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The Cutlass grew busier as the night wore on Merchant sailors crowded in from their ships and the locals were quick into position to feed upon thear remained at the side table, the barbarian wide-eyed with curiosity at the sights around hiis recognized trouble in the for woard appearance all too fa in every place that a lady’s gown should not be, hid all her physical flaws behind a barrage of suggestions The look on Wulfgar’s face, his chin nearly level with the table, Regis thought, confircoar looked at Regis and nearly laughed out loud in disbelief and embarrassment

"You are not from Luskan," the woman went on "Nor do you bear the appearance of any merchants now docked in port Where are you froar stais hadn’t seen such boldness in a woman since his years in Calimport, and he felt that he should intervene There was so wicked about such women, a perversion of pleasure that was too extraordinary Forbidden fruit is suddenly found hiar would be no match for the wiles of this creature

"We are poor travelers," Regis explained, e the "poor" in an effort to protect his friend "Not a coin left, but with ar looked curiously at his co the ar once again and sis, "Not a coin?"

Regis shrugged helplessly

"A pity it is," the woar’s face blushed a deep red as he began to co stirred in Regis, as well A longing for the old days, running in Calith to resist As the worabbed her elbow "Not a coin," he explained to her inquiring face, "but this" He pulled the ruby pendant out fro at the end of its chain The sparkles caught the woemstone sucked her into its hypnotic entranceain, this ti the depths of the wondrous, spinning ruby

Only confusion prevented Wulfgar frohts and e theht the barbarian’s look, but shrugged it aith his typical penchant for disuilt Let the morrow’s dawn expose his ploy for what it was; the conclusion did not diht bears a chill wind," he said to the woman

She put a hand on his arm "We’ll find you a war’s sar had to catch hiained his co to insult Whisper, or to let her know that his surprise in finding a woe over hih, and her s inforerous as Luskan’s docksidewith murderers and thieves, and even within the structure of an intricate support network it was a job that deht Whisper’s services could hide their obvious surprise at finding a young and alluring wo such a trade

Bruenor’s respect for the inforh, despite his surprise, for the reputation Whisper had earned had come to him across hundreds of miles She was still alive, and that fact alone told the dwarf that she was formidable

Drizzt was considerably less taken aback by the discovery In the dark cities of the drow elves, feher stations than males, and were often e Whisper carried over male clients who tended to underestierous northland

Anxious to get this business finished and get back on the road, the dwarf ca a et it"

"I possess many maps," the woman replied coolly

"One of the north," Bruenor explained "Fro the places in the ways o’ what races live there!"

Whisper nodded "The price shall be high, good dwarf," she said, her eyes glinting at the erowled, never pleased to be relieved of money

Whisper eh stones She nodded as she slipped them back into the pouch, aware of their considerable value

"Hold!" Bruenor squawked as she began to tie the pouch to her belt "Ye’ll be taking none o’thesmile "Wait here I shall return in a short while with the map you desire" She tossed the pouch back to Bruenor and spun about suddenly, her cloak snapping up and carrying a gust of the fog with it In the flurry, there caone

Bruenor jurabbed at his axe handle "What sorcerous treachery is this?" he cried

Drizzt, unihty dwarf," he said "Aand the flash" He pointed toward a small pile of boards "Into that sewer drain"

Bruenor followed the line of the drow’s arm and relaxed The lip of an open hole was barely visible, its grate leaning against the warehouse wall a few feet farther down the alley

"Ye know these kind better than meself, elf," the dwarf stated, flustered at his lack of experience in handling the rogues of a city street "Does she ain fair, or do we sit here, set up for her thievin’ dogs to plunder?"

"No to both," answered Drizzt "Whisper would not be alive if she collared clients for thieves But I would hardly expect any arrangeain"

Bruenor took note that Drizzt had slipped one of his scimitars free of its sheath as he spoke "Not a trap, eh?" the dwarf asked again, indicating the readied weapon

"By her people, no," Drizzt replied "But the shadows conceal ar’s had fallen upon the halfling and the woreat sport in tors were ae, overstuffed ht the foa do of i everybody around hi if the flow of ale slowed in the least

All of the athered around him at the bar, men who knew hiree him up on a pedestal of compliments to dispel their own fears of hio needed further sport, a new victiaze floated around the perie, but obviously young friend The spectacle of a halfling wooing the highest priced lady at the Cutlass presented an opportunity too tenore

"Here now, pretty lady," he slobbered, ale spouting with every word "Think the likes of a half-a-ht for ye?" The crowd around the bar, anxious to keep in the fat hter

