Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [19]
"I'm no thief," Corin objected. "I'd be of no use to you."
"The Purple Masks?" Fendel scolded. "How are you mixed up with them?"
"This will work," Lhasha assured them both, quelling their protests. "Just listen to what I have to say. Fendel,
I was actually on my way to see you when I… uh… bumped into Corin. I'm in a bit of a professional bind, and I need some advice."
The Masks still want you to join their guild, don't they?"
Lhasha nodded. "And they're done asking politely. I found a dagger in my pillow this morning when I woke up. A purple cloth was tied around the hilt."
The expression on the gnome's face changed to one of deep concern. "This isn't good, Lhasha. You won't get a second warning. And you can't join them-once they get their hooks in you, you'll never be free!"
Lhasha patted the old gnome gently on the arm. "I know, Fendel. But I didn't know what to do. You know I could never leave Elversult. Where else could I find such beautiful groves and woodlands right within the city limits?"
Fendel sighed. "That's your mother's side of the family talking. It's a shame you never knew her. You look mostly human, but I think your soul is closer to that of the elves."
"It doesn't matter now," Lhasha said happily. Til just hire Corin to be my bodyguard."
"But… you know almost nothing about me," Corin objected.
"I know you're good with a sword," Lhasha explained. "And I know you're basically a decent, honest person. Fendel would have said something if you were lying or a threat to me."
Fendel nodded. "That's true, Corin. I must confess I took a little peek into your character while I examined your hand. A minor spell granted by Gond to even the lowest of his clerics."
Corin was about to say something about the invasion of his privacy, but reconsidered. He couldn't fault such precautions. The White Shields had done the same type of magical screening to all their potential recruits. Elversult, despite the changes Yanseldara and the Maces had brought, was still a city founded by-and largely populated with-smugglers and brigands.
"So, Corin, what do you say? Will you serve as my bodyguard?"
Corin weighed the offer carefully. He was familiar with earning a living as a hired mercenary. That and being a White Shield were the only lives he'd ever really known. If he accepted, he'd be earning an honest living through his skill with the blade, proving wrong all those who doubted him because of his injury.
But as a White Shield his role had been to oppose bandits and raiders. Had he really fallen so low that he would now work for those he had opposed before?
Lhasha sensed his reluctance.
"Is something wrong?" she asked with genuine concern.
"You're a thief."
The half-elf flinched slightly at the venom in his voice before responding. "There are worse things, Corin. I may take a few choice items from my targets, but I've never taken a life. Everything I take can be replaced."
Corin didn't answer, so Lhasha continued to justify her chosen profession.
"Besides, as thieves go I'm not that bad. I never steal anything personal," she assured him. "No jewelry, no family heirlooms, nothing that could have any kind of sentimental attachment for the owner. Just coins, and only from those who can well afford to spare a few gold or silver pieces.
"Not as lucrative as stealing jewelry or rare works of art," Lhasha admitted, "but I make a comfortable living. It's amazing how much gold these people have just lying around. Obviously, they won't miss it much when it's gone.
"And besides," the young woman added, "most of my targets are politicians and nobles. Everything I steal was acquired dishonestly through a corrupt system that crushes the less fortunate beneath the polished boot heels of the upper class. You don't get rich in Elversult without getting your hands dirty somewhere along the way. Unlike them, I'm honest enough to admit what I am."
She was rationalizing, a blatant attempt to free her own conscience from the plague of guilt. Corin imagined she had been doing it for years.
Yet there was some merit to her