Free City of the Dead by Rosemary Jones

And, besides, I don’t know that it was a ghost.”
    “Oh it has to be a ghost,” replied Gustin, walking beside her to the gate. “Everyone visits the City of the Dead to see the ghosts, hunt for treasure in the tombs, and marvel at the monuments.”
    “Hunt for treasure! Where did you get such an odd idea?”
    “It isn’t true?” Gustin reached into his tunic and withdrew a small battered book. “I’m sure it says something in here about treasure in tombs…”
    “Anyone caught looting in the graveyard would be severely punished by the City Watch,’” Sophraea said firmly.
    “But if they weren’t caught?”
    Alarmed by this line of questions, Sophraea’ stopped in the middle of the walk, ignoring the’exclamation of a fat dwarf who nearly trod on her heels. The dwarf sidestepped into the gutter and splashed past them. Sophraea shook her head severely at Gustin. “Don’t even think about stealing from a tomb. There are other guardians besides the Watch!”
    Gustin shrugged and then grinned at her. “I never liked stealing. It too often proves less rewarding than you’d think. Every time you take something, odds are that you’ll end up cursed, pursued, or just plain unlucky.”
    “I thought you were a wizard, not a thief,” said Sophraea, wondering if she should go strolling through the City of the Dead with this outrageous young man.
    “Absolutely, I’m a wizard. But magic is not the most lucrative of careers, at least not for me. I like to eat every day, several times a day if I can,” said the tall and very thin Gustin Bone.
    “So you tell lies about stone statues?”
    “I give people an entertaining story and if they choose to give me
    coin in return, I’m happy to have it. Nobody is hurt by the exchange and I can pay for my meals.’*
    A true child of Waterdeep, Sophraea couldn’t argue too much with Gustin’s desire for gold in his purse. Fortunes rose and fell all around them, as certain as the waves in the harbor, and many in Waterdeep did not hesitate to do real harm to others in their pursuit of wealth. In comparison, Gustin Bone’s threat to the citizens’ purses was rather mild.
    The usual winter drizzle limited the number of people wanting to explore the pathways inside the City of the Dead. Even the members of the Watch on guard had retreated as far under the wall’s overhang as they could and still remain at their posts. All of them were well-wrapped in their cloaks against the cold.
    “There are better places to take your girl,” said the tallest one with a wink at Gustin.
    “Drier,” mumbled the shorter fellow trying to huddle deeper into his cloak. ŚŚ
    “I wouldn’t give much for a man who took me walking in such a gloomy place,” added the woman, who looked at Sophraea with sympathy.
    With an indignant sputter, Sophraea started to explain that she wasn’t out walking with the wizard, at least not in the romantic sense of the word. Gustin just tucked her arm through his, smiled sweetly at all three Watch members, and said, “Well, I thought about a stroll through the Sea Ward, but you know the ladies. Some of them find monuments quite moving.”
    “I never said any such…” But Gustin dragged her quickly away from the Watch.
    “Do you want them trailing after us?”
    “No, of course not.”
    “Then smile at them all and come along.”
    After a turn in the path hid them from the Watch, Sophraea
    reclaimed her hand. Tucking it firmly through the handle of her shopping basket, she said, “We need to go north. I saw the light first there. Somewhere near the old noble tombs.” “Old nobles?”
    “The families who were buried inside the walls. Only the oldest nobility kept their monuments on the grounds. The rest were moved long ago, and anyone who dies now, unless they belong to one of the old noble families, is buried in the newer sites.”
    “I thought there was only one graveyard, in Waterdeep.”
    “Within the walls, yes. But we use the portals to go to