The Vondish Ambassador

She flung him down as well, and grabbed the third man. "Finally we have your wizard, Morkai of Crooked Hill, who the Guild had entrusted with certain magic intended for use in guarding the ancient towers for which your land is named, and who used one of those spells not to summon aid in an emergency, as was intended, but to transport himself and his companions to the dunes south of Ethshar of the Spices, so that they might spy on the Vondish ambassador. He then used his membership in the Guild to call upon the services of a fellow wizard, Felder of Arena Street, in summoning Fendel's Assassin and directing it to kill the ambassador. Because he is a wizard, the overlord delivered him unscathed into my keeping, for the Guild to deal with; he, too, is confined to Lumeth of the Towers for the remainder of his life, and for his abuse of the privileges granted him, he is hereby cast out of the Wizards' Guild." With that she shoved Morkai aside and held out a hand.

One of the Ethsharitic guards had obviously been told what to do; he passed her a knife, one that looked ordinary enough but that Emmis supposed must be Morkai's wizard's dagger. Ithinia took it, and touched it with her own knife; violet fire flared up briefly from both blades.

Then she threw it to the ground and signaled to the guard, who knelt, picked up the knife, and thrust its point deep into one of the cracks between paving stones, so that it stood upright.

Then he bent it until the blade snapped off.

Morkai screamed through his gag, and fell writhing on the stone, startling Emmis – and all the other observers, apparently, except the other wizards.

"What's going on?" Lar asked, his smile gone and his face pale. "Why is he doing that?"

"It must be a spell of some kind," Emmis said, turning up an empty palm. "The knife was enchanted somehow."

"She didn't tell us she was going to do that!"

"He tried to kill you, sir," Emmis reminded him.

"Yes, but…"

"I'm sure Neyam screamed when he was flogged."

"No, he didn't. Witches can block their pain."

Emmis frowned. That seemed to defeat the purpose of the flogging.

It wasn't his responsibility, though.

Ithinia had turned back to the balcony, and as Morkai's screaming subsided to a whimper she a

Emmis blinked; he was quite sure that she had put the flute in her right sleeve after their arrival in Lumeth, but she had just drawn this flute from her left sleeve. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at it.

It wasn't the same flute; he was sure of it. This one was lighter in color, and when she began to play the tone was slightly different.

It had the same effect, though. When she reached that final note and held it the sound seemed to echo and re-echo, and the stone pavement shook beneath their feet, then with a great rumble it rippled and split open. A slate skidded off a nearby roof and shattered on the pavement.

"I thought we would stay here tonight!" Emmis whispered to Lar. "I mean, we came all the way to Lumeth, and after half an hour we're going back to Ethshar? I didn't even get to see the famous towers!"

"I don't think Ethshar is where we're going," the ambassador replied.

Startled, Emmis asked, "It's not?"

"I don't think so."

Then Ithinia was leading the way down the steps, and Lar and Emmis followed the crowd descending into this new fissure. Emmis decided not to ask any more questions, since he would see soon enough where they were going.

He glanced back as they were entering the rift, and saw the three Lumethan magicians still sprawled miserably on the pavement; they were not accompanying the party to whatever its new destination might be. A

This time the passage stayed stone the entire way, but changed hue, from gray to a off-white. Once again, they emerged into sunlight in the middle of a public square. This time, though, Emmis could smell the sea and hear the cry of gulls overhead; he began to think that they were indeed returning to Ethshar, just not to Ithinia's garden.

Then he looked around, and knew that whatever this place was, it wasn't Ethshar of the Spices. The buildings surrounding them were white or golden yellow, gleaming in the sun, without a trace of red brick or dark timber anywhere. The air was warmer than it had been in either Ethshar or Lumeth.

Again, when the gargoyles bringing up the rear had emerged from the chasm, Ithinia concluded her tune and the fissure rumbled and closed.

Again, a crowd had gathered, but stood well back from the newly arrived strangers.

"Prince Sammel of Ashthasa!" Ithinia called. "Come forth and hear me!"

"This is Ashthasa?" Emmis whispered.

"I suppose so," Lar said. "I've never been here before."

This time they had a wait before at last the doors of a large white building swung open and a young man in gaudy green-and-gold robes emerged, attended by half a dozen spearmen in gleaming golden helmets.

Again, Ithinia and the other wizards introduced themselves, Lar, Lord Ildirin, the theurgist, and the demonologist. Then Ithinia had A

"This woman," Ithinia a

The man in the elaborate robes replied, "Not by my orders; I assigned her to watch the ambassador, not kill him." He spoke Ethsharitic well, better than any of the Lumethan lords.

"I didn't try to assassinate anyone!" A

"Then I see no crime," the prince replied. "Why have you come here so dramatically?"

"To inform you that your concerns about Vondish expansion are groundless, and warn you that you are not to interfere in the Empire's trade negotiations with the Hegemony. And to return you your spy, who is no longer welcome in Ethshar of the Spices."

"You are saying that the Wizards' Guild will guarantee that the Vondish Empire will not attempt to extend itself into Ashthasa?"

"We are saying that the Wizards' Guild will guarantee that the Vondish Empire will not attack Ashthasa without provocation, nor will we permit the Empire to use warlockry against any of its neighbors under any circumstances. We would suggest, however, that you do not provoke the Empire."

"I am not a fool, my lady," the prince replied. "Even without magic, the Empire could swallow Ashthasa in mere hours; we will not provoke them. Thank you for your assurances!"

He and Ithinia exchanged bows.

Then a guardsman cut A

This time Emmis had been watching closely. He knew she had put the flute that had brought them from Lumeth to Ashthasa in her right sleeve, yet she drew this one from her left. And it was chased in silver, where the others had been plain wood.

How many flutes did she have in there?

Again, she began to play; again, the music behaved u

Emmis waved to A

Then he had once again turned that strange corner onto the magical staircase, and was on his way somewhere – perhaps back to Ethshar, perhaps somewhere else.

He didn't bother asking Lar where he thought they were bound; they would find out soon enough.