The Vondish Ambassador

"Thank you." Emmis turned and ran – he did not want to give Lar time to look for yet another magician after this Zindrй.

He found Witch Alley easily – he had seen it once or twice before, though always entering from the other end – and Zindrй's name was plain enough on a signboard, but the shop was dark, the curtains drawn. He stared at the locked door, then stepped back to look up, hoping to see a light in the witch's rooms upstairs.

"If you're looking for Zindrй, she's talking to Sella," someone said.

Emmis turned and found a man perhaps twice his age standing behind him, leaning on a stick. Not a slender black-and-silver stick, but a rough wooden one, little more than a tree limb trimmed to the right length.

"Thank you," he said. "Where…?"

The man pointed down the street.

As Emmis trotted farther down Witch Alley, looking at the signs, he took comfort in the fact that Lar had still been alive and unharmed when he and Imrinira left her shop an hour or so ago, and that if he, Emmis, was having this much trouble catching up, then any assassins would have an equally difficult time of it.

"SELLA THE WITCH, Diviner amp; Seer," he read, and this shop had lamps lit and the door open. He hurried up to it.

Before he could cross the threshold, though, a thin, black-haired girl of fifteen or sixteen appeared in the door.

"Hello, Emmis," she said. "I'm Teneria of Fishertown, Sella's apprentice. Come in, please; we've been expecting you."

Emmis stumbled in surprise. "You have?"

Teneria didn't smile. "We have," she said. "Diviner and seer – it says so right on the sign. Would you like a cup of tea?"

Emmis's mouth twisted wryly. "You don't already know?"

"I'm just the apprentice, not the seer," she replied. She stepped aside. "Come in."

Emmis obeyed, and found himself in a cheery shop that could have belonged to either a witch or an herbalist – dozens of bunches of dried plants hung from the overhead beams, and the shelves along the back wall were cluttered with bowls, mortars, alembics, glass balls, jats, and bottles. A teapot and sugar bowl stood on a small table in the center of the room, surrounded by cups; the table in turn was surrounded by half a dozen overstuffed chairs, most of them occupied.

Lar was sitting in one of the chairs, a teacup in his hand; his hat and coat hung on a coat-rack by the fireplace.

Three women sat in the other occupied chairs. One was a plump, rosy-cheeked woman of fifty or so, in a green tunic and flowered skirt; she was seated facing the door and smiling broadly at Emmis and Teneria. To her right sat a tall white-haired woman in a dark red wizard's robe; to her left was a tiny little woman in black.

These were presumably Imrinira, Zindrй, and Sella, but Emmis was unsure which was which, though he supposed the women in red was probably Imrinira.

"Come sit down," the woman in the green tunic said. "I know you don't want any tea yet, but honestly, Emmis, you don't need to be in that much of a rush. Sit down, and we'll explain matters to you. They won't find you here."

"Go on," Teneria said, giving him a gentle shove.

"Don't your feet hurt, after all that ru

Emmis had not allowed himself to notice that, but now that she mentioned it he became aware that yes, his feet were a little sore. He was accustomed to doing plenty of walking and lifting, but not so much ru

This whole performance was exactly the sort of thing he had half-expected from Kolar, and not received. Now that it was actually happening, though, he found it very uncomfortable.

"You know why I'm here?" he asked, as he settled onto the worn upholstery. There was a faint click behind him, as Teneria closed the front door.

"You're here to warn the ambassador here about people who are looking for him," the middle woman said. "They're trying to kill him, I think?" She set down her cup. "I'm Sella, by the way. This is Zindrй, and you've already guessed Imrinira."

"It's good to see you," Lar said. "Now, who's trying to kill me?"

Emmis glanced at Sella. "She hasn't already told you?"

"I didn't know," Sella said. "All I know about the matter is what I've seen in your mind. I knew you were coming because every morning I use my magic to learn who will walk through my door in the course of the day, but I can't see every detail of what will happen, only who will come. Until you arrived and I heard your thoughts, I had no idea just what warning you were so eager to deliver."

Emmis gave a nod, accepting her explanation, then turned back to Lar. "The Lumethans hired assassins," he said. "A

He might ordinarily have hesitated before revealing all this in front of strangers, but Sella had already made clear that she could hear everything he thought, so there was no point in trying to keep secrets. The other two might not be quite so gifted, but they were magicians themselves, and could undoubtedly find out if they wanted to.

"They hired assassins?" Lar replied, visibly shocked. "Why?"

"Because they believed what you told Ishta," Emmis said. "They think you're sending your grandson to be apprenticed to a warlock. And they think there must be others, as well, and you're going to create an army of warlocks, to replace Vond and expand the empire."

"I don't have a grandson!"

"That's not what you told Ishta, remember? Hagai followed us there, and then went back with A

Lar frowned thoughtfully. "Oh," he said. "Did you tell them the truth?"

"No! I didn't tell them anything! I didn't know what I was allowed to say. And I only spoke to A

"They really hired assassins?"

"They really did. A tall man with a blade in his walking stick, and another one I didn't get a good look at."

"And they're waiting back at the house we rented?"

"They were last I saw, yes."

Lar looked at the magicians. "I didn't expect anything like this! Do you have any suggestions?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the wizard said. "Who is Ishta, or A

"Does it matter?" Zindrй asked. "Obviously, you need to tell the city guards. They'll take care of these assassins."

"And don't go back to the house until after you have spoken to the guard," Sella added.

"But my sword is there," Lar said.

Emmis and Imrinira said in unison, "You have a sword?"

"Get the guard first," Sella told him. "Then get your sword."

"There were just these two?" Zindrй asked Emmis.

"I only saw two," Emmis said. He was oddly reassured by how swiftly the witches had accepted his story. Everyone knew that witches could tell truth from falsehood – well, at least the witches who were good at their job – and Sella and Zindrй clearly thought he was telling the truth.

"Any sign of magic?" Zindrй asked.

"Not that I saw. The outside man pretended to be sleeping, and the inside man had that stick with the blade on the end, but I didn't see any magic. Nothing glowed, or moved in ways it shouldn't."

"Do you think they were Demerchan?" Lar asked.

"What?"

"Demerchan is a cult of assassins that operates in the Small Kingdoms," Sella explained. "I've never heard of them doing anything here in Ethshar of the Spices, though."

"How could I tell if they were this… whatever it is?"