinated emperor, Abakithis.

KAMA; JES—Tempus's daughter. 3rd Commando assassin. Sometime lover of Critias. Zip, and Molin Torchholder.

MOLIN TORCHHOLDER; TORCH—Archpriest of Sanctuary's wargod (whichever deity that is at the moment). Architect for the rebuilt walls of Sanctuary. Supreme bureaucratic administrator of the city.

RANKAN 3RD COMMANDO—Mercenary company founded by

Tempus Thales and noted for its brutal efficiency. GAYLE—A member of that company.

STEPSONS; SACRED BANDERS—Members of a mercenary unit loyal to Tempus. Their years in Sanctuary have been among the worst in their history and they are eager to leave for anywhere else.

CRITIAS; CRIT—Longtime mercenary in the company. An intelli gence gatherer and assistant to Tempus. Also the partner of Straton, though that pairing has been in disarray for some time now.

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STRATON; STRAT; ACE—Partner of Critias. Injured by the PELS at the start of the False Plague riots. He has been Ischade's lover and though her curse has not killed him, most of his former associates count him among Sanctuary's damned.

TEMPUS THALES; THE RIDDLER—Nearly immortal mercenary, a partner of Vashanka before that god's demise; commander of the Stepsons;

cursed with a fatal inability to give or receive love.

WALEGRIN—Rankan army officer assigned to the Sanctuary garrison where his father had been slain by the S'danzo many years before. He is now one of three officers responsible for the peace in Sanctuary. He is also Illyra's half-brother.

The Beysib

SHUPANSEA; SHU-SEA—Head of the Beysib exiles in Sanctuary; mortal avatar of the Beysib mother goddess. Lover of Prince Kadakithis whom she wishes to marry.

CHABOSTU; CHA-BOS—A daughter born before Shupansea was driven into exile.

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Robert Lynn Asprin

Military units have never been noted for their punctuality, and the Stepsons were no exception. Even though their departure was originally planned for shortly after dawn, it was nearly noon before the first pair actually swung aboard their horses and headed off amid waves and good natured catcalls from their comrades. This was not a regular army unit, but a free company of mercenaries, so the formations and columns one might expect in a troop relocation were nowhere in evidence. Rather, the men set out on their journey in pairs or small groups as they were ready, with no thought to waiting for the others. Indeed, it was doubtful they would even all take the same route to their new posting. However disor ganized or leisurely their departure might be though, one thing was clear. The Stepsons were leaving Sanctuary.

Relatively few townspeople had gathered to witness their passing, but the first pair waved at them anyway as they set off. No one returned their salutation.

Of the watchers, two men were notable if only from the diversity of the pair. One was old, his hair more silver-white than gray, while the other was a youth barely out of his teens. The younger was dressed in the humble garb of the town's lower class, while the elder man's finery marked him as one who moved in richer, perhaps even royal, circles,
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