Silver Shadows by Elaine Cunningham Read Free Book Online Page B

baker wished to avenge an insult dealt to his pastry; a harem girl was willing to pay in trade for the death of a self-avowed and apparently spurious eunuch; a wealthy collector wanted a piece of stolen property retrieved from the treasure house of a rival.
    “Scant pickings tonight,” observed a whispery voice at Arilyn’s elbow.
    The Harper turned to regard the only other female in the assassins’ guild—an exotic beauty who went by the name of Ferret. To Arilyn’s way of thinking, the assassin
    42

The Harpers
    resembled her namesake. The woman was whip-thin and sharp-featured, with black eyes that seemed not quite human, and a long slender nose that lacked only whiskers and a twitch. Remorseless, relentless, she was ferretlike in character as well.
    To everyone in the guildhouse, the Ferret was a bit of a mystery. She was never seen without heavy makeup, a tightly wound turban, and gloves. Nor was she ever heard to speak above a whisper. Rumor had it that she’d been disfigured in some accident, but apart from these idiosyncracies there were no apparent flaws in her beauty, which she flaunted by dressing in scant silk garments so tight they appeared to have been painted onto her lithe form. Tonight she wore a gown patterned in jewel-like colors that echoed the resplendent plumage of a peacock. Earrings made from the eyes of a peacock’s tail feathers dangled from her earlobes, the only part of her ears that were visible beneath her cobalt-blue turban.
    The Ferret folded her arms and leaned indolently against the doorjamb. “So which job strikes your fancy? The baker, the whore, or the thief?”
    “Not the baker,” Arilyn said with a grim smile. Tve tasted his baking. No one should die for insulting it. I say long life to the critic, and may he do better elsewhere.”
    “Ah, yes,” Ferret sneered. “The gods forbid you should take the life of an innocent man! By all means, take the second job—watching a harem girl at work could do you nothing but good.”
    The Harper shrugged off the insult. It was not the first time Ferret had mocked Arilyn’s esthetics of solitude and chastity. In fact, the assassin’s favorite taunt for her half-elven colleague was “half-woman,” spoken with scathing innuendo.
    Ferret, by all reports, had no such scruples. The woman was said to be omnivorous, with an appetite and skills that astonished even those wealthy and jaded

Silver Shadows
    43
    Zazesspuran noblemen who sought to imitate the pasha by keeping extensive and exotic harems.
    Ferret was also very, very good with a blade. Arilyn had wondered more than once why the Ferret had never challenged her. Of all the assassins in the guild, Arilyn thought Ferret the one most likely to successfully relieve her of her Shadow Sash. But the black-eyed woman seemed content with her rank, preferring to spend her time and energy on fee-paying assignments.
    And speaking of fees, Arilyn noted that the collector was paying very well for the return of his stolen property. Her expenses had been high of late, so she ripped the third posting from the door. Ferret let out a gasp of mock astonishment. Removing a choice assignment before other assassins had a chance to bid for it was considered a severe breach of guild etiquette.
    The only people here are you and I,” Arilyn pointed out, brandishing the paper under Ferret’s long nose. “Do you want this?”
    “It’s a job for two, and the fee is certainly high enough to pay for both,” the woman observed coldly, “but you’re welcome to it all the same. Fd sooner take payment in the coin of the harem than partner myself to a half-elf!”
    Arilyn bunked, surprised by the venom in the woman’s voice. There were quite a few half-elves in Tethyr, and for the most part they were treated well. Animosity that burned this bright was unusual.
    “Suit yourself,” the Harper said as she turned to leave. She had little energy to spare the woman’s prejudices, for there was much to be done: