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"Why do you approach the city before the light of dawn?" the Nightkeeper of the North Gate asked the emissary for the merchant caravan that had pulled up outside Luskan’s wall Jierdan, in his post beside the Nightkeeper, watched with special interest, certain that this troupe had coulations of the city if our business were not urgent," answered the spokesed froons, a body limp across his shoulders
"Murdered on the road," explained the spokeshter of Bruenor Battlehammer hi otherwise, but ht implicate him
"Nay, no dwarf A woman," lamented the spokeman "Fairest in all the dale, maybe in all the north The dwarf took her in as an orphaned child and claihtkeeper, more concerned with potential hazards on the road than with the fate of a single woman
"This was not the work of orcs," replied the spokes took Catti-brie from us and killed the driver We did not even discover the foul deed until the next morn"
Jierdan needed no further information, not even a ether Her connection to Bruenor explained Entreri’s interest in her Jierdan looked to the eastern horizon and the first rays of the co dawn, anxious to be cleared of his duties on the wall so that he could go report his findings to Dendybar This little piece of news should help to alleviate thethe drow’s trail on the docks
"He has not found them?" Dendybar hissed at Sydney
"He has found nothing but a cold trail," the younger e replied "If they are on the docks yet, they are well disguised"
Dendybar paused to consider his apprentice’s report So was out of place with this scenario Four distinctive characters si of the assassin, then, or of his coabonds in the alleys fear hiive hi the boellers," Dendybar uess," reasoned Sydney "Probably froh we should have heard more of him if that were the case Perhaps even farther south, fro," replied Dendybar, trying to forirl?"
Sydney shrugged "I do not believe that she follows hih she has made no move to be free of hi alone"
"He acquired her," came an unexpected reply from the doorway Jierdan entered the room
"What? Unannounced?" sneered Dendybar
"I have news - it could not wait," Jierdan replied boldly
"Have they left the city?" Sydney proer she read on the mottled wizard’s pallid face Sydney well understood the dangers and the difficulties of the docks, and al the wrath of the merciless Dendybar in a situation beyond his control But Jierdan remained her competition for the mottled wizard’s favor, and she wouldn’t let sympathy stand in the way of her ambitions
"No," Jierdan snapped at her "My news does not concern the drow’s party" He looked back to Dendybar "A caravan arrived in Luskan today - in search of the woman"
"Who is she?" asked Dendybar, suddenly very interested and forgetting his anger at the intrusion
"The adopted daughter of Bruenor Battlehamer," Jierdan replied "Cat - "
"Catti-brie! Of course!" hissed Dendybar, himself familiar with uessed!" He turned to Sydney "My respect for ourhih she feared that Dendybar’s request would prove more difficult than the ether
She spent that night, until the early hours of the followingplaces of the dockside area But even using her contacts on the docks and all the n of Entreri and Catti-brie, and no one willing or able to pass along any inforht help her in her search
Tired and frustrated, she returned to the Hosttower the next day, passing the corridor to Dendybar’s rooh he had ordered her to report to him directly upon her return Sydney was in noabout her failure
She entered her small room, just off the main trunk of the Hosttower on the northern branch, below the rooms of the Master of the North Spire, and bolted the doors, further sealing theical spell
She had barely fallen into her bed when the surface of her coveted scrying rowled, assu her weary body to theher e clearer It was not Dendybar that she faced, to her relief, but a wizard from a distant town, a would-be suitor that the passionless Sydney kept dangling by a thread of hope so that she could s, fair Sydney," the e said "I pray I did not disturb your sleep, but I have exciting news!"
Norned interest in the story, and politely excused herself fro de squarely across her shoulders, she had no patience for distractions "This is not the tiht up in his os, seemed not to notice her definitive tone "Thehas happened in our town," he ra e halted, crestfallen "But, Sydney," he said
"Another time," she insisted
"But how often in this day does one actually see and speak with a drow elf?" Harkle persisted
"I cannot - " Sydney stopped short, digesting Harkle’s last words "A drow elf?" she stammered
"Yes," Harkle beamed proudly, thrilled that his news had apparently impressed his beloved Sydney "Drizzt Do’Urden, by nao I would have told you earlier, but the !"
"Tell ly "Do tell "
"I am in need of information"
Whisper froze at the sound of the unexpected voice, guessing the speaker immediately She knew that he was in town, and knew, too, that he was the only one who could have slipped through her defenses to get into her secret cha out fro screen
Whisper slid the jar of healing unguent into her pocket and took a good measure of the man Rumors spoke of him as the deadliest of assassins, and she, all too fa with truth She sensed Entreri’s power, and the easy coordination of his movements "Men do not come to my room uninvited," she warned bravely
Entreri e point to study the bold woh streets, beautiful and deadly But apparently Whisper had lost an encounter Her nose was broken and disjointed, splayed across her cheek
Whisper understood the scrutiny She squared her shoulders and threw her head back proudly "An unfortunate accident," she hissed
"It is not my concern," Entreri came back "I have coo about her routine, trying to appear unbothered "My price is high," she said coolly
She turned back to Entreri, the intense but frighteningly cal her beyond doubt that her life would be the only reward for cooperation
"I seek four co "
Whisper was unused to such situations No crossbows supported her now, no bodyguards waited for her signal behind a nearby secret door She tried to remain calm, but Entreri knew the depth of her fear She chuckled and pointed to her broken nose "I have met your dwarf, and your drow, Arte that her recognition would put him back on the defensive
"Where are they?" Entreri asked, still in control "And what did they request of you?"
Whisper shrugged "If they reone; the dwarf has a map of the northland"
Entreri considered the words "Your reputation speaks hly of you," he said sarcastically "You accept such a wound and let therasp?"
Whisper’s eyes narrowed in anger "I choose erous for actions of frivolous vengeance Let theain"
Entreri’s caled a bit He had already been to the Cutlass and heard of Wulfgar’s exploits And now this A woman like Whisper was not easily cowed Perhaps he should indeed re-evaluate the strength of his opponents
"Fearless is the dwarf," Whisper offered, sensing his dis his discomfort "And ware the drow, Arteate hirimness of her tone "He walks in shadows that we cannot see, and strikes froreat cat and - "
Entreri turned and started away, having no intention of allowing Whisper to gain anyin her victory, Whisper couldn’t resist the temptation to throw one final dart "Men do not coain Entreri passed into an adjoining room and Whisper heard the door to the alley close
"I choose hts carefully," she whispered to the e a measure of her pride with the threat
She turned back to a suent, quite pleased with herself She examined her wound in the table’s mirror Not too bad The salve would erase it as it had erased so many scars from the trials of her profession
She understood her stupidity when she saw the shadow slip past her reflection in the mirror, and felt the brush of air at her back Her business allowed no tolerance for errors, and offered no second chance For the first and last tier sunk deeply into her back