Caledan winced. That one hurt, especially because it came dangerously near the truth.

"I don't know the reason you left the Harpers, Caldorien, and now I find that I don't particularly care. I thank you for your assistance yesterday, but I won't bother you again." She shrugged off the quilt and rose stiffly.

"Sit down, Harper."

"What?"

"I said sit down," Caledan growled fiercely, and in her surprise Mari complied, sinking back down into the chair. "Maybe you don't want my help anymore," he went on, "and I don't want yours, either. But there is something you should know. Lord Ravendas and I have… encountered each other in the past." He laughed darkly. 'This was during my last mission as a Harper. It was not a pleasant meeting. Someone… a friend of mine… died that day. But I think I always knew that someday I would face Ravendas again. Now it seems that the time has come, and the meeting is destined to be here."

He stared fiercely at the Harper, as if daring her to question his resolve. "I had the chance to be happy once, you know. Ravendas stole that from me. I won't let her do it a second time."

Mari regarded him carefully for a long moment, her expression guarded. "So you will work with me then, Caledan Caldorien?" she asked finally.

He let out a twisted laugh. "Oh, no, Harper. You're going to be working with me."

The crescent moon was just rising over the city's spires when Caledan and Mari slipped out a side door of the Dreaming Dragon and into the walled garden Estah kept behind the inn. Caledan searched along the high stone wall until he found what he was looking for-a small wrought-iron gate overgrown with morning glories. The secret portal led into a narrow alleyway behind the inn.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going, Caldorien?" Mari asked as they made their way down the shadowed alley. "Or is this supposed to be some sort of surprise?"

Caledan grimaced. Why did the Harper always have to make such an issue out of everything? "We're going to see an old acquaintance of mine. His name is Cormik. In fact, I was on my way to pay him a visit when I had the misfortune to cross paths with you."

The alley opened onto a larger avenue. Making certain no guards were about, the two headed on foot deeper into the heart of the Old City. The streets were deserted. It was the hour for thieves and murderers. And Harpers and scoundrels, Caledan thought wryly.

"And what does this Cormik do?" Mari asked softly.

"You might call him an entrepreneur," Caledan whispered back. "Then again, you might call him a greedy, self-centered, crooked-hearted swindler." He laughed quietly. "It just depends on how much you like him… and on whether he likes you."

"Sounds enchanting," Mari muttered. "So how many daggers are we going to get stuck in our backs?"

"You worry too much, Harper. Cormik and I have been friends for years. If you really want to learn something about the Zhentarim operations in the city, there's no one better to talk to. If Cormik doesn't know about it, it isn't happening." If he's still alive, that is, Caledan added to himself. Cormik's line of business was not without its risks.

Mari shot him a skeptical look but said nothing the rest of the way. Finally they turned onto the murky, refuse-lined Street of Lanterns. They halted before a dark storefront. The building looked as though it had been abandoned for years, but Caledan knew better. The place was a discreet gambling establishment called the Prince and Pauper.

"Just follow my lead," Caledan said jauntily. Before she could reply, he opened the door and stepped through. Mari followed on his heels.

Inside was a large room. The light of a few torches was mostly lost in the haze of smoke they gave off. The Prince and Pauper was crowded. It appeared this was one establishment that had lost little of its trade since Cutter had become lord of the city. True to the place's name, nobles in fine but threadbare clothes, opulently attired merchants, and every manner of rabble crowded about the gambling tables, shouting, laughing, or crying as best suited their luck.

Caledan ignored the gamblers. He spotted a heavy velvet curtain in the back wall and began wending his way through the crowd toward it. Mari followed, a look of disapproval on her face. Caledan reached the curtain and flipped it back. He and the Harper stepped into the quiet hallway beyond.

"Stop right there," a huge, bull-necked man clad in crimson leather rumbled. "I don't know you two, do I?" He stood blocking the hallway with a companion who was similarly dressed and likewise massive. Both wore short swords at their hips, and there was no doubt that they knew quite well how to use them.

"Name's Caledan. I'm a friend of Cormik's. And this here's my lady, if you know what I mean." Mari opened her mouth in protest, but Caledan elbowed her hard in the side. She threw him a venomous look but held her tongue.

"A friend of the Master, eh?" The big man leered down at Caledan. "Well, you'd better hope to the gods that you are. Follow me." The huge man led Caledan and Mari to a small but plush room.

"The Master will see you when he has a minute," he said with an unpleasant grin. "He's a busy man, you know." He left the room, shutting the small door behind him. Caledan didn't have to try the latch to know that it was locked.

Mari crossed her arms, pacing the small room in agitation. "Now what?" she demanded.

"Just wait, Harper. Just wait"

Scant minutes later a key rattled in the lock, and the door opened. A man, who might have appeared nondescript if not for his ostentatious clothes and black velvet eye patch, stepped through, followed by the two muscular bodyguards. "Well, well," the man said in an oily voice as he examined the prisoners with a critical eye. "So Jad was right. It truly is Caledan the Harper."

"Cormik," Caledan said, smiling broadly. "I knew you'd remember me. I have a favor to ask of you."

"Oh, I remember you quite well, Caledan," Cormik replied. He approached slowly, moving, despite his large girth, with the predatory grace of a cat. "In fact, after that last time we met, I remember that I wanted you dead."

Caledan laughed, as if he had just heard a good joke. "I would have thought you had forgotten that little misunderstanding by now, Cormik."

Cormik returned the laughter. "What a curious notion, Caledan. Gentlemen." He made a brief motion with his hand. Before either Caledan or Mari could move, each was grabbed by one of the bodyguards, and their arms were tightly pinned behind their backs. Both Caledan and Man struggled, to no avail, while Cormik's laughter filled the room.

It appeared that they were prisoners.

Four

"I thought you said the man adored you."

Cormik's hulking bodyguards had chained the two of them to a cold stone wall in a dim, squalid little chamber beneath the Prince and Pauper.

"Everyone's entitled to a few mistakes," Caledan muttered. His hands were chained over his head; his shoulders were throbbing painfully. His joints were getting far too rusty for this kind of abuse, and his brain must be getting rusty as well. He should not have assumed that Cormik would have forgotten their little "misunderstanding" of seven years ago. The proprietor of the Prince and Pauper was well known to have a long, keen memory. One had to in his business.

"So what did you do, scoundrel, that he still holds a grudge against you after all these years?"

"I saved him from being murdered by one of his patrons, that's what," Caledan replied angrily. "A nobleman named Maderon owed Cormik a king's ransom in gambling debts, and he was going to have Cormik killed rather than pay up. I did Cormik the favor of doing away with Maderon first, though I had my own reasons. All Cormik knew was that I had slit the throat of his richest patron. Cormik's an intelligent man, but he has me figured all wrong."