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gone too long." He thought for a moment then shrugged. "They are in the same
business, after all. Entreri should accept them."
"Rassiter disturbs everyone he meets," the wizard reminded him. "Suppose
that he crosses Entreri?"
Pook laughed at the thought. "I can assure you that Rassiter will cross
Artemis Entreri only once, my friend."
"And then you shall make arrangements with the new head of the wererats,"
LaValle snickered.
Pook clapped him on the shoulder and headed for the door. "Learn what you
can," he instructed the wizard. "If you can find them in your crystal ball, call
to me. I cannot wait to glimpse the face of Regis the halfling again. So much I
owe to that one."
"And you shall be?"
"In the harem," Pook answered with a wink. "Tension, you know."
LaValle slumped back in his chair when Pook had gone and considered again
the return of his principal rival. He had gained much in the years since Entreri
had left, even rising to this room on the third level as Pook's chief assistant.
This room, Entreri's room.
But the wizard never had any problems with the assassin. They had been
comfortable associates, if not friends, and had helped each other many times in
the past. LaValle couldn't count the number of times he had shown Entreri the
quickest route to a target.
And there was that nasty situation with Mancas Tiveros, a fellow mage.
"Mancas the Mighty," the other wizards of Calimport had called him, and they had
pitied LaValle when he and Mancas fell into dispute concerning the origins of a
particular spell. Both had claimed credit for the discovery, and everyone waited
for an expected war of magic to erupt. But Mancas suddenly and unexplainedly
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went away, leaving a note disclaiming his role in the spell's creation and
giving full credit to LaValle. Mancas had never been seen again - in Calimport
or anywhere else.
"Ah, well," LaValle sighed, turning back to his crystal ball. Artemis
Entreri had his uses.
The door to the room opened, and Pook stuck his head back in. "Send a
messenger to the carpenter's guild," he said to LaValle. "Tell them that we
shall need several skilled men immediately."
LaValle tilted his head in disbelief.
"The harem and treasury are to stay," Pook said emphatically, feigning
frustration over his wizard's inability to see the logic. "And certainly I am
not conceding my chamber!"
LaValle frowned as he thought he began to understand.
"Nor am I about to tell Artemis Entreri that he cannot have his own room
back," said Pook. "Not after he has performed his mission so excellently!"
"I understand," said the wizard glumly, thinking himself relegated once
again to the lower levels.
"So a sixth room must be built," laughed Pook, enjoying his little game.
"Between Entreri's and the harem." He winked again at his valued assistant. "You
may design it yourself, my dear LaValle. And spare no expense!" He shut the door
and was gone.
The wizard wiped the moisture from his eyes. Pook always surprised him, but
never disappointed him. "You are a generous master, my Pasha Pook," he whispered
to the empty room.
And truly Pasha Pook was a masterful leader as well, for LaValle turned back
to his crystal ball, his teeth gritted in determination. He would find Entreri
and the halfling. He wouldn't disappoint his generous master.
9
Fiery Riddles
Now running with the currents of the Chionthar, and with the breeze at
enough of an angle from the north for the sails to catch a bit of a push, the
Sea Sprite cruised away from Baldur's Gate at a tremendous rate, spitting a
white spray despite the concurrent movement of the water.
"The Sword Coast by midafternoon," Deudermont said to Drizzt and Wulfgar.
"And off the coast, with no land in sight until we make Asavir's Channel. Then a
southern journey around the edge of the world and back east to Calimport.
"Calimport," he said again, indicating a new pennant making its way up the
mast of the Sea Sprite, a golden field crossed by slanted blue lines.
Drizzt looked at Deudermont suspiciously, knowing that this was not an
ordinary practice of sailing vessels.
"We run Waterdeep's flag north of Baldur's Gate," the captain explained.
"Calimport's south."
"An acceptable practice?" Drizzt asked.
"For those who know the price," chuckled Deudermont. "Waterdeep and
Calimport are rivals, and stubborn in their feud. They desire trade with each
other - they can only profit from it but do not always allow ships flying the
other's flag to dock in their harbors."
"A foolish pride," Wulfgar remarked, painfully reminded of some similar
traditions his own clannish people had practiced only a few years before.
"Politics," Deudermont said with a shrug. "But the lords of both cities
secretly desire the trade, and a few dozen ships have made the connections to
keep business moving. The Sea Sprite has two ports to call home, and everyone
profits from the arrangement."
"Two markets for Captain Deudermont," Drizzt remarked slyly. "Practical."
"And it makes good sailing sense as well," Deudermont continued, his smile
still wide. "Pirates running the waters north of Baldur's Gate respect the
banner of Waterdeep above all others, and those south of here take care not to
rouse the anger of Calimport and her massive armada. The pirates along Asavir's
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