A light of understanding crossed Mae’s face. “Ah, that explains the heavy guard on the building. We thought the priests were just using it as a temple or something.”

“You keep saying ‘we,’ ” Linsha said. “Are there more of you in the city?”

Mae’s expression turned grim. “Only a few of us who were deep undercover. Most of our circle is dead. A few were captured in the field and are held in the slave pens, but there are not enough of us to free them.”

“There are not enough of us,” Linsha said, waving a hand at her small group, “to steal a dozen dragon eggs. We need a diversion, horses, a large net-”

“A net?” Mae interrupted. “What are you going to do with a net?”

Linsha shrugged, scratching the cat gently behind his ears. “Carry the eggs out of here. As you can see, we need a little help. Are there any slave pens near the Guild building?”

Mae still looked confused, but she didn’t pursue it for now. The entire idea of stealing dragon eggs from the Tarmak intrigued her. “Yes, there’s one nearby. They use the people in there for slave labor repairing the buildings and the harbor facilities. There are some militia soldiers, a few centaurs, a group of elves, and… oh, yes… one Knight of Solamnia.”

“Hugh?” Callista and Linsha said at the same time. It had to be. As far as Linsha knew, he and she were the only two surviving Solamnic Knights left on the eastern Plains.

Mae nodded, pleased she had been able to drop her own surprise into the conversation. “Tell me what you have in mind and I’ll see if we can arrange it. It may take a few days.”

“Of course,” Linsha said. “I want to do this right the first time and get out.” She was thrilled Sir Hugh was close by. With some good luck and good planning, they would be able to rescue him and the eggs in one night.

They found out that evening that there were three Legionnaires left in the Missing City who had not been caught or killed by the Tarmaks. They gathered one by one in the cellar of the abandoned house, bringing clothes and food and water, and staying to listen to Linsha and Callista tell them about the Tarmak island, Lanther, and the destruction of the Tarmak fleet. Varia, meanwhile, left shortly after nightfall to find the rebel army, and Crucible slipped out to do a little reconnaissance on his own.

When he came back late at night, he found Linsha on watch and Callista asleep on their blankets. Wearily he stretched out between them as before.

“What did you see?” Linsha asked. She stroked a hand down the soft fur on his side.

Mae is right. The building is heavily guarded, and those black-robed priests are everywhere. But I think with some archers and a good distraction, we can get inside. The problem will be timing. We need enough time to secure the eggs, carry them outside, and get them loaded in the net.

“Hmm. It’s too bad Falaius and Wanderer are too far away. Have the Tarmaks dealt with a good fire lately?”

I don’t know. I shall try to arrange one.

Linsha’s mouth turned up in a small smile and her cheeks flushed a charming pink. “As much I like cats, do you think you could be Lord Bight for just a little while?”

The cat moved away from the two women and was quickly engulfed in the shimmering bright light of his magic. He changed back to the man who had been the Lord Governor of Sanction for almost thirty years and stood before Linsha with his hand held out to her like a supplicant.

Linsha unfolded her long legs and rose to take his hand. They moved away from the sleeping courtesan and sat down together side by side against a far wall. In soft voices they talked long into the night of inconsequential things, of her family and Sanction, of things they remembered from the summer of the plague when Linsha served in the governor’s personal bodyguard.

“If I ever get back to Sanction,” Lord Bight said. “I will need a new Captain of the Guard. Should you decide the Knights of Solamnia are no longer enough for you…”

Linsha was startled by his words. No longer enough? She hadn’t thought of that. In fact she had concentrated so much on escaping Ithin’carthia and reclaiming the eggs that she had not thought about anything that might happen after this war. As far she knew, she would be on the Plains until the Grand Master relieved her or she died, whichever came first. And what about Crucible? Would he really leave her to return to Sanction? And what would she do with the eggs? The questions and the possibilities swarmed over her, until she wanted to scream. Not now! She could not think that far ahead. First they had to rescue the eggs and get them safely away. Then they had to deal with the Tarmaks. Then maybe, if they both survived, they could think about what next.

“Not now,” she murmured. “Not now.”

He opened his mouth, and she silenced him the only way she could think of. She leaned over and kissed him.

Egg Hunt

18

The next day the Legionnaires moved them to another place in a different part of the city to avoid drawing attention to movement around the abandoned house. They were led through backstreets and dark alleys to a door leading down into a deeper cellar where ale barrels stood empty and a few wine casks still sat on their racks. Several cheeses and an old ham hung from the ceiling beams and a bin of dried apples sat close to a wooden stairs that led up to a public house.

“It’s the Orchard House,” Linsha exclaimed. “I remember the proprietors. Delightful people, and the wife made the best apple pies.”

“Why thank ye, Lady Knight. I remember you, too. Always paid your bill.” A gray-haired woman leaned down from the upstairs door and squinted at her secret guests in the dim light of a single lantern. “There’s not much left down there. The Tarmaks killed my man and ate me out of house and cellar. But you’re welcome to anything you find. Just keep it quiet while there’s customers in the bar.”

Linsha and Mae waved their agreement and thanks, and the old woman stepped back and closed the door behind her.

“She said you can stay down here for a few days while we gather the weapons and work out the details,” Mae said. “We have some men in hiding from the Tarmaks we will send to you to help. Do you know what you want to do for a diversion?”

“How are the Tarmaks organized to handle fires?” asked Linsha.

“They have our old fire fighting equipment-the ladders, the buckets, and the one hand pump. But we always counted on Iyesta to help us put out any fires in the city, so there is very little available to them. It’s rained so much lately, I don’t think they’ve given it much thought.”

“Good. Is there a warehouse where they are storing anything worth burning?”

Mae’s eyes twinkled and the laugh lines appeared around her nose and mouth. “They have a lot of their stores in a warehouse near the waterfront, but it’s really too close to the guild building to be a good distraction. There is another one over in Mirage where they have stored much of the wine and spirits they stole from the farmers and merchants.”

Linsha looked at Callista who grinned. Mirage was the name of the newer section of the city where many of the offices, warehouses, and shops connected to the harbor were located. The older guild buildings were mostly in the older city in the Port District.

“Wine and spirits,” the courtesan said. “That should burn well.”

Linsha looked down at the cat in her arms and winked.

Three days later a cloudbank rolled up out of the south and settled over the Missing City in a dank, gray gloom. Darkness came early that night, and the citizens of the city hurried back to their homes and their meager meals, leaving the streets to the Tarmak patrols. By midnight, the streets were almost deserted.