Free Tiassa by Steven Brust

grab some food after I do that?”
    “Why not? Nothing else to do. You paying, what with all the bonuses I just gave you?”
    “Keep dreaming, Vlad.”
    I didn’t see Cawti that night; she was spending time with her ex-partner, Norathar, who—no, skip it, it’s too long a story. So without her there, I passed a bitter night alone with my guilt for all the evil I’ve done. Okay, not really; I had two glasses of Fenarian brandy (because Dragaeran brandy tastes like the stuff you use to clean the klava press), read a chapter of Devin’s Trial of the Bell Ringer , and went to sleep. But I did miss her.
    I got to the office very early the next day, but Omlo was there before I’d finished my second cup of klava. I had extra klava brought in for him.
    “Run through it all,” I told him. “Just words. Talk it.”
    He nodded, sipped his klava, and spoke in a slow, measured stream. When he was finished, I said, “Good. That’s good. You have it.”
    He bobbed his head.
    I had some more klava and said, “You want to make some extra money?”
    He looked suspicious; it was like he was getting to know me or something.
    I said, “I’ll lay it out for you. You don’t have to do this, but if you decide to, we have to go over it fast, because you need to be solid with it before the rest of the crew shows up.”
    “Is it dangerous, my lord?”
    I took a moment to decide how to answer; but as the Shereba players say, if you’re going to hesitate that long, pass. “Yes,” I said.
    “How dangerous?”
    “I don’t know yet.”
    “M’lord, may I wait until you know before deciding?”
    I chuckled. “That’s only fair, I suppose. The trouble is, we don’t have that kind of time. Foxy and Ibronka will be here in a couple of hours, and if you’re going to do this, you need to be solid on it by then. I don’t think the heat will go to you, and if it does, I think I can protect you. But I can’t promise. Tiassa are almost as unpredictable as Tsalmoth, and Dzur are as bad-tempered as Dragons. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, m’lord.”
    “So take all the time you need to decide, up to five minutes. The job pays one hundred imperials.”
    His eyes widened at the amount, but greed did not instantly overcome him, the way it would have a Jhereg, or an Orca. He sat and thought about it. After about four minutes, he nodded.
    “Good,” I said. “Now, let me run it down.”
    When he had it, I still had a little time, so I had him wait while I spoke to Kragar about the rest of it. He listened quietly as he always does. When I’d finished, he didn’t say anything. After a bit, I said, “Well?”
    “I’m just trying to remember if I’ve ever heard of anything stupider. I think I have. I’m pretty sure I have. I just want to see if I can—”
    “Okay, okay. What would you suggest instead?”
    “You want me to—”
    “Cut it out. Come up with a better suggestion, help me fill the holes in this one, or at least tell me what they are, all right?”
    “I didn’t mean to say you shouldn’t do it, just that it’s stupid.”
    “Not as stupid as getting married to the girl who killed you.”
    “Well, yeah, that would be … wait. Are you serious? You mean that girl who—”
    “Yeah.”
    “You want to marry her?”
    “She asked me. I said yes.”
    “Vlad, have you lost it completely?”
    “Pretty much.”
    He was quiet for a long two minutes. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Uh, congratulations, I guess.”
    “Thanks, I think.”
    “Feel like telling me about it?”
    “Not really. I’d rather we go back to talking about the other stupid idea. You’re saying we should go with it?”
    It took him a moment to recall what we’d been talking about, but then he said, “I can’t come up with anything better.”
    “All right, then.”
    “Who do you want me to grab for this?”
    “We’ll need a sorcerer who specializes in light extraction from candlebud, a smith who can fabricate a four-foot