Alias worked hard at stifling a giggle. "I'm sorry. You just sounded for a moment like the hero in an opera."

"Opera's drawn from real life, after all," Victor replied. "Maybe if you close your eyes and listen hard you'll hear music, too."

Alias closed her eyes. She felt Victor's lips brush against hers.

"I do hear that music," the swordswoman whispered as she slid her arms around the nobleman's waist. "It sounds very far off, though. We need to bring it closer." She pulled Victor toward her and pressed her lips against his.

At the base of the Westlight, Kimbel checked his hourglass, then nodded to the waiting servants. With smoldering sticks the servants began lighting the fuses of the smoke powder novelties imported from Kara-Tur. They spiraled up into the darkness on columns of sparks, finally exploding in flowerlike bursts of light. The sky above flashed with color, reflected in the bay below. A few citizens of the city, those who'd actually witnessed magical fireball attacks, were bemused by this new toy of the wealthy. The less experienced, especially the children, were delighted with a spectacle they could share for free. Aboard The Gleason, although they were careful not to indicate how impressed they were by the display, the nobles all agreed it was a fitting signal for the end of the ship's maiden voyage.

Thirteen

"Ooh, that's a pretty one," Jamal exclaimed as a golden marigold blossomed on the horizon. Mintassan har-rumphed politely.

When the first explosions sounded | Jamal had insisted they run up to Mintassan's aerie-a balcony reached frem a window of his attic. The sage's home was far enough up the hill for them to have a clear view of the fireworks blossoming over the bay.

The sage and the actress reclined in heavy iron garden chairs which, after years of exposure to the elements, looked as if they'd been gnawed upon by rust monsters. Kel, newly scrubbed and dressed in some old clothes of the sage's, leaned out over the balcony railing with all the disdain for personal safety a teenaged boy could muster. Fireworks were still so rare an occurrence that the young thief was unable to hide his pleasure beneath his usual veneer of apathy. From his shouts and applause it was obvious he preferred the noisier explosions to the more visually elaborate ones.

Jamal rearranged the faded, mildew-ridden cushion at her back and took another sip of her wine. "Ever think of getting some new furniture out here?" she asked the sage.

"Not much reason to sit out here anymore," Mintassan grumbled. "Since they added that blasted magical light to the harbor tower, the sky's too bright. Can't see the stars I chose to observe for my treatise on astronomy."

Jamal looked up at the sky. "The ones you can still see are lovely enough."

"I suppose," the sage said with a shrug. He was eyeing Kel nervously, certain that the boy would flip over the railing any minute, requiring a magical flying spell for his rescue.

The sage leaned nearer the actress and murmured softly, "He-" Mintassan indicated Kel with a jerk of his head "-was looking over the silver tea set, estimating its resale value. He could calculate a twenty-seven percent cut in his head, but he can't read. He said he doesn't need to learn to read. How can he say that? How can he think that?"

"No one's given him reason enough," Jamal replied. "Although I'm sure a clever man like yourself can find some motivation for him." "Me? Why me?"

"Well, it's not likely he'd want to imitate an old lady with modest thespian skills. Boys need to look up to men."

"Because I'm a man my home has become a shelter for homeless actresses and underage rogues?"

"More likely because you're a powerful mage, remember?" Jamal retorted.

Mintassan shrugged off the comment. "I'm beginning to dread it when Alias goes out after Night Masks. Who knows what shell bring back next?"

"Maybe she'll bring back young Victor Dhostar," Jamal suggested.

Mintassan scowled. "I'm not taking him in. I don't even know why I agreed to take Kel," he complained.

"Because Alias asked you, and she's a clever, pretty woman," Jamal stated.

Mintassan flushed ever so slightly. "I'm simply extending her a courtesy because she's a friend of Grypht's," he argued. "Is that what Victor Dhostar is doing by inviting her to his posh party-simply extending a courtesy?" Jamal asked, peering with concern at a firework that exploded a little too low on the horizon. "I don't imagine he's failed to notice how attractive she is." "I noticed she was pretty. Said so the first night she came in here. I can't understand why she would have anything to do with Victor Dhostar, though. She's a bright, experienced adventurer. He's a puffed-up greengrocer," Mintassan declared, using the adventurers' term for a merchant.

"Well, when he's not standing in his father's shadow, people seem to think he's pretty capable," Jamal remarked. "If Luer were to die this millennium, Victor might take his place as croamarkh."

"Croamarkh. Oh, that's different," Mintassan said contemptuously, his face illuminated by the light from a distant skyrocket. "King of the greengrocers." "And he and Alias do have something in common."

"What? What do they have in common?" Mintassan demanded. "A desire to rid the city of the Night Masks."

"I don't especially like them either," the sage pointed out. "But you don't care much about Westgate."

"That's not true. Г grew up in this city, the same as you."

"And you left it just as soon as you could to go gadding about the planes and other bizarre places. You only think of this city as a convenient place to store all the junk you bring back from adventuring."

Mintassan paused thoughtfully, then shrugged. "All right, I admit it. I find cities boring, full of boring people, present company excepted, of course. Alias wasn't interested in Westgate either when she first came. Dragonbait and you talked her into this job."

"I think Victor Dhostar had more to do with it than we did," Jamal replied. "Sure. Rub it in," Mintassan grumbled into his wine.

"Still, as you pointed out, Victor Dhostar's just a greengrocer. He really can't do too much to protect her. It wouldn't hurt to have a wizard watching her back." "She can't be scried, remember?"

"You don't get close to a person by watching her through a crystal ball. I was thinking you might involve yourself in a more active role. Offer to go with her the next time you have a chance," Jamal suggested.

"I think behind this request to look out for your cheap hero is an ulterior motive-playing matchmaker," the sage noted.

"I'm too busy to worry about nonsense like that. My ulterior motive is to unnerve the Faceless," Jamal replied. "He relies on the neutrality of people like you, Mintassan. I'm hoping hell grow anxious and careless if he perceives the balance shifting against him."

"You're bringing out all your reserves for this battle, Jamal. So certain you can end the war this season?" Mintassan asked.

The actress sighed. "Not really, but the fight is beginning to wear me down. I'm giving it all I've got before I get another year older."

The horizon lit up with the firework's finale, a shower of multiple bursts that raced along the length of the peninsula. Scattered applause broke out from watchers in the street.

Kel climbed down from the balcony railing, his eyes wide and alert. "Did you enjoy the fireworks?" Jamal prodded him.

The youth's eyes took on a wariness common to all young people when called upon to pass judgment on adult endeavors. "It was all right," he allowed with a shrug. He was too excited to remain indifferent for long. "I want to be able to do that some day," he admitted.