The woman had dealt with this man before and she had seen others fall painfully before him She tossed him a concerned look, but reis, though, i his attention to where he suspected the trouble in - to the other side of the table and Wulfgar

He found his worries justified The proud barbarian’s knuckles whitened fro look in his eye told Regis that he was on the verge of exploding

"Let the taunts pass!" Regis insisted "This is not worth a lare never releasing his adversary He could brush away the fat is and the woar understood the h exploitation of his less-able friends, Wulfgar was being challenged by the bully Howslob? he wondered Perhaps it was ti sorotesque bully came a few steps closer

"There, is aside

Regis took a quick inventory of the tavern’s patrons Surely there were ainst the fat man and his obnoxious cronies There was even a h respect in every section of Luskan

Regis interrupted his scan for a moment and looked at the soldier How out of place the -infested spittoon like the Cutlass More curious still, Regis knew the nized Drizzt and had arranged for them to pass into the city just a couple of hours earlier

The fat is didn’t have tie blob stared down at hih his veins, as it always did in this type of on-the-edge confrontation that had marked his days in Cali a way to run away

But his confidence dissipated when he reis would be quick to say, "less wise!" Wulfgar would not let the challenge go unanswered One spring of his long legs easily carried him over the table and placed hiis He returned the fat lanced to his friends at the bar, fully aware that his proud young opponent’s distorted sense of honor would prevent a first strike "Well, look ye here," he laughed, his lips turned back in drooling anticipation, "see to say"

He started slowly to turn back on Wulfgar, then lunged suddenly for the barbarian’s throat, expecting that his change in teh he was inexperienced in the ways of taverns, Wulfgar understood battle He had trained with Drizzt Do’Urden, an ever-alert warrior, and had toned his e Before the fat ar had snapped one of his own huge paws over his opponent’s face and had driven the other into the fatinto the air

For a moment, onlookers were too ais, who slapped a hand across his own disbelieving face and inconspicuously slid under the table

The fat ht hiher, to the full extension of his are, the fat ar watched patiently for the first ainst hi his calhtest concentration, threetheir horrified expressions just before the waves of blubber rolled over the them backward Then their combined momentum smashed an entire section of the bar fro the unfortunate innkeeper away and sending hiar’s amusement was short-lived, for other ruffians were quickly upon hi his heels in where he was, deterreat fists, swatting his ene into the far corners of the roo erupted all around the tavern Men who could not have been spurred to action if aupon each other with unbridled rage at the horrifying sight of spilled booze and a broken bar

Few of the fat h They rolled in on Wulfgar, wave after wave He held his ground well, for none could delay hiet in Still, the barbarian was being hit as often as he was connecting with his own blows He took the punches stoically, blocking out the pain through sheer pride and his fighting tenacity that simply would not allow hiis watched the action and sipped his drink Even the bar around on so their nails to etch intricate designs into the is soon discerned that the only other person in the tavern asn’t in the fight, other than those ere already unconscious, was Jierdan The soldier sat quietly in his chair, unconcerned with the brawling beside hi Wulfgar’s prowess

This, too, disturbed the halfling, but once again he found that he didn’t have tiis had known froiant friend out of this, and now his alert eyes had caught the expected flash of steel A rogue in the line directly behind Wulfgar’s latest opponents had drawn a blade

"Da his mace from a fold in his cloak Such business always left a foul taste in hisa path for the ed forward, his eyes up and staring into those of the tall barbarian He didn’t even notice Regis dart out fros, the little mace poised to strike It sla the kneecap, and sent hiar side-stepped the lunge at the last moment and clasped his hand over the hand of his assailant Rolling with the momentum, the barbarian knocked aside the table and slammed into the wall One squeeze crushed the assailant’s fingers on the knife hilt, while at the saulfed the round Crying out to Teed at the appearance of a weapon, slah the wooden planks of the wall and left hi, his feet fully a foot froar time When he turned back toward the bar, he was buried under a flurry of fists and kicks from several attackers

"Here she comes," Bruenor whispered to Drizzt when he saw Whisper returning, though the drow’s heightened senses had told hi before the dare of it Whisper had only been gone a half-hour or so, but it seeerously open to the sights of the crossbows they kneere nearby

Whisper sauntered confidently up to the up a rolled parch forward

The woman recoiled and dropped the parchher," she stated flatly "Ten tierous glare did not deter her "No choice is left to you," she hissed "You shall find no other who can deliver this unto you Pay the price and be done with it!"

"A moment," Bruenor said with sudden calm "Me friend has a say in this" He and Drizzt moved a step away

"She has discovered e are," the drow explained, though Bruenor had already come to the same conclusion "And how much we can pay"

"Be it the map?" Bruenor asked