The Book of Taltos Read Free Page A

For example, when anyone else would be angry, he never seems to be; he usually just appears disgusted.
    The face that was framed in the V of my boots looked disgusted. He said, “You’re right. You don’t have to take anyone with you. What interest could a Dragonlord possibly have in hurting a poor, innocent Jhereg, just because he’s an Easterner? Or should I say, a poor, innocent Easterner, just because he’s a Jhereg? Come on, Vlad, wake up. You have to have protection. And I’m your best bet for avoiding trouble.”
    Loiosh, who had been swooping down on stray lint, landed on my right shoulder and said,
“Just point out that I’ll be there, boss. That should keep him from worrying.”
    “You think so? What if it doesn’t?”
    “I’ll bite his nose off.”
    I said aloud, “Kragar, I could bring every enforcer who works for me, andit wouldn’t make any difference at all if Morrolan decides to shine me. And this is a social call. If I show up with protection—”
    “That’s why I think I should come. He’ll never notice I’m there.”
    “No,” I said. “He’s permitted me to visit. He said nothing about bringing a shadow. If he did notice you—”
    “He’d understand that it’s policy in the Jhereg. He must know something about how we operate.”
    “I repeat: no.”
    “But—”
    “Subject closed, Kragar.”
    He closed his eyes and emitted a sigh that hung in the air like an athyra’s mating call. He opened his eyes again. “Okay. You want Narvane to do the teleport, right?”
    “Yeah. Can he handle the coordinates?”
    “Morrolan said one of his people would put them straight into the mind of whoever we want to do the spell.”
    I blinked. “How can he do that? How can one of his people achieve that close a psionic link with someone he doesn’t know?”
    Kragar yawned. “Magic,” he said.
    “What
kind
of magic, Kragar?”
    He shrugged. “How should I know?”
    “Sounds like witchcraft, boss.”
    “That’s exactly what I was thinking, Loiosh.”
    “You think he might be employing a witch?”
    “Remember, he spent a lot of time out East, during the Interregnum?”
    “Yeah. That’s right.”
    I flexed my fingers. “In any case,” I said, “I do want Narvane to do the teleport. I’ll want him here tomorrow an hour ahead of time.”
    Kragar nodded and looked bored, which meant he was unhappy. Loiosh was going to be unhappy, too, pretty soon.
    Them’s the breaks.

2
     
    I began laying out what I would need for the spell. I concentrated only on my goal and tried not to think about how silly it was to arrange tools, objects, and artifacts before I had any idea how I intended to use any of them. I let my hands pull from the pack various and sundry items and arrange them as they would.
    I couldn’t know what I’d need, because the spell I was about to attempt had never been performed before; didn’t even exist—except that I had to do it now.

    I ARRIVED AT THE office too early the next day. I’m good at waiting patiently when I have to, but I don’t like it. It would be hours before I was due at Castle Black, and there was nothing at the office that required my attention. I puttered around for a while, pretending to be busy, then said, “Screw it,” and walked out.
    The orange-red sky was low today, mixed with grey, threatening rain, and the wind was in from the sea. I walked, or actually strolled, through my area. These few blocks of Adrilankha were mine, and a certain satisfaction camewith that knowledge. I stopped in to see a guy named Nielar, my first boss and then one of my first employees.
    I said, “What’s new?”
    He gave me kind of a warm smile and said, “Business as usual, Vlad.”
    I never know how to take Nielar. I mean, he could have had the position I hold if he’d been willing to fight a bit, but he decided he’d rather stay small and healthy. I can respect that, I guess, but, well, I’d respect him more if he’d decided to take the chance. What the