Free Honor Among Thieves by Elaine Cunningham

switch
the daggers, and they’d be back on Sevrin’s main island before the
taverns opened.
    “The mercury solution is also effective in early
stages of the pox,” Avidan said. “Naturally, it must be applied
directly to the site of initial contact.”
    This image effectively dispelled Fox’s optimistic
daydream. “That’s more information than I need.”
    “I have heard, however, that some women find the
bright orange color a bit off-putting.”
    “To say nothing of the pox,” Fox muttered.
    “Of course, you’ll need a larger codpiece to
accommodate the bandages.”
    “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”
    Avidan lifted the bowl. “Are you sure? I have
extra.”
    The thief sighed. “Let’s just get this done.”
    The alchemist dipped a cloth into the bowl and
clucked like a brooding hen as he dabbed rust-colored solution onto
Fox’s forehead.
    “What did you do to anger her?”
    “Who?”
    “The fairy, of course.”
    Fox’s laughter was cut short by a stab of pain from
his split lip. He winced and prodded at it with one finger.
    “Vishni didn’t do this.”
    “If you say so.”
    He opened his mouth to protest, but realized the
alchemist was probably more right than wrong.
    “I will go alone to meet with Vishni and the
alchemist whose place I am to take,” Avidan said.
    The combined weight of everything that could go wrong
with that plan hit Fox like a fist to the gut. “That’s not
necessary.”
    Avidan reached for a polished metal tray and held it
in front of Fox’s face. The thief grimaced at the reflected
image.
    “It’s necessary,” Avidan said. “You cannot walk into
a fest hall looking as you do. Since there is no crime in Sevrin,
people might wonder how you found yourself on the wrong side of a
brawl. You can stay with Delgar and help our new friend return to
his lodgings.”
    Fox accepted this with a nod. Playing the role of a
charming courtesan should offer Vishni enough diversion to keep her
attention from straying. And if it did not, they had a reliable
escape route in place.
    “Just so you know, I’m not letting you walk into
Muldonny’s alone.”
    “I will make unguents to darken your skin and hide
most of the damage to your face. In the meanwhile, this will
help.”
    Avidan reached into a metal box and removed a cube of
raw meat. A droplet of blood splashed onto the alchemist’s
worktable.
    Fox leaned away from the offered tidbit. “No
thanks.”
    “Are you sure? Vishni stole this from the butcher on
Redcloak Street. He has an ice house. It’s good and cold.”
    “I’ve already eaten.”
    The alchemist’s lip curled in disgust. “You’re not
supposed to eat it. You’re supposed to put it on your black eye.
The cold will bring down the swelling.”
    “Why didn’t she just steal some ice? Wouldn’t that
work as well?”
    “Better,” Avidan said. “But there is very little food
value in ice.”
    Fox started to respond, decided it wasn’t worth it,
and hopped off the table. He took the cube of raw steak and pressed
it to his swollen eye as he left for saner regions. The remedy
might be disgusting, but he found it surprisingly soothing.
    The gathering room with its ever-shifting mirror was
empty. Fox slumped into a chair and stared at an image of pale sand
curling around an inlet of bright turquoise sea.
    Since he was alone, he had no need to temper his
fascination with the mirror. He devoured images of woodland
waterfalls, distant cities glimpsed from mountaintops, painted
deserts. His favorite scene showed him a single wolf silhouetted
against a rising moon, muzzle lifted in song.
    There had been no wolves on the islands of Sevrin for
a hundred generations. No one who lived in Sevrin could hope to see
a wolf.
    No one who lived in Sevrin could hope to see many
things.
    Fox’s sigh came from the depths of his soul. None of
his friends, not even Delgar, knew of his longing for distant
places. But his work was here. So was his mother, even if she no
longer